Reviews by johanlefourbe

I remember it very well, more than 20 years ago, I saw ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and I thought it was really awesome. Back then, there was quite some controversy about this movie because, even though it was in fact directed by Henry Selick, Tim Burton eventually seemed to get most of the credit for this amazing movie. Eventually, 3 years later, Selick would release another stop-motion feature, this time, without any involvement of Tim Burton so I was really eager to check the damned thing and I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released. Unfortunately, I thought it was actually rather disappointing. Indeed, basically, even though it was indeed visually really neat, to be honest, I didn’t care much for the story. I have to admit it, I have never been a really huge fan of Roald Dahl’s work and, on top of that, I don’t think it was really one of his strong stories. Eventually, more than a decade later, Wes Anderson would come up with ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ proving that you can make a great stop-motion feature out of a book written by Roald Dahl. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I really enjoyed a lot 'Prisoners', I was really eager to see this other movie,  also directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Jake  Gyllenhaal and also released the very same year. Eventually, what I enjoyed the most about this movie is how completely  different it was from Villeneuve's previous work (to be fair, I have only seen 3 movies directed by this guy, including this one, 'Prisoners' and 'Incendies'). Sure, you might argue that it was in fact just another thriller but this one was completely different, some surrealist experiment which could also be some kind of nightmare. Anyway,  once again, I was quite impressed by Jake Gyllenhaal  who remains by far one of the most talented actors of his generation. Eventually, what prevented this movie to be really great was that it was very slow. In fact, it shouldn't be necessarily  a problem but, with a rather short running time (barely  90 minutes), it remains a big puzzle which was nice but maybe a little bit too easy  and certainly not completely satisfying because  you barely get the opportunity to get to know those 2 guys. Still, it was really something different and only therefore it gets a few extra points. To conclude, I thought it was a really decent watch and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Honestly, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Sam Worthington, I thought I might as well check it out. On top of that, I had this movie on DVD for ages so I thought it was really time to watch the damned thing. Basically, it is one of those Shakesperian adaptations with a modern setting, a trend started with 'Romeo + Juliet' which has lasted a few years afterwards (see also 'O' (2001) and 'Hamlet' (2000)). Well, I never cared for this trend and, except for 'Romeo + Juliet', none of those movies were actually successful, critically or commercially. In fact, this movie might even be the worst of the bunch. Indeed, even though it was a good idea to have the characters involved in some street gangs,  the same trick was in fact already used in 'Romeo + Juliet' and I'm afraid it was pretty much the only thing that really worked in this movie. In my opinion, it would have been much better to modernized the dialogues as well, instead of keeping the original text written by Shakespeare. Also, those witches felt also rather anachronistic and they should have found something else (for example, Macbeth could have taken some drugs and get some kind of hallucinations). Anyway, at least, Worthington was not bad but it was really not enough to save this movie and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Gene Hackman, I thought I might as well check it out. On top of that, I had this movie on DVD for ages so I thought it was really time to watch the damned thing. Well, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. Basically, it is one of those typical conspiracy thrillers but, to be honest, it might be the worst one I have ever seen in this genre. I mean, as an introduction, you get some news footage with a voice-over and, even though this sequence was there to set you in the right mood, it was in fact rather lame. Then, you had the beginning credits with some old pictures of Gene Hackman covered up by some dominos with some really cheesy tune. Again, this wasn't really impressive so even before the story actually started, I was already underwhelmed by the whole thing. Then, it just took too damned long before the story actually took off. I mean, how many conversations do you get between Hackman and 'them' in the prison? Then, he finally leaves the prison and spends some cosy time in Costa-Rica, I mean, seriously, during half of the movie, pretty much nothing happens at all. Then, finally, why would you go through some much trouble just to have someone commit a murder for you? Obviously, it would be much more efficient to just hire someone for half this budget to do the job for you. To conclude, the whole thing was pretty weak and I don't think it is worth a look at all. 

To be honest, I'm usually not really a big fan of Dutch movies in general but since this one was dealing with a very interesting story, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, ever since I have lived in the Netherlands, every winter, many Dutch people wait to know if there will be a Elfstedentocht but then they always hear in the news that it won't take place because the ice is too thin (in fact, since every winter is less and less cold, you might wonder if it will ever take place again). Basically, it is a skating tour, almost 200 kilometres long and, when you see this movie, it is actually total madness and really difficult for a foreigner to understand why someone would take part in something so gruelling and downright dangerous. And yet, this insanity makes somehow the whole thing actually quite compelling to watch. So, there was definitely some potential here to make a great movie but, unfortunately, pretty much like 'De storm', another Dutch movie released the same year and dealing with another massive dramatic historical event, the whole thing was rather underwhelming, I'm afraid. Indeed, they decided to focus on 4 different skaters, each of them of course, with their motivations but none of their stories was in fact really compelling. In fact, one of the characters was mostly speaking in Frisian, a local dialect, and was therefore almost impossible to follow. In my opinion, at the end of the day, the girl had in fact the least underwhelming storyline but, of course, she was the only one to drop out while all the guys managed to finish. To conclude, even though it didn't reach its full potential, I still think it is a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies. 

Of course, I had already seen this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I should give it another try. In fact, it was my wife who actually introduced it to me when we first met. Indeed, it was one of her favorite movies, one of those that she saw so many times as a child, and she was (rightfully) shocked that I never saw the damned thing in my life. Well, even though it was indeed a decent watch, to be honest, I didn't really connect with this movie, I'm afraid. Basically, the oddest  thing about this movie is how it keeps  switching between  the rather cheesy dance scenes  (which were pretty  cool, I have to admit it, at least, if you like this kind of dance) and some realistic  dark moments which  were more compelling to watch, at least, for me. It seems that the makers were not able to make up their minds between  something  rather fluffy to appeal to the mainstream audience or something more dramatic to make sure that they were taken seriously. Or maybe I'm  completely mistaken and it was done on purpose  in order  to accurately represent  the life of the average teenager. Indeed, at the end of the day, their lifestyle  is filled up with some shallow glamorous fantasy but their lives have also some genuine drama  in it. I doubt it was intentional though. Anyway,  to conclude, even though I didn’t really connect with the whole thing, it was still not bad at all and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Well, back in 90's, Jim Sheridan was a really interesting director but his biggest achievement was probably the fact that he managed to make not one but 3 movies with Daniel Day-Lewis, considering how picky this actor can be. Well, this movie was the 2nd one they made together and, like 'My Left Foot', it was another critical success when it was released. Indeed, once again, Day-Lewis was really impressive and gave another strong performance. Pete Postlethwaite was fine as well but, to be honest, Emma Thompson didn’t have much to do and the fact that there were some inaccuracies about her character didn’t help either. Anyway, the whole thing was just really compelling to watch. Eventually, after rewatching the damned thing, I have to admit that the story was, after all, fairly generic and predictable. Furthermore, if you do a little bit of digging, you will discover that maybe half of it never really happened. For example, it didn’t make sense that the Conlons would be together in prison and, unsurprisingly, Joe MacAndrew, one of the most important characters in this story, never really did exist. Eventually, I think it would have even more powerful if they would have been more faithful with what really happened back then but this movie was so well made and played, it still worked fine though. Unfortunately, it has been a while since Jim Sheridan has released something really impressive. Among other things, 'Dream House' turned out to be such a half-baked thriller, without mentioning that he also got involved in this semi-biographical gangsta flick starring 50 Cent. Anyway, to conclude, coming back to our main feature, I think it is still a really solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

They used to call themselves 'The Wachowski Brothers' and nowadays, they go simply by 'The Wachowskis', probably due to the fact that one of them changed gender in the mean time but I'm digressing here. The Wachowskis once managed to make one of the most influential SF features ever made and, even if I'm not a huge fan, I can't deny the impact 'The Matrix' had and still has. Since then, for more than a decade, they have kept making some big budget features but all of them were either some critical failures (The Matrix sequels) and/or some huge bombs at the box-office (pretty much everything else they directed). Well, this last directing effort managed to be both, it was trashed by the critics and it was also one of the biggest flops released in 2015 and, to be honest, I don't think it really deserved better. Indeed, even though the whole thing had some potential, basically, half of it was filled with some murky dialogues trying to explain the complexities of this alien world (pretty much the same trick they used in 'Inception) and the other half was filled with some rather underwhelming action scenes. All in all, this mix was just so boring. On top of that, I think it was a mistake to include our world. Indeed, it was completely unnecessary and because of this choice, the characters had to spend way too much time explaining how those 2 different worlds could exist side by side like this. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that the whole thing did look pretty but it was still a boring mess and I don't think it is worth a look. 

Basically, it was another rather obscure movie that I had for such a long time on DVD so I thought it was really time to watch the damned thing. To be honest, while watching this movie, I kept wondering why I actually bought it in the first place and, if I recall it correctly, it was because Nicole Kidman gave a 10 seconds cameo. I mean, seriously, you should never buy or even watch a movie for such a lame reason. Anyway, after all, I saw the damned thing and it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. Above all, I thought it was rather poorly written. Indeed, who the hell was actually the main character? You might assume that it was Jon Bon Jovi's since his name was prominently displayed on all the promotional material and since he was the title character but he wasn't in fact the main character but I'm not sure if it was Lambert Wilson's character either. So, the whole thing was rather unfocused. Futhermore, coming back to Lambert Wilson, this guy was just so spineless, so pathetic, it was nearly impossible to care for what he was going through. Concerning Jon Bon Jovi, to be honest, I haven't seen very often someone so miscast in a movie. I mean, sure, he has a pretty face, I'll give you that, but why on Earth would you choose a rockstar to play an actor?!? It seemed to be some rather misguided stunt casting. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.