Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, back then, even though ‘Shrek’ had been a massive success, Dreamworks still did release two hand-drawn animated features afterwards before completely dropping this method (my guess is that those features were already in production before ‘Shrek’ came out so that’s why they still finished them). They released this one exactly a year after ‘Shrek’ but even though it was fairly successful, it didn’t make a huge impression and it is nowadays pretty much forgotten which is too bad in my opinion. Indeed, even though the animation was decent enough, above all, I really enjoyed the approach they took. Basically, even though the main character was a horse, in contrary to pretty much all  Disney’s animated features, they didn’t make him talk which must be one of the most annoying gimmicks ever used by Disney. However, it was too bad they went for some really cheesy songs by Bryan Adams to compensate the lack of dialogues. Still, this way, you get a story which was much more realistic and, therefore, much more interesting to behold. Concerning their approach of the Wild West, they went for a revisionist Western which means that the Indians were displayed as pretty much flawless and completely in sync with the world around but even though this approach was quite stereotypical, this tale was still fairly entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is not really a masterpiece, I thought it was still a solid animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

After being overshadowed for nearly 2 decades by their own Pixar and even by Dreamworks, Disney is finally going through a renaissance and, with this movie, they even managed to break the record of the most successful animated feature ever made (a title previously owned by 'Toy Story 3'). Well, to be honest, I didn't expect this movie to become so huge and, after watching the damned thing, I actually think it is rather overrated. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, it is definitely a gorgeous animated feature and I'm really glad Disney finally managed to create their own style. Indeed, they are the only one on the market who has created a style seemingly mixing CGI animation with some good old hand-drawn animation (a trend they started with 'Tangled') and the end-result was just really impressive. So, what was my problem then? The main issue I had is that they went basically for an animated musical and while I can see that this idea was massively popular, it kind of bored me. I mean, sure, some of the songs were pretty good but when I see a character breaking out in a song every 5 minutes, I can’t help thinking that they are actually trying to hide the weaknesses of the story. Still, I have to admit that some of the songs were actually really catchy. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it is still a really solid animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

If I’m not mistaken, my wife actually has a weak spot for this flick but, to be honest, it must be one of the most generic action flicks starrring Bruce Willis. I mean, Willis always had a rather productive career, he showed up in more than 70 movies so far, and to be honest, I don’t think this one belongs to his worst (‘Color of Night’ is definitely his ultimate worst and ‘Hudson Hawk’ was also pretty abysmal) but the whole thing was just terribly average and pedestrian. In fact, they went through some extensive re-shooting to try to make the whole thing a little bit more exciting so the this project was already half-baked from the start. Eventually, thanks to Bruce Willis's always dependable charisma, it was still watchable but there is no denying that he was pretty much going through the motions with this one. It was also fun to see Sarah Jessica Parker playing something else than her usual Carrie Bradshaw figure (a stereotype which is getting more and more annoying through the years) but I’m not sure if she was really convincing as a cop and even more as a romantic interest for Willis. To conclude, even though the whole thing was not completely awful, it was still pretty damned average and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

It has been a while since I have seen this movie and I will definitely check it out again when I have the opportunity. To be honest, I was actually slightly disappointed by ‘Wild Bunch’. I mean, sure, I thought it was pretty good but I failed to see what was so impressive and, in fact, I was more able to connect with this other classic directed by Sam Peckinpah. In my opinion, it is actually one of his more subtle directing efforts. Of course, in fact, as usual with this rather brutal director, it wasn’t actually not subtle at all, quite violent, especially back in those days and borderline misogynist but, for a Peckinpah feature, it had actually quite some depth. I also enjoyed to see Dustin Hoffman who has at the top of his game at the time. Indeed, Hoffman was an unexpected but great choice to play the lead and I thought it was more intriguing to have him go beserk instead of one of the usual tough guys that you might have in such violent setting. To conclude, it is an unsettling but still very interesting thriller and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Sam Peckinpah’s work.

I had already seen this movie but since it was a while ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. This feature clearly stands out in Roland Emmerich's filmography since he had made so far some big SF features like 'Stargate' or 'Independence Day' but the end-result was not bad at all. Indeed, what he basically did was to take his usual massive actions scenes and moved them in a different time period and, within this interesting context, it was actually quite rewarding and entertaining. On top of that, with Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger, the first who was still a major a draw at the box-office and the second who was just breaking through at the time, he had some really talented actors and it gave this epic tale some extra  weight. To be honest, I don't really think that the story was really amazing and it was a typical plot with a predictable arc. Basically, it was the whole gimmick of the lethal warrior who doesn't want to fight anymore but, of course, he goes to war anyway because, otherwise, there wouldn’t be any story to tell. Sure, it was entertaining but it wasn't really deep whatsoever. Still, all in all, it remains a decent blockbuster and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I actually already saw this movie, in fact, I even watched it in the movie theater when it was released, but it was a while back so I thought it was really time for a re-watch. Back in those dayss, there was a lot of talk because Brando Lee was killed while making this movie and considering the already ominous nature of the story and if you add the fact that Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee's father, also died under such mysterious circumstances, this movie became in the process an instant cult-classic. 20 years later, it is still pretty good, a dark and unsettling feature with a striking Gothic look, thanks to some really solid directing by Alex Proyas who was just starting as a director with this movie. To be honest, I'm not so sure that the story was really amazing though. I mean, sure, it was quite entertaining but I always find it difficult to care for a character who seems to be invincible. On top of that, the bad guys were poorly developed and they were just some obnoxious over-the-top cartoonish figures. Still, it remains a strange and morbidly fascinating movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I remember it very well, back then, I really enjoyed ‘Happiness’ a lot. Indeed, it was one of the darkest and quite frankly one of the most messed up movies I had ever seen so I was really eager to check Todd Solondz’s following directing effort. Eventually, I wasn’t disappointed and I thought that this new feature was quite spellbinding to watch as well. This time, Solondz went for something slightly more ambitious with too unrelated stories called ‘Fiction’ and ‘Non-Fiction’ and, honestly, I’m not really sure I understood where the director was actually getting at but, once again, he gave us some rather dark tales with some vastly flawed characters. Indeed, instead of the sanatized glamorized and therefore rather boring characters provided in your usual Hollywood feature, Solondz gave us something much more true to life and it was once again quite fascinating to behold. I think I still preferred ‘Happiness’ because I had a better grasp on the whole thing but this movie was definitely not far behind and it’s a pity that his following projects didn’t turn out to be as satisfying as those two amazing movies. To conclude, even though it is definitely an acquired taste, I really liked it a lot and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I have noticed that David Mamet is a rather highly regarded director, and he is even more highly regarded as a writer (he even won the Pulitzer prize as a matter of fact) but, to be honest, I always had a hard time to connect with his work. I don’t know, his movies are always intriguing but there is somehow always something missing to make them really remarkable and this flick is a perfect example. Indeed, when it was released, it was very well received and it has more or less become a cult-classic since then but I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. I mean, sure, it was fairly entertaining and there was definitely an impressive cast (Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julia Stiles, Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker) but I thought it was just amusing but not much more than that, I’m afraid. There is one thing really neat with this movie though is that it was actually the very first time that the great Philip Seymour Hoffman was finally playing the lead character. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is really anything great, it is still a decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Mamet’s work.

Honestly, it is quite an obscure feature and I wouldn’t be otherwise really interested in a movie like this one but since I always had a weak spot for Ridley Scott’s work, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, it is probably the most unknown and forgotten movie directed by Scott and I'm afraid it actually does deserve its status. I mean, after many ambitious productions dealing with Fantasy, SF and even a periode piece (‘The Duellists’, ‘Alien’, ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Legend’), Ridley Scott was making for the first time a contemporary feature and the result was rather underwhelming. I mean, the title was rather lame and the story was just too pedestrian. Still, as usual with Ridley Scott, in spite of a rather weak story, he managed thanks to his always stylish directing to make the whole thing watchable thanks to a nice mood and the flick was after all mostly entertaining, even if it was completely forgettable. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing and probably one of the weakest directing effort from Ridley Scott, but for what it’s worth, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre of if you are interested in this director.