Reviews by johanlefourbe

Of course, I have seen this movie many times with my kids but, since I have it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again to finally make up my mind about the damned thing. Well, even though it might not be the best adaptation of J.M. Barrie's classic tale, it is still the most famous one and it figures because it was the perfect material for Disney's skillful and amazing  animation. Another interesting thing about this movie was that it introduced so many iconic Disney characters. Obviously, you had Peter Pan who turned out to be one of their most complex leading characters, something quite unusual for Disney. Of course, the guy was charismatic but he was also rather egocentric and sometimes even quite oblivious about what was going around him. These flaws made this character so interesting but, unfortunately, they never took the time to fully develop him which was one of the main issues with this movie. Of course, they also gave us Captain Hook who was easily one of the best bad guys ever delivered by Disney. However, what they did with Tinker Bell was probably even more impressive though as she was so charismatic that she became of one of their most famous characters even though she was completely silent in this movie. Finally, you had also Wendy who was less showy than the other characters mentioned before but, in the contrary to the other female characters that Disney gave us so far, she was quite multi-layered and really interesting to behold. Concerning the story itself, it is a fascinating classic tale, however, this adaption was less than 80 mins long so the end-result felt unfortunately rushed and often pretty messy. On top of that, it didn't help that they were delivering some random joke or some visual gag every 2 mins. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it is still a charming classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back then, we (my step-son and I) went to see 'The Maze Runner' in the movie theatre and since it turned out to be better than I expected, we were quite eager to watch this sequel. Eventually, I have to admit that it was not bad, it was visually pretty spectacular and I thought it was fairly entertaining but the previous installment worked better, at least for me. Indeed, its biggest asset was basically the cloud of mystery surrounding the whole thing and it was really missing here. Basically, during most of the running time, I was hoping that they were again stuck into some other elaborate game but it wasn’t unfortunately the case, I'm afraid. Instead, they gave us something similar to 'The Hunger Games' with a dictatorial governement and our heroes getting involved with the local resistance group. The fact that they did add some zombies as well to the mix was also so generic and rather annoying. Seriously, I have seen this way too much before to really care this time. At least, there was still something quite appealing about Thomas, the main character. Indeed, this time again, he challenged basically everything around him which made him really charismatic and interesting to follow. On the other hand, after rewatching the damned thing, I noticed that many parts of the plot were still kept in the dark, which was a good thing, but the question is how will they conclude this tale in the final installment? Anyway, to conclude, even though it was slightly disappointing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

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.