Reviews by johanlefourbe

It has been a while since I saw this flick but I’m pretty sure I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. It is usually considered as one of the better movies delivered by Woody Allen in the 90’s. Indeed, it was nominated for the Academy Award for the Best Screenplay and at some point, it was even included in the amazing list ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ but it has been removed later on. Well, in spite of this, I actually had a rather hard time to really care about the damned thing. I mean, there was a really impressive cast involved and it was definitely more ambitious than most of the movies he made during the last 20 years and, yet, I didn’t really feel much connection with the material. Basically, Allen tried to make something similar to Bergman’s and Fellini’s work but, as far as I’m concerned, it didn’t really work and I thought it was one of his most pretentious movies. On the other hand, I was much younger when I saw it and maybe I should give it a 2^nd chance at some point. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Woody Allen’s work. 

To be honest, it has been ages since I saw this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Basically, a while back, I used to play the saxophone and I followed some lessons for 5-6 years. At some point, my sax teacher asked me if I would be interested to play in a band and, of course, I thought it sounded pretty neat. Eventually, it turned out to be a blues-band which was pretty much like the band in this movie with some kids coming from the projects of my city. I mean, we even had ‘Mustang Sally’ in our set list! So, obviously, everyone in my band just loved this movie for some obvious reasons but, to be honest, I always had some rather mixed feelings about the damned thing. I mean, sure, it was quite entertaining, the characters were convincing and believable and some of the dialogues were quite hilarious but, eventually, I thought the whole thing was just too pedestrian and predictable for my taste. Indeed, the whole thing pretty much followed the formula in this genre and they took no risk whatsoever. Still, to conclude, even though I’m not really a huge fan, it is a solid cult-classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point. By now, I have seen more than 7000 movies and, following this mad obsession about movies, I have seen many very old classics and I have noticed that it is very often hit-and-miss with such timeless  features. Indeed, with some of them, I could see right away why they have been heralded through all the years but, for some others, it seems more that they were groundbreaking when they were released but they seem to be rather dated nowadays. Well, in this case, with this movie, it thought it was pretty good and, from a technical point of view, Eisenstein was quite a genius who came up with some movie technics that were never used before but, still, was it really such a fascinating story? I’m not so sure. I mean, it is probably the best propaganda film ever made but, even so, the propaganda genre has its limitations and, as a result, this movie still didn’t really blow me away. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t become one of my all time favorite movies, it was still a really interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre and it is pretty much a must-see for any decent movie buff. 

This movie is pretty much the stuff of legend. Indeed, the production on this movie was so messed up and convoluted (it has become somehow a trademark with Terry Gilliam) that the making-off has maybe become even more notorious than the movie itself. For example, after many delays, the film was already $2 million over budget before they even started to shoot and, eventually, the budget started with $23.5 million and almost doubled. It is reported that, when they finally started to shoot the damned thing, after a  whole week, they only managed to get about 17 minutes of footage. Following all these production problems and cost overruns, Terry Gilliam actually almost got fired during this nightmarish shooting but, somehow, he still managed to finish this movie. Well, if you manage to put aside all this, I still think it is actually a decent watch. I mean, sure, the end result was indeed pretty messed up but I thought it was still fairly entertaining and the whole thing was above quite gorgeous which can be expected from a movie delivered by this director. Anyway,  to conclude, in spite of its reputation, I think it is actually pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Terry Gilliam’s work. 

Even though this movie was a huge commercial and critical failure, I have to admit that it used to be one of my highest priorities for 2016. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for Alex Proyas’s work (‘Dar City’ is especially one of my all-time favorite movies) and, after 7 long years, the guy was finally coming up with something new so I had some rather high expectations. Unfortunately, I have to agree, this movie turned out be indeed a massive disappointment. I mean, the whole thing looked really neat but, unfortunately, pretty much nothing else really worked in this movie. First of all, this movie received some big criticism for whitewashing the characters but I don’t really believe in this argument. Indeed, in my opinion, it is really naive to think that they could release such a blockbuster with some unknown Egyptian or Arab actors. So, even though the ethnicity of the actors was not really the issue here, it doesn’t change the fact that the cast was actually rather weak. Indeed, in my opinion, Chadwick Boseman was the only one who managed to do something interesting with his character. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Geoffrey Rush were not bad but also not really amazing either. Brenton Thwaites and  Courtney Eaton were both really bland and boring and, for  Courtney Eaton, her ever-present cleavage obviously helped by a push up bra was really distracting and not really period accurate. Concerning Elodie Yung, she looked nice but they should have chosen a much more gorgeous woman to play the goddess of love, like Bar Refaeli for example or, even if they wanted someone more exotic looking, Adriana Lima or Irina Shayk. Eventually, the most disappointing actor was probably Gerard Butler though. Indeed, while watching this flick, it was hard to believe that it was the same actor who, 10 years ago, kicked some major-ass as Leonidas. Indeed in ‘300’, he carried the whole thing on his shoulder, showing some major charisma and leadership but, in this movie, I never believed I was watching some actual god with some mighty power. Aside from the cast, the story was also really weak. I mean, the whole thing about the prince who needs to fight against his uncle to get back his throne has been done to death by now and usually way better than in this movie. To conclude, even though the whole thing really had some potential, it turned to be really weak and I don’t think it is worth a look. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick. Still, I remember it pretty well. Basically, this movie is the proof that Jennifer Annison is actually quite talented and, if she would choose the rate material, she could have had a more interesting career. I mean, ever since she stopped with ‘Friends’, she definitely had a successful career but, in my opinion, she just kept playing some version of Rachel Green which became pretty boring at some point. Coming back to our main feature, well, for once, Anniston played someone completely different than Rachel Green and it worked fine. In fact, she played someone who was actually rather unlikable and it was just so refreshing. It also helped that she was working with Jake Gyllenhaal, one of the best actors of his generation. Gyllenhaal just had his breakthrough a year before with ‘Donnie Darko’, he was still up-and-coming at the time but the guy was already quite promising and I thought he had some pretty good chemistry with Jennifer Anniston. To conclude, even though it was probably nothing really amazing, I thought it was a solid indie drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. The most interesting thing about this movie is that it was starring a very young Nicole Kidman. She would give her breakthrough performance in this movie opening her the doors of Hollywood and she would never look back afterwards. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though it was maybe nothing really ground-breaking, it was a really solid and entertaining thriller. In fact, many noticed the similarities between this movie and, ‘[Link removed - login to see]’, the really impressive debut delivered by Roman Polanski and I think it is a good thing that I saw this movie first as it allowed me to enjoy it more. Eventually, it must be one of the very few movies starring Billy Zane in which the guy was not completely annoying for once. On the other hand, Sam Neil and Nicole Kidman were perfectly cast and they all delivered some solid performances. To conclude, even though it was maybe not a masterpiece, I always had a weak spot for such minimalist thrillers, I thought it was actually pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. Still, I remember quite well when this movie was released. Indeed, back in those days, Ben Affleck was already starting to have a rather poor reputation after working twice with Michael Bay (in ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Pearl Harbor’) and, a year later, everything would go south for him with a succession of really massive box-office flops (‘Daredevil’, ‘Gigli’, ‘Paycheck’, ‘Jersey Girl’, ‘Surviving Christmas’). Personally, I always believed that the hatred towards this actor at the time was really exaggerated and I was really pleased when he managed to make a massive come-back as a director. But even as an actor, I thought that the guy was not bad at all and this movie is a fine example. Indeed, what I enjoyed the most about this movie is that the 2 main characters played by Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson were pretty much some average fellows, with their own qualities and defaults. On top of that, I thought that most of what happened during the whole thing was fairly believable which is something rather rare in your average US thriller and I really liked the approach. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent thriller and I think it is definitely worth a look