Reviews by johanlefourbe

With such an interesting director and above all such an all-star cast, it was not surprising that this movie had a pretty good buzz before it came out. However, when it was released, it didn’t make much waves after all. And, indeed, I’m afraid the whole thing didn’t really work. I mean, this star-studded cast (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Gal Gadot, Norman Reedus, Teresa Palmer, Clifton Collins Jr.) might actually have been part of the problem. Basically, very often, you got to see too many characters at the same time and no one of them got enough room to be properly developed. The victim was also the plot. Indeed, because the whole thing was so over-crowded, everything was rushed and, even if you got here and there some bits of information about the characters involved, at the end, you never get the opportunity to get close with any of them. Still, the whole thing definitely had some potential. You could feel that all the actors believed in this story and they all gave some solid performances (Kate Winslet seemed rather miscast as a Russian mob boss though) and I also liked the fact that there was no really good or bad guy in this story. To conclude, even though it sounded quite promising, it turned out to be rather half-baked but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in John Hillcoat’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Barbet Schroeder’s work and since there was a pretty cool cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Back then, Barbet Schroeder had a decent run in the USA (I especially loved 'Reversal of Fortune') and this movie would be pretty much the most obscure one he made during this time. Well, I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, the set-up was actually pretty good and I thought it was a solid mix between thriller and drama. It was also pretty neat to see such fine actors like Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson working together. Unfortunately, the whole thing lost some steam during the second half and, eventually, I thought the story was not bad but the material was just not strong enough. Concerning Edward Furlong, it would be one of the last interesting movies he would be involved in and the rest of his career would be filled with some really obscure movies. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though it was nothing really mind-blowing, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Barbet Schroeder’s work.

I think it must be at least 10 years since I saw a movie directed by Takeshi Kitano for the last time. It is a real shame because he was definitely one of my favorite directors in the 90’s. In fact, I wasn’t the only one who loved his work and, eventually, his international status became so important that he got the opportunity to make this movie in the USA, the first and only movie he would direct outside of Japan. I remember it very well, there was quite some hype around this movie before it was released but, eventually, it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more than that, I’m afraid. I mean, it was still a solid gangster flick coming from this master but this mix between his unique style and the American way of making films was rather often really awkward. Above all, I think it would have been much more interesting if he could have worked with some really good American actors instead of the rather weak cast he ended up with . Eventually, Kitano himself didn’t like this experience at all and he decided to never ever make another movie outside Japan. To conclude, even though the whole thing didn’t live up to my expectations, I thought it was still fairly entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Takeshi Kitano’s work. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. Anyway, ever since I saw ‘The Crying Game’, I have always been a fan of Neil Jordan’s work but, unfortunately, it has been a while since he blew me away and I’m pretty sure the last time he really impressed me was actually with this movie. It is actually a rather obscure feature but it has fortunately still managed to reach a cult status through the years. Basically, it is some kind of whimsical dark tale and even though this mix might sound impossible, I thought it worked really well and the end-result was quite unique. Indeed, not only, it felt socially accurate but you had also a really fascinating portrait of a teenage boy who is put under such a huge pressure that he slowly starts to lose his grip on reality. At the center of this tale, you had the young Eamonn Owens who gave one of the best acting debut ever and it is a real shame he didn’t manage to have a solid career after this movie. Coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it seems to be rather forgotten nowadays, I really liked the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Neil Jordan’s work.

To be honest, it has been ages since I have seen this movie and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. I have noticed that this movie didn’t get much love when it was released but I always had a weak spot for the damned thing. Basically, Wayne Wang and Paul Auster already worked together to make ‘Smoke’ which turned out to be really neat and since they apparently had a good time, they decided to make another feature in 5 days using the same location and some of the same characters using some improvisational style. Eventually, I thought it was really neat to go back to this tobacco shop, to see again Auggie and to meet some other of his friends. Furthermore, I really liked the fact that the tone was really different than ‘Smoke’ and, this time, they went for a really laid-back tone which was just really neat. Of course, there was no plot whatsoever, just a succession of small scenes involving various characters but I thought that most of these little scenes were actually quite entertaining and I especially enjoyed these monologues involving Lou Reed. To conclude, even though it is a rather obscure feature, I really liked the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Basically, it is one of those rather obscure French features that almost no one has seen on Listal. I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theatre when it was released and there was in France , in fact, a pretty good buzz about this movie before it came out. Indeed, after 8 long years, Jean-Paul Rappeneau was finally coming up with a new ambitious project and he had a very cool cast at his disposal. It was also the first time in 10 years since ‘La reine Margot’ that Isabelle Adjani was showing up in a big French production so the expectations were pretty high concerning this movie. Well, to be honest, even though it was a decent watch, I can’t say it was really mind-blowing though. Basically, it was some kind of hyperlink feature dealing with several characters going from Paris to the South of France in order to escape the Nazis during WWII. I don’t know, even though it was all fairly entertaining, I thought  it was also rather fluffy and I had a rather hard time to really care about the damned thing. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not really a masterpiece, I thought it was still pretty good and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.