Reviews by johanlefourbe

Basically, it is once again one of these really obscure French movies that almost no one has seen here on listal. If I recall correctly, I didn’t see this one when it was released but I saw it later on on VHS I guess (yes, there was a time when we didn’t download movies or have dvds and, instead, we used some good old videotapes). Anyway, even though Cédric Klapisch never really managed to breakthrough internationally, I always had a weak spot for this director and, in my opinion, he is definitely one of the best French directors that emerged in the 90’s. From all his movies, I think this flick was one of the most obscure ones but I thought it was actually pretty good. Basically, it was nothing really ground-breaking but I though it was a well made and fairly entertaning néo-film noir. I mean, sure, the whole set-up was rather underwhelming but it is all compensated by some solid performances and the always fine directing by Cédric Klapisch. To conclude, even if it is no masterpiece whatsoever, I thought it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick but I was quite impressed back then. I guess it must have been either my mother or my father who bought this on VHS, anyway, I bumped into this and it sounded quite intriguing so I watched the damned thing. Apparently, the whole concept was not exactly new as Picasso did pretty much the same thing some 7 years before for some rather obscure Belgian documentary but even so, I thought it was just quite fascinating to behold. Basically, the whole thing is pretty straightforward and the only thing you get to see are some long shots with a fixed camera showing Picasso doing his thing, that’s it. Eventually, this whole approach was quite brilliant and, basically, there is no interference between you and the great master and it was just mesmerizing to see one of the greatest artists ever at work. Concerning Clouzot, it was yet another impressive feature following his classics ‘Les diaboliques’ and ‘Le salaire de la peur‘. To conclude, I think it is one of the most original movies I have ever seen and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Art in general.

Honestly, it has been a while since I have watched this flick and it is actually a fairly obscure feature (I was only the 3rd listal member who rated the damned thing). Back in the 90’s, I was quite a fan of Ken Loach’s work and I’m pretty sure I saw this one in the movie theater when it was released. Eventually, it must be one of his most forgettable directing efforts and I really preferred his following movie ‘Sweet Sixteen’. Still, it doesn’t mean that it was a bad movie, in the contrary. Basically, it is one of his typical dramas taking place in a highly realistic sociological and political context and, either, you like this approach or you find it really tedious and you’d rather switch to something more glamorized like any other feature produced in Hollywood. The issue here is that Loach mostly focused on the theme, which was really interesting, and not really on the characters or the plot, which were pretty average. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I still think it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you if you are interested in Ken Loach’s work.

This movie is one of the examples of why I still love the French cinema very much. I mean, sure, it is pretty obscure (I was only the 3rd listal member who rated the damned thing) and I’m not sure if it was really noticed outside France but I thought it was a fascinating minimalistic drama. I remember it very well, when it was released, it was a critical success and it would be Claude Sautet’s last directing effort, another underrated French director and I should watch many more of his movies. Basically, it is a perfect example of how a French romantic feature mostly focuses on the dialogs and the characters, instead of focusing on the nudity and sex (like most of the Dutch movies) or the artificial gimmicks of your average rom-com (like most of the American movies). I find this approach always interesting and this movie is one of the best examples. In this case, it goes even further as it deals with an unconsummated relationship which might be frustrating for some viewers but it made it even more intriguing for me. To play the main characters, you had Michel Serrault and the always lovely Emmanuelle Béart and they both gave some really impressive performances. To conclude, I really enjoyed this movie a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Back in the 90’s, way before he became the king of the box-office, I used to be a huge fan of Johnny Depp and I was eagerly watching all his movies. To be honest, even though his track-record was pretty amazing at the time (‘Edward Scissorhands’, ‘Arizona Dream’, ‘Benny & Joon’, ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape’, ‘Ed Wood’, ‘Dead Man’, ‘Donnie Brasco’, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’), not everything Johnny Depp did at the time was completely amazing and this movie was probably one of the most obscure he made in his career. Indeed, it seems that he was specialized in rather odd and excentric characters (still one of his trademarks nowadays) but, this time, he was portraying the most average guy you could think of in a very standard thriller. And yet, I thought it was not bad at all, after all. Indeed, the whole thing is a little bit too classic but the concept was decent enough and it was rather well made. And, indeed, it was actually really nice to see Johnny Depp playing out-of-character for once and, of course, Christopher Walken (the main reason why Depp got involved in this project) was just a great opponent. To conclude, even though it is nothing amazing whatsoever, I think it is a decent thriller and it is worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Johnny Depp’s work.

After watching only 2 movies directed by Alex van Warmerdam, I can already say that he has become one of my favorite Dutch directors. Some people might say that they love his unique way to throw in some absurdism in his pictures but, personally, what I enjoy the most is his humor. Indeed, the tone is always pitch-black, filled with witty oneliners and some really funny dialogues. Basically, I think his movies are just hilarious even if the characters themselves are not really funny. Anyway, this time, he made almost a straightforward picture which was less ambitious but definitely more accessible than 'Borgman', his previous directing effort. To be honest, even though I have definitely a weak spot for this director, the same things keep bothering me though. Indeed, between the weird things going on, I keep thinking that the guy doesn’t really care much about the plot or the characters involved and, as a result, I always find it difficult to really care about the whole thing. To conclude, Alex van Warmerdam remains one of the only Dutch directors to bring something really interesting nowadays and his last directing effort is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.

Usually, Paul Thomas Anderson is not what you could call a quick director. Indeed, it took him 5 long years after 'Punch-Drunk Love' to come up with 'There Will Be Blood' and then 5 more years before he came up with 'The Master' so I was really glad that his following directing effort was coming up relatively fast. Eventually, this flick didn't get much love, in fact, it is so far his lowest rated movie in IMDB (Still, 6.8 is nothing to be ashamed off). And, indeed, I have to admit it, I wasn't exactly blown away by the whole thing. I mean, 2 years ago, I already had a difficult time with 'The Master' because I thought it was a little bit murky but it was nothing compared to this movie. Indeed, I think I understood maybe 50% of it. Basically, there were so many characters, all more or less connected with each other but their connections were barely explained and none of them had some straight dialogs, always some rather obscure riddles. I don't know, maybe it works better with the book but, somehow, I doubt it. And, yet, there is no denying that the directing was really solid and, once again, Joaquin Phoenix showed that he is one of the best actors at work nowadays. Above all, I had never seen somthing like this before, a rather typical film noir but set in the 70's with some completely stoned characters. To conclude, even though my rating might be a little too high, even though I was actually disappointed by the whole thing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Paul Thomas Anderson's work.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since but since I had this on DVD for such a long time (more than 4 years!), I thought it was really time to watch the damned thing. When I was a kid, I saw the 1st installment starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and, back then, I really enjoyed those flicks dealing with martial arts but nowadays, I can't say I really care about them, especially such a cheap-ass sequel. I mean, Van Damme was never a great actor but do you know what is worse? A cheap-ass clone of Van Damme like Sasha Mitchell. I have to admit it, the guy has a pretty face and he seems to be able to fight but, man, what a terrible actor... Seriously, he was so pathetic to behold. Furthermore, even if it was a nice touch to go to Rio, I'm afraid it would probably be the only positive thing I could tell about the damned thing. Indeed, the whole thing was just a disjointed mess with barely any fighting scenes and, above all, it was just seriously tedious to watch. Anyway, to conclude, as expected, it was just a terrible movie and you should definitely avoid it.

Nowadays, Oliver Stone has pretty much lost his stellar reputation but there was a time that his politically oriented features were eagerly awaited around the world by many movie watchers. This movie came at a turning point in his career. Indeed, back then, Stone was still doing pretty well but, after this movie, his work won’t have much any impact anymore, I’m afraid. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, for the Americans, Nixon has always been perceived as the ultimate boogeyman but the guy was actually really popular back in 1968 up until he really messed up with the whole Watergate thingy. Since then, it has been forgotten that he was actually a rather effective politician (he ended the Vietnam war after all) who might have suffered from megalomania, paranoia and what not. Stone tried to juggle with all these elements but only partially succeeded in giving a really striking portrayal of this notorious figure. One thing remains though, Anthony Hopkins is a terrific actor. Even though he didn’t look like the guy at all, he gave as usual a solid performance. After portraying Richard Nixon, John Quincy Adams, Alfred Hitchcock, Pablo Picasso, Van Helsing, Zorro, and of course Hannibal Lecter, we can assume at this point that Hopkins could portray anything and still be awesome and completely convincing. To conclude, even though it wasn’t a masterpiece, it was still a really interesting feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by the subject.

Since I always had a weak spot for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I was quite eager to check this movie. My first thought was that it should be really neat to have a minimalist thriller dealing with some couriers in New York. My second thought was how will they manage to deliver something really satisfying which such a limited concept? Well, eventually, I thought the whole thing was fairly entertaining, even though the makers definitely used some tricks to cover those limitations. First of all, to prevent it from becoming too dull, they had to give us a rather far-fetched story. Then, they decided to give a random chronology which was a fairly obvious gimmick to make the whole thing much more complicated than it actually was. And, yet, in spite of these flaws, it was still a decent watch. Indeed, it was very nice to have Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing the lead for once and Michael Shannon, one of the most interesting upcoming actors at work nowadays, was a great choice for the villain and they both delivered some solid performances. On top of that, I thought that the alternative world of these bikers was quite intriguing and I could have spent more time with them. To conclude, even though it wasn’t entirely successful, I thought it was still a decent thriller and it is definitely worth a look.