Reviews by johanlefourbe

When I heard about this movie, I was at first pretty excited. I mean, a movie starring Rober De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline, that sounded really promising. However, the plot didn't seem to be really groundbreaking and, eventually, when it was released, it was barely noticed and didn't get much love. Eventually, I thought it was a decent watch but it could have been much more. I mean, it is basically one of these movies that show some really big names on the poster and, that's it, they are pretty much done and they don't feel the need to give a story that could be actually challenging or at least a little bit more entertaining. Basically, it was just too easy, too low-brow and too predictable. Still, in this genre, I have seen much worse (the first one popping to my mind would be 'The Big Wedding' also released in 2013 and also starring Robert De Niro). Indeed, the characters were quite realistic and appealing expect maybe for Paddy whose grudge became quite irritating pretty quickly and the actors, some of the greatest thespians of our time, gave a fine job. To conclude, even though within 3 days, I will probably forget most of it, it was still a decent comedy and I think it is worth a look.

Like most of the Pixar pictures, I have seen this one in the theater ('Cars' must be the only one that I didn't see when it was released) and it was probably the first Pixar movie I showed to my 9 years old daughter. Even though it might be overlooked and considered a mere kids flick, it is actually enjoyable for anyone. Indeed, even though it is now more than 10 years old, the animation still looks great. Especially the main characters, James Sullivan and Mike Wazowski, those guys just looked really awesome. Back in those days, they were still struggling to provide some human beings that looked fine but those monsters all looked pretty neat. Furthermore, the story was really entertaining filled with hilarious characters. As usual, Pixar tackles a concept which sounded promising but it is above all the sensitive and smart way they chose to handle this concept that makes this feature quite spellbinding to watch. More than a decade later, they would release a prequel which was decent enough but, like most of the recent sequels produced by Pixar, it was nothing really amazing. Anyway, to conclude, this movie is pretty much a classic and it is absolutely and definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since this movie had a solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, even though it was a decent watch, I can’t say I really loved the damned thing though. I mean, it definitely has its charms and they definitely don’t make such movies anymore. Indeed, it is basically a moral tale dealing with such old fashioned elements like chivalry and piousness and, if you are into this kind of things, you will love the whole thing but, if you are not, it might rather bore you. Personally, I have always been more attracted towards dark and conflicted characters, so, I had a rather hard time to connect with such virtuous semi-gods. And, yet, it is always neat to immerse yourself in a different time period during which the norm and values were drastically different than ours. On top of that, there is no denying that the iconic soundtrack by Vangelis was really uplifting and effective. Eventually, this movie won the Best Picture Academy Award but, in my opinion, the competition was rather weak for that year (‘Atlantic City’, ‘On Golden Pond’, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, ‘Reds’). To conclude, even though I’m not a huge fan, it is still a solid sport feature and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick. Still, I remember it quite well when it was released. If I recall it correctly, my sister saw it in the movie theater when it was released and since she was really enthusiast, I was quite eager to check the damned thing. Basically, even though I wasn’t exactly blown by the whole thing, I have to admit that it was still a fairly enjoyable quirky Aussie comedy. Eventually, this movie launched the career of Toni Collette but even though I always thought she was an intriguing actress and she always had a steady career, she has never done anything really mind-blowing ever since. Concerning P.J. Hogan, this directing debut opened for him the door of Hollywood and his following directing effort would be ‘My Best Friend's Wedding’, arguably one of the most successful romantic-comedies of the 90’s (I’m not a huge fan but I have to admit that it was a hit). Eventually, almost 20 years later, Collette and Hogan would make another movie together called ‘Mental’, a feature which didn’t make much waves when it was released. To conclude, coming back to our main feature, it is a pretty good comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick so maybe I should give it another shot but, at the time, I really didn’t care at all for this movie. Indeed, I have noticed that the whole thing managed to get a pretty decent rating on Imdb but, personally , I was actually bored by this tale. I mean, I’m glad for Richard Dreyfuss that he managed to get the lead, something that will occur less and less in the following 20 years, and he managed to give a solid performance but it wasn’t enough for me. I don’t know, it was a typical uplifting school drama with the usual stereotypical plot (teacher goes to school and hates it, teacher starts to get along with students, suddenly, he becomes an amazing teacher and he loves the student and they love him back…). Maybe I’m just too cynical for this kind of material, maybe I just never had such an amazing teacher and I’m just jealous but I just failed to see what was so amazing and/or inspiring. To conclude, I have to admit that it wasn’t really bad but I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you love the genre.

It is a rather obscure flick but since it was directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, I was really eager to check it out. To be honest, I thought the title was really lame. I mean, sure, when you watch the movie, it does make sense but it wasn’t a really catchy title. Surprisingly, it actually became a box office success at the time but you could be sure that a movie like this one would never make any money nowadays. Anyway, concerning the movie itself, it was a decent watch but it was definitely not one of the best collaborations between Pollack and Redford, I’m afraid. I mean, sure, Robert Redford was really charismatic, he had some really good chemistry with the great Jane Fonda and I liked the message that corporate business would pretty much ruin anything just to get a quick buck. However, the whole impact of this movie was toned down by a very predictable romance between the two leads. Therefore, you never know for sure if you are watching a romantic flick or a social-political drama. Still, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in Sydney Pollack or Robert Redford.

Like everyone else, I was eagerly expecting this sequel and, after almost a decade, it was finally coming up so I was genuinely excited. However, when it was released, it turned out to be a flop and received some poor reviews. To be honest, it seemed hard to believe since the first installment was such a blast. Eventually, I have to admit that the critics were right as the whole thing was indeed just terribly disappointing. I mean, right from the start, with the small story starring Mickey Rourke, it felt all wrong. Indeed, they really messed up his make-up this time, Marv looked awful, way too big and at least 10 or even 20 years older than in the previous installment when he should look actually younger. Above all, the story was rather boring and the performance by Rourke, while he was amazing in ‘Sin City’, was just terribly weak and made Marv a real joke. Eventually, except for ‘A Dame to Kill For’ which is one of the best stories in the comic-book series, all the other stories were just underwhelming. The most bewildering one was maybe the last one called ‘Nancy’s Last Dance’, not only was it barely entertaining but, above all, it gave some major continuity issues with the rest of the stories. It was really stupid and, in my opinion, they gave us this tale just so that Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis, arguably the biggest stars in this franchise, had a little more screen time. Hell, even ‘A Dame to Kill For’ which was supposed to be really awesome, didn’t really impress me either. Anyway, to conclude, it is hard to believe that they took almost 10 years to deliver this, it looks like ‘Sin City’, it moves like ‘Sin City’, but it sure ain’t at the same level of this modern classic.

In my opinion, ‘Festen’ was and is a great masterpiece and it is definitely one of my all-time favorites. So, for many years, I was wondering what Thomas Vinterberg would do next and when I heard he was finally coming up with a new directing effort, I really had to watch the damned thing. Apparently, he spent 5 years on this international production which cost no less than $10 millions and it was eventually barely noticed when released receiving some rather abysmal reviews in the process. To be honest, I didn’t know all this before watching this. Indeed, I just saw it was directed by Vinterberg and I thought it was awesome that he was coming up with an ambitious international production after his sober Dogma effort. Sure, I have to admit it, the whole thing was pretty messy and it was so murky, it was almost impossible to follow. And yet, I thought there was something still strange and mesmerizing about the whole thing. I don’t know, maybe I should check it out again at some point to make up my mind for good about the damned thing. Anyway, to conclude, there is a fair chance that my rating might be too high on this one but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Thomas Vinterberg’s work.

From the 70's until the end of the 90's, Brian De Palma was one of the most highly regarded directors but now he is pretty much forgotten and that's a pity. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for this director and even though this movie is quite obscure, I still wanted to check it out. Basically, it was the first movie De Palma made after his breakthrough with ‘Carrie’ and even though it was far from being one of his best efforts, I thought it was still a decent watch. Like most of the movies delivered by this director, the most enjoyable element was the dark and gloomy mood which managed to cover most of the paranormal non-sense delivered in this movie. It was also nice to see the charming Amy Irving who was just starting at the time and she eventually became mostly famous for being Steven Spielberg and even more famous for divorcing him for an estimated $100m. Concerning Kirk Douglas, even though the guy was already 60 years old at the time, he still wanted to play the lead but, thanks to this eternal charisma, it actually worked. To conclude, I thought it was a decent thriller and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Brian De Palma’s work.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick but even though it has a rather lame title, I thought it was actually a solid thriller. Sure, the whole thing was pretty much straightforward and we have all seen this gimmick many times before with a murky murder case told to the police by someone involved through some flashbacks. Eventually, maybe that’s why I actually enjoyed the damned thing, the fact that it was a simple story told without too many bullsh*t. Indeed, even though most thrillers have the potential to be entertaining, in my opinion, most of them rely on some really preposterous plots and I’m pretty much sick of all those really stupid twist endings. Well, with this movie, they didn’t give us an amazing live-changing masterpiece but, at least, they provided some realistic and believable characters and a story which seemed for the most part to be plausible and I thought it was just really refreshing. On a side note, even though it seems like ages ago, back in those days, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis were one of the golden couples in Hollywood and it was one of the very few movies that they would eventually make together. To conclude, I actually have a weak spot for this flick and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.