Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I heard some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. I didn't know this before watching the damned thing but Davis Guggenheim also did direct 'An Inconvenient Truth' which I found quite impressive. Concerning this feature, even though I did like it and even though it was dealing with a very interesting and important subject as well, it wasn't a complete home-run though. Indeed, it makes some very strong points about the fact that the public school system in the USA is pretty weak pointing out some specific issues that could or should be adressed. However, some bits didn't really work though. I'm not talking about the bits that were apparently staged (basically, every documentary maker does it at some point) but the fact that they presented a few people like Bill Gates or Michelle Rhee as if they were some kind of heroes was rather dubious. Above all, I didn't buy it that they would deny the fact that the financial and social background of a kid didn't have any real impact on how a kid would succeed at school. Basically, it is more a combination of both, school and social background, but I think there is no denying that they should definitely improve their school system and, only therefore, it is already a valuable documentary.

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Sigourney Weaver, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. I mean, the subject was interesting but the whole thing was just poorly developped (with a running time of barely 70 minutes, they didn't even really have enough time anyway) and I had really a hard time to care about the characters. On the top of that, it was shot on video so, visually, it was also pretty ugly. On the positive side, I thought that Sigourney Weaver and above all Bebe Neuwirth were perfectly cast but I can't say the same about Aaron Stanford. I mean, not only the guy was 8 years older than his character (why are they always casting some actors who are way too old to play some teenagers?!? I will never understand that...) but the guy was just not charismatic enough. Finally, the tone was just off. Indeed, they tried to sell it as a melancholic comedy but it was a bad choice and I think it would have worked better as a drama. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing did have some potential, it was eventually pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, even though Maurice Pialat had a very good reputation in France, I haven’t seen many of his movies but I will definitely check the rest of his work whenever I have the opportunity. Anyway, I still managed to see 3 of them and this flick was one of these. To be honest, I don’t think it was anything really amazing, I have seen way to many similar French movies before to be really impressed but I still think this one was not bad at all. First of all, I was actually quite impressed by Sophie Marceau. Back in those days, even though she wasn’t even 20 years old, she was already a star in France but, to be honest, she never ever really impressed me as an actress (for example, in ‘The World Is Not Enough’, even though she got some major international attention, I always thought she gave a really weak performance). However, I have to admit that she was pretty good here. Of course, to have the great Gérard Depardieu at your side might have helped and together, they had some interesting chemistry. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really mind-blowing, it was still a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Since I have a weak spot for Greg Kinnear, I was quite eager to check this flick. On top of that, it was a rather intriguing story. Eventually, even though I did enjoy this movie, I thought the whole thing was terribly sad and frustrating. I mean, about less than 18 months ago, after going through a terrible time with my employer, they decided to fire me because I was supposedly incompetent. Maybe I wasn't the best employee ever but I was certainly not incompetent so I was pretty pissed off but they also offered me 6 months of salary and guess what I did? I swallowed my pride and took the money. I mean, I have noticed that some viewers considered Robert Kearns as a hero, some kind of David fighting Goliath. Sure, at the end, he did win (which really surprised me, I really thought he would eventually loose) and he did end up with more than 30 millions dollars but at what cost? Basically, he spent more than a decade fighting this battle, losing his family in the process. I'm sorry but I don't think it was really worth it. And, to make it worse, he could have settled so many times and move on with his life... Anyway, even if I didn't really agree with the actions taken by the main character, I still think it was a pretty good flick, with an intriguing story and a solid performance by Greg Kinnear so you should definitely check it out.

When I was a kid, I used to love those Conan flicks. A couple of years ago, I watched again this first installment with Nick, my step-son, and even thought this time, the limited acting skills of Arnold Schwarzenegger was pretty obvious, I still thought it was really entertaining, even after all these years. Indeed, the mood was just really awesome, they managed to create a fascinating world and Schwarzenegger was basically born to play this character. Almost 30 years later, of course, they had to come up with a reboot and, to be honest, it could have been worse. Indeed, Jason Momoa did a decent job but the 2nd half was unfortunately really weak. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, for Schwarzenegger, it was a star-making performance and with ‘Predator’ and ‘The Terminator’, it has become rightfully one of his most iconic characters. Eventually, he would come back for the sequel ‘Conan the Destroyer’ which was rather poorly received but I thought it was not that bad. To conclude, this flick is a childhood favorite and, in spite of its flaws, I would go as far as saying that it is a fantasy classic. Anyway, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure about what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak for romantic-comedies, I was still eager to check it out. Basically, like most of the movies in this genre, it relies on a gimmick and, as usual, since it focuses too much on the gimmick instead of the actual characters and what they are going through, it has some limitations. Indeed, it is clear right from the start they are pretty much meant for each other but they still manage to put some unecessary obstacles. So, I wasn’t really convinced by the concept but, I have to admit it, it wasn’t the worse I have seen. On top of that, John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale had some pretty good chemistry, especially Beckinsale was already terribly charming back in those days. At the time, she was still pretty much unknown in the USA, she was still known as ‘the British chick from Pearl Harbor’ but her status would drastically change a few years later thanks to ‘Underworld’. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent romantic-comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie a couple of times, in fact, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Anyway, in my opinion, while the more recent work from Tarantino tends to be rather overrated in my opinion, it is definitely the most underrated movie directed by Tarantino (‘The Hateful Eight’ might be even more underrated though). Obviously, after the massive success of 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction', the expectations were sky high and it was honestly asking a little bit too much to expect from Tarantino to deliver something that was that good or even better. So, I have to admit that it was a slight step down from his previous movies but just a little one, at least, that's my opinion. Indeed, I personally really enjoyed the damned thing. First of all, there was a great cast involved and this movie was also including one of the last great performances by Robert de Niro, the story was really entertaining and I just had a really good time watching this. Furthermore, it was the first movie made by Tarantino with a female main character and I thought he really nailed it as Jackie Brown was just really badass. In my opinion, Jackie Brown felt really genuine, you had the feeling that she was actually coming from our world, with some sh*t to deal with just like the rest of us and I really cared about her, which is something I can't really say about The Bride. Anyway, I think it is actually a very entertaining flick and it definitely doesn't get enough credit.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick but I remember it quite well. Basically, it is yet another really obscure French feature and, to be honest, it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. I mean, there is one thing that I always admired with French movies is how diverse their movies are. Indeed, in pretty much every genre, you will find at least one great French feature. There is however one exception and, in my opinion, it is the horror movie genre, at least, back in those days. Indeed, they thought they would come up with the first French slasher flick but the whole thing was terribly disappointing. I mean, it was visually not bad and there was the usual cast of young chicks and guys which was appealing but the story was just really inane and I had a really hard time to care for the whole thing. Eventually, only a few years later, they would finally release a wave of successful French horror flicks, usually extremely gore and violent (‘Haute tension’, ‘Ils’, ‘À l'intérieur’, ‘Frontière(s)’, ‘Martyrs’, ‘La horde’) and, surprisingly, I haven’t seen any of them up to this point. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was really weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I find it really difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, there is a little of nostalgia involved in this case, I must have been 12 or 13 years old when I watched the damned thing and since it was about some teenagers, I really connected with the characters. Of course, the plot is a little bit ridiculous and I’m pretty sure that for any grown-up, it is pretty much impossible to really enjoy it but the fact remains that it actually embodies many feelings and fears that all teenagers must experience around that age. The point is that the whole pirate radio thing was rather preposterous and to conclude with a big chase involving the police and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) was rather underwhelming. And, yet, if you keep in mind that the whole thing is basically some teenage fantasy, it does actually work very well on that level. Back in those days, Christian Slater, who was only 20 years old at the time but already a seasoned actor, was one of the greatest hopes and many including me thought he would become one of the most interesting actors of his generation but, nowadays, his work usually ends up in the direct-to-DVD bin. To conclude, even though it is a flawed picture, I have really a weak spot for the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look.

Honestly, it has been ages since I have seen this flick but I still can remember it vividly. Even though I’m not really a huge fan of horror flicks, there are still a couple of movies in this genre which had a real deep impact on me and this movie was definitely one of them. Indeed, even though the set-up is pretty simple (‘if you call Candyman 5 times in front of a mirror, he would come up and kill you with his hook’) and should have ended up as another standard slasher, in fact, it really stands out from the rest. Of course, the whole thing was pretty far-fetched and it tends to loose focus towards the end but there was a great and really creepy mood. Indeed, the main issue with those flicks is that they put too much focus on the gore and while this flick has some gory moments, it was more about the general vibe. I mean, it was so effective that, as a result, I must have been scared sh*tless by mirrors for at least 3 months. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is still probably one of my favorite horror movies and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.