Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I have seen every single Star Trek movie, of course, I had to see this one as well at some point. First of all, to be honest, even though I did like the reboot done by J.J. Abrams, I still think it was rather overrated. Sure, at last, they managed to make a Star Trek movie which finally looked awesome and the damned thing was certainly entertaining but the story was still just way too convoluted in my opinion. Well, this new installment pretty much gave me the same feeling. Indeed, the whole thing looked great, there were some really nice action scenes and it was a fun movie but I'm not sure I really cared about the plot. On top of that, even though they took an interesting turn with the previous movie, they still manage to rehash some really old stuff like Khan. I mean, sure, Khan is a really great villain and Benedict Cumberbatch delivered a really solid performance but since they had the opportunity to create a new story line with some new characters, why should you even bother going again against this enemy? To conclude, I'm still waiting for the one great Star Trek movie but this one was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Before making the transition to dramas, becoming a ‘serious’ actor and winning 2 oscars in the process, Tom Hanks actually starred in such comedies throughout the 80's. Even if I enjoyed some of those ('The money pit' for example, was not bad at all and ‘Big’ was pretty good as well), some of them were actually kind of lame. In my opinion, this flick which was fairly successful at the box-office definitely belonged to the 2nd category. I mean, sure when I was a kid, I thought it was fairly entertaining but, nowadays, there is no way I can’t take such movie really seriously. Sure, Tom Hanks always had pretty good comedic timing and he did what it could with this material but, basically, you had the usual stererotypical jokes that you have in every single movie dealing with dogs so the whole thing was rather tedious. To be honest, in this genre, it is probably not the worst I have seen but it was still not enough to be really worthwhile. To conclude, even though it wasn't really awful, it is still a rather average comedy and I don’t think it is really worth a look, expect if you really love this genre.

Since this movie has a very good reputation, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed. To be honest, I was a little bit worried at first because there were too many jokes for my taste but I was soon won over by Charles Laughton's marvelous performance. Indeed, I kept hearing so many great things about this thespian but, after watching this flick, I'm convinced the guy really deserved this impressive reputation. Indeed, even though Marleen Dietrich had maybe the more showy part, I think he was actually the one caring the whole thing with possibly the best performance of a lawyer I have ever seen. Indeed, not only this character was funny, smart and witty but I really had the feeling I was watching a great lawyer and not a fictional character. Concerning the story, it was quite fascinating and really entertaining but, in my opinion, the ending prevented the whole thing from being really great. Sure, it is now considered as one of the greatest twists but, in my opinion, it was actually rather far-fetched and didn't really match the rest of the movie which was quite realistic. Still, it remains one of the best courtroom dramas ever conceived, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Michael Winterbottom is a very interesting director and I try to catch his flicks everytime I got the chance. However, like some other directors like Soderbergh for example, Winterbottom is victim of his own ambition. Since his directing début in 1995, he has already directed 20 movies! A consequence of this is that some of his movies while still interesting feel half-baked and/or rushed in production. However, there are some exceptions and this movie is definitely one of them. Indeed, it is probably one of Winterbottom biggest critical successes and I thought it was indeed quite enjoyable (I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released if I recall correctly). Indeed, it was the first time around that Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan worked together (they have made so far 5 movies together) and I thought that Steve Coogan was just hilarious. Still, even though this flick was probably the only real comedy made by Winterbottom, I wasn’t completely blown away. I mean, sure, it was really fun, but I can’t say I really cared about the people involved or what they were going through. Anyway, even though I don’t think it is really a masterpiece, I still think it is a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Winterbottom’s work.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I still have a weak spot for Nicolas Cage, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it was basically another really underwhelming action flick like so many others Cage has been making lately and it seems that the next station for him is the direct-to-dvd market like so many other guys like Wesley Snipes, Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme. I know the guy had apparently some major money issues (I have actually read some rather hilarious articles about it on the internet and it was in fact much more entertaining to read than watching this tedious flick) but how long is it gonna last before he finally makes again something really worthwhile? Coming back to our main feature, I actually do like heist movies but this one was just so generic, so pedestrian, I was just bored throughout the whole thing. I mean, they even used the old trick of the master thief who has to come back from retirement to perform one last job because one of his loved ones has been kidnapped. Seriously?!? They couldn't come up with something a little bit more original? To conclude, I think I'm being rather generous with my rating here, it is jut a really weak action flick and it is definitely not worth a look.

10 years before ‘The Hangover’ (which is not really original after all when you think about it), Peter Berg made this flick with quite a similar plot and while it wasn't a commercial success like ‘The Hangover’, it still managed to become more or less a cult-classic. To be honest, even though I thought it was a decent flick, I can’t say I was really blown away. Basically, the whole thing was just terribly mean and none of the characters have any redeemable features and therefore, it was rather difficult to care about what they were going through. I don’t know, I do like black comedies but, somehow, it didn’t completely work here and the tone felt rather forced, at least, that’s my opinion. Still, it was an interesting directing debut for Peter Berg who slowly increased his status with each movie he directed. Eventually, he even managed to make a big summer blockbuster but, wisely, after ‘Battleship’ was a critical and commercial flop, he took a step back and directed the critically acclaimed ‘Lone Survivor’. Anyway, even though I wasn’t entirely convinced, it remains a decent comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Sandra Bullock, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, ever since ‘The Blind Side’ (which is actually rather overrated in my opinion), her status has changed from a very popular but rather fluffy actress to bonafide dramatic thespian. In fact, almost 10 years before, she actually tried something a little bit heavier than her usual romantic-comedies but it seems that the audience was not really ready since it wasn’t a real success. The point is that it is a very interesting subject and it was fairly well developped but there was a deliberate wish to tone down the material to make sure that it was never too dark or depressing in order to not alienate Sandra Bullock’s core audience. Still, there was enough grittiness and Bullock did manage to deliver a decent performance, even if she did look way too charming to be a real hardcore alcoholist. It was also really nice to see Viggo Mortensen, at the time already a very good but seriously underrated actor, really stealing the show. His next move would be a little trilogy involving some ring, you must have heard of it. To conclude, even though it could have been much better, it is still a decent drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Sandra Bullock’s work.

In the 90's, Kusturica was one of the most important directors in the world and I was a big fan of his work. Unfortunately, we haven't heard much from him during the 00's and that's too bad. Anyway, back in the 90’s, after making his only US production so far starring no one less than Johnny Depp (it’s called ‘Arizona Dream’ and it is quite marvelous), Kusturica went back to (ex-)Yugoslavia to make what many consider his magnum opus and, for the second time around, the Serbian director won the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Eventually, even though I did like it at the time (I saw it in the movie theater when it was released), I wasn’t exactly blown away. I guess I was just too young at the time (I think I must have been 15-16 years old when I first saw it) and since it is a rather complex feature with many layers, quite frankly, it went a little bit over my head. Still, it is quite an impressive piece of work, a big epic about Yugoslavian history. To conclude, I hope I will re-watch it someday to make up my mind for good about the damned thing but it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Emir Kusturica’s work.

It has been a while since I have seen this flick (I'm actually pretty sure that I actually saw it in the movie theater when it was released in fact). Anyway, it is one of the more obscure and less ambitious features directed by Oliver Stone but I thought it was thoroughly enjoyable. Basically, instead of the rather heavy historical and/or political dramas which had become Oliver Stone's specialty, it seems that this time, he just wanted to have some fun, so he decided to make this flick which is some kind of neo-film noir and even though it is nothing amazing whatsoever, it still believe it was a decent effort in this genre. Indeed, even though the story was nothing really original and was rather predictable, I really enjoyed the directing and there was a terrific cast (Sean Penn, Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Voight, Powers Boothe, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, Liv Tyler). Finally, it is not very often that you get to see a pretty good movie starring Jennifer Lopez, that is already noteworthy on its own, don’t you think ? To conclude, I think it is a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Oliver Stone's work.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jason Schwartzman and Ben Stiller, I thought I might as well give it a try. Basically, it belongs to this sub-genre in comedy, when the main character is more or less a pathetic moron. Personally, I have never been a fan of the genre, I even disliked a lot a huge classic like 'Dumb and Dumber', and even though I did like 'Napoleon Dynamite', it was still nothing really amazing. I mean, it is so tricky, you have to manage to create a pityful character but he or she still has to be interesting or entertaining to watch. Well, Marc Pease was certainly not interesting or entertaining. To make things worse, they thought it would be hilarious to have another major douchebag played by Ben Stiller but, again, it was a massive failure. To complete this, they added a very weak female character played by Anna Kendrick to create an underwhelming love triangle. As a result, the whole thing felt like a big waste of time for all these talented actors. To conclude, I think I might be really generous with my rating here, it is just a really weak comedy and I don't think it is worth a look whatsoever.