Reviews by johanlefourbe

Basically, it is one of those rather obscure French movies that almost no one has seen here on listal. In fact, I remember it very well when this movie was released and I’m pretty sure I saw it in the movie theater at the time. Indeed, I guess, Agnès Jaoui is pretty much unknown abroad but she actually always had a solid career as actress in France for many years. Anyway, back in 2000, she surprised everyone with this directing debut which was a big commercial and critical success in France (it even won the César of the Best French movie for that particular year). Basically, what made this movie really intriguing to me was the fact there was no real plot and that it was rather focused on the characters. It is in fact something really French, to have a whole movie during which nothing much really happen and, instead,  you just get to see some couples endlessly talking to each other. Anyway, in this case, it worked just fine. Indeed, the characters were indeed very well nuanced and well portrayed by the cast which delivered some solid performances (Jean-Pierre Bacri, Alain Chabat, Gérard Lanvin, Agnès Jaoui). To conclude, I really liked a lot this romantic feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and it is basically one of those rather obscure French movies that almost no one has seen here on listal. I think I did see this one in the movie theater when it was released and I wonder how I ended up watching the damned thing. My guess is that I wanted to see it because it was really heralded by the critics when it was released. Anyway, eventually, even though the story was obviously rather far-fetched,  it turned out to be a really effective and entertaining thriller. Above all, what really worked for me in this movie was the really solid performance delivered by Sergi López. It is probably thanks to this movie that he eventually play the bad guy in ‘El laberinto del fauno’, probably his most high-profile international production. Eventually, I have to admit that I didn’t care much for the other characters (I still had a weak spot for Sophie Guillemin though) but Harry was so fascinating , it made the whole thing quite spellbinding to behold. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really liked it a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since we're all currently involved in a worldwide pandemic with the coronavirus, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back then, the first time I watched the damned thing, even though I thought it was fairly entertaining, it didn’t really impressed me though. However, nowadays, since we have all become virus experts thanks to the constant flow of information concerning the Covid-19, I was actually amazed and quite terrified by how scientifically accurate this movie actually was after all. The only thing that really bothered me was that everything was just rushed too much. Indeed, only within a couple of days, the deadly virus arrived in the US, spred itself, killed 100s of people, but a cure was found and the town was saved.  It would have been so much more efficient and realistic to spread the action over several weeks, even a few months. Concerning the rest of the movie, it was also rather pedestrian and predictable. It was like the relationship between Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo. Russo's character turned out to be really passive and, of course, Hoffman's character was a workaholic and they divorced but, to save the day, they had to work again together. I mean, seriously, that’s a very old gimmick. However, the chase during the final act was even more problematic as it was terribly far-fetched. Still, the whole thing was well made, there was a terrific cast involved (Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Donald Sutherland, Patrick Dempsey) and they all delivered some solid performances. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its a flaws, I have to admit that it is still a decent virus-related thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.  

When was the last time that Brian De Palma  did release a great movie? Recently, I saw his last directing effort, ‘Passion’, and it was seriously terribly weak. With this in mind, if you look back at his legacy, some of his really average movies seem almost decent nowadays. This movie is a perfect example. Basically, it is not a good movie, that’s for sure, but there was definitely some potential. First of all, there is one hell of an opening. Indeed, it is a composite of several Steadicam shots cleverly edited to make it look like a 20 minutes long continuous shot and it has been rightfully hailed as one of the best openings ever made. Furthermore, even though it seems that Nicolas Cage has decided to completely ruined his career by showing only in some random garbage, back in those days, the guy was one of the most interesting actors at work and he gave here a solid performance. Then, you had this plot…. In fact, at first, it wasn’t really so bad and it could have turned out to be a decent thriller. Unfortunately, slowly, it became pretty obvious that De Palma didn’t care much about the plot at all, it became less and less interesting and, towards the end, the climax was downright completely underwhelming (apparently, the original ending  was in fact supposed to be an action-packed sequence with some massive special effects but it was cancelled in post-production). To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look but don’t expect anything really amazing before watching the damned thing.

To be honest, it has been ages since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. This movie seriously came out of nowhere. Indeed, before that, Peter Jackson was the King of the Nasties, making some crude but hilarious horror comedies. However, with this feature, he suddenly shifted gears and made a very compelling and original fantastic thriller/drama. Who could have imagine that a director expert in vomit feasts could make such a sensitive portrait of female adolescence?!? At this point, it was pretty obvious that Jackson was a really skilled director that we should reckon with in the future. Not only the directing was impressive but we shouldn't forget about the tremendous acting as well. Indeed, even though Melanie Lynskey never managed to really have a breakthrough, she was actually really good in this, and, of course, for the great Kate Winslet, it was a really amazing acting debut and the beginning of a great career full of many other amazing performances. Eventually, 15 years later, Peter Jackson would go back to this genre with ‘The Lovely Bones’ but, unfortunately, it turned out to be a commercial and critical flop. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it seems to be rather forgotten nowadays, it is actually a really solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Peter Jackson’s work. 

This franchise must have the most messed up legacy ever. Obviously, the notorious 2^nd installment has always been hailed as the worst sequel ever made but, at the end of the day, none of the other sequel was really much better, to be honest (yes, I have seen all of them and that’s what you can call indeed a massive waste of time…). It is rather sad because this first movie was actually pretty cool and it is definitely a childhood classic for me. Obviously, the concept was really far-fetched, it already barely made sense the first time around and there was some really weird casting choices going on here with Sean Connery (a Scotsman) playing a Spaniard and Christopher Lambert (a Frenchman) playing a Scotsman. Still, there was something quite mesmerizing about this convoluted and messed up mythology and, I can’t deny it, when I was a kid, I thought it was just awesome to see those immortals fighting each other for the ‘big prize’. At the end of the day, there was definitely something interesting about this concept and it just needed some fine-tuning to become really awesome. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, they really ruining the whole thing with those awful sequels. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is still a fun and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was really eager to check it out again. In fact, I remember very well when this movie came out. Indeed, back then, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were still a big deal and when the word came out that they would finally star together in a movie, like any other average movie fanatic, I was just thrilled. Eventually, I even saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released and I was certainly not disappointed. Well, I'm really glad I rewatched it after all these years, I enjoyed even more as it is such a very well made and entertaining heist feature. The masterstroke with this movie was that, instead of rushing everything and focusing on the action scenes, they took their time. As a result, De Niro and Pacino, who were still at the top of their game, had enough space to develop their characters and you had the opportunity to root for both guys, the thief and the cop, which is something very rare and it was very well handled here. Concerning Michael Mann, he made recently a come-back after 6 long years with ‘Blackhat’ but it turned out to be a massive commercial and critical failure. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, it is definitely a classic, one of the best movies ever made in this genre and it is definitely worth a look.