Reviews by johanlefourbe

After his come-back with ‘The Player’, Robert Altman would be mostly involved usually with some high profile projects but he also made some slightly more small and obscure movies like this one. In fact, he still had an interesting cast (Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Robert Downey Jr., Daryl Hannah, Tom Berenger, Famke Janssen, Mae Whitman, Robert Duvall) but not of them was actually a real A list actor. Anyway, apparently, the whole point for Robert Altman was to direct a thriller for once and he managed to get a John Grisham story and Grishman was really hot in the 90’s. To be honest, I have never been a real fan of those far-fetched thrillers based on Grisham's work but, this time, the whole thing was heavily rewritten by the script so much that John Grisham asked to have his name removed. In fact, even though it didn’t turn out to be a box-office succes like ‘The Firm’ or ‘The Pelican Brief’, I thought it was still fairly enjoyable. Indeed, even though it was still rather generic, I did like the way Altman changed the characters to make them rather dark and flawed. To conclude, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

When I first heard about this project, I thought it became automatically a front-runner for the upcoming Best Picture Academy award. Indeed, after ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Atonement’, it was yet another high profile adaptation of a classic book once again directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley so it seemed at the time rather likely that it would be another critical success. However, eventually, it didn’t get much love when it was released. Well, I finally saw this movie and I must admit that I had a rather hard time to care for the damned thing. First of all, instead of giving us a literal adaptation, they decided to go for a rather theatrical approach which wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, the whole thing was as a result visually quite impressive, but I thought it was eventually rather distracting and, at the end of the day, it didn’t add much to the story. On top of that, to be honest, I wasn’t really familiar with this timeless story but I always find it difficult to care for the so-called difficult and convoluted love life of the aristocrats. Still, it was a decent watch thanks to a really strong cast (Keira Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jude Law, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Alicia Vikander, Cara Delevingne, Shirley Henderson). To conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

If I recall correctly, I actually saw this movie when it was released because my girlfriend at the time was a huge Disney fan. Damned, it was almost 20 years ago! I feel so old right now... Anyway, even though I really enjoyed it and even though it was definitely a solid effort from Disney, it never really became one of their real classics, at least, in my opinion. Basically, it was a fascinating story taking place in Asia for once, an area never explored by Disney before. However, even though it worked very well during the darker and dramatic moments, those scenes were constantly undermined by some rather underwhelming supposedly funny sequences. Take the intro with Mulan for example, it was a just a rather cringe-inducing segment supposed to make you smile but, in fact, it completely ridiculed some Chinese tradition without giving any insight on the purpose of this tradition. That was also the problem in this movie, the way it was constantly shifting between showing the Chinese culture and history and then showing some gross Americanism along the way. At least, Mushu was pretty good even if it was pretty obvious that they tried to get the same results they had with Robin Williams with 'Aladdin'. Obviously, Murphy never reached that level but he was still entertaining enough. Eventually, 3 years later, he would have much more success giving Donkey's voice in 'Shrek'. I also loved Shan-Yu who must be one of the most badass villains in Disney's history. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still really liked the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

First of all, I never really cared for this franchise but, finally, with the 5th installment, it seemed that they finally managed to nailed the formula and I have to admit that this movie was actually fairly enjoyable and entertaining. Since this 6th installment was even more popular, again breaking the box-office record of this now very successful franchise, I had some rather high expectations. Unfortunately, it turned out to be rather disappointing and a step down from the previous installment. I mean, sure, it was spectacular but the idiotic dialogues and the really non-sensical plot really bothered me this time. Furthermore, the location, Europe and London in particular, was rather underwhelming, especially compared to the previous one. Indeed, Rio, with its climate, its exoticism, its favelas, its criminal background, seemed to be a perfect match for this franchise while London was, well, rather boring. The way they brought back Michelle Rodriguez to the franchise was also seriously convoluted (how original! the whole amnesia gimmick...). I mean, it did create some emotional impact, I'll give you that, but, still, it was rather cumbersome. At least, Luke Evans gave a solid performance and this villain could be have been truly bad-ass if they would have dropped the whole omnipotent angle. To conclude, I thought the whole thing was rather disappointing and I don't think it is really worth a look, except if you really love this franchise.

By now, I have seen pretty much all the Disney (animated) classics and, after all these years, this movie still remain my favorite one. I remember it very well, it was released during the big renaissance of Disney, it was a huge critical and commercial success at the time, even their biggest box-office hit ever. Unfortunately, just one or two years later, they would release 'The Lion King' which managed to became even bigger. Indeed, it was so huge, it became their biggest success for the next 20 years, until 'Frozen' finally broke this record. Therefore, 'Aladdin' always remained in the shadow of 'The Lion King' when it is, in fact, much superior in my opinion. Basically, it was just another timeless fairy tale but, this time, they managed to add so many great elements to this old formula and the end-result was just amazing. Of course, it will be always remembered for the Genie thanks to one of the most memorable performances by Robin Williams. Nowadays, it is something common to have some big names giving their voices for the most insignificant animated characters but, back then, it was someting new and Robin Williams managed to create one of the most fun and memorable characters in Disney's rich history. In fact, what makes also this movie really work is also his lengthy introduction. Indeed, it takes its time to introduce this fascinating time and place but also to let us know Aladdin and Jasmine and to understand their motivations. Hell, I even liked a lot most of the songs when it is usually the most annoying trademark in those movies! Anyway, to conclude, even though it is not quite perfect, it was not far from it, I really love the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a nice cast, I thought I might as well check it out. By now, I have seen more than half of the movies directed by David Mamet and even though the guy as quite a reputation (he has won the Pulitzer prize and was nominated for 2 Academy awards), I never really became a big fan of his work and this movie is a perfect example. First of all, it is a heist movie called ‘Heist’… I mean, how more generic can you get?!? Then, sure, there was a nice cast (Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell), they all delivered some decent performances and those characters were fairly well developed with some nice and juicy dialogues but I really had a hard time to care about the story. Indeed, it is basically one of these movies that require you not thinking to much about the plot and its numerous and rather annoying twists. To conclude, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

From all the recent flops starring Johnny Depp, this was the one which definitely had the most potential. Indeed, before it was released, there was some pretty good buzz about it but it was eventually poorly received and it didn’t become a box-office hit at all. Well, it was definitely disappointing, that's for sure. I mean, since Wally Pfister was making his directing debut, the whole thing looked really good, no doubt about that but, unfortunately, the story didn’t really work. I'm not sure what bothered me the most, the fact it was filled with some really obvious plot-holes or the fact that half of it didn't make much sense. Eventually, what bothered me the most was how incapable they were to properly handle this superior form of intelligence. With this in mind, it actually reminded me of 'The Matrix'. Indeed, in both movies, you are introduced to a different level of consciousness, which is really fascinating, but instead of exploring all the artistical and phylosophical possibilities of such concepts, we get stuck with some underwhelming evil being with some shaddy agenda. Basically, the human beings have to remain on top of things somehow and such superior being can apparently be handled only as a threat which is terribly disappointing. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, the end-result was eventually terribly half-baked and I don't it is actually really worth a look.

First of all, there was actually something that really annoyed me about this flic. Indeed, in France, its title was ‘Le flic de San Francisco’ (translated as ‘San Francisco Cop’) as if it was some kind of sequel or spin-off to ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ when this movie had actually nothing to do with this franchise. Anyway, through the years, somehow, I have managed to watch all the movies starring Eddie Murphy and I can tell you, it has been a terribly thankless task. Indeed, back in the 80’s, Murphy emerged as one of the biggest movie stars in the world and practically all his movies became some box-office hits. Then, in the 90’s, his work started to become already underwhelming but the audience was still apparently interested in the funny guy. Finally, in the 2000’s, his movies became more and more moronic and, above all, almost always some huge flops. Anyway, it is all very sad but, as a result, some rather weak movies like this one are eventually actually starting to look half decent after all the garbage he has made through the years. I mean, sure, it was nothing amazing whatsoever and Eddie Murphy had already made many similar movies in the past but I thought it was watchable and, for once, it was a little bit darker than his usual work which was refreshing. Anyway, all in all, even though it was not awful, it was still pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

As you may have noticed, I’m a very obsessive movie watcher and one of my very first obsession was/is Robert De Niro. Indeed, I just love this actor and I have been watching many of this movies during the last 20 years (72 so far and still 20 to go). Well, this is definitely one of his more obscure movies (I was only the 3rd listal member who has rated the damned thing) and it absolutely belongs to those movies where Robert De Niro is show prominently on all the promotional material when he in fact just has a supporting part. Apparently, this movie didn’t get much love, especially here on Listal, but I thought it was actually not bad at all. I mean, sure, Robert Wuhl must have been one of the most underwhelming leading man emerging from the 80’s, but Martin Landau was especially really good here and I thought that the material was actually fairly well handled here. To conclude, there is a fair chance that my rating might be too high for this movie but I still think it is a decent watch and I think it is worth a look but don’t expect anything really amazing.

Even though it is a really obscure feature (I was only the 3rd listal user who has rated it), since I had a weak spot for Richard Gere, I thought I might as well give it a try. In fact, the most interesting thing about this flick is that it was Gary Sinise’s directing debut. Indeed, even though it is rather uncommon, it happens sometimes that some struggling actors would decide to direct their own movie to launch their acting career. That’s what Vin Diesel, Billy Bob Thornton an Same Neill did and that’s what apparently Gary Sinise did as well with ‘Of Mice and Men’. Anyway, 4 years before his breakthrough with ‘Of Mice and Men’, he made this flick which was barely seen at the time but I thought it was actually not bad at all. I mean, sure, there is something quite romantic about the concept of two farmers deciding to to rob banks but I thought that the whole thing was still rather gloomy and therefore still effective. You might also wonder if Richard Gere was really the best choice for this part but I thought he gave here a fairly decent performance. To conclude, even though it is really obscure, I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.