Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was a while ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, the first and last time I actually saw this one was in the movie theater when it was released with my father. Anyway, it’s a shame that, in the last 20 years, Peter Weir has released only 2 movies and, since the guy is already more than 70 years old, he won’t make many more movies, I’m afraid. Personally, I’m a huge fan of ‘The Truman Show’ and, after 5 long years, I was really eager to see Peter Weir’s next directing effort. On top of that, before this movie was released, there was a pretty good buzz about it and it was even nominated for the Best Picture Academy award so it looked quite promising. Well, to be honest, the first time saw it , it didn't really blew me away. However, with this rewatch, even though I still didn't think it was a masterpiece, this time, at least, I was actually rather impressed by how well made the whole thing was. Indeed, it is not very often that you get to see a movie dealing with vintage naval battles and the work done to deliver something seemingly realistic and historically accurate was quite impressive. Eventually, the main issue with this movie was that, even though it looked pretty awesome and it was failry entertaining, it was never really spellbinding though. Anyway, to conclude, even though it never really blew me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

If I recall it correctly, I saw this movie in the movie theater when it was released and, at the time, I was living in England. There were basically 2 reasons why I wanted to watch this flick. First of all, it was directed by Giuseppe Tornatore and after many years of rather obscure features, it seems that he might have come up with something worthy of ‘Nuovo cinema Paradiso’. The other reason was that it was starring the lovely Monica Bellucci who was and still one of the most beautiful women in the world. At the time, it seemed that she was on the verge of becoming a huge international star but she never really broke through mostly because those Matrix sequels turned out to be such a critical flop. Anyway, this movie is a perfect example of her great potential and how this potential has been rather poorly used through the years. Indeed, she was just just perfect for this role but to see her story through the eyes of this kid was just a poor gimmick. Indeed, as a result, you never really care about the guy and you never really get to know her. To conclude, even though the whole thing didn’t reach its full potential, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look.

To be honest, even though I did like ‘Take Shelter’, it didn’t completely blow me away but Jeff Nichols definitely displayed some potential and I was really eager to watch his following directing effort. Eventually, I was quite impressed by this flick. The first thing I really enjoyed was the pitch-perfect depiction of teenage first love they gave here. Indeed, pretty much like this young boy, I was 14 years old when I had my first ‘girlfriend’, she was a friend of my sister and she was 18 years old. So, I pretty much knew exactly what the guy was feeling and coming through and it was pretty much flawless in my opinion. Sure, you can argue that it was just a detail but that’s why this movie was so good, it’s because so many details were done right. Indeed, the way the boys were interacting with each other, pretty much everything done by Matthew McConaughey who has managed to become one of the most exciting actors during the last 4 years erasing decades of underwhelming work, how Jeff Nichols managed to give this time and place a real genuine feeling, all those details worked so well for me. I have to admit it, there were probably too many characters and too many sub-plots but most of it worked really well and I really enjoyed the damned thing.

Even though it is almost 80 years old, it is still an impressive piece of work. Indeed, at the time, it was the very first full length animated feature, a huge gamble for Walt Disney, but this gamble paid off as it was a big box-office hit and it started the massive empire of Disney in the film business. Eventually, this movie would become the blueprint for their future work and, after all these years, the timeless fairy tales are still their most enduring trademark. Fortunately, they have the financial means to maintain their work and this movie has been restored already a couple of times and it still look quite amazing. Of course, they would improve and/or diversify their technic through the years but this one was already quite gorgeous to look at. To be honest, even though the story was charming and the dwarves pretty hilarious, the plot was decent but not really strong, in my opinion. For example, they spent half of the running time with Snow White getting to their home and getting acquainted with those fellows while everything involving the prince was seriously underwritten. Indeed, nowadays, this whole concept of this prince coming up from nowhere and basically saving the day seems rather hard to swallow for the modern audience (see 'Frozen' and 'Maleficent', also both Disney productions). Anyway, to conclude, even though it might seem outdated, it remains a timeless classic nonetheless and it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since it was rather successful at the box-office, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, eventually, I thought it was a decent watch but I still can't say that I was really impressed by the whole thing. The first issue I had is that, except for Will Poulter who was pitch-perfect, none of the other actors was actually believable as their characters (Jennifer Aniston as a stripper, Jason Sudeikis as a drug dealer, Emma Roberts as a homeless girl and Ed Helms as a drug lord). It is like the fact that even though they were smuggling a massive amount of weed accross the border, they didn't actually smoke even once a joint during the whole duration. So, as a result, since it was all rather unconvinving, I had a hard time to get into this story and the characters involved but, at least, I have to admit it, the jokes were not bad and it was actually fairly entertaining. To conclude, in the same genre, I suggest to watch 'Pineapple Express' instead which is ten times more convincing and hilarious but, in spite of its flaws, this movie was not bad and even worth a look.

Seriously, who would have expected 'Ice age' to become one of the biggest franchises ever made ? Indeed, it has become so huge that only 'Shrek' has been more successful among the animated features. To be honest, I don't think I really cared for any of the sequels but this first installment was actually pretty neat. If I recall it correctly, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released at the time. Back then, it was a surprise success at the box-office and Blue Sky was the first company which seemed to be able to challenge the 2 giants Pixar and DreamWorks animation. Sure, 10 years later, the animation seems a little bit outdated but I still like its minimalistic charm. Concerning the plot and the characters, it was actually quite generic but still entertaining enough. Eventually, the real masterstroke was really Scrat. Indeed, this sabre-toothed squirrel was just hilarious and it is thanks to him that the whole thing really stood out from the rest of the competition. To conclude, even though I don't think it is really something amazing, it is still a really solid animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though Paul Greengrass eventually became famous thanks to the Bourne franchise, I actually always preferred his very realistic thrillers based on some historical events ('United 93' and 'Bloody Sunday') and he was coming up this time with something similar. There was one slight difference though. Indeed, with this movie, we were not dealing with some real historical event though, even if the background was definitely realistic and compelling, but with a supposedly true story told from one specific angle and some people already argued that Richard Phillips might not have been such a great guy after all. Anyway, in this case, I didn't really care if the story was true or not, I just enjoyed the fact that it was a really believable and very well made thriller. Indeed, except for Tom Hanks and Catherine Keener, all the actors were pretty much unknown and the way they behaved and talked made me believe that they were actually really the real thing. There was only one area which sometimes was off though. Indeed, half of the time the Somali pirates were talking, the English they used was just way too complex for some guys who probably had very little contact with English speaking people. Also, it could have been interesting if they had developed a little bit more the background of the Somali pirates, it was nice that they gave us a glimpse of their life but this glimpse could have been extended. Anyway, to conclude, I would rather have such a realistic documentary-like thriller than any preposterous feature coming from Hollywood and I think this movie is definitely worth a look.

Once again, it is another really obscure French feature that almost no one here on listal has seen. First of all, even though Robert Guédiguian doesn’t seem to be very well known abroad, he always had a stellar reputation in France but, to be honest, I always had a hard time to connect with his work. This movie is a fine example. Indeed, when it was released in France, it was a huge critical success (it was even nominated for the César for the Best French movie of the year) and since I kept hearing some interesting things about this director, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, eventually, I must admit that I didn’t care much for the whole thing. I don’t know, it is basically a sober romantic drama with a realistic social background and, on paper, it should have been appealing and, yet, I just didn’t connect with the characters and what they were going through. Basically, only because this couple is from the lower-middle class, they should get some extra quality, some nobility and while it works fine with Ken Loach’s work, it simply just bored me here. To conclude, I think it is actually overrated and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

First of all, I have to admit it, I never really cared about the 'Back to the Future' franchise and, with this last installment, it was even more obvious why. I mean, sure, I did like those movies, they were all absolutely fun and entertaining but I never really understood the cult surrounding them, even when I was a kid. Basically, the main problem I always had with those movies is that if we really had a time-machine, I always thought it would be really neat to see the future but, with these movies, there has always been this obsession with the past which I never really understood and, as a result, I always thought that the way they developed this concept was actually slightly underwhelming. This time, they went back even further in the past and the whole thing was turned out be actually some kind of goofy Western, no more and no less than that. Still, Michael J. Fox was really charismatic in those days, Christopher Lloyd was still one of the best crazy professors and Zemeckis as usual delivered some solid directing so, all in all, it remains a decent popcorn feature. To conclude, even though it is easily the weakest installment in this franchise, it is still definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Once again, it is another really obscure French feature that almost no one here on listal has seen (there are apparently only 2 of us who have watched the damned thing). Back in the mid-90’s, the most influential French movie was obviously ‘La Haine’ which was at the time a huge critical success. Personally, I always had some rather mixed feelings about this classic and, in fact, 2 years later, Jean-François Richet released his own movie about the huge tension in the French suburbs. Of course, you might argue that ‘La Haine’ was better looking and in general better made than this movie but I always thought that the ideas developed in Mathieu Kassovitz’s film were actually rather shallow while, this movie had a much more obvious political angle and that really appealed to me. After this promising debut, many including myself had high hopes for Jean-Francois Richet but those hopes were destroyed by his following directing effort ‘De l'amour’. Even though it was also taking place again in pretty much the same barren Parisian suburbs, the plot and the characters involved were just so underwhelming. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie was definitely not perfect, I still think it must be the best movie about this subject and it is definitely worth a look.