Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but I was really surprised about how much I enjoyed it. Indeed, in 2012, Channing Tatum had a huge year with 3 hits ('The Vow', 'Magic Mike' and '21 Jump Street) but the year before, he released no less than 5 movies (including also 'Haywire', 'The Eagle', 'The Son of no one', 'The Dilemma') and even though they all flopped, this movie was easily the one which got the least attention but, in fact, it turned out to be easily the best of the whole bunch. To be honest, the whole concept of high-school reunions is something which we don't practice in Europe, or at least, in France, and I have never been attracted by the idead of meeting my high-school 'friends' 10 years later but, somehow, this movie still really worked for me. Indeed, to start up, there was a really impressive cast (Channing Tatum, Jenny Dewan, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac, Chris Pratt, Kate Mara, Anthony Mackie, Lynn Collins) and while they all did a fine job, I was above all impressed about how well written and developed were their characters. Indeed, most of them felt like some genuine human beings so that was quite refreshing. Eventually, the only thing which prevented this movie from being really amazing is that there were in fact too many characters and too many sub-plots for such a short running time. I mean, most of those little stories were actually pretty good but they didn’t have the time to develop them properly which was quite a shame. Still, I thought it was a very nice little movie and I think it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, there is a fair chance that my rating might be actually too generous for this movie. First of all, the first issue is that Michael Cera was once again playing the same character all over again and while it was quite cute when he got his breakthrough with 'Superbad' and 'Juno' (2 decent movies which were still rather overrated in my opinion), it is getting rather tiresome by now. Furthermore, except for the gay guys, all the supporting characters were either clueless and/or obnoxious. Even Caroline, played by Ari Graynor, was at first alright but she spent most of the movie drunk providing a really underwhelming sub-plot. Still, somehow, I actually enjoyed the damned thing and it was above all thanks to Kat Dennings, a really underrated actress with a very interesting look and tons of charisma. For once, she was playing the lead and everytime she was on the screen, I was interested again while the story was actually nothing really amazing. On top of that, I have to admit that she had some pretty good chemistry with Cera. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was actually a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I was always had a hard time with this franchise. Indeed, even though this 1st installment was a surprise success at the box-office, I thought it was rather underwhelming which is too bad because the concept actually had some potential. Anyway, at the time, it seemed that Robert Rodriguez found his new cash-cow and kept making Spy Kids flicks until the audience really got fed up (which happened pretty quickly eventually). To be honest, my children really liked this movie (and its sequels) a lot so I guess it was a success with its target audience but, in my opinion, I don’t think it is really enjoyable for grown-ups. On top of that, the whole thing didn’t grow old very well and it feels rather dated 10 years later (maybe the reason why the recent 4th installment was such a flop). Still, I think we should give Robert Rodriguez some credit for going from some really R rated features to some familly material like this one and still being quite successful in the process which is quite rare. To conclude, even though the whole thing could have been really good, I thought it was quite average but you might still give it a try if you want to watch something with your kids.

At last, I have seen this flick. Indeed, for some movies like this one, I seriously don't care about the hype and, to be honest, I was actually planning to wait until they released a dvd box with all the installments but since this movie was broadcasted for the first time on Dutch TV, I thought I might as well watch it for free. Eventually, I thought it was a decent watch, even though it was certainly nothing really great. I mean, sure, it was well made and entertaining but it was nothing I hadn't seen before already a couple of times. What I really liked was actually the elistist and decadent society living in the Capitol and, to be honest, I would have rather dropped the whole games thing and have a movie focusing on those guys instead. That’s the whole issue here, even though the concept was pretty awful, those games were in fact the main reason why we all watched the damned thing so there was this rather weird and unsatisfying vibe about them. Still, all in all, it was a decent watch and Jennifer Lawrence really ruled this thing (even though she was way more interesting in the far superior 'Silver Linings Playbook'). To conclude, even though it was far from being a masterpiece, for a young adult book adaptation, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. To be honest, the more I think about this movie, the more I believe I should lower my rating. The point is that it was actually based on an interesting true story but I'm not sure if it was enough material to fill in 2 hours of running time. On top of that, Spielberg decided to turn into some kind of modern fairy tale and, even though it still worked, the end-result was hardly a home-run. Eventually, it was a minor effort from Steven Spielberg, one of those movies he makes like ‘Always’ to fill in the gaps between his more ambitious projects (for example, after that, he would direct ‘War of the Worlds’ which wasn’t really amazing either but, at least, it was a massive blockbuster). At least, Tom Hanks gave a really solid performance but, eventually, it would have been more rewarding if they had taken some risks, something I very often miss in Spielberg’s movies. Still, I had a good time watching it and even though it was obviously a minor effort, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Steven Spielberg’s work.

In my opinion, this James Bond was the best one starring Pierce Brosnan. I mean, ‘Goldeneye’ was definitely decent but I really didn’t like much ‘Die Another Day’ and ‘The World is Enough’ and this one was the best of the bunch. To be honest, I think the circumstances during which I have seen this flick also helped me to enjoy it even more. Indeed, back then I was in the Netherlands on holiday, for the first time without my father, I was there with my best friend at the time. We were having a blast and on the 1st of January (if I recall it correctly), we went to see this flick in the oldest movie theater in the Netherlands. It is in Amsterdam, it is called the Pathé Tuchinski and it looked gorgeous. Anyway, it was the perfect movie for us at this moment as it was rather brainless with tons of cool action scenes but the whole thing was really entertaining. As usual with those James Bond features, the story was not really amazing but I thought it was good enough. On top of that, I thought that Michelle Yeoh did a great job and, in my opinion, she was one of the most interesting James Bond girls as she was a little bit more than the usual eye-candy. To conclude, even though it is nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, I have never been really impressed by Guillaume Canet's career as an actor and, so far, his biggest achievement is to have been married with Diana Kruger and then to be Marion Cotillard's boyfriend for already 7 years. Still, as a director, he definitely displayed some potential and I really have to check now his directing debut, 'Mon idole' (I have the damned thing already for at least 3 years on dvd so I really have no excuse). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it was definitely a very well made thriller and the whole thing was really entertaining. It reminded me of Hichtock's work and 'Spoorloos', easily one of the best Dutch movies ever made but, to be honest, the story was a little too far-fetched for my taste. Indeed, when the revelations did start to come out, at least half of it didn't make much sense. Still, all the actors gave some really solid performances and Canet definitely managed to create a nice mood and, if you don't analyse the plot too much, it is definitely a nice watch. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, I still think it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, first of all, I was actually surprised by how little I actually remembered it and, on top of that, I have to admit that, this time around, it turned out to be actually fairly entertaining. I mean, even though it is a huge classic from the 80's, I'm still not a huge fan but I think I was at first too harsh. It is also funny that the only thing I did remember were the impressive dogfight scenes but, in fact, I was also surprised by the fact that there were only a few of them after all. In fact, it turned out that at least half of the movie was about the romance between Maverick and his instructor. So, basically, it is an action flick mixed with a fairly generic romance. Eventually, what actually impressed the most was to see a young Tom Cruise in his breakthrough performance. Indeed, even if it was hardly his best work, the guy was just really charismatic and it was also quite neat to see the similarities between Maverick and himself. Basically, Maverick wanted to be the best pilot and to rule the sky and Tom Cruise wanted to be the biggest movie star and to rule the box-office (which he did for a very long time) and Cruise was actually a perfect choice to play this character. Anyway, to conclude, I'm glad it a second chance and even it still might not be a masterpiece, it is actually quite entertaining and it is definitely worth a look.

Since I have a weak spot for Dakota Fanning, I was quite eager to check this flick. To be honest, I thought she was eventually a rather odd choice to play the main character. I mean, either you move the story to the USA (it has been done before, see for example 'High Fidelity') or just pick up an English actress, it's not as if there wouldn’t have been any suitable candidate. I mean, it's not that Fanning was bad, she actually gave a solid performance but it was really distracting and a rather misguided choice. On top of that, after watching ' The Fault in our Stars', it was just so similar, it felt a little bit like a déjà vu. Furthermore, both movies basically had the same issues, in the sense that they were based on some strong emotional and rather realistic tales but they were both pulled down by the usual tricks and gimmicks of the genre. At least, this one didn’t have a twist towards the end but I can’t say it was actually better. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn't great, it was still a decent drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.