Reviews by johanlefourbe

I had already seen this movie but since it was ages ago and since I had this movie on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, to be honest, I always had some mixed feelings about this movie. I mean, if you would compare it to all the garbage Robert De Niro is making nowadays or any average thriller coming from Hollywood, it is actually pretty dammed entertaining but if you would compare it to the great masterpieces involving Scorsese and De Niro, it was definitely a minor effort. I mean, sure, the directing was really solid and it was a great reminder that De Niro used to be one of the best actors in the world as he gave here such an intense performance. While watching this flick, I was also impressed by Juliette Lewis who was really convincing even though she was just about 18 years old at the time. Still, all in all, even though the story was entertaining, it was nothing mind-blowing or original and you could easily imagine that, with a lesser director and lead actor, it could have turned out to be rather lame and generic. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was definitely not a masterpiece, it was still a really solid thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Martin Scorsese's work.

To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this flick. Indeed, I was browsing through the movies in Netlix and I came across this movie which sounded actually really lame. But then, I noticed that Johnny Depp was involved so I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, it was just so weird to watch this movie thinking that Donald Trump has since then actually become the President of the United States. I mean, when we heard that the guy was running for candidate, we all thought that he was hopeless. Then, he was running against Hillary Clinton and, until the last minute, everyone thought that she would easily win and, yet, somehow, Trump still managed to become the most powerful man on Earth which is not only completely surreal  but also rather scarry. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I have to admit that it was rather hit-and-miss. Still, it was pretty neat to see Johnny Depp who gave here a solid performance in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I though it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

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[Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be pretty neat, that’s for sure. First of all, I have noticed that many viewers considered it as a coming-of-age story which was maybe the case but I thought it gave above all a very interesting look on the hood genre. Indeed, the best movies in this genre like ‘Boyz n the Hood’ or ‘Menace II Society’ were quite impressive but also terribly bleak and even rather depressing. Here, Rick Famuyiwa went back to this genre but managed somehow to remove its typical dreary mood and made something that was entertaining and fun but still really realistic and compelling to watch. Seriously, the whole thing was really well done and subtle and it is hard to believe that his previous directing effort was the really generic and forgettable ‘Our Family Wedding’. Eventually, it was really neat to see those guys who were rather marginal growing up in such a hard and rather hopeless environment and yet they still had some dreams and they managed to enjoy life which was actually quite inspiring. The only issue I might have had with the whole thing was from the moment that those guys started to sell some drugs. Indeed, up to that point, they were just way over their head but, somehow, from that point, they became some kind of super geeks which was fun but I preferred when they kept the whole thing real. Still, it was a minor flaw, it turned out to be a really nice watch and it is definitely worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, to be honest, the first time around, I had no idea what to expect from this movie but since it did win the César of the Best French movie of the year, I had to watch it at some point. When I first heard about the concept, I have to admit that I had some serious doubts and I was afraid it could turn out to be something like ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ or ‘The Nutty Professor’. Fortunately, it was something completely different and I was actually quite impressed by what Guillaume Gallienne did with this material. Indeed, even though it was indeed actually pretty dark and gloomy, Gallienne still managed to deliver somehow a comedy which was sometimes quite hilarious. It’s like the mother who was a really tricky character. Seriously, she was described as someone really cold and terribly unlikeable but the guy still loved and admired her which was quite intriguing. In fact, it’s something that my ex-wife never really understood, it is not because some French people are complaining all the time or are even mean to the people they love that they are completely worthless, in the contrary. In fact, this woman actually reminded me of my mother (she is also French) who can be so grumpy but, unfortunately, I never felt the same fascination with her that Galienne apparently had with his mother. It was also an interesting study about the difficulty to find your own identity when you are a marginal, even in a society where homosexuals might seem to be accepted. To be honest, even if I did like it, this movie was still what you could call in French 'Le summum du nombrilisme'. Basically, it was only about Galienne's thoughts and feelings and it had absolutely nothing else to offer so the scope was seriously limited. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not a masterpiece, I really had a weak spot for the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look. 

Even though this movie didn’t get much love when it was released, since it was directed by Jim Jarmusch, I was still quite eager to check it out. For some reasons, somehow, it took me almost 10 years to see the damned thing. Well, I wish I could say it was worth the wait but, unfortunately, it turned out to be the weakest movie delivered by this director so far. Indeed, for 2 long hours, you get to see some mysterious black guy wandering the streets in some Spanish towns basically doing nothing at all. From time to time, he did have some conversations with some random characters who mostly spoke Spanish, a language which the main character of course didn’t speak. I mean, it could have worked with a 10-15 minutes short movie but to see this for almost 120 minutes was just so tedious. My guess was that Jarmusch wanted to go for something even more experimental than usual but it seriously backfired. I mean, it was visually quite appealing and Isaach De Bankolé did what he could with a  seriously limited character but I really had a hard time to care at all for the damned thing. To conclude, I think I was rather generous with my rating here but I guess it might be worth a look, only if you are a die-hard fan of Jim Jarmusch’s work.