Reviews by johanlefourbe

From the moment I heard about this movie, I became quite intrigued and I was quite eager to check it out, even though it didn't get much love and was barely seen when it was released. Indeed, personally, I always had a weak spot for those good old vintage exotic spy flicks with a dash of film noir. Eventually, this one had a terrific mood and Hafstrom managed to create a believable and fascinating dark and ominous city. Unfortunately, even though the story was not bad, it was still pretty weak, especially the underwhelming and predictable love story involving John Cusack and Gong Li (the way he completely spills the beans to her towards the end was also completely unbelievable). Finally, even though most of the cast (Gong Li, Chow Yun-Fat, Ken Watanabe, David Morse, Franka Potente, David Morse, Rinko Kikuchi) was pretty flawless and perfect for their parts, I thought that John Cusack was terribly miscast and really unconvincing as a supposedly smooth and lethal spy. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing had some potential, it looked really great, and in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look but there is no denying that it could or should have been much better.

I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I have to admit that the damned thing was not so bad at all after all. Indeed, it would be the third and last romantic-comedy Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan would make together and, just like 'Sleepless in Seattle', I thought that Hanks was pitch-perfect here. At the time, Tom Hanks was pretty much at the height of his career but, from this point on, he would even become one of the most iconic actors at work nowadays. Concerning Meg Ryan, she was really good as well and, in fact, I thought that her character worked better than in 'Sleepless in Seattle'. However, concerning Ryan, even though Hanks's career would keep thriving seemingly forever, for Ryan, I'm afraid this movie was pretty much the beginning of the end since it was her last box-office success. So, the leads were really good but, to be honest, I was not sure about the whole concept though. I mean, many modern viewers might complain that the whole email thing is nowadays really outdated but I don't agree. Sure, the technology are certainly evolved but, more than 20 years later, we still might meet the people the same way, arguably with our smartphone and not with our computer (in fact, that's how I met my latest girlfriend). However, most of the movie had nothing to do with how they communicate with each other. In fact, it was more about the fact that, even though Joe Fox was working for a chain of mega bookstores, he was not such a bad guy after all and, in fact, even his huge store looked fine which was quite refreshing. Anyway, big store, small store, it wouldn't matter much in the future since most of them will disappear because of the rise of internet shopping. Coming back on our movie, even though some ideas were neat, the story was not really as compelling as it was in ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, easily the best movie directed by Nora Ephron, and the last act was seriously clunky but it was entertaining enough. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is far from being a masterpiece, I think it is still a decent romantic-comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I remember it very well, before this movie was released, there was a huge buzz about it. This buzz was quite negative as the production costs sky-rocketed to $175,000,000 and it was therefore at the time the most expensive movie ever produced (it would hold this title for only 2 years until ‘Titanic’ was released). Indeed, there is always a risk when you are shooting on water and they had some major issues during the shooting causing the budget to keep rising. In fact, it has always been considered a box-office flop although it eventually grossed $255 million even though the already high budget mentionned before didn’t include the massive marketing costs. Personally, I saw this movie in the theater when it was released. I was in the USA on holiday for the very first time (eventually, I went there about 8 times) and we went to see this flick. Honestly, I had a great time during those holidays and I was seriously exhausted when I went to see this flick so I actually fell asleep during the damned thing. That’s how exciting it was. Eventually, I re-watched it a few years later, and even though it was watchable, it was just a rather weak version of Mad Max on water. To conclude, I have seen worse but it is still an average flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

I'm so glad I finally took the time to re-watch this flick. Indeed, if I recall it correctly, I have seen it in the theater when it was released but I never re-watched it since then. Anyway, this flick has definitely created some rather polarizing reactions. Indeed, some think it is a nail-biting historical thriller whereas some others think it was nothing really mind-blowing. To be honest, I first belonged to the second group. I mean, I admired the work done behind, the attention to the details and the strong cast but I seriously had a hard time to care about the story. It is always the risk when you already know the outcome of a thriller as much of the excitement is then gone. The fans would argue that this movie is all about the suspense involved but, frankly, sometimes I had the feeling I was watching a very long and very expensive commercial about the greatness of the USA. However, the second time around, I was actually entertained throughout the whole thing and I really enjoyed it. Sure, the whole thing was still terribly predictable, everyone was just so damnedd heroic and Ron Howard never took any risks at any moment but it was actually quite inspiring and it was very nice that they didn't add up any villain just to spice up the proceedings. Anyway, to conclude, even though I still don't think it is a real masterpiece, it is actually a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look.

By now, I have seen almost all the movies starring Vin Diesel (I’m only missing a couple of sequels) and his career basically kept alive by the Riddick and The Fast and the Furious franchises. However, about a decade ago, his status was quite different and there was a time when many thought, myself included, that he could become the next super action movie star. Indeed, when this movie was released, he was basically at the height of his popularity and it would be the last time that he would show up in a movie which could be considered a box-office success and without being a sequel. This time again, Diesel was working with Rob Cohen following their previous success with ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and I thought it was not bad at all. At the time, they all got really excited and thought that it would launch a new modern and hype spy franchise, a next-gen James Bond, and even though this plan sounded good on paper, the terribly lame sequel starring Ice Cube certainly killed any hope in this possible franchise (10 years later, they still talking about a possible 3rd installment starring Vin Diesel but, honestly, who cares now?). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, sure, the plot was really preposterous, but the action scenes were really bad-ass, Vin Diesel was really charismatic and Asia Argento was a surprising but really interesting female sidekick. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I think it is a decent action flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I always had a weak spot for romantic-comedies, I thought I might as well check this one out, even if the ratings were not really great. Eventually, I though that it was actually pretty good. Indeed, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt both gave some really solid performances and they had together some great chemistry. On top of that, their characters were really well written and felt like some really genuine people instead of the usual stereotypes you usually get in this genre. Unfortunately, while the characters and their relationship was realistic and compelling, the whole concept behind the plot felt forced and rather underwhelming. Indeed, it was pretty obvious from the start that they were great together and that they should be together, so the way that Tom couldn't get used to live in Michigan felt really contrived. I mean, is it really such a horrible place to live, is it really such a cultural shock compared to California? If he didn't like his job, couldn't he possibly look for a new one? It felt as if they had to create a bogus conflict otherwise they wouldn't be a story to tell. Still, in spite of its flaws, I really loved those characters, it was definitely the best romantic-comedy I have see lately and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, it is a seriously obscure flick (apparently, I’m the only who has seen it since the other ratings seem to be fake) but I thought it was quite an interesting watch, especially at the time. Indeed, it was the first dramatic film ever shot in the IMAX format. Indeed, nowadays, I go maybe 3 or 4 times to the IMAX every year with my step-son (actually, it is not really by choice, it’s because some of the new releases, like ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ for example, are only available on this format for a while so they can charge you a full 15 euro even if you don’t really want to). So, of course, if you compare this flick which was made almost 20 years ago (Damned! I feel so old now…), of course, it doesn’t really look impressive any longer but, back then, it was quite a big step forward concerning this technology. Back then, I’m not sure when it was, my guess is at the end of the 90’s, I saw this movie in IMAX 3D at the Parc Futuroscope in France and I thought it was really neat. Sure, the story was nothing really amazing and it was just too short to become a really strong narrative, especially with such material which needed to be further developped, but it was visually quite impressive. To conclude, it was another daring movie directed by French pioneer Jean-Jacques Annaud and it is definitely worth a look.

I already saw this movie, in fact, I saw it in the movie theatre when it was released, but since it was such a long time ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, I remember it very well, before this movie was released, there was quite a buzz about it but, eventually, even though it made some decent business at the box-office, it wasn't really well received at the time. Well, to be honest, this movie didn’t grow old very well, I’m afraid. I mean, the idea of making a werewolf movie within a modern realistic setting was not bad and, on top of that, to have Jack Nicholson play a werewolf was actually quite brilliant. Michelle Pfeiffer was also quite gorgeous at the time but I’m afraid her part wasn’t really developed enough. However, you might wonder if Mike Nichols was actually the right choice to direct this stuff. I mean, the guy always had a stellar career but with this kind of material, you needed someone who could handle some major special effects and some heavy make-up. At least, they did hire Rick Baker, probably the most famous famous make-up artist at the time, but I’m afraid it wasn’t enough though. The point is that it could become pretty campy pretty fast and I’m afraid that’s what happened here. Indeed, as long as they were focusing on Nicholson’s character before the transformation, the whole thing was maybe generic but it was still fairly compelling, but as soon as the guy became a werewolf, I'm afraid it became rather ridiculous. Anyway, to conclude, I think I’m actually too generous with my rating for this movie but I guess it still worth a look, especially if you have a weak spot for Jack Nicholson.

Pedro Almodovar is one of those directors that I have always admired but he never became a personal favorite of mine. Indeed, he is what you can call a real author who has created his own style and, therefore, he always got my respect but, honestly, I always had a hard time with his work and this movie was not an exception. Basically, it is a typical example of what he did in the 80's, some colorful but also very daft soap-opera with some rather messed up characters. I mean, like in most of his movies, most of the characters are women but does he really provide a positive image of women? It seems that they are all emotional wrecks, impossible to make some sound decisions because they have been manipulated by some douche-bags. And yet , in spite their rather perplexing behavior, they were still quite spellbinding to behold and that's the power of Almodovar's work, in the way that he is able to create some complex female characters who are as much neurotic as they are powerful. To conclude, 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 Pedro Almodovar's work.

Since a couple of years, they have decided to add more movies to the list of nominees for the Best Picture Academy Award. You may like it or not but there is definitely one impact is that you get at least one very surprising nomination that nobody was expected and it was definitely the case when this movie was nominated. Indeed, even though there was a pretty good buzz before its release, it was eventually received with some rather lukewarm reviews. Even so, I still wanted to check it out but, unfortunately, I can't say I was really convinced. I mean the directing was pretty good, the cast did a fine job, especially the young boy playing the lead but I wasn't really convinced by the story. Basically, it is a rather heartbreaking drama about the trauma of a young boy, probably autistic, following the 09/11 tragedy, and it was some pretty strong material, but then, instead of developing this dramatic situation, they constantly toned down the whole thing by adding some quirky scenes every 2 minutes. Maybe it made the story easier to digest for some viewers but, in my case, it actually weakened the powerful emotions displayed. To conclude, even though it was rather flawed, I still think it remains a decent drama and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.