Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been since I have seen this flick and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. In fact, if I recall it correctly, I actually saw this one in the movie theater and I thought it was actually a decent watch. The recent flop of ‘The Lone Rang’ a few years ago has displayed once again that the Western must be one of the least popular genres nowadays. I mean, it is not that all the Westerns have been bad during the last 30 years, some of them were actually pretty awesome, but I’m pretty sure that not more than 5 of them have been really successful at the box-office. Well, this flick was one of the very few Westerns which managed such a thing and I thought it was fairly entertaining. To be honest, I wasn’t really familiar with the TV-show it was based on but it was just really neat to see Mel Gibson and Richard Donner working together again but , at last, for something else than another ‘Lethal Weapon’ installment. Back in those days, Mel Gibson was still one of the biggest movie stars in the world and I thought he was really charismatic here and he had also some very nice chemistry with Jodie Foster. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a fun flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but my daughter was apparently eager to check it out so we ended up watching the damned thing yesterday. Basically, ever since ‘Toy Story’ was released 20 years ago (damned… I feel so old now…), virtually every single studio has been trying to get a piece from the new market of CGI animated features but, except for Pixar and a very few others, the results have been mostly underwhelming. This movie is a fine example. Indeed, even though it was apparently a box-office success, I thought it was just terrible. Indeed, the animation was rather poor and, above all, the story and the characters involved were just so boring. Seriously, they tried to be clever by combining 2 heists at the same time but it was really underwhelming. Apparently, it was co-produced in South Korea so they felt they had to add PSY singing ‘Gangnam Style’ during the end-credits. I mean, sure, it must have been fun to have this cameo for the kids but, in my opinion, it shows how low the level was with this production. To conclude, I thought the whole thing was really weak and I don’t think it is worth a look at all.

Right now, it seems that Disney have found a new gimmick (as if with Marvel and Star-Wars, they needed something else to generate even more revenue…) and they keep releasing some really successful live-action adaptations of their timeless fairy tales. To be honest, since I wasn’t really blown away by the really flat ‘Cinderella’, I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but, I have to admit it, it was not bad at all after all. Indeed, this time, they decided to give this adaptation some twist by focusing on the villain, Maleficent, instead of the usual princess, in this case, Aurora. It was a nice move as Maleficent has always been one of the best Disney villains. On top of that, Angelina Jolie was a great choice for the part, she obviously had a lot of fun with this material and I thought she gave a solid performance. To be honest, I think they did actually cheat a little bit though. Indeed , even though this movie was supposed to be about a villain, in this version, Maleficent was actually not so bad after all and it would have been interesting if they had made the whole thing even darker but I guess it would have been pretty much unwatchable for the young children (my daughter already thought that it was pretty scary as it was). Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, it was a decent fairy tale with some impressive visuals and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Right now, I believe that Woody Allen must be the most frustrating director at work nowadays. In fact, it is not that his recent movies were really so bad, it’s just that, after 25 years of following his work (damned… I feel really old now…), I have started to really hate his work ethic. Indeed, Allen has always been proud of managing to release a movie every single year for more than 40 years but, as a result, most of them have been rather underwhelming, at least, that’s my opinion. However, there was a time when I was not yet fed up with his work and, when I first discovered his movies, it was pretty much love at first sight. Indeed, I remember it as if it was yesterday, I went to see this movie with my sister in the movie theater when it was released, I must have been 14 years old. Back then, I thought it was just awesome and one of the most hilarious movies I had ever watched. Indeed, I had heard about Allen’s reputation and this was the very first movie I watched directed by this guy. In my opinion, most comedies are lame and moronic but Allen’s humor is completely the opposite. It is smart and witty and, in my opinion, this movie is a great example that a good Allen feature can beat pretty much any random comedy out there. To conclude, I really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Woody Allen’s work.

It is quite an obscure feature and, to be honest, I wonder how I actually ended up watching this flick. Eventually, even though I wasn’t completely convinced by the whole thing, it was still a decent watch though. First of all, I have never been a huge fan of Andy Warhol and I believe that his personality might have been actually more popular than his actual work but that’s another story but, with this in mind, it makes it rather difficult to care if someone would actually have something against the guy. Another issue was that the main character, Valerie Solanas, was rather annoying and even unpleasant. And yet, I thought there was something interesting about this movie. Indeed, its biggest asset was Lili Taylor, one of the most underrated actresses I know. For once, she was playing the lead and even though she had to play this rather deranged obnoxious chick, she did it very well and managed to make her character compelling to watch. The directing was also solid and it was a pretty good directing debut for Mary Harron who would reach even more critical acclaim with her follow-up ‘American Psycho’. To conclude, I thought it was not bad and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

This movie was actually supposed to be Matt Damon's directing début but, I guess, it wasn't meant to be. Eventually, he still remained to play the lead but Gus Van Sant took over the directing duties. Anyway, even though it really had some potential, even though I really wanted to like it, the whole thing was ultimately rather disappointing. Indeed, most of it was actually quite subtle and intriguing. First, you get introduced to Matt Damon and Frances McDormand’s characters who were both likable and, yet, when you are starting to root for them, it actually turns out that they actually could be the bad guys after all. And that’s when the movie was actually really interesting, maybe they are not the bad guys, maybe they are no bad guys at all, and, as a result, you had a rather complex and subtle view of the world and I was wondering how they would further handle this. Unfortunately, it was pretty much all ruined by the ending. Indeed, they gave us 2 twists. The first one almost worked but not entirely (it was pretty neat to discover how sly and deceitful a huge corporation can be in order to reach its goals. It was pretty efficient and believable but, however, it was rather disappointing that they had to introduce after all a bad guy in this tale). Eventually, it was the second twist that really messed up everything. Indeed, so far, Matt Damon’s character was fairly believable and compelling to watch but his final speech was just really underwhelming and really naive. I mean, he seemed to be a smart guy, so how could he be so surprised that his company would do so such a thing? How could he be not aware of their dirty sales methods especially if he is a salesman for them? Furthermore, this whole conclusion pretty much changed this movie into some rather weak ecological propaganda.To conclude, it’s too bad this conclusion was so disappointing because the rest of the movie was not bad but I still think it is worth a look after all.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Jane Campion, I thought I might as well check it out. I have noticed it has a rather lousy reputation (according to IMDB, it is the worst movie Campion has made so far) but I have to admit that I actually liked the damned thing and, in my opinion, it is the last decent movie starring Meg Ryan that I have seen. Basically, it is another steamy thriller dealing with some psychopath and, of course, the whole thing was rather far-fetched. However, I really liked the dark mood and also the really flawed characters well played Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo. In fact, Nicole Kidman had been working for a very long time with Jane Campion on this movie and she was supposed to play the lead but dropped out for some personal reason. She still remained as a producer though and Meg Ryan took over but I was, for once, rather impressed by Meg Ryan and she was indeed praised by most of the critics for playing against type for once. To conclude, even though it didn’t get much love, I thought it was a decent thriller and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I actually already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had this movie on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, finally, after 4 long years, they decided to continue the wacky adventures of Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown and it was once again a big success at the box-office. At last, those guys were actually travelling to the future and I was expecting a lot from this flick. Indeed, I remember it very well, when I was a kid, I just loved this scene where Marty McFly gets some futuristic clothes and this cool hoverboard. I thought it looked awesome and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Unfortunately, they only spent maybe 30 minutes in 2015 and the rest of the movie was about chasing some sports almanac and this plot was just rather underwhelming in my opinion. Apparently, at the time, they decided to reduce the scenes in the future as much as possible because they didn't have the budget or technical means to fully display this futuristic world. That’s a shame and, instead of exploring the future and its infinite possibilities, we were stuck with Marty McFly's family once again and they even gave us another alternate version of exactly the same events taking place in 1955, for crying out loud. To conclude, I was expecting a little bit more from it but I have to admit it though, it is still a cool and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look.

Even though it seemed to be another flop from DreamWorks, my daughter was apparently quite eager to check it out. To be honest, I wasn't really familiar with the cartoon it was based on but the fact that it was a spin-off from 'The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show' wasn't really a good omen. Indeed, I really didn’t like it at all and the whole thing completely rubbed me in the wrong way. I mean, you start with a dog who is a genius and who can talk, then he adopts a kid and one of his most important rules is that the boy is not allowed to call him 'daddy'. Seriously?!? Maybe it was hilariously 50 years ago but it just didn’t work for me. What was even worse was the fact that, ok, we apparently live in a fantasy world where such things can happen but, against any logic, it gets all serious and they start to question the fact a dog might not be able to raise a child. By then, the whole thing was pretty hopeless for me but they even managed to add to one of the most annoying little girls I have ever seen. Finally, and that will be the last nail in the coffin, the whole episodic structure made it quite obvious that it was and should have remained a TV show. At least, I have to admit it, the two main characters were cute and funny but everything else was pretty much worthless. To conclude, I thought it was one of the weakest animated features I have seen for a while and I don't think it is worth a look.

Even though time can be roughed on some actresses (indeed, 90% of them will eventually disappear by the time they have reached 40 years old), they are a few of them who seems to be even more beautiful as the years go by and Diane Lane is definitely one of those. Indeed, even though she seemed to have a bright future, after a few flops, her career went downhill but she still managed to make a come-back in the mid-2000’s with the steamy thriller ‘Unfaithful’. Following this come-back, she would come up with this flick a year later. To be honest, even though my wife really liked it a lot, I really had a hard time to care about the whole thing. Indeed, I thought it was just a rather weak and really generic romantic comedy filled with some annoying stereotypes about Italy. I don’t know, maybe it had to with the fact that I’m myself an immigrant, son of an immigrant, and I find it difficult to see a movie handling this subject so poorly just because it is supposed to be a whimsical romantic feature. At least, Diane Lane was really charming and, without her, it would have been a complete failure. To conclude, I didn’t like it very much and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you like the genre.