Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though this movie had some potential, it turned out to be a flop at the box-office.  Even so, since it sounded promising and since I have enjoyed all the movies directed by Brad Bird so far, I was still eager to check it out. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I really had a hard time to really get into it. Indeed, the first hour was so confusing, it was just really messy and it was rather difficult to follow who was who and what the hell was actually going on. Afterwards, I found out that it was actually written by Damon Lindelof, the mastermind behind 'Lost', and, apparently,  the guy simply can't help it and he has to make his stories incredibly murky. Fortunately, when George Clooney was finally back in the story, it started to make a little bit more sense but, even so, I still had a hard time to care about this very convoluted tale. It's too bad because it was visually pretty neat and I still believe that the concept had some potential. To conclude,  even though the whole thing was rather disappointing,  I still think it was a decent watch though and I guess it is worth a look but don’t expect too much from it.

I can't believe it took me so much time to finally re-watch this flick. Seriously, I must have seen it around the time that it was released, about 20 years ago, and I never saw it again. There is however something else going on when you watch it now, there is the knowledge that you will be allowed to see these characters again 10 years later and again 20 years later which is just really awesome. Back then, when I first watched it, I thought it was just some cute random encounter between 2 strangers and it seemed pretty obvious that they would probably never see each other again and that was fine. Anyway, after all these years, it is still a fine picture. Indeed, it must be one of the most genuine romances ever put on the screen with 2 completely believable characters thanks to some impressive performances by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. To be honest, even though I loved the concept, there was still something preventing this movie from being truly great, at least , in my opinion. Basically, the movie is so realistic that you spend pretty much the whole 90 minutes listening to 2 young adults in their 20's talking about their life and just life in general. As a result, their conversation can get sometimes rather pretentious and a little tedious. It is like being the third wheel on a date and it was not actually always completely rewarding. Anyway, to conclude, even though I wasn't completely sold, I still really enjoyed it a lot, it is one of the best romantic features ever made and it is definitely worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be terribly messy and half-baked after all. It was supposed to be Alec Baldwin's directing debut but, apparently, they didn't have any money left for the post-production and when it was taken over, according to Baldwin, it was extensively re-edited and it no longer bears any resemblance to what it was actually supposed to be. Maybe it might then explain the weird changes of tonality. Indeed, it basically starts like an outdated 80's comedy even with the typical cheesy soundtrack , then it became something more surreal and, finally, it ended up on some deep and theological notes. Still, to be honest, I highly doubt that this editing really ruined this flick. I mean, maybe it made it worse but I don't think the whole thing was really good to start with. For example, another thing that really bothered me was how poor the acting was and the worst of them all might have been Jennifer Love Hewitt. Indeed, back then, she must have been around 20 years old and she did look really charming, I'll give you that, but her acting was rather cringe-inducing. To conclude, there might have been a good movie there hidden somewhere but the whole thing was just really weak, I think I'm being actually generous with my rating here, and it is definitely not worth a look. 

For some reasons, this movie always reminds me of 'Liam'. Indeed, they were both released around the same period, they both had a boy around the same age on the poster and they were both dealing with the same theme (family struggling against poverty during the Depression). Of course, the biggest difference was the fact that 'Liam' was dealing with a family living in Liverpool while this movie was about a family living in Ireland but I still think that both movies were extremely similar. Eventually, 'Liam' barely got noticed while 'Angela's Ashes' managed to become a little bit more successfull, even though it was still considered a box-office flop. Personally, I did enjoy this movie a little bit more, even if it was still nothing really mind-blowing though. The greatest asset here was the cast including such actors like Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle. Concerning the story, it was basically a very bleak drama but it was nothing really impressive. On top of that, it was based on a book about the life of the writer and some people accused him of greatly exaggerating his family's poverity and since the movie was directed by Alan Parker who is far from being subtle, the end-result tends to be fairly over-the-top. Still, in spite of its flaws, I think it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Who would have expected this franchise to become so enjoyable? I mean, nowadays, it is rather common that they try to reboot some old stuff but it is more because it is less risky to take a well known brand than to create something completely new but, usually,  the end-results are rather underwhelming and most of those reboots just disappear fairly quickly. This is however one of the very few exceptions. Indeed, I really enjoyed the previous installment but this one, to my surprise, was even better. Obviously,  the CGI was once again quite mind-blowing but what I enjoyed even more was how they improved the story. Indeed,  in 'Rise...', they spent just too much time dealing with the humans who were all rather underwhelming. For this sequel,  the focus was on the apes and this was much more interesting. Furthermore, they developed a really realistic dynamic relationship between the humans and the apes which was quite fascinating.  Indeed, even though the whole concept remains rather preposterous, the really sensitive relationship between both communities was very well built up and the way both side reacted was always understandable and believable.  Finally, Caesar has become one of the most fascinating characters I have ever seen and they managed to even further developed him into a great throughtful leader. Anyway, to conclude,  it was a really impressive blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look. 

When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme and I saw all the movies he made at the beginning of his career. Eventually, at around 14 years old, I started to get interested in other kind of movies and I discovered that his movies were not so good after all. Among his 'classics', this movie is neither his best ('Bloodsport'  remains by far his most interesting feature) or his worst, it is basically a typical Van Damme vehicle with a generic and predictable plot. In fact, it has been known under many various titles ('A.W.O.L' in the UK, 'Wrong Bet' in Australia) and, in my opinion, for once, the French title ('Full Contact') was by far the best one.  At least, Van Damme did look fit back in those days and he could seriously kick some ass. Basically, as long as those guys are fighting, it is actually fairly entertaining but, as soon as they stop, it is pretty much unbearable to watch. To conclude, I think it is fine if you are 12 years old and you want to watch some brainless action flick but, otherwise, you should not waste your time with this and watch something else instead. 

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of action flicks but since this movie had been fairly successful at the box-office, I thought I might as wel check it out. Eventually, even though it was rather well made and even though there was a really impressive cast involved, I can’t say I was really convinced by the damned thing. First of all, and that's not an actual critic, it was actually quite violent (apparently, more than 160 characters were killed) so they didn’t put their gloves on and really earned their R rating and I guess it must have pleased the fans of the genre. My wife thought it was way too much but it didn't bother me though. I mean, if you decide to make an action flick, you might as well really go all the way making something slightly more realistic. No, what really bothered me was the fact that the story was just way over-the-top and rather boring. Basically, it was pretty much 'Die Hard in the White House' which wasn't actually a bad idea but, even though Gerard Butler was physically convincing and delivered a believable special forces soldier, his character didn’t come near John McClane and I just didn’t care much about the guy. Furthermore, in this age when global terrorism is displayed on a daily basis on the news, I didn't buy the fact that a North-Korean guy would launch such attack. Anyway, to conclude,  I thought it was actually rather underwhelming but I have to admit that you might end up enjoying it much more than I did if you really like the genre.

Even though the whole concept was actually rather lame, even more after all these years, I have to admit that I always had a weak spot for this flick. Indeed, in my case, it is pretty much a guilty pleasure and definitely a childhood favorite. Basically, I must have been 9 or 10 years old the first time I saw it, I even watched the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released and, back then, I thought the whole thing was just really hilarious. Give me a break, I was just a kid and I didn't know better! I still believe it was a pretty cool idea to have a baby voiced by Bruce Willis and the kid was just really funny. However, pretty much every else in the movie was rather underwhelming. Indeed, even if John Travolta and Kirstie Alley were quite charismatic and had some nice chemistry, I didn't care much about what they were going through and that was basically the problem with this flick. Indeed, if you removed the whole gimmick about the talking baby, this flick had seriously nothing to offer. Anyway, for Travolta, this movie would be his first and only hit during the 80's but he would have to wait a few more years to make his real come-back with 'Pulp Fiction'. Anyway, I always had a weak spot for this flick and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Not so long ago, I saw 'The Beaver', the latest directing effort delivered by Jodie Foster. Even though I did like it, it was certainly a really risky project, not only because of the subject matter, but also because it was dealing with a man having a mental breakdown and this man happened to be played by Mel Gibson. So, it was risky and it didn't get much love when it was released which is too bad, especially if you consider the fact it took Foster 16 years to finally come up with a new movie as a director. It's too bad because, almost 25 years, when she made this directing debut, she definitely displayed some potential. Surprisingly, I just read on the internet that the director was actually supposed to be Joe Dante but he apparently left for the usual ' creative differences' so Foster took over as a director. Sure, it was pretty obvious that it was a directing debut and this tale was pretty straightforward and predictable but I did like the focus she gave on the characters, the mother and the son, and the whole thing was quite interesting and entertaing. To conclude, even though it was nothing really mind-blowing, it was still a decent drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I remember it rather well, when this movie was released, there was quite some buzz about it. On top of that, I really liked 'Brassed Off' , Mark Herman's previous directing effort, so I was quite eager to see his following project. This time again, Herman was working with the always interesting Ewan McGregor but, this time, the lead was actually played by Jane Horrocks, an actress I had never seen before. Eventually, even though the critics were completely enthusiast, to be honest, I thought it was a decent watch but not much more than that, I'm afraid. I don't know, in my opinion, even though the story was entertaining, it was in fact fairly generic and predictable. On top of that, even though everyone thought that Jane Horrocks was completely amazing, personally, I think she had indeed a very strong voice but her character was not really interesting and, in fact, she was pretty much upstaged by the rest of the stellar cast (Brenda Blethyn, Ewan McGregor, Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent). To conclude, even though I think it is slightly overrated, it is still a pretty good flick though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.