Reviews by johanlefourbe

For some reasons, I ended up watching this flick in the movie theater with a chick I knew and, looking back, I seriously wonder why we decided to pick up this flick. Anyway, it is basically a really unremarkable slasher flick which could be almost considered as a remake of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. The only point of interest would be to have such charming actresses like Eliza Dushku and Emmanuelle Chriqui on the screen but even them couldn’t really save this flick. I mean, it wasn’t really awful but I just really didn’t care about the whole thing. Apparently, it was actually quite successful on DVD and, therefore, they launched quite an impressive franchise with no less than 5 direct-to-dvd sequels (obviously, I haven’t seen any of them and I’m not planning to). Eventually, the director Rob Schmidt would direct another thriller called 'The Alphabet Killer', starring once again Eliza Dushku and, even though it was still rather underwhelming and even cheaper to look at, at least, it developped a few interesting ideas about a cop slowly becoming insane. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I think it is a really weak horror flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.

Basically, it is another major classic directed by Oliver Stone but, to be honest, the first time I watched it, I thought it was actually slightly disappointing. I mean, it remains a very good movie, no doubt about it, but I thought that Charlie Sheen’s character was terribly bland and not very well developed. Furthermore, the whole thing about the young stockbroker being attracted by greed but who ultimately rejects it was rather boring and pedestrian. Still, there was some great stuff here, absolutely. First of all, Michael Douglas was just terrific as Gordon Gekko and only to see him makes it worth watching the whole damned thing and, in my opinion, he should have been the main character. Basically, that was the main problem with this movie. Indeed, even though the movie was against Gekko, yelling that he is the bad guy and that you should despise him, deep down, everyone thought he was awesome and this character became an icon, a role model for many guys who wanted to succeed in the stock-exchange world. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, this movie is still an invaluable time-capsule showing Wall Street back in the 80’s and it is definitely worth a look.

Since I had this movie on DVD for such a long time (I bought it at least 3 years ago), I thought it was really time to watch the damned thing. Mel Brooks is basically one of these directors I was really interested in at first but after watching most of his movies (I think by now I'm only missing 2 or 3 of his movies), I came to the conclusion that I'm not really a huge fan of his work, except for 'The Producers'. This movie is actually a perfect example. I mean it is nowadays pretty much forgotten and it must be one of Mel Brooks's most obscure features but, even though I thought it was not bad and fairly entertaining, I can't say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. Above all, I had a hard time to care about the plot and I got tired at some point to see these characters running after each other holding one of those damned chairs. Still, some dialogues were pretty funny and I especially enjoyed the completely nuts priest played by Dom DeLuise. It was also pretty neat to see a very young Frank Langella. To conclude, I don't think it is anything remotely remarkable but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Mel Brooks's work.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, after all these years, I still loved the damned thing and, in my opinion, it must be the ultimate romantic-comedy. Indeed, even though I always had a weak spot for the genre, to be honest, most of the rom-coms are actually so underwhelming. The main reason, in my opinion, is that they are usually poorly written and they are too often focusing on some terrible gimmicks. In fact, in this movie, there is no actual gimmick or idiotic concept and, instead, they focused here on the  characters involved and their relationship which might seem like a no-brainer but it was actually a master move.This flick did it so well, not only it gave us some really 3 dimensional characters but, above all their relationship was just really sweet, sad, recognizable and often quite hilarious. By the way, it’s interesting to note that the fake orgasm scene which has become so iconic after all these years might be the only scene which didn’t feel genuine at all. I mean, sure, I have to admit that it is a funny scene but there is no way that Sally would actually do this in a crowded restaurant. Still, there is no denying that Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal had some great chemistry in this flick. Following this flick, Ryan pretty much became the queen of the genre with some various amount of success and it's just too bad she pretty much butchered her pretty face with some ill-advised plastic surgery later on during her career. Anyway, to conclude, I really love this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though I keep watching most of his movies, I have really built-up a love-hate relationship with Woody Allen's recent work. I mean, even his successes like 'Midnight in Paris' or 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona', even I did like them, are still vastly overrated in my opinion. Still, I really wanted to check this older flick and, boy, at last, I wasn't disappointed. Basically, it was such a great reminder about how talented and witty he used to be as a director. Indeed, within the first 10 minutes, I was completely hooked. Indeed, it was funny, smart, the characters and the dialogs were just so well written, it was just spellbinding to watch. To be honest, it must have even pretty weird to watch this flick when it was released since, right in the middle of its production, Woody Allen and Mia Farrow when through one of the most scandalous and nasty break-ups ever. Even more than 20 years later, the whole thing is still rather weird when you watch this flick as Woody Allen broke up with Mia Farrow so he could be with her daughter who was just about 20 years old at the time. Anyway, if you manage to put Woody Allen's weird private life aside, it is actually a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Woody Allen's work.

I know, it might seems weird, but I actually think this movie is pretty good. Sure, it is and remains a commercial flick and it is far from being a masterpiece but, for a romantic-comedy, it is actually pretty solid and, in my opinion, it is above the other movies in this genre. To start with, obviously, the whole concept was completely preposterous and, in a lesser movie, it would have been quite terrible to behold but, for once, they managed to actually properly handle this concept and the end-result was actually rather satisfying. I think it was also a great touch to have Mel Gibson to play the lead and maybe his fan base wwas disappointed to see him in a rom-com but I thought he was a terrific choice. Indeed, in my opinion, Mel Gibson is one of the very few action stars (Bruce Willis might be the other one) who actually has some acting range (I mean, the guy managed to give a convincing performance in ‘Hamlet’ for crying out loud!) and there has always been a lot of sensitivity going on with him, at least, that’s what I felt from his acting, and I think he really delivered the goods here. Concerning Helen Hunt, I never really cared for her but she was decent here and she had some good chemistry with Mel Gibson. To conclude, I actually liked the damned thing and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, I remember this flick very well, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released back then. The best thing about this flick was that, before watching it and at least until half way throught the damned thing, I thought it was actually a rather straigthforward thriller. Eventually, until that point, I thought it was actually quite entertaining with a nice mood and some pretty good chemistry between Neve Campbell, Denise Richards and Matt Dillon. However, at some point, the whole thing went just way over the top, with some numerous and really far-fetched twists and, from then on, I kind of lost interest in the damned thing. Basically, it is a really sleazy thriller with a really ridiculously convoluted plot and I honestly think it could have worked better if they had taken the story a little bit more seriously. I mean, come on! In the last 10 minutes, there was a massive twist every 30 seconds which was just terribly annoying at some point. After rewatching the damned thing, it became pretty obvious that this movie was actually never meant to be a straightforward thriller but some kind of neo-film noir mixed with a B feature with an erotic edge. Anyway, to conclude, I think this flick is pretty much a classic for every teenage boy who grew up in the 90’s, it is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine, and even though it is terribly flawed, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Honestly, it is not the kind of movies I would have expected to watch with the filmclub. Indeed, it is a commercial feature adapted from a popular young adult novel so we hardly seemed to be the targeted audience. So, it was definitely a daring choice but, eventually, I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, the relationship between those two teenagers was really touching and convincing thanks to the amazing performances by Shailene Woodley (the new rising star) and Ansel Egort (never heard of the guy before). Unfortunately, pretty much everything else in the movie was at best decent and sometimes even rather worthless. For example, the way they make you think during 3/4 of the duration that the girl will die but, suddenly, the roles are reversed and she is actually the one surviving, that's just a poor gimmick to add an extra layer of drama. The worst was probably the few scenes involving the writer which were just contrived and rather cringe-inducing. So, as a result, you had one of the most beautiful and emotional love-stories involving teenagers I have ever seen but those kids were unfortunately stuck into the gimmicks and tricks of your average Hollywood melodrama. Still, it was a decent drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I had it on DVD for already more than 2 years, I thought it was really time to finally watch the damned thing. Well, basically, it is one of those movies that some stars make at the beginning of their career and, like everyone else, they have to start somewhere and the only reason this movie has not been completely forgotten (it is still pretty obscure though) is because Angelina Jolie has become since then a huge star. Honestly, I think I more or less cared for the whole thing for maybe the first 15 minutes but then it became rather convoluted and actually rather boring. What was the genre here in fact? Really difficult to pinpoint... It seems that it was just a mix of rather daft and rather scenes. Still, from the moment Angelina Jolie was on the screen, she was quite spellbinding to watch, which was quite something since her character was actually rather shallow and uninteresting. Sure, she looked really gorgeous but it went beyond that, she was just really charismatic and I really wanted to spend more time with this character even though she probably had nothing interesting to say. Still, even though it was fun to see a very young Angelina Jolie (In fact, I was rather amazed to discover that she was just 21 years old at the time), it still remains a really weak feature and I don't think it is really worth a look.

So, that's where it all started for Pixar. Of course, Pixar was working on CGI animation for more than a decade already but it was their first full length feature and the first time they reached such a broad audience. At the time, there was a pretty good buzz about this flick, I was even lucky to see it in the movie theater when it was first released but nobody expected that it would become such a phenomenon, creating a whole new trend of animated features in the process. Indeed, it was obviously a huge success and, eventually, it became a major milestone in motion picture history. Suddenly, hand-drawn animation which was mercilessly ruled by Disney was dropped and everyone, virtually every single studio, started to make CGI animated features with some various amount of success. Coming back to our game changer, like I said before, I had the pleasure to see it in the theater when it was released (like most of Pixar's features) and it was quite mind-blowing. Back in those days, it was something completely new and even though it does look a little bit old today, it was really impressive when it was released. Above all, their masterstroke was to not only blow us away technically but also to provide an entertaining, touching and rather deep story with some great characters which would be an enduring trademark in Pixar's work. To conclude, it is pretty much a classic and it is absolutely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.