Well, hello there, kind folks. If you’re visiting this blog of mine, I presume that you have a certain interest in the cinema. As for me, even since my early childhood, I have had a deep love of everything related to movies and television. As far as I can remember, I have been more at ease in front of a screen than in the yard, outside, playing. It is a great way to travel, though other people’s stories, without having to foot any kind of steep bill. Over the years, I feel that movie-watching has even fuelled my own creativity.

All that being said, I welcome you in my Cinephile’s Nest. I hope you enjoy it here, feel free to come back at any time. Here you will find reviews of current movies and older ones. TV shows also. Some classics that have remained some of my favourites, some that have disappointed me. I will use a very basic star (*) system to grade them from 1 to 5 (5 being sliced bread level). Remember, these are just my tastes. I will try to explain in each review what I liked about these particular movies, without giving spoilers.

Il y aura aussi des critiques en français pour les films francophones, car j'aime également le cinéma dans ma langue maternelle. Avant d'apprendre l'anglais, plus jeune, je louais des tonnes de films traduits en français, surtout ceux de Bud Spencer et Terrence Hill. Ma mère a eu le choc de sa vie lorsqu'un jour, dans la boîte d'un de ces films, Deep Throat avait malencontreusement inséré. Une expérience formatrice pour le jeune cinéphile que je suis.

Bienvenue à tous, amusez-vous bien.

I welcome you all here, enjoy yourself.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Happy Christmas (2014)

Genre: Comedy / Drama
Directed by: Joe Swanberg
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Joe Swanberg
Running time: 88 minutes



Jenny is a girl in her twenties whose personal life is a mess. She decides to move to Chicago to live with her older brother Jeff, a filmmaker living a calm existence with his writer wife and his infant son. The ever-partying younger sibling will stir things up and her brother’s family life will never be quite the same again.

As it is usually the case with Joe Swanberg films, the dialogue in this one is completely improvised. Anna Kendrick is really good as Jenny; she makes for a convincing immature party girl. It was also a nice touch to see Melanie Lynskey again. I really dug her as Rose in Two and a Half Men, and I don’t see enough of her on the small and big screen.

Overall, this film was somewhat of a letdown for me. The premise was interesting, the acting was good; it just all seemed to fall flat in the end. Maybe some of the impact was lost in the improvisational nature of the dialogue, but I was left with a feeling of a lot of promise that led to a dead end.

Rating: «««
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