Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. Back then, I was much younger, I’m pretty sure it was the first movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis that I saw and the guy just blew me away with his talent and commitment. I have to confess, I had actually never heard of Christy Brown before and, without this movie, I’m pretty sure I would have never heard of the guy ever during my whole life. To be honest, it is actually a rather straightforward biopic but even though it was fairly predictable, the main character Christy Brown was just quite fascinating thanks to Day-Lewis who was at the top of his game. Eventually, he would take this great thespian surprisingly almost 20 years to win again another Academy Award for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role with his great performance in ‘There Will Be Blood’ and he will become the first male performer to win three awards for lead roles following ‘Lincoln’. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it was a fascinating drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember it very well, one of my oldest childhood friends was really a huge fan and wouldn’t stop telling me that it was one of the greatest movies ever made. I might have even seen this flick with him the first time around. Anyway, to my surprise, I actually didn’t like it at all. Indeed, I was never able to really connect with the jokes and I always thought it was more stupid than actually funny. Well, 30 years after watching it for the first time around, I finally really enjoyed the damned thing after all. The weird thing was that I had apparently saw this movie already multiple times by now but, to be honest, I didn’t remember much about it. Anyway, right from the opening credits with the messed-up Swedish subtitles, I was actually already pretty much sold. How come I never thought it was hilarious before? Sure, it was still completely random but it was just so damned entertaining. The cool thing is that it actually still does work as a medieval adventure flick as well, except that they take the piss at the genre every time they have the opportunity which was basically every 30 seconds. If I’m not mistaken, it was the first movie made by the Monty Python that I saw and I guess always struggled with their humor but, after this amazing rewatch, I wish I could also watch ‘Monty Python's Flying Circus’ but I have noticed it will leave Netflix soon. Anyway, to conclude, even though it took me years to finally appreciate this movie, I have to admit that it is actually indeed really awesome so you should definitely check it out, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, it is a really obscure feature so I wasn't really expecting much from it but I had the DVD already for ages (almost 4 years...), so I thought it was really time to watch the damned thing. The main reason I was actually interested in this movie in the first place was because Christopher Walken was involved and, on top of that, he was even playing the lead for once. Unfortunately, Walken himself admitted that he loves his work so much that he agrees to be in pretty much all the movies proposed to him. That would explain how he could end up in a movie like this one. I mean, I have seen worse but the whole thing was just so bland and generic, at the end, after barely 80 minutes, you wonder if the damned thing did actually ever start at some point. At least, Walken, as a great professional, did his thing as usual and it was nice to see a young Vera Farmiga before she had her breakthrough but her character was really poorly developed, just like all the other characters. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not a complete waste of time, it wasn't far from it and I don't think this movie is really worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I had it for a while on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out after all. Well, it was pretty terrible and I think it is in fact a good example of how difficult it is to actually make a movie. I mean, here, they had everything they needed, a director, some actors, a whole crew and a story which could have worked and, yet, the whole thing was just pretty much awful to look at. Where should I start? I don't know which one was worse, the directing or the acting. I mean, I'll give you that, the girls were pretty cute (there was even a really unexpected and rather weird cameo by Natasha Henstridge who must have lost her mind to show up in this) but all of them couldn't act at all, it was just cringe-inducing to behold. Concerning the directing, well, the whole thing was coherent, at least, that's something, but it was just so lifeless and really boring to watch. To conclude, it was one very weak indie feature, no wonder that no one else has actually seen it and you should pretty much avoid it.

Almost a year ago, Robin Williams passed away with some really dramatic circumstances so it is with some mixed feelings that I look back at his work. For example, this movie was definitely one of his biggest box-office successes and, 20 years later, it is still very popular but, to be honest, it is not really good, I’m afraid. First of all, the whole gimmick of a man disguising himself as a woman not by choice but just to trick someone for any kind of reasons, never really appealed to me. I mean, ‘Some like it Hot’ remains by far the best one in this genre but even ‘Tootsie’ which is quite a classic never really worked for me either. In this case, sure, the make-up was pretty good and Robin Williams goes really wild with this character but the fact remains that it is actually a really stupid story. Basically, it seems that everyone has agreed that it doesn’t matter that plot is idiotic as long as we get to see Williams doing his usual hysterical act. On top of that, I thought it was just mildly amusing but never actually hilarious. To conclude, I think this movie is seriously overrated and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of Robin William.

Yesterday, my wife had a great surprise. Indeed, since our youngest daughter had a sleep-over, she suggested that we should go on a date. Eventually, we went to see this movie in a very cozy movie theater where there is no separation between the chairs, lots of room for your legs, a little table with a small lamp and a button to press to get a waiter to bring you some snacks and drinks. It was just really neat and this movie was just the perfect choice for a romantic evening like this one. Indeed, it was nothing really heavy but it was still pretty damned spectacular and entertaining. Basically, Tom Cruise has finally nailed the formula for this franchise and, even though this new sequel was a slight step down from its predecessor, it still worked fine. Indeed, the action scenes were just really impressive, pretty much the best delivered by the industry right now, Simon Pegg was once again hilarious as the sidekick and I was quite impressed by newcomer Rebecca Ferguson who was just perfect as femme fatale. Eventually, it was almost a home-run but some elements still bothered me. For example, they keep giving us some really murky plots every time and the whole plot against the IMF has been done too many time before. Furthermore, it was a little too long and the main villain was rather disappointing. Still, I thought it was a decent blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I always been a huge fan of ‘Groundhog Day’ and, in my opinion, it is one of the very best romantic-comedies ever made. A few years later, it seems that Harold Ramis was going again for another clever rom-com with some fantasy elements, also starring Andie MacDowell in the love interest so I had some rather high expectations with this flick. This time, instead of Bill Murray, they went for Michael Keaton who was a great choice. Eventually, I thought it was a fairly entertaining feature but I can’t say I wasn’t really blown away. The main difference between this movie and ‘Groundhog Day’ is that even though ‘Groundhog Day’ was also based on some rather dubious and preposterous concept, it worked because it went way beyond that, giving us an awesome main character, some great jokes and even some sentimental moments that actually worked. Here, sure, the gimmick was fairly entertaining but that was pretty much the only thing this movie had to offer. I have to admit it, Michael Keaton delivered a solid performance and the guy was quite entertaining but the whole thing was still missing something to become something more than just a gimmick. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a decent comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

By now, I have seen all the movies directed by Lee Tamahori and, in my opinion, he must be one of the most disappointing directors at work nowadays. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, the guy is not one of the worst, it’s just that he seemed to have such potential following his amazing debut ‘Once Were Warriors’ but, unfortunately, everything that came after was just rather underwhelming. This movie is a perfect example. Indeed, it was Tamahori’s 2nd directing effort, his first project in Hollywood and while it was a rather ambitious production with a nice cast (Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Treat Williams, Jennifer Connelly, Daniel Baldwin, John Malkovich), it never really worked. Basically, it is a pretty straightforward film noir and it was probably too straightforward to become really remarkable. Eventually, what remained was a decent mood and, above all, Jennifer Connelly who never really looked more stunning. Seriously, it is worth watching the damned thing just to have a look at her. Concerning Tamahori, this movie would be eventually one of his best which says a lot about how underwhelming his career turned out to be. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I’m not sure which one I saw first, this version or the remake starring Pierce Brosnan. I have noticed that the remake has a real solid reputation but even though it is a decent feature, it doesn’t come near the level of this fine movie. First of all, Steve McQueen was one of these actors that basically played pretty much the same character over and over again but the guy did it so well, he was so charismatic, he was pretty much always spellbinding to watch. This movie was not an exception and it was apparently McQueen’s personal favorite. Faye Dunaway, who just had her breakthrough a year earlier with ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, was also perfectly cast and they had some great chemistry together. Concerning the feature itself, I always had a weak spot for this genre and it must be one of the best heist movies I have ever seen. Basically, they didn’t really put on the focus on the plot or even the heists themselves but more on the mood and how the whole thing looked and I thought it was just quite mesmerizing to behold. For example, the intro was really stylish and really awesome to watch. To conclude, I really liked this movie a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.