Reviews by johanlefourbe

Recently, I just re-watched ‘L’auberge espagnole’ and I thought I should watch this sequel as well. In fact, I already saw it, somehow, with my wife in the movie theater when it was released. Anyway, Klapish thought it would be a good idea to go back to these characters but I’m not sure if the gap between the 2 movies was big enough (only 3 years). Basically, you get the very same characters but only slightly older and I never had the feeling that they were actually really at a turning point in their life. As a result, the movie struggled a little bit to put most of these characters all back together and the whole thing felt even more random than its predecessor. Furthermore, I thought that Xavier, the main character, was seriously turning into a douche-bag. I mean, during the previous movie, he was already cheating with his girlfriend with a married woman but he was just a young student living abroad so it was understandable. However, in this movie, the guy was already 30 years old but he was still screwing around with at least 3 different girls more or less at the same time and it was really difficult to feel sorry for his so-called impossible love life. And yet, it is probably because the main character was so flawed that the whole thing was still really compelling to watch. Indeed, Romain Duris was once again terribly charismatic and he delivered another strong performance. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was a slight step-down from ‘L’auberge espagnole', it was still a really solid romantic feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

PS : I was also rather amazed to see how, in just 3 years, Kelly Reilly managed to turn herself from a decent but average looking mouse to a really gorgeous chick

To be honest, it has been years since I have seen this movie and maybe I should probably give it a 2^nd chance at some point, especially since it actually has a really solid reputation. Indeed, even though it was a box-office flop when it was released, it quickly became a cult-classic. Well, to be honest, from all the classics directed by John Carpenter, it is the only one for which I really didn’t care much. Basically, it is a really silly movie and, if you love its silliness then you will have a blast watching the damned thing but, in my case, I thought it was usually more cringe-inducing than actually entertaining. I don’t know, the fans might argue that it was incredibly fun and entertaining but I was rather bored by this feature and it felt rather like watching a cheap rip-off of ‘Indiana Jones’. Still, as I mentioned before, I saw it a while back so I should probably re-watch it at some point but I have my doubts (the fact that Roger Ebert didn’t like it at all when it was released makes me think I was probably right the first time around). Anyway, to conclude, even though it seemed to a decent flick, I didn’t like it much and I don’t think it is really worth, except if you really love the genre. 

Maybe, at some point, I should give this movie a 2^nd chance. Indeed, even though I didn’t really hate it, I still didn’t like at all and I’m pretty sure it must be the least deserving winner of the Best Picture Academy Award of all time. Seriously, from all the movies nominated (including also ‘Gangs of New York’, ‘The Hours’, ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ and ‘The Pianist’), it was seriously the weakest one of the bunch. Indeed, even though it was obviously supposed to be some kind of song and dance extravaganza, it was more obnoxious than actually entertaining and I thought it was just so boring. Of course, I have to confess, I have never been a huge fan of musicals in general but when I did watch some classics in this genre (‘The Sound of Music’, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Les Miserables’,…), I was always able to see why they were so popular, even if I didn’t really care much for them but, in this case, I just really didn’t get it at all. At least, Catherine Zeta-Jones really looked gorgeous back in those days. To conclude, apparently, the musical fans really loved it, but I really didn’t care at all for the damned thing and I don’t think it is really worth, except if you really love the genre. 

Even though Robert Rodriguez definitely got noticed thanks to his directing debut 'El Mariachi', it is actually really with this sequel/remake that he eventually became really noticed by the mainstream audience. I remember it very well, I even saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. Basically, even though the budget was still rather modest (approximately $7 million), it was still 1000 times the amount of money Rodriguez spent to make his previous directing effort. Well, to be honest, even though it was a solid action flick, I don’t think the plot was anything really original or amazing. Still, in spite of its flaws, it was a very well made and entertaining action movie. On top of that, not only it introduced Robert Rodriguez, it also helped Antonio Banderas and the always lovely Salma Hayek to breakthrough in the USA so this movie was a very important milestone for all the players involved. Almost 10 years later, they would eventually come up with another sequel which would be also quite watchable as well. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is still pretty much one of the best movies delivered by Robert Rodriguez and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

By now, I must have seen most of the action flicks starring Sylvester Stallone and, to be honest, I think that most of them are pretty weak and boring but I have to admit that they are a few exceptions and this movie is definitely one of them. Indeed, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released and, since then, it has always been one of my guilty pleasures. I mean, sure, the whole concept was rather preposterous but it was also a lot of fun. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was in fact the only SF starring Stallone which managed to be actually really entertaining. Anyway, what I enjoyed the most with this movie is that there was a really nice mix between some really solid action scenes and some funny scenes. Indeed, the whole thing was not only about the massive fight between Stallone and Snipes but also about how they get used to this futuristic world. To introduce Stallone’s character to this new time, they gave him also a really neat sidekick with Sandra Bullock in a star-making performance (it is actually interesting that she actually got her breakthrough with 2 action flicks, this one and ‘Speed’ released a year later). To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is is probably one of my favorite action flicks and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back then when it was released, even if it did turn out to be fairly successful at the box-office, this movie still got a rather lame reputation. Even myself, I had some mixed feelings about the damned thing. Basically, on one hand, it was a rather moronic action flick but, on the other hand, I have seen much worse and the over-the-top approach actually had some potential. Indeed, the TV-show was nothing really serious to start with so to have some fun with this concept was not a bad idea. Well, after all these years, I don't think the damned thing was so bad after all. Indeed, the three girls (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu) looked fine and they were quite fun to behold. They could have dialed down the goofy humor but I was surprised that it actually worked most of the time. As a result, you get to see Bill Murray who was really fun and the guy was just a perfect choice to play John Bosley. Unfortunately, even though Murray was probably the best thing in this movie, he had apparently a major argument with Lucy Liu during the making of this movie so he didn’t show up for the sequel. It was also fun to be remembered that, after 'The Matrix' was released, so many action flicks like this one copied its way of shooting fighting scenes with some really dubious results. In general, the movie didn't look great visually speaking already when it was released but it was obviously never really the point. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that it wasn’t as awful as it thought it was, especially after watching Elizabeth Banks's even more abysmal version, and I think it is actually worth a look, at least, if you like the genre.