Reviews by johanlefourbe

Ever since I saw ‘Toy Story’ more than 20 years ago in the movie theater when it was released, I have always been a huge fan of Pixar’s work and I had been anxiously waiting for their new releases. However, after ‘Up’, I started to loose interest and, I have to admit it, this new feature was not really a high priority for me. Still, my kids were really eager to see the damned thing so I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I thought it was a decent watch but not much more than that, I’m afraid. Indeed, the first annoying thing is that, when your kids ask you ‘why did it take them more than 10 years to come up with a sequel?’, the official answer has always been ‘Well, they wanted to be sure that they had a great story’. Well, when you watch the damned thing, you really wonder why it took them so long to deliver something so derivative. I mean, they obviously wanted to convince us that it was something really different than ‘Finding Nemo’ but it was really pretty much the same thing which was really disappointing. At least, it was a very well made animated feature, really gorgeous to look at, with some really funny characters, and I think it is still worth a look but I wish Pixar would stop making those cheap sequels (unfortunately, it is not the case as 3 of their 4 upcoming projects would be again some other sequels...).

It has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. By the way, I have noticed that this movie, like most of the old Dutch movies directed by Paul Verhoeven, is really rarely broadcast on the Dutch channels which is quite a shame since his work belong to the very best work coming from the Dutch film industry. Anyway, when it came out, this film was heavily criticized in the Netherlands and this criticism was one of the contributing factors in Paul Verhoeven's decision to make his films in America rather than his native land. However, 30 years later, this movie is now considered a classic in the Netherlands. Personally, I thought it was pretty good but, to be honest, I can’t say I was completely convinced by the damned thing. I mean, the characters were interesting and the actors involved gave some decent performances but I had a rather hard time to get where Paul Verhoeven was getting at with the damned thing. It seemed that he was trying to deliver something rather depraved and decadent just to get a shocked reaction from the audience. Anyway, to conclude, it must be the most trashy movie ever directed by the Sleaze master but I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. In fact, I even saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released, Anyway, could you imagine if they would release today a movie starring both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck? It would be a major event. Eventually, the release of this movie was also an event but above all because of its controversial subject. In my opinion, it was and still is easily the most ambitious movie directed so far by Kevin Smith and it was definitely an interesting feature. Indeed, in spite of the whole controversy, Smith is actually a born and bred catholic so, even though he was poking fun at the Catholicism, he definitely knew what he was talking about (probably more than I did). Unfortunately, pretty much like most of Smith’s efforts, the whole thing was rather unfocused and there were just too many characters in my opinion so most of them were rather half-baked. I thought it was also rather lame to have the two angels switching roles just at the end. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a pretty cool flick and easily one of the best movies delivered by Kevin Smith so far. 

Back in 2015, Johnny Depp tried to make a come-back with ‘Black Mass’ but even though his performance was praised, the movie itself didn’t get much love after all (I still have to watch it myself). In fact, almost 20 years earlier, Johnny Depp already played in another gangster flick and, with this movie, he also received some of the best reviews of his career. To be honest, it has been a while since I saw the damned thing but, if I recall it correctly, I actually saw it in the movie theater when it was released at the time. Anyway, ever since he left ’21 Jump Street’, Johnny Depp had been famous for playing some rather weird and eccentric characters but, for once, he was playing someone slightly more straightforward than usual. Eventually, the end-result was quite impressive and it was especially pretty neat to see Depp working with such a legend like Al Pacino. Even though Pacino was playing another gangster, he wasn't playing this time some other tough guy but some kind of loser which was really refreshing and the guy was just awesome as well in this movie. To conclude, even though it was a rather straightforward crime drama, it was so well made, so entertaining, and the actors were so fine in this movie, I really loved the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

[Link removed - login to see]I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, I’m pretty sure I saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released at the time. Anyway, 20 years ago, when Johnny Depp was still considered as a box-office poison, he was also one of the most interesting actors at work at the time. Still, to be honest, before re-watching the damned thing, I was pretty sure it was probably not one of the best movies he made at the time (his track-record was back then pretty amazing). Well, I have to admit that I was actually really positively surprised by the damned thing, even after all these years. Indeed, on the paper, the whole thing sounded really ludicrous and there was no way that such a mix involving mental illness and a typical romance should have worked. And, yet, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the damned thing. Indeed, Johnny Depp was a perfect choice to play this character and even Marlon Brando delivered here one of the very decent performances when the end of his career was at the time pretty pathetic. Hell, even the sub-plot involving Brando's love life with Faye Dunaway was cute and effective. Eventually,  even though it was maybe not a masterpiece, it still must be one of the very few movies I have seen which really managed to mix so well something terribly serious like a mental patient with a whimsical romance and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Johnny Depp’s work.

I’m not really sure if this movie is famous abroad but, in France, it is pretty much a cult-classic. Anyway, I remember very well  when this movie came out and I even went to see it in the movie theater with my buddies when it was released. Back in those days, Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci were on the verge of becoming the biggest power couple in France and this movie was already the second one they made together (they would eventually make 7 movies together). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it turned out to be pretty entertaining and, above all, visually really impressive, especially for a French production. The main issue is that it was rather shallow after all. I mean, for example, they had Monica Bellucci, one of the most gorgeous women in the world especially back in those days, but they chose to give her a mute character which basically meant that they wanted her for her great looks and not really for her acting talent. Concerning the other characters, it was pretty much the same thing, they were usually pretty fun but they were also reduced to some cartoon figures. To conclude, in spite of it flaws, I think it was still a pretty cool flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see a bad-ass French action flick. 

A couple of years ago, my wife bought me a book written by Jo Nesbø, it was one of these thrillers starring Harry Hole. Eventually, even though I didn’t expect much about it, I thought it was pretty good and I even ended up reading a 2^nd book about Harry Hole for which, by the way, they will soon release a movie adaptation starring Michael Fassbender as Harry Hole.  Anyway, I had noticed that this movie adapted from his work had some pretty good ratings so I was quite eager to check it out and I even managed to convince my wife to watch it with me. Eventually, I think we both enjoyed it, even if the story was sometimes seriously far-fetched. I mean, at some point, the main character go all the way down into a cesspool, I mean, seriously, all the way down, he even has to breath with a toiler paper carton roll. Then, he tries to run away with a tractor but he can’t find the keys so he goes to the farm. There, he discovers that the farmer has been killed but he does find the tractor keys. So, you think he will be able to get away but you would be wrong. In the shed, he is attacked by a huge white dog who bites him pretty bad but he still manage to kill the damned dog by impaling him on the tractor fork (that was seriously gruesome). Then, he finally manages to get away on the road, all covered with sh*t, on his tractor, with the big white dog still impaled. That was seriously some of the most insane 15 minutes I have seen in a movie and I won’t mention the car accident happening later on. Still, I thought it was quite entertaining and I especially enjoyed the main character who was really smart and charismatic. To conclude, even though it didn’t completely convince me, it was still a neat thriller and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Obviously, this movie was nothing really amazing but I have to admit that it always been one of my guilty pleasures. Indeed, for some reasons, I actually saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released, I must have been something like 12 years old at the time, and since I was just a kid, I thought it was pretty neat. Still, for some reason, even though it is nothing really groundbreaking, I think it is a rather cute and sweet romantic-comedy. After watching many movies starring Michael J. Fox, I came to realize that the guy wasn’t able to play anything else than some variations of Marty McFly but, back in those days, it wasn’t so obvious yet and I thought he was actually pretty good. At least, his usual gimmick didn’t bother me too much and I thought he was quite charismatic. I’m pretty sure it was also with this movie that I would discover Woody Harrelson who would become in the years to come one of the most interesting character actors in the business. To conclude, even thought the whole thing was rather predictable, I think it is a decent romantic-comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.