Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since this movie was chosen by Roger Ebert as one of the best movies released in 2012 so there was a good chance that the whole thing would be good and I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, after watching the damned thing, I would agree with Roger Ebert and I’m actually surprised that this movie didn’t get more attention when it was released (eventually, only Naomi Watts received a Oscar nomination for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role). Indeed, I thought the whole thing was quite impressive. While watching this, I couldn’t help thinking that we spend a lot of time watching such movies and shows like ‘The Hunger Games’ or ‘The Walking Dead’ about some fictional survival stories when, in fact, there are some real tales about survival and, when they are very well developed like this one, there are just fascinating and quite heartbreaking to behold. Indeed, here, we are dealing with a real threat and thanks to the impressive acting by Naomi Watts but also by Ewan McGregor, you could get a pretty good idea about how it must have been to be there. Of course, some people argued that it was dealing with some white people when it was fact taking place in Thailand but, for once, it didn’t bother me as many tourists were indeed victims of the tsunami. To conclude, I thought it was a very strong drama and it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and it would be pretty need to check it out again. Nowadays, it is pretty much forgotten but I always had a weak spot for this flick. Indeed, I have always been fascinated by poker, I even used to play with some colleagues but I stopped because I wasn’t good enough, and, in my opinion, it is one of the best movies about this subject. Basically, you had 2 of the best actors of this generation (Matt Damon and Edward Norton) and also a very solid supporting cast (Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich, John Turturro, Famke Janssen, Goran Visnjic). At the time, John Dahl was pretty much the unofficial champion of the film noir, I always liked his work but this would be unfortunately his last movie in this genre and his following movies would become increasingly disappointing. Eventually, the whole gimmick of the guy who is able to read people’s mind is at the same time pretty neat but also a little be boring because since it is a fiction, there is not much really at stake. Still, I think it is a fun movie, probably the best movie about poker and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject.

It was almost 10 years ago that Sylvester Stallone made his impressive come-back with 'Rocky', and after milking the whole thing with 'Rambo' and 'The Expendables' franchise, he finally decided to come up with something new. All right, to be honest, it was still nothing really original and it was still a throwback to the good old action flicks from the 80's starring Stallone. At least, it wasn't a sequel, a reboot or a remake and it seemed that it had some potential. Eventually, it was pretty much a flop when it was released but I still wanted to check it out. Eventually, there were many things I did enjoy : the R rated tone, the decent performance by Stallone and the action scenes were really solid. And yet, it was still missing something to become really entertaining and, to be honest, I thought the whole thing was rather lazy. I mean, 10 minutes before the end, you have Jason Momoa (a really decent bad guy by the way) going into a killing rampage for no good reason except speeding up the whole thing. On top of that, they could have picked up a better partner, someone who could have pushed Stallone a little bit more, instead they picked up the Asian guy from 'The Fast and Furious' franchise and he definitely didn't have the necessary charisma. To conclude, it could have been pretty cool and it almost was but it was still too pedestrian for my taste.

I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back and since it was on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, this is the first movie directed by Wes Anderson that I have ever saw and, I remember it very well, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released. At the time, there was a lot of hype about this fairly new director and he was apparently the new US indie sensation so I was really eager to check this flick. To be honest, at the time, you have to keep in mind that it was more than 20 years ago, even though I admired the work done by Anderson and even though I thought it was pretty good, I can’t say I was really blown away. Well, it was pretty neat to re-watch it after all these years, that's for sure. Since then, I have seen all the movies directed by this unique US director, I was much more able to enjoy the damned thing and I would go as far as saying that it might be one of his best movies. As usual, he had a really impressive cast as his disposal (Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover) and these characters were so fun and colorful. Above all, his directing style is so unique, it is visually so neat and he has a very interesting way to handle his characters who seemed all to be more entertaining than probably actually are. To be honest, I still can't shake the idea that the whole thing was rather shallow and a little bit pretentious but, as I got acquainted with his work through the years, it is really inherent to his style. Anyway, to conclude, even though I still can't say it's one of my favorite movies, it is pretty neat though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Wes Anderson’s work.

Back in the 90's, I was a huge fan of Abel Ferrara's work, I have watched all the movies he has made during this period and I even saw this one in the movie theater when it was released, if I recall correctly. To be honest, it is probably one of his more osbcure features (I was only the 4th listal who rated it and not even 10 users have seen it so far) but I thoroughy enjoyed it. I have to admit that Ferrara has never been an easy director and, unfortunately, all the movies he has directed during the last decade were more alienating than fascinating to watch. However, there has always been something quite mesmerizing about the movies he made in the 90’s and, in my opinion, this flick was the last great one he made. I mean, sure, it is nothing really original but I thought it was really convincing and I really loved the mood. It was the first movie I saw starring Drea de Matteo and I thought that she was really charismatic, too bad she never really managed to develop a career on the silver screen. To conclude, my rating might be a little bit generous but I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Abel Ferrara's work.

Even though I have seen a couple of movies directed by Aki Kaurismaki, I'm far from being an expert on his work but since this movie (like most of the other movies he has done) received some very good reviews, I was really eager to check it out. On top of that, the action was set in France which made it even more intriguing to me. Eventually, like all the other movies directed by this guy, I admired the work done, I even enjoyed the damned thing and, yet, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. I mean, Kaurismaki has an interesting directing style and there is something quite unique about the dreary mood and the dead-pan humor he provides but I guess it's just not my kind of thing. On top of that, even though it was taking place in a realistic social background, it felt rather manufactured and I thought it was pretty obvious that it was made by a foreigner and not by someone French but maybe that was his goal, to give an enhanced view on this harsh reality. Still, André Wilms was really charismatic, the kind of characters you would only see in a Kaurismaki feature, and the whole thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick and maybe I will re-watch it at some point. Anyway, just a few years before making one of his numerous masterpieces and finally becoming one of the greatest directors alive, Clint Eastwood directed this decent but rather pedestrian action flick with Charlie Sheen. I mean, seriously, can you imagine a movie released today directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Eastwood himself and Charlie Sheen?!? That would be pretty weird... Anyway, 20 years ago, it didn't seem to be such a bad idea even though Sheen was apparently already struggling with some substance abuse problems (that the guy is still alive today is pretty much some kind of a miracle). Anyway, even though the whole thing was nothing amazing, it was still a solid buddy cops feature, arguably the biggest action movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Indeed, those two guys had some pretty good chemistry and I thought that the whole thing was mildly entertaining. To conclude, even though it never reached the level of the great movies directed by this master, it was still a fairly entertaining action flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick. I mean, seriously, check this poster… You get to see Julia Roberts lacing her shoes which was supposed to be cute but it was rather pathetic. On top of that, I never been a huge fan of ‘Pretty Woman’ so I was definitely not the right audience for this feature. And, yet, somehow, I must admit that this movie was actually fairly enjoyable. I don’t know, maybe it had do with the fact that I had such low expectations before watching this flick. Obviously, the producers by hiring the same director and the same lead actors almost 10 years after ‘Pretty Woman’ were just hoping that the same audience would rush to see the same team again so the whole endeavour was pretty shameful. Still, contrary to the really pretentious ‘Pretty Woman’, I thought that this feature didn’t get itself so seriously and was therefore more enjoyable. Indeed, the whole premise is rather silly but since all the people involved were quite aware of this, it actually worked pretty well. To conclude, there is a fair chance that my rating might be too generous here but I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

By now, I have seen most of the movies directed by the Dardenne Brothers and I have been a big fan of their work for a very long time but, to be honest, it wasn't really love at first sight with them. In the mid-90’s, they finally broke through the international scene with this movie. Indeed, it was a big critical success, they even won the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival so I had some rather high expectations. Unfortunately, even though I thought it was a decent feature, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. I mean, sure, Émilie Dequenne who was just about 18 years old, was quite impressive and there is no denying that their clinical, almost neo-realist directing style was quite effective. And yet, the whole thing was just so dreary, so gloomy, as a result, I had a really hard time to connect with the main character and what she was going through. I mean, it is not that it was depressing, it was more that it was, well, a little bit boring. On the other hand, 10 years later, Jennifer Lawrence would have her breakthrough with a very similar movie called ‘Winter’s Bone’ and the biggest issue with this movie is that the story was really far-fetched. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, it was a still an intriguing drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Eventually, it was pretty bad, probably one of the worst slasher flicks I have seen recently. Where should I start? Sure, the concept might have had some potential (apparently, the original version was already not something great to start with) maybe if they had added some sarcasm and black humor but, no, the only creative thing is how they managed to give the female characters the most releaving outfits without actually really showing anything. I mean, when you start to pay attention to such trivial details, it is never a good sign. In the middle of this borefest, you have the poor Idris Elba, one of the most interesting actors at work nowadays, and at the time, it seemed that he was just there to fill up his resumé until the real work would finally shows up. To conclude, the whole thing was pretty much a waste of time, fortunately, it didn’t last for too long, and you should avoid it, there are many more other slashers out there which might not be amazing but at least, they will probably be a little bit more entertaining than this movie.