Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, it has been a while since I have watched this flick and maybe I should re-watch it again at some point. Anyway, back in the 90’s, I was quite a fan of Ken Loach’s work and I’m pretty sure that it was the first one of his movies that I managed to watch in the movie theater when it was released. Anyway, I remember it very well, during the Cannes movie festival, there was some great buzz about this flick and many thought it was a favorite for the Golden Palm, especially since Ken Loach was very popular there and never won the prestigious prize before. Eventually, ‘Underground’ did manage to win after all. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I thought it was dealing with a fascinating subject, it sounded really amazing and yet, somehow, even though I did like it, I can’t say it really blew me away though. I don’t know, maybe I was just too young at the time to really appreciate it. Eventually, at the end of the day, even though the movie was dealing with a very interesting time period, the characters were not really fascinating. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was slightly disappointing, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ken Loach’s work.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick and, to be honest, I actually wonder how I actually ended up watching the damned thing in the first place. Indeed, even though I do respect their work, I have never been a huge fan of the Beatles (I always thought that the Rolling Stones were much more interesting) but I thought it was still a decent biopic. Indeed, I thought it was a really interesting approach to focus on the forgotten fifth Beatle. To be honest, I had never heard of the guy before but this fact made the whole thing even more interesting to me. Concerning Stephen Dorff, I’m pretty sure it was the first movie starring this actor that I ever saw and, apparently, the guy was at the time heralded as the next best thing but it didn’t last long, I’m afraid, and he turned out to be a rather underwhelming actor after all. Still, I have to admit that he was actually pretty good in this flick. To conclude, even though it is probably not a masterpiece, I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Beatles. 

What the hell happened to John Dhal? I mean, the guy never really managed to breakthrough in a big way but he hasn’t release a new directing effort for almost a decade and he has been mostly working for almost every single TV-show that you could think of ( ‘House of Cards’, ‘Californication’, ‘Dexter’, ‘Arrow’, ‘Homeland’, ‘True Blood’, ‘Breaking Bad’,…).  It’s too bad because I always had a weak spot his work, especially the neo-noir features that he used to make at the beginning of his career. This directing debut is a perfect example. Indeed, apparently, it was barely seen when it was released but I thought it was actually pretty good. To be honest, I always had a hard time to care about the modern thrillers because they are so far-fetched and, I have to admit it, this one was actually not different, the story was not really realistic at all, that’s for sure. And yet, Dhal managed to create such a great mood, I believe he is one of the very few modern directors who really succeeded in making a contemporary feature with some genuine film noir qualities. On top of that, back in those days, Val Kilmer was still a pretty decent actor and, with this then-wife, Joanne Whalley, they had some great chemistry together. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really liked it and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I always wondered if this movie was really succesful abroad. Anyway, I remember it very well when it was released in France, it was a big critical and commercial success at the time. After hearing a lot of great things about the damned thing, I was quite eager to check it out and I have to admit that it really deserved its stellar reputation. Indeed, it is something completely different then anything you might have ever seen coming from the US or Japan and, therefore, it was really refreshing. Considering the story itself, even though it was charming and entertaining enough, I had my doubts. I mean, it seemed to be rather oriented towards the young kids but, above all, I really wonder if the African people would actually identify with this tale and those characters or maybe it was just a Western point-of-view on their culture. Still, I definitely enjoyed how the whole thing looked and the general vibe. Surprisingly, it took them 7 years to come up with a sequel which was not bad but still a slight step-down from this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even though I don’t it is actually a real masterpiece, it was a very original animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

At almost 80 years old, Ridley Scott is still incredibly productive and after several disappointing pictures, he once again managed to make an impressive come-back with ‘The Martian’ which turned out to be a big critical and commercial success. Personally, I have seen every single movie directed by this guy and, through the years, I have developed some kind of love-hate relationship with this director. Indeed, on one hand, even if his movies are usually fairly entertaining and above all very well made and visually appealing, very often, I find their stories rather shallow and sometimes even rather underwhelming. This movie is actually a perfect example. Apparently, it didn’t get much love when it was released but I thought it was actually pretty good. Basically, it is a rather weak story with some awesome visuals. Still, in my opinion, Scott managed to create a fascinating world with a truly bad-ass villain and I also loved the introduction with a terrific speech delivered by Darkness himself. Apparently, there is a much longer director’s cut available and it would be pretty neat to check it out at some point. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I actually have a weak spot for the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.