Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and maybe I should re-watch at it some point but, on the other hand, I’m not sure if it is a movie that really needs to be watched a couple of times. I mean, in my opinion, with such an intereting cast (Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett), there was definitely some potential, especially since I always had a weak spot for heist movies. In this case, I also enjoyed the fact that these convicts were non-violent but, unfortunately, they decided to deliver something quirky and this tone didn’t really work for me, I’m afraid. Indeed, the issue with this approach is that it made the whole thing eventually  for me just too difficult  to be taken really seriously. It’s like [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]character. I mean, I don’t blame Cate Blanchett, she is one of my favorite actress and she did what she could but her character was more or less responsible for this rather lame love triangle. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I have actually already watched this movie but since it was a while back and since I had this movie on DVD, I thought I should check it out again. First of all, I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of musicals but this one was definitely an exception. Sure, it was yet another adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ but it is one of the very few movies which managed to give a satisfying modern twist to this timeless tale. Furthermore, most of the songs were pretty neat (even if none of the main cast actually sang those tunes) but, above all, I really loved the dancing which was some of the best I have seen in a musical. If you are familiar with Michael Jackson’s work, you will notice that this movie had a huge influence on him which was pretty cool as well. The only issue I might have had with this movie is that it was maybe slightly too long. Indeed, even though it was actually a rather simple story which took place only during 2 days, they still managed to reach more than 150 minutes of running time but that’s something that often happens with such musicals when the characters stop every 2 minutes to sing a song. Anyway, to conclude, it really deserves it stellar reputation, it is a huge classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie seems to be rather forgotten nowadays, in my opinion, from all the movies directed by Sam Raimi, it is actually probably the best one he has delivered if you put aside the Evil Dead trilogy. As a matter of fact, it was hardly a personal project as Raimi was not even the first director involved (in fact, Ben Stiller, John Dhal and finally John Boorman all dropped out at some point before Sam Raimi finally took over) and, yet, the end-result turned out to be even more than satisfying. I mean, sure, it was a really straightforward story (which such a title, should you expect anything else?)  preventing the whole thing from becoming really amazing, but there was definitely something appealing about its simplicity and the whole thing was sure damned entertaining. Indeed, we all wondered at some point about ‘What would I do if I would find a bag full of money?’ and this movie basically shows one bleak but also very plausible scenario. Back in those days, I didn't know who the hell Billy Bob Thornton was (he had his breakthrough with 'Sling Blade' just a couple of years before) but he was certainly the best actor involved here. To conclude, it is a really solid thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though the 2^nd sequel of ‘The Karate Kid’ franchise seemed to be a critical and commercial failure, for some reasons, they still decided to come up with a new instalment, this time, with a girl playing the lead character. Well, right from the start, it seemed to be a really misguided project and, indeed, the whole thing turned out to be pretty lame. As usual, it took fovever before the whole thing started, seriously, I think it took them maybe 1 hour before they actually started the karate training. To make things worse, I was amazed by how underwhelming this training was. Furthermore, for once, there was no tournament, in fact, there was barely any fighting at all which was quite surprising considering the title. Concerning Hilary Swank, she must have been really excited to get finally her first starring part but this movie didn’t really manage to launch her career. In fact, she would go a long way after this movie, first winning an Academy Award for ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ and, then 10 years later, she would show up in another sport movie called ‘Million Dollar Baby’ for which she would win her 2^nd Academy Award. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t expect much, it still turn out to be pretty weak and I don’t think it is worth a look at all. 

To be honest, it has been ages since I have seen this movie but, if I recall it correctly, I actually saw it in the movie theater when it was released. Anyway, in my opinion, the masterstroke was to have Rupert Everett playing one of the main characters.  Indeed, back then, I had a huge weak spot for this actor,  he was pretty much born to play Oscar Wilde’s characters and the guy was just quite awesome in this movie. The rest of the cast was pretty neat as well, especailly Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore. Concerning the story, it was all rather silly but it was done on purpose and Oscar Wilde had such a modern and witty way to write dialogues, most of them were very often really funny. Since this Oscar Wilde adaptation was quite successful, Oliver Parker would give another try 3 years later with ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, also starring Rupert Everett, and even though I preferred this movie, it turned out to be a decent watch as well. To conclude, even though it was maybe not a masterpiece, I thought it was pretty good and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you have a weak spot for Oscar Wilde’s work. 

I remember it very well, when I was a kid growing up in the 90’s, AIDS was everywhere. In the news, at school,… There was this constant warning and, if in the past, your girlfriend might get pregnant if you were not careful when having sex now, suddenly, you might eventually even die so sex was and, actually still is, something pretty scary. I’m always amazed that, 20 years later, we barely hear about this disease, even if, according to this movie, there are still 6000 people contimated by the HIV virus on a daily basis. My guess is that this epidemic is now pretty much under control in the Western world and most of the current victims are actually coming from the African continent and, exactly as it was displayed in this movie, back in the 80’s, nobody really cared about these dying homosexual men, nowadays, nobody really seem to care about all these dying Africans. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, what I liked the most about this movie was how layered the whole thing was. Indeed, they showed the fight those guys had to put to survive, but also the conflict inside their own movement and, finally, this beautiful love story involving Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer. Indeed, even though I wasn’t really sure about Julia Roberts, I was once again really blown away by Mark Ruffalo who gave here a really strong and completely convincing performance. I have to admit that I was rather surprised that the lesbian community was never to be seen but, apparently, that’s actually what happened back then. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a really strong drama and it is definitely worth a look.