Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, even though Alain Resnais is pretty huge in France, I have seen only 3 of his movies so far. Anyway, I remember when this movie was released in France, it was a big critical success and it even won the César of the Best French movie of the year. With this in mind, I became really curious about the damned thing. Eventually, I thought it was indeed pretty good but, honestly, it wasn’t really my cup of tea. Indeed, even though it wasn’t really a musical, every 5 minutes, you have the characters stopping their dialogs and going into some songs, usually some famous french pop songs, and even though some viewers thought it was just awesome, in my opinion, it was a cute gimmick but not much more than that. I mean, pretty much like a musical, I think it doesn’t help developping the plot or the characters when there is such an interruption every 2 minutes. Still, there was a very nice cast (Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azéma, Jean-Pierre Bacri, André Dussollier, Agnès Jaoui, Lambert Wilson, Jane Birkin, Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and I have to admit that the whole thing was still fun. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is a masterpiece, it is a pretty good whimsical flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I already saw this movie but since I just bought a brand new awesome TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember the first I saw it though. Indeed, since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Back then, many viewers actually called it the best movie released by Marvel so far, no less than that, so the damned thing had to be pretty amazing. Well, even if I have to admit that this movie did clearly stand out from the other Marvel productions, to compare this flick to the great paranoïde thrillers of the 70's, that was still a real stretch though. Sure, it was a nice change of pace but it was not as dark as I was expecting it to be and I don't think it was really so groundbreaking after all. Furthermore, I thought it was rather disappointing that they didn’t spend a little bit more time developing the predicament of Steve Rogers who looks like a top-model but who also is over 90 years old. While rewatching this movie, I also noticed that there were actually way too many characters involved. Seriously, between the good guys and the bad guys, I think I counted around a whopping 14 characters. As a result, they continued the trend started with ‘The Avengers’ which was almost 150 mins. Since then, almost all Marvel productions will be longer than 2 hours when, in fact, there is no reason why such blockbusters should last for so long. Anyway, to conclude, I think this movie is slightly overrated but it was still a fun blockbuster, absolutely an improvement on its predecessor and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

That’s another really obscure feature. In fact, I wasn’t expecting to be so osbcure but, apparently, according to Box Office Mojo, he only reached $3,088 domestic gross when it was released which must be one of the lowest gross I have ever heard of. Anyway, back in the days, I saw it on VHS , I think because one of my friends was really eager to check it out and I thought it was a decent serial-killer flick. Sure, it was nothing really fancy and, to be honest, I have never been a huge fan of the genre but this one did work for me. Indeed, the concept was obviously far-fetched but it is inherent to the genre and I thought it was intriguing enough. Above all, it was very nice to see Adrien Brody a couple of years before his breakthrough with ‘The Pianist’. Brody used to be one of the most interesting actors of his generation and it’s a shame his career went pretty much nowhere after winning the Academy Award. Concerning Maura Tierney, I thought she was not bad here either and she had some interesting chemistry with Brody. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent thriller and it is 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. Well, at last, after being literally lost for so many years making 'Where the Wild Things Are', Spike Jonze was finally back and the end-result was once again pretty terrific (By the way, it's too bad he hasn't released anything new since then). Anyway, he basically made here a fascinating movie which worked on so many levels. First of all, I really liked the minimalistic style and the whole thing was visually really appealing but it went way beyond that. For example, it might sound crazy to have the main character fall in love with his operating system but in a world where we barely speak to our next-door neighbours and yet manage to have 3000 friends on Facebook or any other social platform or manage to have a deep relationship with someone living at the other side of the globe, are we really so far from this reality? Talking about reality, is the physical world much more significant than any virtual world? And what is the foundation of our relationships? Is it something really physical or is it in fact the interactions that we have with one and another? This movie went really deep into those questions without of course giving any answers but the process displayed was just mesmerizing. On top of that, it was just so refreshing to finally see a movie dealing with an advanced AI who didn't become homicidal at some point. It's so frustrating that, very often in science-fiction, something new or unknown is automatically handled as a threat. Finally, I shouldn't forget to mention that Joaquin Phoenix delivered here another hell of a one-man show but it was also quite might amazing what Scarlett Johansson managed to do only with her voice. Anyway, to conclude, it might be Spike Jonze's best movie so far, it is that good and it is definitely worth a look.

That’s another seriously obscure feature. Indeed, I was the 2nd listal user to rate this thing and not even 10 users have seen it apparently (on the other hand, not even 1500 Imdb users have rated it and that’s terribly low as well). Anyway, back in those days, Peter Mullan was finally getting noticed following his stellar performance in 'My Name Is Joe’ and the very same year he decided to release this directing debut. It sounded quite intriguing so when to see this movie in the movie theater when it was released. To be honest, it was pretty obvious that it was a first directing effort as the whole thing was not really ambitious and the scale was rather modest but I still think it was a decent dark British comedy. Also, just like Mullan’s way of acting, I think this movie displayed his interest in the human sould and that was quite intriguing. His follow up would be ‘The Magdalene Sisters’, a much more ambitious historical feature which was quite heralded at the time of its release but also unfortunatelly rather forgotten nowadays. To conclude, even though it is a really obscure feature, I still think it is 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. On top of that, I already watched again recently 'Les bronzés' and 'Les bronzés font du skis’ with the same group of actors and since I enjoyed these movies much more this time, I was really wondering how this movie would turn out after all these years. Indeed, when I was a kid growing up in France, virtually everybody was talking about this movie which is a major popular classic in my home country. With this reputation, I became really curious but, to be honest, back then, I thought the whole thing was rather disappointing. Well, with this rewatch, I was finally able to enjoy the damned thing. First of all, I have to admit that I didn't remember much about it which shows how little it did impress me at the time. Obviously, it was nice to see the troupe du Splendid (Christian Clavier, Gérard Jugnot, Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel, Anémone) at the beginning of their career with their most famous play. On top of that, after all these years, I have to admit that the damned thing was really funny. Sure, I still don't think that it is as hilarious as many die-hard French fans might argue but many jokes worked very well though. I also think that they had a gift to write some genuine characters who were compelling to watch exactly because they were so average with not much redeeming features. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is still not one of my favorite movies, I have to admit that it is actually a really solid comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

To be honest, I always had some mixed feelings about this flick. First of all, even though the John Grisham’s books adapations were really popular in the 90’s, I have to admit those were quite entertaining but I also find them always terribly far-fetched. Still, from a marketing level, this was a smart move. Indeed, after ‘Pretty Woman’, Julia Roberts was the most popular actress in the world and Denzel Washington was also becoming a very strong value and combined with John Grisham’s current best-seller power, it was a great combo. Still, as pointed out by Roger Ebert, it is rather sad that the guy behind ‘All the President's Men’, one of the greatest thrillers ever made, would eventually end up with a decent but still rather straightforward flick like this one. And, of course, you have the fact that even though, in the book, there was some romance going on between the leads, nothing like this happens in the movie. You might argue that it is always rather stupid that, in most of the thrillers, the main characters usually end up in bed but, in this case, it is pretty obvious that if they would have replaced Denzel Washington with Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, you could be sure that some romantic angle would have been added. To conclude, even though I’m not a fan, I have to admit that it is still a fairly entertaining feature and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I have just discovered that I have actually seen all the movies directed by Michael Haneke. Right now, after winning back-to-back twice the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, the guy is pretty much at the top of his game and he is definitely one of the most interesting directors at work nowadays. It is also interesting that he has made half of his movies in France and this feature was the second one he made there. Personally, even though I was expecting a lot from ‘Code inconnu’, I thought it was rather disappointing and too difficult to decipher for me. Eventually, this follow-up was maybe more straightforward but eventually much more enjoyable to watch. Ok, ‘enjoyable’ might not be the right word as, like in all the movies directed by Haneke, you deal with some dark and ambiguous characters, dealing with some twisted emotions. Isabelle Huppert, one of the best French actresses, delivered an impressive performance and with Benoît Magimel, they had some really nice chemistry together. Like most of Haneke's work, the whole thing had a strong mesmerizing effect but the mood was so dark, it was as a result also quite alienating. To conclude, even though it wasn’t a complete home-run, it was still a strong drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Haneke’s work.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. First of all, I’m well aware of the fact that, ever since the ‘Batman & Robin’ debacle, Joel Schumacher has always had a rather lousy reputation but, somehow, I always had a weak spot for his work. I mean, sure, except for the criminally underrated ‘Tigerland’, he hasn't done anything really brilliant but most of his movies are actually quite entertaining and this flick is a fine example. Indeed, 2 years after ‘Tigerland’, Joel Schumacher decided to work again with Colin Farrell and he gave us once again one of his best features. I mean, sure, the whole concept was really far-fetched and terribly limited but that was also its appeal and they managed to get most of this concept. Indeed, one of the nice touch was to make the main character a fairly sleezy and unlikeable guy and the fact that Farrell gave a really solid performance was definitely an asset as well. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, I thought it was a solid thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Susanne Bier’s work and for Pierce Brosnan, I thought I might as well give it a try. Somehow, it did reminded me of ‘Mamma Mia!’. Indeed, if you would remove the ABBA songs, most of the inane plot but still kept Pierce Brosnan for good measure, those movies are actually somewhat similar. Anyway, I thought it was not bad at all, at least, it was much lighter than most of the Scandinavian movies I have seen so far. Still, there was plenty of dark stuff and the makers went constantly going back in forth between some rather fluffy romance and some overly tragic stuff. This mix was quite bold and interesting but it didn’t completely work, to be honest. On top of that, I think that they were too many supporting characters, each having their own little sub-plot, and they should made some choices about what to keep and what to drop. Still, I thought that Trine Dyrholm and Pierce Brosnan were both terribly charismatic and they had some great chemistry together. To conclude, even though it was nothing groundbreaking, I thought it was a decent romantic feature and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Scandinavian cinema.