Showgirls (1995)

Genre: Drama / Thriller
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Cast: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon 
Time: 131 minutes

 

Nomi Malone hitchhikes to Las Vegas with hopes and dreams of becoming a dancer. She starts as a stripper, but she soon finds herself hired as a showgirl at the Stardust. Stuck between a troubled past she is trying to escape, and a future filled with pitfalls and backstabbing, she finds herself in a world she was not prepared for.

What a horrible movie this is. A lot of people complained about the amount of nudity, but, to me, that is the only saving grace. The acting is so bad, and the story is mind-numbing, you find solace where you must. Boobs cannot be a bad thing, but most of this movie is.

Rating: ««

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Laurence Fishburne  
Time: 169 minutes

 

Hitman John Wick is left for dead, but he survives, and he recuperates hidden with the Bowery King, who also had a falling out with the High Table. After licking his wounds, Wick sets out for revenge on those who wronged him, while fighting for the freedom he so much longs for. On his path, he finds an old friend, who has been tasked with killing him.

This fourth installment in the John Wick franchise contains a lot more story, beyond the senseless killing of unknown characters, but it is maybe too much. The story gets convoluted at times, as if they had tried to squeeze two movies into one. All things considered, a decent thrill ride, with some good notes on freedom and redemption that touched my heart.

Rating: «««

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Genre: Thriller
Directed by: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson
Running time: 139 minutes

 

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, tech billionaire Miles Bron invites a group of his closest friends to his mansion on a private Greek island to take part in a murder mystery game. Private investigator Benoit Blanc is also there. As secrets surface between the group of friends, an actual murder happens, and it’s a race to figure out what happened.

This whodoneit film is a stand-alone sequel to Knives Out, who came out in 2019. While not as strong as the original, this movie is quite enjoyable, thanks to a riveting storyline and strong acting. It bordered on being too long at one point, but I still loved it very much. Edward Norton is so good at the weird character.

Rating: ««««

12 Angry Men (1957)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley  
Time: 96 minutes

 

A teenager stands on trial in New York, accused of murdering his father by stabbing. The evidence seems clears, and a jury of 12 men is tasked with deciding whether the accused is indeed guilty of the crime or if there is reasonable doubt. As the jury gathers to debate the case, 11 of them are convinced that the accused is guilty. One man, Davis, juror 8, has reasonable doubt and votes not guilty. As the discussion wears on, working on a consensus, the men of the jury are forced to question their own views and values.

This film is an absolute classic and should me viewed by all at least once. While it came out in the late 1950’s, it is still very current, with social media and mob mentality being what it is today. The acting here is absolutely brilliant on everybody’s part. The characters are well defined in the writing and delivered masterfully on screen. The director did a bang on job, also, bringing all the pieces together. Watching this, it feels like you are in the room with them, stuck there sweating and debating. It feels real.

Rating: «««««

Revelations (2005)

Genre: TV / Drama
Starring: Bill Pullman, Natascha McElhone, Michael Massee
Number of seasons: 1

 

In this story inspired by the Book of Revelation, in the New Testament, an astrophysicist, Dr. Richard Massey, and a nun, Sister Josepha Montaflore, work together to stop the end of the world from happening, through the work of Satanist cult leader Isaiah Haden.

I am not much on biblical and religious stuff, but this mini-series still managed to be somewhat interesting to me, through the work of a talented cast. Some of the story felt really silly to me, but I remained watching all the way through. The fact that it was only a 6 episodes season helped.

Rating: «««

Jigsaw (2002)

Genre: Horror
Directed by: Don Adams and Harry James Picardi
Cast: Barret Walz, Aimee Bravo, Mia Zifkin
Time: 78 minutes

 

A group of art students are working on a project where they each decorate a body part from a disassembled mannequin. They gather at a local bar with their teacher to put the pieces together and share personal stories. As the evening goes on, they get drunker and decide to set fire to the assembled mannequin. Unfortunately for them, it ends up coming to life and hunting them down for their body parts.

I came upon this film by mistake when I mistook it for the installment in Saw franchise while reserving it blindly from the library. I decided to watch it nonetheless. This was just a stupid horror movie with not much merit to make it passable. The characters are uninteresting, the story is pointless and the acting is bad. Maybe a bit more filth would have helped, but this was pretty clean, all things considered.

Rating: «

Sans rendez-vous (2022-2023)

 Genre: Franco / TV / Comedy
Distribution: Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Mikhail Ahooja, Mylène Mackay, Isabelle Vincent
Nombre de saisons : 3

 

Sarah est infirmière-sexologue dans une clinique de santé sexuelle. Avec ses collègues tous aussi dysfonctionnels les uns que les autres, elle vit sa vie personnelle dans le chaos, tout en étant confronté à des patients qui en vivent des vertes et des pas mûres.

Sur les trois saisons de cette série, il y a un bon nombre de moments qui m’ont fait rire et sourire. Il y aussi d’autres moments qui m’ont presque fait décrocher, tellement ils détonaient du reste. Pas mauvais, mais pas génial non plus. Passable.

Note: «««

Borders of Love (2022)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Tomasz Winski
Cast: Hana Vagnerova, Matyas Reznicek, Eliska Krenkova
Time: 95 minutes

 

Hana and Petr are a young couple who are getting bored with the routine of their love life, and after discussing their personal fantasies, they decide to try opening their relationship as a way to spice things up.

This erotic Czech-Polish film was easy enough to follow for me who does not speak the language, with the help of subtitles. The dialogue is not too heavy, so you easily read along and follow the action. It is an interesting study on the boundaries of love. Sure, the outcome is a little predictable, but it is still a fun little movie. It doesn’t revolutionize, but it entertains.

Rating: «««

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne
Time: 131 minutes

 

After committing the unforgivable crime of killing a High Table crime lord on Continental grounds, John Wick is condemned to be excommunicated from his organization, but he is given a head start before the bounty on his life comes into effect. He goes on the run, fighting multiple hitmen. An adjudicator for the High Table comes to town, seeking to dole punishment on people she considers having given Wick too much of a chance to survive after his transgression.

The further we go into this franchise, the more it feels like we are watching a video game in action. Sure, the action itself is thrilling. It is visually impressive. But it starts to feel like overkill at a certain point. It’s a bunch of nameless people getting beaten and killed by an invincible man. Halle Berry and Anjelica Huston appearing in this one was a nice touch.

Rating: «««

All the Light We Cannot See (2023)

Genre: TV / Drama
Starring: Aria Mia Loberti, Louis Hofmann, Lars Eidinger, Hugh Laurie, Mark Ruffalo
Number of seasons: 1

 

This four episode mini-series tells the story of Marie-Laure, a French blind teenager girl living in occupied Saint-Malo during World War II. Left there by her father, who had to leave to get the Nazi soldiers away from his family, she does a daily broadcast on home radio equipment. She crosses path with Werner, a German soldier with a soft spot who was picked by the Nazis from an orphanage and used for his knowledge on radios.

Based on the novel of the same name, this is a beautiful mini-series. It starts slow, but it gets more and more riveting as it goes along, building to an emotional crescendo. The acting is superb, and so are the writing and directing. This was absolutely brilliant. It was nice seeing Hugh Laurie again. Overall, I can only highly recommend this.

Rating: «««««

The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

Genre: Comedy / Drama
Directed by: Rob Burnett
Cast: Paul Rudd, Craig Roberts, Selena Gomez
Running time: 93 minutes

 

Ben Benjamin is a writer who is dealing with the tragic loss of his son. As he is trying to avoid being served divorce papers by his estranged wife, he takes a course to change career path and become a registered caregiver. For his first job, he is a hired by Elsa, a single mother and bank manager who moved to Seattle from England, to take care of Trevor, her 18-year-old son with Muscular Dystrophy. A singular bond will form between the two men as they decide to go on a road trip together.

This is a really sweet film. I laughed a lot. I was also moved by certain scenes in situation. The story is compelling, and the acting was good. It was a little cheesy at times, but, overall, I really enjoyed this movie with a weird title that I never can seem to remember.

Rating: ««««

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (1974)

Genre: Musical
Directed by: Rollin Binzer
Cast: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Mick Taylor
Running time: 83 minutes

This film shows material recorded in 1972, in Forth Worth and Houston, Texas, by The Rolling Stones, who were out to support their album Exile on Main Street. The material here is very raw and not overly produced. Some of the performances, especially Jagger’s singing, was not as tight, and the sound recording did not help. Still, in its rawness, this is a fun concert film showing the great rock n’ roll band of all-time having a good time on stage, performing very upbeat sets of music.

Rating: ««««

Priscilla (2023)

Genre: Biographical / Drama
Directed by: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Dominczyk
Running time: 113 minutes

 

Based on the 1985 memoirs Elvis and Me, written by Priscilla Presley, this film tells the story of the relationship between Priscilla Beaulieu and rockstar Elvis Presley, from their first meeting in Germany, when she was only 14, to her leaving him years later.

What a life these two lived together. This film offers a very artistic look at that roller-coaster of a life. I loved how Coppola sped-up on the telling of some events, to show that Elvis would just get his way anyhow. I also found that using Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You as Priscilla leaves Elvis was a nice touch. That was one of those songs that got away, so to speak.

Cailee Spaeny was very good in the title role. Jacob Elordi, on the other hand, suffered from the comparisons to Austin Butler, who brilliantly played the King in Elvis. Some weird acting choices were made here, such as the constant holding of the belt buckle, the constant smoking and the exaggerated mumbling. Older Elvis mumbled a lot, but not the Elvis from the period shown here. He was often hard to understand in this film. As for the smoking, he sometimes smoked cigarillos, but not as much as shown here.

Beyond some details, this is a very good film that serves as an interesting counterpart to Lurhmann’s Elvis.

Rating: ««««

All Together Now (2020)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Brett Haley
Cast: Auli’I Cravalho, Rhenzy Feliz, Judy Reyes  
Time: 92 minutes

 

Amber is a high school senior living with her mother in Oregon. Her mother’s alcoholic boyfriend becomes abusive, so mother and daughter end up being homeless and sleeping in a school bus. Amber is a busy girl, volunteering at school and in the community, while working and aspiring to study in music. When her mother passes in a car accident and her dog gets sick (needing surgery), Amber is willing to put her life on hold to save her fury friend, but her entourage is not willing to let her do that without trying to help her.

This is a sweet Netflix film with a compelling story and some good acting. Sure, it’s sappy and overly predictable, but hey, it comes with the territory with this genre. It was a nice treat to see Carol Burnett again on screen. While she had a limited role, she made the best of it.

Rating: «««

Escape From New York (1981)

Genre: Action / Science-fiction
Directed by: John Carpenter
Cast: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasance, Isaac Hayes
Time: 99 minutes

 

In the dystopian world of a fictional 1997, Manhattan has been turned into a huge walled maximum-security prison, due to the steep increase in crime. Former special forces soldier, Snake Plissken has been arrested and he’s due to be locked up. He is offered a pardon if he can manage to retrieve US president John Harker, who has been taken hostage by a group of terrorists who overtook and crashed Air Force One on its way to peace summit in Hartford.

I cannot believe I had never seen this one before in my life. Snake Plissken is such a badass antihero character, and Kurt Russell was the right guy for the role. Boy, did he ever bring Snake to life? There is also a talented cast surrounding Russell, and John Carpenter showed his great talent in the direction. There is some hokiness here and there, but it such a fun science-fiction film, which is quite something, since I usually do not care much for that genre.

Rating: ««««

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Common, Laurence Fishburne, Ricardo Scamarcio
Time: 122 minutes

 

After recuperating the car that was stolen from him in the previous film and getting his full revenge on the people involved, John Wick is looking to retire from the hitman life. But, a crime lord comes knocking, asking that Wick fulfill a blood oath and kills someone else. Wick begrudgingly accepts and finds himself in the middle of another fight for his life.

This second chapter in the John Wick franchise is a fun, fast-paced thrill ride. The action never stops. The problem is that, with all those unknown henchpeople getting killed one after the other, it starts to feel more like a video game than like a movie with defined characters. You stop caring after a while. It is good entertainment, but it is a little overblown, so to speak.

Rating: «««