Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was on TV, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Well, somehow, it managed to be even worse than I expected. Basically, do you know what's even worse than all the garbage starring Adam Sandler? Well, when his buddies actually end up playing the lead characters. Seriously, thoses movies are just terrible. In this case, it might have been even worse than usual because it was originally conceived and shot as a R rated comedy but it was apparently retooled at the last minute by the studio to get a PG-13 rating. Anyway, even if it would have been R rated, I'm pretty sure it would still have been pretty lame though. Indeed, nothing worked here, the concept was just really poorly developed and the jokes were  really pathetic, just cringe-inducing and rather often seriously misguided  (for example, during the very first minutes, they gave probably the worst pedophile joke I have ever seen). At least, Jack Warden was fun but he was the only slightly entertaining thing in this movie and I still felt bad for him that he got involved in this mess. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was pretty bad and you should definitely avoid it. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die' list, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, even though it was a decent watch, I actually had a hard time to really care about the damned thing. I don't know, maybe it was due to the fact that I saw it on the BBC without subtitles or maybe it was due to the fact that I have never been a huge fan of musicals. Furthermore, I couldn't shake the idea that the whole thing was trying to be too clever for its own good. I mean, they took a classic opera and they turned it into a modern musical with an African-American cast but did these changes really add something to this tale? Not really in my opinion. Still, the cast was pretty good and Harry Belafonte was fine, even if his character was rather thankless. Above all, Dorothy Dandridge was just so charismatic and really spellbinding to behold. Of course, I had heard about her but it was the first time I saw her in a movie and she was just downright amazing. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't really blow me away, it was still a decent musical and it is still definitely worth a look, especially to see Dorothy Dandridge shining on the screen.

Even though I have always been a fan of Pixar (I actually saw 'Toy Story' in the movie theater when it came out and I saw most of their movies when they were released), it has been disappointing that most of their recent movies have been some sequels instead of something really original. To make things worse, all these recent sequels have been disappointing, even 'Toy Story 3' is probably Pixar's most overrated feature. However, if there was one movie that could work with a sequel, it was definitely 'The Incredibles' and, indeed, Brad Bird really nailed it. Indeed, it was really a strong sequel, it looked great and the humor was just spot-on. The only thing preventing this movie from becoming really amazing was the fact that the story was just way too similar to its predecessor's and, as a result, it turned to be too predictable. I'm rather surprised that it took so long for Brad Bird to come up with this movie because, allegedly, he was looking for a great story all these years when, in fact, he pretty much recycled the plot of the first movie. Anyway, even if it wasn't a complete home-run, it was still easily one of the best sequels delivered by Pixar so far and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though this movie was a huge flop at the box-office, since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be even weaker than I expected. Basically, pretty much nothing worked in this flick. First of all, it seemed that the makers couldn't make up their minds if they should go for an ambitious science-fiction blockbuster or for an old-fashioned cheezy B feature. As a result, the whole thing just looked just cheap and seriously ugly and it has been a while since I have seen such awful CGI effects. But it was not only the CGI, even the costumes and decors just looked terrible. Concerning the cast, except for William Hurt and Gary Oldman, it was composed of actors whose career never went anywhere (Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Matt LeBlanc) and they were all rather pathetic but, on the other hand, they were not helped by the fact that their characters were all rather poorly developed. On top of that, even though the whole thing had some potential to become a thoughtful SF epic, instead, they went for some really boring action scenes. To make it even sillier, they even brought up some time-travelling which made the whole thing even more overloaded and half-baked. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing really deserves its lame reputation and it is definitely not worth a look.

The first time I heard about this movie was maybe 10 years ago. Back then, during a talk-show, a Dutch actress displayed a short sample and it seemed so disturbing that I became instantly seriously intrigued by the damned thing. Eventually, I'm surprised that it took me so long to see this flick but it was definitely worth it. To be honest, it didn't turn out to be so disturbing after all and, apparently, this damned Dutch actress had chosen to show the most dramatic scene. Anyway, even though I did like this movie, the main issue I had was that it did feel like a huge ego trip. I mean, 90% of the movie was about Jonathan Caouette in movies and pictures and the fact that he referred to himself in the third person didn't help either. Still, from a collection of pictures and home-videos, Caouette managed to deliver something at times jarring but most of the time visually quite impressive and, even if I was maybe not completely fascinated by this family, there was still something quite interesting about them. Eventually, the whole thing might seem like a way for Caouette to deal with his messed up background but, in my opinion, it was pretty obvious that, even though he obviously had some issues of his own (who doesn't?), he was after all far more stable than his poor mother. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in experimental movies. 

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Well, I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure. Sure, it was maybe not really groundbreaking but it was still one of the best movies I have seen in this genre for quite some time. I was wondering how Jack O'Connell managed to get his break in Hollywood but, after watching this movie, I understand why. Indeed, he gave here a really powerful performance channeling some kind of younger version of Bronson. Concerning Ben Mendelsohn, sure, like everyone else, I think he is a fine actor and he was pretty good here but the guy keeps playing such similar characters and I would like to see him doing something completely different for once. Anyway, the interesting thing about this movie was that it displayed how completely flawed the prison system actually is. Indeed, by putting all these violent men together to only make sure that they can't harm anyone outside, they only make sure that they will probably kill each other and, if they ever get out, they will probably be ten times worse than before they went to jail. To be honest, I have to admit that I did struggle with the 3rd act. Indeed, pretty much out of nowhere, the movie made a complete U-turn regarding the relationship between the Nevilles and it focused on their new found affection until the very end. Until then, the whole thing was pretty random but it made sense considering the wild behavior of the main character. I guess the makers wanted to reach some kind of closure at the end but I'm not sure if it was such a good idea. Anyway, to conclude, it was still a really strong prison drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the  genre.

I really had no idea what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die' list, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I really liked it and I thought it was much more enjoyable than 'Lola Montès', another classic from Max Ophüls which I saw already twice. The tricky thing with this director is that his movies are always visually so elaborate, they are always a marvel to look at, but, as a result, they might seem really superficial. In this case, the fact that it was dealing with the frivolous romances of the Aristocrats didn't help either. And, yet, even though I usually don't care much for this genre, this story did work very well. It mostly had to do with the stellar performances from Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux and Vittorio De Sica but their characters were also very well written. Indeed, they really evolved through this tale and I actually cared about what these characters were going through. I have to admit  that my rating might be slightly too harsh and I will probably re-watch it at some point. Anyway, to conclude, it really deserves its stellar reputation and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be indeed pretty lame and completely misguided. First of all, who was actually the target audience for this movie? I mean, I actually watched the cartoon when I was a kid back in the 90's but it was hardly one of the most popular cartoons back then. Furthermore, the whole thing was apparently aimed towards the young girls but they obviously had never heard of this old TV show. To make it more modern, they added a social media angle which was just so annoying as you would get some YouTube videos popping randomly with absolutely no link with what was going on. Furthermore, the way the characters used social media themselves made the whole thing look like a very fake reality-TV show. Finally, what was the point with this robot? Seriously, I thought it would add something to their performance but it didn't have any impact after all. At least, some of the songs were not bad but it was obviously not enough to make this movie mildly entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was a big waste of time and it is not worth a look whatsoever. 

When I heard that my uncle wanted to watch a movie about the tragedy in Utøya, I thought he meant the movie '22 July' directed by Paul Greengrass also coming out this year. Anyway, it doesn't really matter since it was such a powerful movie and easily one of the best I have seen this year. In my opinion, the greatest success of this movie was to show not only that the guy shot more than 170 people but, above all, the impact on the 300 remaining survivors who will be psychologically traumatised maybe forever. Indeed, for more than an hour, they have nowhere to hide, they have no idea about what is really going on, who is attacking them and why, and if someone will finally show up to stop this nightmare. In the mean time, the shooting keeps going on and they do see other survivors running around scared shitless and they do hear other people screaming so it was a real nightmare and that's why the one-take gimmick really worked. Indeed, this way, there was no break to allow the viewers to breath for a moment and, this way, not only you're on the first line but you get eventually completely sucked in this tragedy. To be honest, I do think that the main character was slightly too heroic for my taste and I would have rather had an average teenager but I do understand that they needed someone  who was brave enough to do something otherwise the whole thing would have been about someone hiding behind a tree. Concerning the one-take approach, it did work but, at the end of the day, nothing much really happened and, in the same genre, I preferred 'Victoria' which was just quite mind blowing. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was just really heartbreaking and terrifying at the same time but I think it is definitely worth a look.