Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie, in fact, if I’m not mistaken, I think I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, even though I always had some mixed feelings towards the damned thing, I have to admit that it was actually better than I remembered though and I understand now why it has become one of the most famous romantic-comedies. Indeed, as a concept, it was actually really smart to have a typical Hugh Grant character fall in love with a huge star who happened to be played Julia Roberts who was, back then, the biggest female movie star in the world. And, well, after all these years, I have to admit it that it was actually quite entertaining after all. Indeed, the way Will was completely in love with this gorgeous woman made sense and the way Anna was after all basically just a regular girl was well done as well. I also liked the fact that they made an effort to show that Will was living in the real world, with some believable friends and that Anna would find it attractive somehow. However, the way they got these two characters together didn’t really work and I think it was rather unbelievable that Anna would kiss Will when she left his house the first time around. Furthermore, I thought there was still not much chemistry between Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts though and, the more I think about it, the more I believe that Roberts never gave the feeling that she was really swept away by Grant. Anyway, to conclude, even if it is not flawless, I have to admit that it is still a classic romantic-comedy 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 movie. Still, I remember fairly well when I saw the damned thing. Indeed, back then, it was one of the very last movies directed by Steven Spielberg that I still hadn’t watch yet at the time so I was really eager to check the damned thing. Well, eventually, even though it was certainly not that bad at all, it was still easily one of the least interesting directing efforts coming from this guy. I mean, it was rather well done and the cast was pretty good but even though it was a sweet story, eventually, I thought it was rather boring. I mean, during the previous 15 years, Spielberg single-handedly created the concept of the blockbuster (a concept still ruling the box-office nowadays) and, with each movies, he would push the limit of this concept each time around. Well, at some point, he decided to become a ‘serious’ director and we ended up with movies like this one which was cute but, not much more than that, I’m afraid. To conclude, it is pretty much a minor effort and you can feel that, at this point, Spielberg was still struggling with the drama genre and it all remained way to fluffly and over-sentimental to become really memorable.

Since this movie was the last one directed by Sofia Coppola I still needed to see, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I was amazed about how underwhelming it was. Indeed, it is apparently some American tradition to have some kind of Christmas specials and Netflix thought they should release their own edgy version starring Bill Murray. On top of that, Murray was working again with Sofia Coppola more than a decade after ‘Lost in Translation’ so it all sounded pretty neat on paper. Unfortunately, the whole thing didn’t work at all in my opinion. Indeed, the humor was lame, the songs were pretty weak (I mean, if Miley Cyrus manages to deliver the best song, you should know you are in trouble) and, above all, it was just really boring. Basically, the whole approach of having Bill Murray not wanting to do the Christmas special seriously backfired and, even after he finally goes on with the show, it became some kind of cringe-inducing parody of the genre. Basically, they tried to make some kind of anti-Christmas special but, even though the concept had some potential, it was not funny and not entertaining whatsoever.  To conclude, I thought it was really weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago and since it was available on Disney+, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, I’m really glad I gave this movie a second chance because I was much more able to enjoy it the 2^nd time around (In fact, I think I should watch it again in about 10 years to fully enjoy it). Indeed, the first time around, even though I had a lot of respect for this flick, eventually, it didn’t really win me over though. That’s something that sometimes happen with old classics like this one. Basically, you keep hearing about them for years, building up some massive expectations in the process and, well, sometimes, the end-result turns out to be not so great after all. In other cases, like for this movie, you need to mature a little bit, as a movie watcher and as an individual, to really appreciate it them. Indeed, it is probably the darkest and grittiest cop movie ever made and I was also surprised by the gloomy ending (the bad guy doesn't get caught and Popeye ends up killing another cop by accident). Of course, I shouldn’t forget to mention Gene Hackman’s star-making performance. This movie will be also forever remembered for its impressive car chase which is still considered as one of the best ever made, even after all these years. A couple of years later, William Friedkin would come back with ‘The Exorcist’ which was another massive hit and definitely one of the most highly regarded horror movies ever released. Unfortunately, after making 2 classics back-to-back, the rest of his career turned out to be rather underwhelming, I’m afraid. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, it is a really entertaining classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I remember it very well when this movie came out, I even saw it in the movie theater. Back then, it was a huge critical success (it was even nominated for 4 Academy Awards winning one for the Best Score) and also an unexpected box-office hit (it was at the time the highest grossing film ever in the UK). Well, even though it was indeed  a decent watch, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. I mean, I always had a weak spot for Robert Carlyle, especially back in those days when he was one of the most interesting British actors at work, and it was a fairly entertaining story but not much more than that in my opinion. Eventually, 4 years later, the director Peter Cattaneo tried to be clever and he came up with ‘Lucky Break’ which pretty much recycled the very same concept but he didn’t manage to fool the audience since it was pretty much a flop. Coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though I think it is rather overrated, I have to admit it, it is still a decent comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been ages since I have seen this flick and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. Basically, this is a massive guilty pleasure of mine. Indeed, when I started to really watch movies compulsively, I was just about 12 years old and I was mostly focusing on action flicks, which was rather appropriate at that age. And if such an action flick was taking place in some futuristic world, then, it would be pretty much the perfect mix for me. Sure, the concept was pretty basic but the whole thing looked really decent (especially with such a rather modest budget) and I thought it was pretty entertaining. Concerning Christopher Lambert, back then, I had nothing against the guy yet, in the contrary, I thought it was pretty awesome to see the same actor from ‘Highlander’ (another massive guilty pleasure from my childhood) in a science-fiction feature like this one. Eventually, even though I usually don’t care much about B features, I thought this one was actually pretty good. To conclude, even though it is definitely not a masterpiece, I really have a weak spot for the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie, I think I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but since it was such a long time ago and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember quite well though, when it was released, there was a big outcry because it was so different from the actual comic-book written by Alan Moore. Well, in my case, when I saw the damned thing the first time around, I didn’t read the comic-book yet (I would read it many years later) and maybe that’s why I thought that this movie was in fact fairly enjoyable. Indeed, back in those days, I was still a huge fan of Johnny Depp and even though he probably looked too good to play this part (especially if you are familiar with the main character in the comic-book), I thought he was a good choice to play the lead. On top of that, even though it seemed to be a rather odd idea to hire the Hughes Brothers to direct a period piece like this one, they did a really good job and the whole thing looked really amazing. Above all, Jack the Ripper has always been a terrifying but also fascinating serial-killer, in fact, it is rather surprising that they didn’t make more movies about this guy. Coming back on the movie itself, well, after watching it 20 years later, I’m afraid it didn’t grow old very well though. I mean, it still look fine and the mood was still pretty much pitch-perfect but, everything else was actually rather weak though. Indeed, the beginning was pretty much a disjointed mess and, sure, it was not a bad idea that Abberline was an opium junkie (who wouldn’t be during these dark ages?) but who cares that he fell in love with one of these prostitutes? Back then, mini-series weren’t such a big deal at all, hell, streaming platforms didn’t exist yet, but, with such material, it is pretty obvious that a mini-series would be a better format. Anyway,  to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look but there is no doubt that it could have been so much better though.