Reviews by johanlefourbe

Nowadays, they make remakes for pretty much everything and, this time, they went for a feature from the 80's which might be considered as a cult-classic but even though I haven't seen it, I'm hardly convinced if it was any good to start with. Anyway, there was definitely something appealing about this concept and they could have made something worthwhile from this but, like a similar Australian production called 'Tomorrow, when the war begun' I have seen recently which was just as disappointing as this movie was, the tone was just off and it was obvious that they were not willing to take enough risks. Obviously, to make us believe that any nation could invade the USA is rather preposterous but that wasn't the main issue. The biggest problem is that you never believe that something really tragic is actually and most of the time, it felt like watching a video game. The weirdest thing was maybe to see Josh Peck who used be to this funny chubby kid in 'Drake and Josh' and, somehow, he has become another pretty face. Maybe he should take more acting classes instead of going to the gym because he wasn't really convincing but he did what he could with this material. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, it was rather weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Étienne Chatiliez is not really famous abroad but he always had a very solid reputation in France. Indeed, his 3 first movies all became massive cult-classics in my motherland (‘La vie est un long fleuve tranquille’, ‘Tatie Danielle’ and ‘Le bonheur est dans le pré’) and this one was definitely was my favorite one. Indeed, if I remember correctly, I even saw it when it was released in the movie theater when it was released. I was just a kid at the time but I had a real blast, probably because I had never seen such a black comedy before. In my opinion, it was Chatiliez’s sharpest work and I have noticed that even though the number of senior citizens is ever expanding around the Western world, we don’t get many movies about them which is quite a pity. On top of that, you get a really black comedy about this really obnoxious old witch which was something really refreshing at the time. Eventually, Chatiliez is not as subsersive as he would like us to believe so, towards the end, you get to realize that the main character was not so evil which was a slight step-down. To conclude, it is a pretty much a classic in France and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since it is a rather obscure feature, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a rather nice cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, the end-result was rather underwhelming but there was definitely some potential. For example, the first segment starring James Marsen and Amy Smart was poorly linked with the rest and should have come later on. Then, you had the main segment called 'The Campfire' which was pretty weak itself, even though its conclusion was definitely an improvement. The following piece called 'The Honeymoom' was the weakest of them all, even though Jennifer MacDonald was quite charming. It then finally got better with 'People Can Like Too' which was a seriously creepy story with some pedophile predator. It clearly stood out from the rest but it was a decent tale. The finale part, starring Jacinda Barrett in her first role, was also rather solid. Like I said before, the makers had a nice concept and with some better writting, it could have been a winner but there was just too much stuff here that didn’t really work for me. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn’t really bad, the whole thing felt like a missed opportunity and I don't think it is really worth a look.

If I recall it correctly, one of my colleagues at the time gave me this movie on DVD at the time and, to be honest, otherwise, I would have probably never watchwed it. In fact, I remember it very well, back in the 80’s, Francis Veber released back-to-back 3 comedies with a similar duo, also involving Gérard Depardieu but with Pierre Richard instead, and those comedies were some big successes at the French box-office at the time. Here, it is pretty obvious that Veber tried to go back to this winning formula but I had some mixed feelings about the end-result. I mean, the whole thing was fairly entertaining and there were some funny bits here and there but I can’t say I was really impressed by this flick. The point is that, in those good old comedies from the 80’s, Depardieu was always playing the tough guy and, this time, he played the dim-witted fellow which might have sounded like a great idea but I thought it was eventually rather underwhelming. To be fair, I don’t think that Gérard Depardieu should be blamed, it’s just that his character was rather stupid and obnoxious and actually not really funny. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Following his performance in ‘Ordinary People’ for which he won an Academy Award at only 21 years old, Timothy Hutton then played the lead character in this movie which would be also a critical success. Indeed, I thought it was a solid drama dealing with a military academy and, obviously, the most interesting aspect was too see both Sean Penn and Tom Cruise when they were very young and just starting up (it was Sean Penn’s acting debut and Tom Cruise’s 2nd part). Eventually, they would both get a more impressive career than Hutton who was at the time one of the greatest hopes but he never really fulfilled these expectations. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to be honest, it wasn’t really amazing as the plot was a little bit too pedestrian and predictable but it was still quite bleak and entertaining. It is also interesting that, even though I wouldn’t be attracted at all by a Military Academy like this one at all, I pretty much goes against my personal beliefs and feelings, and yet I was still able to understand why those kids were attached to their school which shows that they definitely did something right with this movie. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, it was still a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Sean Penn or Tom Cruise.

In 2014, they tried again to relaunch this franchise with a very young version of Jack Ryan played this time by Chris Pine but since it didn’t get much love, it seems that they pretty much dropped the whole thing again. In fact, 10 years ago, they already tried to reboot this franchise with a younger version this time played by Ben Affleck and even though it failed to generate some sequels, in fact, I thought it was actually a pretty good flick. Sure, I have to admit, Ben Affleck, whose career was slowly going down the drain at the time and which would finally become a running joke, was not really good here as he was hardly convincing as a CIA analyst but Morgan Freeman was especially hired to minimize the damages and he did a fine job as usual. Above all, I thought that the story was really entertaining, surprisingly believable and rather convincing. Of course, not everything did make sense, it remains a standard blockbuster after all, and the timing was some time way off but, still, I enjoyed most of the plot and I was genuinely surprised when the nuclear bomb went off which was something I really didn’t expect. To conclude, I really believe that it is a decent spy flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

For the last 10 years, I have developed what you could call a love-hate relationship with Woody Allen’s work. Indeed, I used to be a die-hard fan at first but even though the guy is supposed to be an artist, he keeps churning out a movie every single year for the last 4 decades and even though this work ethic might seem admirable, I think it has a huge impact on the quality of his work and not a positive one. This movie is a very good example. Indeed, it was actually very well received at the time and I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released but, to be honest, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. I mean, sure, it was a fun mockumentary with a fine performance by Sean Penn but it was missing something to be really remarkable. I mean, it was definitely above the weaker efforts directed by Allen but it is always tricky when your main character is rather stupid and pretty obnoxious. Sure, it is fun but it is also rather limiting and I usually have a hard time to care about such characters. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is really a masterpiece, it is still one of the best movies directed by Allen in the 90’s and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Woody Allen’s work.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have since this flick so maybe I should give it a second chance but the fact I really despised it the first time around make it rather unlikely that I would waste even more time with this movie. I remember it very well, when it was released, it was really poorly received and the funny thing is that I still went to see it in the movie theater anyway but I can’t remember why. It was basically one of these surrealistic moments when you end up with a movie theater with just 3 or 4 other movie watchers and, for the whole running time, you just crash your head wondering ‘what the hell was I thinking that made me decide to watch this?!?’. The sad thing is that the main character actually had some potential and Lori Petty did what she could with the material but there was no way she could have saved this mess. I think the worst were those awful looking mutants mixing kangaroos and humans, they looked just terrible. Anyway, the whole thing was pretty bad and I don’t think it is worth a look at all, except maybe if you are completely drunk or stoned out of your mind.

Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this flick but it was definitely a blast to see Woody Allen’s directing debut. Sometimes, they do register ‘What’s Up, Tiger Lily?’ as his official debut but this previous feature was not really a directing effort, it was more his ‘re-dub’ of an already existing movie. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I really wonder if the viewers, while watching this daft picture, were aware that they were witnessing the birth one of the biggest American movie authors (even if you don’t like his work, you can’t argue that this guy had a major impact on American cinema). Obviously, it never reached the level of his best work and, in fact, the whole thing was a huge mess and it was apparently saved by top editor Ralph Rosenblum. This movie was also the first widely released ‘mockumentary’ so you can say that Woody Allen was pretty much a visionary right from the start. Anyway, even though there was not much depth here to be found, at least, the whole thing was really funny and, at the time, Allen wasn’t taking himself so seriously which was pretty neat. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really a masterpiece, it was still a fun flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Woody Allen’s work.

A couple of weeks ago, I started to watch this movie but I was really crushed when I realised that 30 minutes were missing from my recording. It was easily one of the best movies I had seen for quite some time and I was just thrilled when it was broadcasted again on some other channel. Indeed, what a very good movie and I really wonder how they came up with such a messed up but also intriguing story. At the center, you have two of the most spellbinding characters I have ever seen thanks to some flawless performances by Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Concerning the directing, Jacques Audiard once again pretty much blew me away and the guy is pretty much the best French director at work nowadays. Indeed, he manages to shot beautiful scenes without making them too much artsy and he gives enough room to develop some amazingly deep characters who were completely 3 dimensional. To be honest, I wasn't completely sold by the ending which didn't really work for me. Indeed, I just loved the deliberate slow pacing but, suddenly, in the 3rd act, everything was terribly rushed because they didn’t have any more time to make sure that Ali realised that his son and Stephanie were really important in his life and the whole thing felt like a massive short-cut. Still, it was a minor flaw, it is quite an amazing drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.