Reviews by johanlefourbe

After all these years, this movie is still considered as one of the most the controversial winners of the Best Picture Academy award. Indeed, when you see that the other nominees were ‘Elizabeth’, ‘La vita è bella’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘The Thin Red Line’, there is actually a fairly good chance that this movie was in fact the weakest of the bunch after all. Anyway, after all this buzz, I was quite eager to check it out to see if it was any good. Eventually, after watching the damned thing, to really enjoy it, I think it all depends if you are able to connect with the material or not. Indeed, it is basically a rather whimsical costume drama dealing with Shakespeare and some other historical figures and while I thought it was a decent watch, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. I mean, sure, it was well made, there was a nice cast (Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Rupert Everett) but, to be honest, I was a little bit bored by the whole thing. To conclude, even though I don’t think it did indeed deserve to win the big prize, I don’t think that it deserved all the hatred either and I think it is definitely worth a look.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick but, to be honest, I always had a weak spot for this movie. Indeed, if I recall it correctly, I saw it with my wife and even though I didn’t really look amazing, it turned out to be a decent romantic-comedy after all. Even though you might not expect from me, I really like romantic-comedies but, after watching so many of them through the years, it is not very often that you get to see one which is really worthwhile because they are usually based on some lame concept or they are just poorly written. This one was an exception though. Indeed, it is actually a really simple story, there is no real concept behind, but that’s maybe why I actually enjoyed it. On top of that, even though I’m not a huge fan of Ashton Kutcher, I thought he gave a decent performance and, above all, he had some great chemistry with Amanda Peet (such a shame we don’t hear much from her anymore). Of course, if you are familiar with the genre, you will notice that the plot was terribly similar to ‘When Harry Met Sally...’ so the whole thing was not really original but I didn’t bother me. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent romantic feature and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I had already seen this flick but since it was really a while back, I was really eager to check it out again. Well, pretty much like anything else coming from this director, it is basically another huge classic but, to be honest, it doesn't really belong to my favorites. But even so, it is seriously entertaining, I think it is probably the most accessible movie directed by Stanley Kubrick and, once again, the directing was just amazing. On top of that, Jack Nicholson gave one of his best performances and the whole thing was indeed just spellbinding to watch. And, yet, somehow, it was still missing something to become truly amazing, at least, that’s my opinion. Eventually, the main issue was probably the fact that this movie is and remains a Stephen King story and, to be honest, I have never been a real fan of his work.  Still, I have always been amazed about how Kubrick has managed to lift up this material to such heights and among all these Stephen King books that has been adapted to the silver screen, it is easily one of the very best ones, even if King himself didn't like it at all. Anyway, to conclude, it is a classic and it is a must see for any decent movie fan, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I think it is rather sad that Tom Cruise is still trying to convinced himself and the rest of the world that he still has what it takes to lead the box-office. I mean, come on, man, not only the guy is already over 50 years old but, beyond that those days are simply over not only for him but for all the big movie stars and it would be great that the guy could reinvent himself like Ben Affleck or Matthew McConaughey. Anyway, after this way too long introduction, what about the movie itself? Well, I thought it was fairly enjoyable and entertaining but, honestly, like most conspiracy thrillers, the plot didn’t hold up very well and maybe half of it was pretty much nonsense. But, still, Tom Cruise remains a charismatic leading man, Rosamund Pike was quite charming and convincing enough and this character definitely has some potential. Concerning Werner Herzorg, I wasn't really sure though. I mean, it was really neat and unexpected to have the great German director playing some strange and ominous villain but, honestly, the trick got old pretty quickly and he didn’t have much to do after all. To conclude, my rating might be a little too generous here but I still think it is a decent watch but don’t expect anything remotely mind-blowing from this movie.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, after all these years, I still ended up with the same feeling. I’m afraid. I mean, I will admit tot have to it, it is a very good movie. Indeed, it is very well made, spectacular, really entertaining and with some career best performances from Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins but, unfortunately, the story is just too far-fetched for my taste. In fact, my wife is actually a huge fan of such thrillers involving serial-killers and I'm pretty sure this movie is her favorite one in this genre. However, in my opinion, this movie precisely displays what bothers me with this genre. Indeed, while my wife might argue that those things actually really happens in real life, I tend to roll my eyes in complete disbelief. I mean, let’s start with the fact that the FBI would never send a student still in training to interrogate one of the most notorious serial-killers. However, the worst gimmick in this genre, aside the obligatory twist ending, is the whole concept of the omnipotent serial killer who hears and sees pretty much everything, can apparently predict the future and has access to a limitless amount of cash. In fact, after rewatching it, there were still some parts that still didn’t make much sense to me. I mean, don't misunderstand me, I do like this movie but even though it might be the best movie in this genre, it still uses some of his worst tricks and therefore it makes it difficult for me to be completely blown away by the whole thing. Anyway, to conclude, even though I’m not a huge fan, it is still a classic though and it is pretty much a must-see, especially if you like the genre.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick and it would be pretty neat to re-watch it at some point. I remember it very well, back in the 90’s, I had seen ‘The Brothers McMullen’ and I was really impressed by this flick. Apparently, I wasn’t the only as it was very well received critically (it even won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival) and, at the time, it seemed that Edwards Burns had a bright future as a director. Like many other directors before like Kevin Smith for example, after directing a very cheap indie feature, he got the opportunity to direct something obviously more commercial and this movie was the result. To be honest, even though it was a decent rom-com and even though I did like it, I have to admit that it was still a step down from his really neat directing debut. Eventually, the biggest appeal was definitely to see Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Anniston when they were both young and starting their career. Unfortunately, after this more commercially oriented feature, none of Edward Burns's movies have made a big impression and they have been more and more obscure which I think is too bad. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I thought it was still a decent romantic-comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though, like everyone else, I did like ‘Taken’, I didn’t think it was really that great. Sure, it was an entertaining action flick but without the great Liam Neeson, I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it so much. Anyway, since this movie was a surprise success (I’m pretty sure no one involved expected it to be such a box-office winner), of course, they had to come up with a sequel. Obviously, the whole thing was pretty predictable but I thought it was still fairly entertaining. Sure, some of the action scenes were rather idiotic. The most hilarious one was probably to see Maggie Smith throwing some hand-grenades in the middle of Istanbul without anyone really complaining. I mean, seriously!?! Or the fact that she failed twice her driving license exam but, suddenly, her dad asks her to drive and she becomes some kind of stunt driver. And the last one, how Liam Neeson managed to find back his wife just by wandering in the streets of Istanbul. And yet, in spite of all this preposterious stuff, once again, Liam Neeson with his real acting chops was quite charismatic and I had some fun watching this. To conclude, I thought it was actually a decent sequel, slightly less enjoyable than the first installment but it wasn’t really a masterpiece to start with, and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I had never heard of this movie before , I hadn’t seen any trailer, I hadn’t even read anything about this movie so I really had no idea what to expect from it. On top of that, I had never heard seen any other movies directed by Ira Sachs so I was going really blank this time but it is always a pleasure to see a movie this way. Eventually, it was what you could call a nice little movie. Indeed, it is nothing really life changing but there was something really sweet about this love story about 2 guys who have been together for 40 years. One of the biggest pleasures while watching this flick was that those two men were not played by the usual big Hollywood stars but 2 great character actors : John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. All the cast did a fine job but they were just great, giving many interesting layers to those interesting characters. Concerning the story itself, I wasn’t really sure though. I mean, they make a big deal of the fact that they loose their cherished apartment but they find a new one in the most random way possible. Still, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really enjoyed it a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Chloe Grace Moretz, I thought I might as well give it a try. On top of that, even though I heard about the book it was adapted from, I wasn't familiar with it at all. Still, eventually, I have to admit it, I was actually positively surprised by the whole thing and I thought that it was quite enjoyable. I mean, right from the first scene, I was pretty much sold. Indeed, most of the movies in this genre are usually terribly far-fetched but the trick of getting up way too early to go to school was genuinely funny and, above all, completely relatable. To be honest, after this great scene, the rest of the movie was actually rather hit-and-miss but most of did work pretty good. I did like the fact that the main character thinks that he is awesome and that he believes that everyone should worship him when, in fact, the guy was pretty much a douche-bag. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was still missing to become really great, it was a nice surprise and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Guy Pearce, I thought I might as well give it a try. To be honest, it is only when the film started, during the credits, that I discovered that it was a Besson production. It wasn't exactly a positive sign. I mean, I do respect the fact that Luc Besson is probably the only one in France or even in Europe who is able to challenge the Americans on their own turf. Still, it doesn’t mean that the movies he writes and produces nowadays are actually really good and this flick was a fine example. Sure, I have a weak spot for SF features and the whole thing did look good. On top of that, Guy Pearce never disappoints and he had some decent one-liners throughout the whole thing. And yet, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. Indeed, the plot was just so generic, so pedestrian, I got bored pretty quickly. Furthermore, I thought that Maggie Grace, also to be seen in the 'Taken' trilogy from the Besson factory, was pretty weak. To conclude, I have seen worse but I still don't think it is really worth a look.