Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie, but since I have a weak spot for Marisa Tomei, I thought I might as well check it out. During the first 20 minutes, I got a little bit worried as it seemed to be turning into a boring quirky romantic comedy involving 2 messed up people. And then, pretty much out of nowhere, they added this time travel gimmick and, from that point, the whole thing became much more compelling to watch. In fact, it reminded me of 'The time traveler's wife's', another romantic movie dealing with time traveling, and while this movie might have seemed much less ambitious, it worked much better. Indeed, it worked because it was focusing on these two characters who very well written and played, and not so much on this preposterous concept. Indeed, it was so well done that at some point, I started to think, 'why not?'. Not because it might be true but, if people believe in God (who we'll never know for sure if he really exists), they could just as well believe in something like this, as long as it makes them happy. I thought it was a really interesting idea and a very original angle to handle a romantic story. I thought there was also a link with 'The Man from Earth' in the sense that both movies explores the concept of what if someone would come to you with such a ridiculous story, how would you react? 'The Man from Earth' chose a more serious theological approach, whereas this was more about two lovers sharing this dilemma and how it impacts their romantic relationship. Obviously, not everything did work, like the psychiatric gimmick was a little bit overdone. Furthermore, of course, at some point, they had to tell the truth about Sam Deed and it was rather underwhelming but any answer would have weakened this tale. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn't perfect, I still enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look.

When I heard about this flick, I was really intrigued. Indeed, I really loved Milos Forman’s previous movie, ‘The People vs. Larry Flynt’, and the guy was coming up with a biographical tale about another celebrity. On top of that, Jim Carrey really impressed me with ‘The Truman Show’ so it was really neat that the guy was showing up a year later in another high profile drama. Eventually, even though I did like it, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. Indeed, first of all, I have to admit that I had never heard of Andy Kaufman before so I can’t say I was really dying to see a movie about his life. Furthermore, it didn’t seem that Kaufman was really such a talented comedian and he looked more like an obnoxious and pretentious prick so I can’t say I really cared about what the guy was going through. With all this, it was rather unlikely that this flick would have turned out to be a masterpiece but I still enjoyed it. Indeed, Milos Forman, somewhat a specialist in the biographical genre (see also ‘Amadeus’ and ‘The People vs. Larry Flynt’) was always a solid director and he managed to make this really unpleasant character still quite interesting to behold. For Jim Carrey, same thing here, he delivered a solid performance creating a very wild but intriguing character. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is really great, it is still a solid biographical drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are fan of Andy Kaufman’s work.

In this age where the American cinema is overly ruled by the massive blockbusters which have to make 100 millions of dollars in their opening weekend, most of the indie directors seem to be struggling to keep working but some of them, like Jim Jarmusch, still manage to deliver their unique blend of movies, imperturbable and indifferent to the current trends. To be honest, Jarmusch has never been really productive (he usually releases a movie once every 4 years) and I think the last time he really impressed me was back in 1999 with 'Ghost Dog'. Well, after more than 15 years , he made again something that I really enjoyed. Indeed, somehow, the vampires have been an endless source of inspiration for the filmmakers, ever since 'Nosferatu' was made almost 100 years ago, and while most of the mainstream features like 'Twilight' are terribly underwhelming, Jarmusch managed to come up with something fresh and original. Indeed, instead of the usual boring action scenes, you get here a fascinating and melancholic character study about some of these night creatures. Once again with this director, the soundtrack was just perfect and mesmerizing and, with Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton, he couldn't have found some better actors. To be honest, there were a couple of things that did bother me though. For example, how on Earth a vampire should be able to die like that? It seemed to be an odd choice. Furthermore, those vampires were apparently filthy rich and with such wealth, it shouldn't be really difficult to find some blood and, yet, they act as if they are going to die soon. To conclude, even though it was probably missing something to be truly amazing, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you're interested in Jim Jarmusch's work.

I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was really eager to check it out again. First of all, when was the last time that Spike Lee had actually delivered a decent movie? It was probably ‘Inside Man’ which he made already a decade ago and his recent work has been either really obscure and/or really underwhelming. Anyway, at the beginning of the 90’s, Lee was one of the most promising directors at work and this movie was definitely his most ambitious one. When I first saw this movie, I must have been 14-15 years old and, even though of course I had heard about the man, I must admit that I didn’t know much about Malcolm X and his ideas. Only therefore I thought it was already a fascinating picture. I mean, I have always been interested by politics so to have such an epic tale about one of the most notorious black American political figures was just really neat. Obviously, for Denzel Washington who just had his breakthrough a few years before with ‘Glory’, it was pretty much the role of his lifetime and many (including myself) think that, instead of rewarding him for ‘Training Day’, he should have won instead the Academy Award for this great performance. The tricky thing about this flick is that Spike Lee greatly admired the man and, therefore, the subject was maybe too close to him and he didn’t dare being more critical towards this historical figure. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think the whole thing was a little too straightforward, it was still a really solid biopic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the subject.

I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since Nick, my step-son, was quite eager to watch it, I thought we might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I thought it was just really boring. First of all, sure, when I was kid, I grew up watching the cartoon but, to be honest, I never really understood the fascination towards these characters. Anyway, Michael Bay basically pretty much followed the same approach he used with the Transformers franchise which was to give some visually impressive characters through some cutting-edge CGI and to provide some decent action scenes all combined with a really tedious plot. Seriously, the whole story was just boring and, just like with 'Transformers', they spent half of the time to explain to the viewers how it all happened which wasn't entertaining at all. At least, I did like the new design of those turtles but even the jokes were pretty weak. Concerning Megan Fox, I have to admit that she is still a bombshell but you might wonder why she felt the need for all this plastic surgery as she is slowly turning out into a rather ugly plastic doll. I won't even mention her limited acting skills which have apparently not really improved through the years. Anyway, to conclude, I have seen worse but I still don't think it is really worth a look.

I remember it very well when this movie was released, I must have been 14-15 years old at the time, and since there was quite some buzz about it, I went to see the damned thing in the movie theater. Back in 1994, Jim Carrey, a struggling actor for at least a decade, became instantly a huge star after releasing 3 box-office success in one single year (‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’, ‘The Mask’, ‘Dumb & Dumber’). In France, ‘The Mask’ was actually released before ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’, so it was my very first contact with Carrey. To be honest, even though the guy was funny, I actually preferred the bits when he was wearing the mask. Indeed, I had never seen anything like this before, some impressive special effects coming right off a Tex Avery cartoon, and I thought it was just awesome. It was also pretty neat to discover a very young Cameron Diaz who was only 22 years old and who looked just stunning at the time. Unfortunately, pretty much everything else in the movie was nothing really amazing. Surprisingly, even though it seemed a no-brainer, they never managed to make a sequel with Jim Carrey and, instead, more than 10 years later, they made the abysmal ‘Son of the Mask’ without the funny guy. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is still a really fun and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick but, even though it is a rather obscure drama, I thought it was actually pretty good. I mean, first of all, there was an impressive cast (Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro), any movie starring these actors would be worth a look and they all delivered some solid performances. To be honest, the material itself was not exactly really strong as it was pretty much some average family melodrama but the actors involved definitely made it compelling to watch. Even though, at the time of its release, Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton (deservedly) reserved much of the critical praise, I think it was above all interesting to see Leonardo DiCaprio just before his career will be changed forever because of or thanks to ‘Titanic’. Man, the guy was already a fine actor back in those days and I think that his chaotic character was quite necessary here in order to spice up the proceedings. Concerning Diane Keaton, I have noticed that her work has been increasingly disappointing in the following 20 years and this movie was probably one of her last really worthwhile performances. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though I have a weak spot for Tom DiCillo's work, about a week ago, I saw ‘Double Whammy’ which turned out to be a huge disappointment so I had some rather low expectations concerning his following directing effort. Indeed, after 5 long years, the guy was finally coming up with something new (it would be, in fact, his last directing effort) but this movie was barely noticed when it was released. Eventually, I thought it was not bad, at least, miles better than ‘Double Whammy’ but, still, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. Indeed, I really had a hard time to care for Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman’s characters and what they were going through. I mean, I get it, the unknown homeless guy is basically gentle and innocent while the celebrities, and especially their entourage, are actually the real garbage. It was some rather shallow symbolism and I’m afraid the rest of the movie never managed to raise above this level. Fortunately, Steve Buscemi, probably one of the most underrated actors at work nowadays, delivered a really good performance here and he made the whole thing really compelling to watch. Indeed, even though his character was pretty much a mean-spirited selfish loser, Buscemi managed to make this character really entertaining to behold. To conclude, thanks to a Buscemi in top form, I still think it is worth a look but don’t expect anything really amazing though.

Sure, if you check this movie nowadays, it didn’t grow old very well, especially after watching the abysmal ‘Little Fockers’ . On top of that, we have been witnessing, during the last 15 years, Robert De Niro spending most of his time ruining his fine legacy by showing up in some very underwhelming features. The point is that, back in 2000, the situation was not so dramatic with De Niro and we all thought he had the right to show up in a commercial comedy for once. Personally, I really liked this flick. Indeed, Ben Stiller was pretty good but, above all, Robert De Niro was just really hilarious and he completely stole the show. Concerning the concept, I thought it was actually pretty neat and a good excuse for some pretty good jokes. Unfortunately, during the last 20 minutes, the plot just went way over-the-top preventing the whole thing from becoming a really amazing comedy. Obviously, since it was a box-office hit, of course, they had to come up with a sequel but, surprisingly, it was also quite entertaining as well. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was far from being a masterpiece, I still think it is a decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look.

Ever since I heard about this movie, of course, I became really eager to watch it. Indeed, for more than 20 years, I have been a huge movie fan and, at some point, I guess a little bit less than 10 years ago, I stumbled accross those amazing reviews written by Roger Ebert. Eventually, I think I must have read 2000, maybe 3000 of his reviews and I always check them after I had watched a movie released before 2013. Basically, it was the first time in my life that I read such deep and knowledgeable analysis about films and not only was it interesting but it was also damned entertaining. Eventually, Ebert became the only film critic that I would be able to relate to and the only one I would actually really care for. Of course, being a fan and all, I pretty much already knew everything told in this documentary but it was still fascinating to go through the major steps in his life. I mean, to see this guy at a the end of the road, crippled and unable to speak, and yet still full of life, still creatively productive, it was just incredibly inspiring and increased even more the respect I already had for this man. To conclude, I'm not sure if this movie is really interesting if you are not into Roger Ebert's work but I really loved the damned thing.