Reviews by johanlefourbe

Roger Ebert was (and still is) my favorite movie critic. Still, even though I agreed 95% of the time with him, there were some rare occasions when he came up with some surprising views on some movies and this one is a perfect example. Indeed, it was barely seen when it was released and it didn’t get much love either but, somehow, Ebert liked the damned thing so much that he chose it as one of the best movies released in 2012 (this list would be actually his last one, unfortunately). With this in mind, I was quite eager to check it out but, to be honest, even though I thought it was pretty good, I can’t say I was really blown away like Roger Ebert seemed to be. Basically, they combined 2 story-lines (one about a hedge fund magnate involved in some shady deal and another one about the same guy trying to not be linked with the accidental death of his mistress) but, eventually, even though both stories were decent, they were nothing really mind-blowing. Furthermore, even though the accident and how he managed to get away with it was fairly entertaining, it gave me the feeling that to see this rich magnate committing fraud was not bad enough, they also had to add this dramatic event as well because to make him look really guilty. Still, even though it wasn't flawless, I really linked the damned thing. Indeed, it was a well made and realistic thriller and, above all, Richard Gere easily gave one of his best performances. Indeed, he is usually boring and unconvincing but, in this movie, he was rather pitch-perfect and quite fascinating to behold. To conclude, even though I don’t think it was such a great movie, I thought it was a solid thriller and I think it is really worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie but since I didn’t like it much the first time around, I don’t think I will ever give it a 2^nd chance at some point (I could give it a try with my daughter though). Still, I remember it very well, I actually saw the damned thing with my girlfriend at the time in the movie theater when it was released. Seriously, after all these years, I still don’t understand why she made us watch this flick. I mean, she was a great girl and pretty smart but, sometimes, she had the bad habit to focus on some really childish movies like this one. Anyway, even though I have to admit that it was visually pretty neat (it was in fact the  first feature film with a computer-animated lead character), I was completely bored by the damned thing. It was also the first movie starring Christina Ricci following the Addams family features and, even though she was once again pretty cute, this character was also so much more underwhelming than Wednesday Addams.  It didn’t help that I didn’t care for Casper either. To conclude, I thought it was pretty weak but I guess it might be worth a look if you want to entertain some very young children. 

To be honest, it has been while since I have seen this movie and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. Still, I remember it very well when I first saw it. Indeed, I think it was after ‘Dogma’ was released, I noticed that Kevin Smith had directed a movie before but I completely missed when it was released in France. Eventually, I was so eager to watch the damned thing that I even ordered a VHS all the way from the USA. Anyway, I thought it turned out to be a decent watch. Indeed, after the massive misfire which was ‘Mallrats’, Kevin Smith managed to  greatly improve his status with this flick and, according to Quentin Tarantino, this movie was even ‘a quantum leap forward’ for Smith. Personally, I have to admit that I always had some rather mixed feelings about this flick. I mean, on one hand, it was indeed pretty good and probably the most focused and ‘adult’ feature directed by Kevin Smith, absolutely, but on the other hand, was it really that great? I’m not so sure and, in my opinion, ‘Clerks’ was miles better than this and way more original. Still, it remains one of the better movies directed by Smith, no doubt about it, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

At some point, I noticed that my step-daughter had bought the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' book. It was probably because of the hype and I’m pretty sure she never read the whole thing. Anyway, in spite of its lame reputation, or maybe actually because of its lame reputation, I thought I might as well read the damned thing and guess what? I thought it was not so bad. Sure, it was definitely not a masterpiece whatsoever but I thought it was an easy read. Well, this week-end, I mentioned to my wife that this movie was available on HBO and, to my surprise, she was actually eager to check it out. I guess that, pretty much like my step-daughter, she was above all curious because of all the hype concerning those books. Well, even though this movie is currently running for the title of ‘Worst Movie of the Year’, I thought it could have been so much worse. I mean, sure, pretty much like the book, it gave a really poor idea about what a BDSM relationship must look like, violating some of the most basic rules involved in this kind of relationships but, at least, it was a movie about some characters exploring the boundaries of their sexuality which is something so rare. Furthermore, I was actually pleased with Dakota Johnson who gave a solid performance as Anastasia Steele. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about Jamie Dornan who was completely miscast to play Christian Grey. I mean, sure, he was not really ugly but he was never intense enough for this character. Anyway, I was actually surprised about how soft the whole thing was after all. Apparently, they toned down the material to make sure that they got a R rating and, as result, it never felt like I was watching a really hardcore SM relationship. The lack of full-frontal nudity was also rather pathetic and gave as well the feeling that you were actually watching a fake transgressive feature produced for the average housewife. Finally, and that was also the biggest problem with the book, it remains difficult to really care about their relationship. I mean, their whole conflict is in fact completely bogus. Basically, they are both young, good looking and the guy is filthy rich and loves kinky sex so I never really understood what was their problem. I mean, it is clear that Anastasia actually loves the wild sex (who wouldn’t?) so they could in fact easily make some compromise between what she wants and what he wants and live happily ever after. Anyway, to conclude, pretty much like the book, half of it was pretty much garbage, half of it was actually quite interesting but I still don’t think it is really worth a look. 

PS : I was also rather amazed to see how, in more than 10 years, Audrey Tautou barely changed at all

(2002)                                                     (2013)

I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, even though it was heralded when it was released, it was even nominated for 11 Academy Awards (it won none eventually) and  even though it was loved by many viewers, to be honest, I thought the whole thing was actually rather disappointing and this re-watch didn’t change my mind at all. I mean, sure, it was a decent drama and Celie was an interesting character with a very strong performance by Whoopi Goldberg but, in my opinion, it was pretty obvious that it was Steven Spielberg's first attempt at this genre. Indeed, the whole thing tends to be sometimes pretty cheesy and, even though the material was dark and complex, it felt as if Spielberg insisted to shot the damned thing as if it was aiming for an audience composed of 12 year old children. For example, it completely downplayed the lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug which was reduced to a chaste kiss when this relationship was actually a major milestone for the main character. Another thing was that while the black women were displayed as oppressed, they were eventually quite resourceful and even powerful but all the black men were displayed as either drunk, idiotic, misogynist or violent and they should have developed more these characters to make them more nuanced. Anyway, I have to admit that, for a first drama, it was not bad at all and even though I don’t really get why this movie got so much praise, it is still definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Spielberg’s work. 

In 2016, almost 20 years after releasing his last movie, Warren Beatty will finally make a come-back with a new directing effort and we’ll see soon enough if it will be a success or another failure. Well, even though Beatty seems to have had a decent career as a director, I have seen so far only this movie. In fact, I’m pretty sure I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. Back then, I was just a kid and I had seriously no idea who the hell was Dick Tracy but the damned thing was heavily marketed as a children feature, at least in France, so that’s how I ended up watching this flick. Well, to be honest, I always had some mixed feelings about this movie. Sure, it was visually pretty neat and there was a really nice cast involved (Warren Beatty, Madonna, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, James Caan) but I had a hard time with the material. Indeed, it was all very colorful and over-the-top but the story was rather generic and eventually slightly underwhelming. Anyway, to conclude, even though I didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.