Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though this movie didn’t get much love when it was released, since I always had a weak spot for Jodie Foster’s work, I was still eager to check it out. On top of that, the concept was pretty cool and she was working with George Clooney and Julia Roberts, 2 of the biggest movie stars in the world. Well, even though the whole thing definitely had some potential , it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more than that, I’m afraid. First of all, the concept was obviously pretty limited and I was curious to see how Foster would manage to make it still interesting and challenging. Well, I think it is pretty obvious that they went for a modern version of ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ which was actually a good idea but the end-result was just too generic. Another thing that bothered me was that the characters were all rather boring and uninteresting. The only exception was George Clooney’s character who had some potential but even this character was ruined because somehow, through the duration, this guy completely changed from an arrogant bastard to some kind of hero which was just really disappointing. Finally, in the 3^rd act, the whole thing became way too much theatrical. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was not bad and even though it is probably Jodie Foster’s weakest directing effort so far, it is still worth a look but there is no doubt that the whole thing felt like a missed opportunity. 

It is another movie I wanted to see for so many years but, eventually, it was definitely worth the wait. In fact, I first saw the remake directed by Kenneth Branagh about 7 years ago and, even though this remake didn’t get much love, I thought it was a decent watch. Well, I understand now why most of the viewers didn’t care for Branagh's version though since this classic was indeed miles better. I’m also glad that I saw this remake such a long time ago because, this way, I didn’t remember most of the crucial details. However, I wish I did see the damned thing with some subtitles as the dialogues were amazing but sometimes slightly difficult to follow, especially since English is not my mother-tongue. Anyway, the whole thing was just fascinating with 2 great (or should I say 3) performances from Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine who were both at the top of their game. The only minor issue I had was that, while Michael Caine looked amazing as Inspector Doppler, I thought he didn’t conceal enough his voice and it was pretty easy to recognize him after all but it wasn’t a big deal. Eventually, even though you spend more than 2 hours with only 2 actors in one single location, it was yet just so fascinating and spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Well, it was the week-end and it didn’t feel like watching another fiction so I decided to check this documentary on Netflix. Eventually, it was pretty good but, to be honest, I expected it to be more ambiguous. Indeed, the point of the whole thing was to find out for the viewers if they would believe that Amanda Knox has brutally killed her roommate or not. Well, in my opinion, it was obvious that she was innocent pretty much from the very beginning. For example, when the body was discovered, Giuliano Mignini, the prosecutor, argues that a man would never cover a victim’s body and that only a woman would do that which was just a ridiculous and even rather pathetic argument. Then, he kept arguing that Amanda Knox had an odd behaviour which was in fact never ever displayed or actually proven. I mean, for example, according to him, it was strange that she couldn’t keep up her story straight but what you would you expect from a 20 yeard old student who suddenly had to go through hours of aggressive interrogation from the police forces? Maybe for the first hours you would be able to tell the truth but, at some point, you would say whatever the police would want to hear just to make them stop. Eventually, her guilt was mostly based on some obsession from the police forces and the media frenzy around this case than actual evidence. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was slightly disappointing, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I have never been a fan of Oasis but it was the week-end and it didn’t feel like watching another fiction so I decided to check this documentary on Netflix. Well, to be honest, I’m rather surprised by the high ratings this movie has received on this website and on IMDb.  Sure, I remember the 90’s when their first 2 CDs came out and, at the time, Oasis was easily the biggest British band around so it was pretty neat to go back in time. As a result, it was interesting but I didn’t think it was anything really ground-breaking or fascinating. For example, the main point was to show how, right from the start, the Gallagher brothers didn’t get along at all but, if you grew up in the 90’s like me, it was common knowledge even if you were not a huge fan of the band. Another thing that bothered me was the fact that they implied that, after Knebworth, the band will soon explode but, in fact, they kept on going for more than a decade afterwards which is in fact more than many other bands. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this band.