Reviews by johanlefourbe

I remember it very well, 20 years ago, for some reasons, I actually saw this flick in the movie theater when it was released. I wonder how I actually ended up watching the damned thing but, back then, I thought it was quite fascinating to behold. Indeed, I was much younger, around 15 years old, I had never seen anything like this and it had quite an impact on me.  Back then, I wasn’t really familiar with John Carpenter’s work and, in my opinion, it would be his last great movie and everything he would make afterwards would be at best watchable but usually terribly weak. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I just loved the ominous mood created, even if the story didn’t make much sense. I thought it was also a masterstroke to have Sam Neill to play the lead. Indeed, instead of the usual tough guys or psychos that you would get with such movies, they gave us an average guy who was rather cynical but smart enough and during the whole thing, he was basically trying to rationalize what the hell was going on, trying to keep his sh*t together during the process. It was just pretty awesome when you see him completely losing it towards the end. To conclude, I always had a weak spot for this flick and I think 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. Basically, it is more or less a childhood classic for me and it is definitely a guilty pleasure. Indeed, even though it might seem cheesy nowadays, as a kid, I thought the concept was fascinating, to have this guy becoming so small that he could go into someone else’s body. Eventually, Martin Short would turn out to be one of the most underwhelming and annoying actors out there but, back in those days, I didn’t know the guy and he didn’t bother me at all. In fact, I have to admit that he was actually a decent choice to play the lead character. With Dennis Quaid, they had a pretty good chemistry and they probably made the most unlikely duo I have ever seen resulting in something pretty entertaining. For Joe Dante, behind ‘Gremlins’, it must the best movie he made in the 80’s but it has been a while since the guy has released something really interesting which is too bad. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really have a weak spot for this movie and I think 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. This movie was actually quite a milestone. Indeed, it would be basically the last time that Clint Eastwood would play the lead in the major motion-picture directed by someone else than himself (eventually, almost 20 years later, he would finally work for someone else again for ‘Trouble with the Curve’ but it was something rather minor). Back then, Rene Russo was still on the A-list and, together, they had some really good chemistry. Anyway, back to our main feature, it was some perfect material for Eastwood and it is rather difficult to imagine another actor for this part. Concerning John Malkovich, he was maybe not your typical flashy over-the-top psychopath but that made his character ever more compelling to behold. On top of that, even though it might seem to be a fairly standard and generic tale, it was actually rather realistic, at least for this genre, and above all, it was terribly effective. To conclude, even though it was probably not a real masterpiece, it was still a solid and really entertaining thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

For 20 years, I have been following Michael Winterbottom’s career. Back then, I saw his directing debut, ‘Butterfly Kiss’, in the movie theater when it was released and I was completely blown away. As a result, I eventually ended up watching this movie as well in the movie theater. Eventually, it turned out to be, unfortunately, the first time that this director would slightly disappoint me. Basically, the main issue with this director, in my opinion, is that he is such a workaholic (he has made 23 movies in the last 20 years) that it has a rather negative impact on the general quality of his work. This movie is a perfect example. Indeed, the whole thing definitely had some potential and it was something completely different than his previous directing efforts which was quite interesting. It was also starring a very young Kate Winslet a year before her breakthrough with ‘Titanic’. And, yet, the whole thing didn’t really convince me. I guess, it was partly due to the fact that the story was seriously bleak and dreary but the biggest issue is that I never really cared about this tale or the characters involved. To conclude, even though it was slightly disappointing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick. However, Gaspar Noé is one of the few directors that manage to make movies which are quite unforgettable but also really difficult to watch the first time around and they are usually just too unsettling to re-watch. I wonder if I saw this one before or after ‘Irréversible’ but it doesn’t really matter. Indeed, even though it was a directing debut, Noé seemed to really know what he wanted to achieve. Basically, he gave one of the bleakest views on humanity I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot of dark and twisted features…) and it is so dark that becomes rather unpleasant to watch at some point. And, yet, even though you know you are going to feel bad for days just because you watched the damned thing, somehow, it is still quite mesmerizing. That’s something that my wife never really understood, this need to watch something that it is so borderline nauseating. Well, I don’t know, there is indeed some kind of masochism involved, but I believe there is something rather fascinating in exploring our dark side. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is definitely an an acquired taste, I think it is definitely worth a look, at least, if you don’t mind watching something terribly depressing. 

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and maybe I should re-watch at some point. Anyway, I always wondered if this movie was successful abroad (it did win the Academy Award for the Best Foreign feature at the time) but, in France, it was definitely a massive critical success.  Indeed, it is basically a French classic dealing with a very specific time when France used to be a massive colonial power. Even though France is not a really super-power anymore for a very long time, the French, rather narcissistic, always enjoyed looking back to their glory days, even for something so controversial as when it was an imperialistic nation. As a result, you get a rather ambiguous view on this business in this movie. On one hand, it was all rather rotten, the way the French was dominating the local population, becoming filthy rich in the process but, on the other hand, there was an undeniable deep connection between both countries during that time. Obviously, they had to throw in the mix a rather predictable love story but thanks to the solid performances, it was still fairly entertaining to behold. To conclude, even though I wasn’t completely blown away by the whole thing, it was still a really solid period drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.