Les Dalton
Pobeg
War of the worlds
LesDalton
This French movie isn't one of those comedies that are so stupid that they are funny. In fact, this movie is one of the most frustratingly unfunny comedies I have ever been so unfortunate to stumble upon. Based on the comic book characters of Lucky Luke and the Dalton Brothers, this movie offers Western-parody jokes with pitiful comical timing and slapstick gags too cliched and dim-witted to cause any laughs. "The Daltons" reminded me of another recent French movie, "RRRrrrr!!!" It had a similar habit of delivering every single overstated joke with a sledgehammer-blow straight to your temple. You leave the cinema feeling not only annoyed because you wasted one-and-a -half hours of your life, but also considerably battered by the idiocy you have justwitnessed.
( Julie Vinten )
"Les Dalton" gallops off to a rip-roaring start with an exciting chase sequence featuring a stagecoach being pursued by Old West desperados. Unfortunately, when those two idiot comedians Eric & Ramsy show up this so-called comedy goes crashing downhill faster than your feet can move to help you escape from the movie theater. Without a doubt, the technical aspects are exceptionally skilled; vivid cinematography, beautiful sets, stunning costumes and interesting special effects make up for the film's total lack of humor. Lonesome cowboy Lucky Luke (Til Schweiger) and his dumb dog Rantanplan had great potential, but their bits are too brief to save this unfunny flick from falling apart completely. There is a limit to how much gobbledygook the mind can tolerate. So what went wrong? Blame it on the bossanova?
1/2 ( Laimons Juris G )
Pobeg
The setup of this Russian thriller is almost rudely similar to the 1993 Harrison Ford movie "The Fugitive." Only this time, it isn't a man with a prosthetic arm, but a man with an unusual contact lens (!) whodunit. Though the feature has some problems, it's in many ways a fairly enjoyable, and sometimes engaging, little crime thriller. The narrative is incredibly predictable at times, and generally far from as clever as the filmmakers would have us believe. Also, the movie dwells on some scenes until you almost fall asleep, while it rushes past some plot-point scenes that should have been given more space. That said, "The Escape" is worth watching thanks to the filmmakers' noticeable enthusiasm for their work and the well-cast actors, who seem to give it all they'vegot.
1/2 ( Julie Vinten )
There are so many things that simply don't work in this overly long Russian film. First and foremost, the acting is atrociously histrionic and maudlin, quite reminiscent of an old-fashioned stage play – stiff, formal and exaggerated. The cinematography is crisp and professional in the beginning, but quickly becomes tedious and too artsy with its frozen slow-motion shots. Its third strike comes in the form of the copycat story. Dr. Vetrov (Yevgeni Mironov) is on the run after wrongfully being accused, tried and convicted of killing his wife. All that appears missing is the mysterious one-armed man from the popular American TV series, "The Fugitive," and the 1993 movie with the same title. However, despite everything against it, 39-year-old Mironov's dynamic performance miraculously makes "Pobeg" worth watching at leastonce.
( Laimons Juris G )
War of the worlds
I doubt that this year we are going to see a grander or better summer blockbuster than "War of the Worlds." This is a forceful sci-fi/action-drama with entertainment written all over it. Packed with splendid visual effects and expertly shot action, it's a grand-scale movie, but at the same time a very intimate one. The feature was made in about half the time it usually takes to make a Hollywood blockbuster. With that in mind, it's incredible how well-formed the movie has turned out, showing us, once again, that Steven Spielberg is a skilled filmmaker who knows exactly what he wants and how to make it work. Although some sequences are overly sentimental and melodramatic, Spielberg-style, the movie boasts enough suspense, energy and oomph to make up forthis.
( Julie Vinten )
Steven Spielberg's latest is a mesmerizing sci-fi thriller with a terrifically intense pace. As the film progresses there's enough to keep you perched on the edge of your seat with your eyes glued to the screen. H.G. Wells' classic "War of the Worlds" startlingly comes to life under the direction of one of the modern masters of filmmaking. However, these extraterrestrials are not ready for friendly close encounters, they crave to exterminate all humans instead. The Martian invasion acts as a backdrop for the story of a father (Tom Cruise) doing everything possible to save his two kids (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) from being killed. Though the ending is a hokey letdown, yours truly is anxiously standing in line to once again watch Spielberg's best spectacle in adecade.
( Laimons Juris G )
