Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back then, Johnny Depp showed up in this movie just before becoming a huge star with ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’ and I wonder if it would attract any audience if it was released nowadays. Personally, I always had some mixed feelings about this flick. Indeed, on one hand, it was a decent true story, there was a really nice cast involved (Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Franka Potente, Rachel Griffiths) and they all delivered some decent performances but, on the other hand, it still was missing something to be truly remarkable. I mean, if you would put it aside some really amazing crime features like ‘Goodfellas’, for example, it is actually rather forgettable. Concerning Ted Demme, this movie finally got him the attention of the mainstream audience but, unfortunately, he would die about a year later, ironically with some cocaine in his body. Still, after rewatching it so many years later, I have to admit that I still have a weak spot for the damned thing though. The one thing that still bothered me was that, even though Jung was apparently retired for years, the FBI and DEA were still chasing him for some reason and I wish they would have explained what was their beef against him exactly. At least, back then, Depp was still one of the most interesting actors at work, instead of the pathetic circus show he has become (who knows though? He might make a come-back at some point... that would great because I really miss the guy). Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Johnny Depp’s work. 

After 6 long years, Michael Moore was finally coming up with a new directing effort so, of course, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I think it was actually his weakest movie so far. I mean, it was not really bad, in fact, it was still a decent watch but I thought that this movie was mostly made for the American audience, even more than his previous movies. Indeed, I guess it must be really interesting for the people from the USA to see how things goes in other countries but, for the European viewers, it is rather weird to hear that your country is actually totally awesome. In my case, I’m French and I thought it was hilarious to see Moore taking the French school cafeterias as an example. Indeed, when I was a kid, I had to eat there every day and I thought it was awful. Of course, it was more than 20 years ago so those places might have improved in the mean time but it is pretty obvious that Moore really exaggerated how great everything goes in the rest of the world. Still, it was an interesting watch and while watching the damned thing, you wonder why the USA are still considered the most powerful country in the world where they are in fact behind everyone else in almost any area you could think of. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really work for me, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Moore’s work. 

To be honest, I always had some mixed feelings about this flick. In fact, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. Back then, I thought it was a decent watch but nothing really mind-blowing. However, since I kept hearing some great thing about the damned thing (according to IMDb, it is apparently easily one of the best movie directed by Ridley Scott) so I started to wonder if I missed maybe something the first time around so I rewatched it a few years later. Well, eventually, even after a re-watch, I still had the same feeling about this movie. I mean, sure, the cast was just impressive (Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner, Sam Shepard, Hugh Dancy, Ioan Gruffudd, Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Piven, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Tom Hardy, Orlando Bloom), it was visually pretty awesome, I have to admit it that it was one of Ridley Scott's best directing effort, but the story was nothing really great in my opinion. I mean, sure, it was interesting and entertaining enough but it was also pretty generic and, like most of the movies coming from this director, there was no depth whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even though I’m not a huge fan, I have to admit that it is still a solid war movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Ridley Scott’s work. 

Back in 2015, Steven Spielberg came up with ‘Bridge of Spies’ but even though it was well received, I thought it was rather underwhelming. Only a year later,  he quickly came up with something new but even though Disney had a record-breaking year, they had a flew flops and this movie turned out to be one of them. Still, since it was the last movie directed by Steven Spielberg, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I didn’t care much about the damned thing, even less than ‘Bridge of Spies’. Basically, I thought it was in fact seriously boring. First of all, I have to admit it, I always had a hard time with Roald Dahl’s work and,  except for a few stories he made like ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ or ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, all his tales just really bored me and this movie was not different, I’m afraid. At least, the whole thing looked really neat and Spielberg definitely delivered some State-of-the-Art CGI. Indeed, those giants were quite amazing and Mark Rylance delivered once again a solid performance. To conclude, even though I thought it was seriously tedious, I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Steven Spielberg’s work. 

Surprisingly, according to the IMDb ratings, this movie is, the best one delivered by the Coen brothers so far. On the other hand, it does have a huge cult following. Personally, I actually always go back and forth with this movie. Indeed, depending on my mood, I would find it really awesome but, at some other moment, it would be only decent. In fact, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released and, at the time, I thought it was a step down from ‘Fargo’ but, after a few re-watch, it did grow on me after all. Anyway, there was plenty of stuff to enjoy in this flick, no doubt about it. Indeed, the cast was just awesome (John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, Peter Stormare, John Turturro, David Thewlis, Sam Elliott) and, like anyone else, I especially loved Jeff Bridges who gave here his best and most legendary performance. Finally, it was probably the funniest movie those guys made so far. To conclude, even though I’m not sure if it was really their best movie, it is still pretty much a major cult-classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Coen brothers’s work. 

[Link removed - login to see]Like anyone else, I was quite surprised that, seemingly out of nowhere, Michael Moore came up with a new directing effort just before the next US elections. Even more surprising, the damned thing turned out to be broadcast on one of my Dutch TV channels just a week later so I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I had some mixed feelings about the damned thing. First of all, what was the point of this movie? I mean, Donald Trump is probably the most ridiculous candidate the American people ever had and his chances to win are very slim.  Furthermore, even though the subject was quite interesting, as pointed out by some other viewers, it would have worked better if someone else from Trump’s side would have been on stage with Moore to discuss the candidates. Another issue I had is, at this point, Moore has pretty much become a stand-up comedian and while some of his jokes were pretty good, I don’t think he should be the focus but the actual topics should be the main focus, not himself. Still, he made some good points, like pointing out that people shouldn’t vote for Trump because they are pissed off as they will probably soon regret it. I also liked how he displayed that, if Hilary Clinton would win the elections, it would be a great milestone for the Americans to have for the very first time a woman as president. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Moore’s work. 

It is basically another really obscure French movie that almost no one has seen here on Listal. I remember it very well, even though nobody seems to have heard of it here on Listal, there was actually quite some buzz in France before the damned thing came out. Indeed, after 5 long years, Étienne Chatiliez was finally coming back with a new directing effort and since both his previous directing efforts (‘La vie est un long fleuve tranquille’ and ‘Tatie Danielle’) were some big success, the expectations were pretty high concerning this movie. Well, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released with my girlfriend at the time and she loved the damned thing. Indeed, eventually, it turned out to be another hit for Chatiliez but, to be honest, I actually had a hard time to care about the damned thing. I don’t know, the whole thing was quite popular and everybody seemed to agree that it was really hilarious but, as far as I was concerned, the characters involved were rather moronic and barely amusing. After all these years, maybe I should give it another shot though. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn’t really work for me, I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

It is basically another really obscure French movie that almost no one has seen here on Listal (I was in fact the 3^rd Listal member who rated the damned thing). It has been a while since I saw this flick but I remember it pretty well, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. To be honest, I wonder why I actually decided to see this movie when it came out but it turned out to be a decent watch. Indeed, even though Claude Miller might not be the most famous director coming from France, I always had a weak spot for his work. I think that what I like the most about his movies is that Miller always managed to deliver some realistic but still really intriguing characters. In this case, the story itself was sometimes rather far-fetched but I thought that those characters were quite interesting to follow. Concernig Sandrine Kiberlain, she had a pretty good reputation at the time in France but this movie was in fact the only one she made that I really enjoyed. To conclude, even though it was not a masterpiece, I thought it was pretty good and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.