Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and, as a matter of fact, I even think I saw it when it was released. The main reason I wanted to watch this movie was above all because it was directed by Catherine Breillat, one very most famous ‘enfant terrible’ of the French cinema who managed to reach fame with some really controversial movies like ‘Romance’. Eventually, even though I was expecting something bold again, it was in fact pretty light but it wasn’t not bad a thing and, in fact, I would go as far as saying that it is my favorite movies of hers that I have seen so far (ok, I have seen only 3 of them but still..). Indeed, as usual with Breillat, the whole thing took itself a little too seriously but I did like this meta reflection on how ridiculous a filmmaker’s work can become. It was also pretty neat to see again Anne Parillaud, the French actress who really impressed me in ‘Nikita’. On top of that, I thought the whole thing was quite funny but it is because I have a rather unhealthy sense of humor. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I remember very well the first time I was told about this movie. Indeed, one of my colleagues at the time asked me if I had seen this amazing martial-arts movie and I just told him I actually never heard of the damned thing. It sounded quite intriguing so I looked it up on IMDb and, when I saw the impressive ratings, I became even more eager to check it out. Eventually, it took me more than 5 years to finally watch the damned thing but it was certainly worth it. Of course, the fight scenes were just really impressive but I thought the whole thing went way beyond that. Indeed, even though you might wonder if the actual guy was really like this, I thought that this character was just really fascinating. Indeed, every time he did or didn’t fight, it always made sense and his attitude towards everyone was just so gracious, it was just a breath of fresh air and it was quite inspiring to behold. I can’t say I'm really familiar with Donnie Yen's work but the guy really gave a strong perfomance and I'm pretty sure he will be always remembered for the great job he has done in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing was maybe not flawless, it probably gave the most fascinating study about one of the greatest legends in kung-fu and this movie is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should probably re-watch it at some point to make up my mind for good about the damned thing. Obviously, Woody Allen has always been famous for his comedies but, a very few times in his career, he did try to make a drama and this movie belonged to this group. It is usually considered a rather minor work which might have had to do with its rather convoluted production. Indeed, Woody Allen shot the whole thing once, edited it but since he didn’t like the end-result, he rewrote the entire script, recast virtually all the characters and re-filmed the whole thing. Obviously, this had a huge impact on the budget which was pretty much doubled and since it was apparently his lowest-grossing movie, Woody Allen said it his biggest financial disaster (with ‘A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy’). The weird thing is that Allen was willing to do the whole thing a third time again. Anyway, coming back to the movie itself, it was pretty much a rather gloomy chamber piece filmed like a play but, in spite of the strong cast, it never really took off. To conclude, even though it might be a minor effort, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Woody Allen’s work.

To be honest, it has been while since I have seen this flick but like everything directed by Luchino Visconti, it was quite fascinating to behold. Even though Visconti started his career with ‘Ossessione’, the first Italian neorealist film, later on in his career he would become famous for his luxurious dramas involving the Italian aristocracy, the most famous one being ‘Il Gattopardo’. Surprisingly, I still haven’t watched ‘Il Gattopardo’ but I did watch his one which Visconti made 10 years after his directing debut. To be honest, I’m not sure I really cared about the story. Basically, it was a rather standard doomed love story and the fact that I wasn’t really familiar with this time period didn’t help either. Eventually, what I really enjoyed about this movie was above all the mood created thanks to a gorgeous cinematography. On top of that, apparently, Visconti wanted Ingrid Bergman and Marlon Brando to play the lead roles but Alida Valli and Farley Granger were some great choices as well. To conclude, even though it might not be one of Visconti’s best movies, it was still a really solid period drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this movie. Indeed, as a matter of fact, I got this movie in a package deal at a dvd shop, something like buy 3 dvds for the price of 2, and I already got 2 movies that interested me and this one was the only left which I hadn't see it and which seemed slightly interesting. Anyway, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was still a decent watch. Indeed, basically, it is one of those quirky indie features with some excentric characters and, fortunately, those characters were pretty interesting to follow. On the downside, the story was not really strong and even though the makers try to convince you that it was all really smart and clever but I was hardly convinced. Furthermore, there is something I really didn’t get. Indeed, they make a real fuss that Michael Sheen’s character raised his daughter as a psychology experiment in a world free of gender bias but, honestly, what does it actually means? What did he actually do with her? It was really unclear to me but that wasn't really important. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was not bad and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Obviously, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since there was a nice cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. To start up, the introduction involving Cameron Diaz was incredibly abysmal and it seemed like an impossible mission to recover the damage after such a lame start. Fortunately, it became slightly better but nog enough to become really enjoyable. Basically, it is one of these romantic-comedies which focus on a lot of characters (5 couples if I'm not mistaken) all played by a star-studded cast instead of the usual single couple and, as a result, you get a whole bunch of half-baked stories instead of a fully fledged tale. What's too bad is that most of those stories could have worked if they would have been developed as stand-alone (my favorite was probably the one involving Anna Kendrick and Chace Crawford). Another disappointing detail was that except for Jennifer Lopez (surprisingly, the only woman who didn't get pregnant during the movie), none of the actresses involved actually ever got pregnant in real life so I thought it was some poor casting. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really awful, it was still pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Since I kept hearing some great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed. Indeed, up to that point, David Ayer's biggest credit was to have written the rather overrated 'Training Day' but there was no doubt that the guy had some talents and, here, he really made his mark. The first thing I enjoyed in this flick was that, for once, it wasn't dealing with some dirty cops or some wild cowboys but with some decent police officers who are really dedicated to their work which was quite refreshing. Concerning the documentary-style directing, obviously, it wasn't really original but it was efficient enough and it definitely gave the whole thing a really realistic look. Finally, in my opinion, the biggest asset was the great chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. Indeed, this movie was not just about the shootings and chases, it was also about those two men who spent most of their time in their car and how they deal with that. They both gave some really strong performances and while we have been used to greatness with Gyllenhaal (probably one of the best actors of his generation), it was really neat to see Michael Peña shining in a such a star-making performance. Anyway, to conclude, even though the material was maybe not original, it was handled in such a good way, this movie might be one of the best cop dramas ever made and it is definitely worth a look.

Nowadays, Eddie Murphy has one of the most pathetic careers and for Robert De Niro, even though the situation is not as critical as for Murphy, he is still doing his best to ruin his prestigious legacy by showing up in some really underwhelming features. Anyway, 10 years ago, the situation was not so bad for them and they showed up in this movie together. Sure, on paper, the whole thing sounded pretty lame but I thought it was not bad at all after all. Indeed, the beginning was actually quite promising as De Niro played it completely straight, Murphy was actually quite funny and the mix did work really well, at least, that’s my opinion. Unfortunately, they should kept the satirical tone but, instead, they went for something very generic and rather boring as the two guys eventually formed a typical buddy cop duo. It was kind of disappointing since they started to make fun of the genre which was pretty neat but, then, they completely switch gears and basically followed the rules of the genre. Still, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was fairly entertaining and I guess it is worth a look but don’t expect anything really amazing.

Following their massive success with their directing debut ‘Dumb & Dumber’, the Farrelly Brothers became the next big thing in R rated comedy but, lately, their movies have been rather underperforming. In fact, you could argue that this trend actually started with this movie. Indeed, there was quite some buzz before it was released but, eventually, it didn’t make many waves at the box-office after all. To be honest, I have never been a fan of the Farrelly Brothers’s work (as a matter of fact, I think that ‘Dumb & Dumber’ was quite abysmal and a really overrated movie) but I thought that this movie was not bad. I mean, like all their movies, it was terribly raunchy and even though they tried to hide themselves behind some dubious morality (beauty is not everything and it is personality that should be important), it was very often quite misguided. And yet, I thought it was a decent watch. Nowadays, after 10 years of basically playing the same character over and over again, Jack Black has become rather annoying, but back then, it was his first leading part, and he was still quite funny. To conclude, obviously, it was nothing really amazing but I thought it was still fairly entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I remember very well when this movie was released. Indeed, after 6 very long years, Quentin Tarantino was finally coming up with a new directing effort. Not only was he releasing a new story but it was a gigantic epic feature of 4 hours divided into two movies!!! So, the buzz surrounding this flick was quite huge and many fans (like me) were waiting this new movie with more than anxiety. Eventually, it was once again a massive success for QT and it became an instant cult classic. Still, what did I personally think of this movie? Honestly, even though I did enjoy it, I didn't think it was really mind-blowing though. Sure, there were some really cool action scenes, the directing was really amazing and the whole thing was definitely entertaining but I thought that the plot was also terribly generic. With Tarantino's first 3 movies, even though it could be pretty preposterous, the story was always really compelling and I really loved those characters but, this time, I really couldn't care less about The Bride, the other characters and what they were going through. Still, even though it was (at the time of its release) his weakest directing effort, it was still a fun movie and I had a good time watching it but I seriously never understood what was supposedly so great about it.