Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, I was always had a hard time with this franchise. Indeed, even though the 1st installment was a surprise success at the box-office, I thought it was rather underwhelming which is too bad because the concept actually had some potential. Anyway, at the time, it seemed that Robert Rodriguez found his new cash-cow and kept making Spy Kids flicks until the audience really got fed up (which happened pretty quickly eventually). Indeed, since the first installment was such a success, of course, they had to come up with a sequel which was also fairly successful at the box-office. Personally, it gave me the same feeling as the previous installment and I didn’t care much for it but, I have to admit it, my kids really liked it a lot. At least, it was nice to see Steve Buscemi playing a mad scientist, even though his ‘creations’ looked really awfull but, on the other hand, we shouldn’t blame Buscemi for the really poor CGI used in this flick (if you watch it 10 years later, it is even more pathetic). To conclude, I didn’t like it much and I don’t think it is really worth look, except maybe if you are a fan of this franchise.

I have actually already seen this movie but it was a very long time ago and, this time, I went to see it on the big screen with my beloved film club so it was a really different experience. Eventually, I thought it was pretty good but it is definitely an acquired taste, a taste obviously shared by Wes Anderson who was definitely inspired by this movie, especially when he made his last flick ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’. Still, you have to admit it, for a movie which was made almost 60 years, it was quite bold and, unsurprisingly, it was a flop when it was released but it has become since then a French classic. By the way, it was pretty neat to see for the first time a French movie with the club. Eventually, it looked all great and there were even some funny bits but, eventually, you never really got to know Lola Montès. Exactly like Wes Anderson, it seems that Ophuls didn’t care much for the character(s) and above all focused on the impressive scenes, full of colors, daft costumes and once again, it was all about the mood but not really about the substance. Still, to conclude, it was an intriguing flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing some very good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. In the US, almost every year, you have a grown-up, and more and more often a teenager, who goes for a killing rampage (on the other hand, it also happened not so long ago in Norway, if I’m not mistaken). Anyway, it is an horrible concept and, like all horrible concepts, it can be the inspiration for some heartbreaking but still quite interesting movies. Personally, I thought that ‘Elephant’ was a great flick and this one was pretty good too. This time, they decided to focus on the mother of such a murderous child, above all on her life after the tragedy, and it definitely delivered some food for thought. Of course, you can complain that you never really get to know Kevin but that was obviously not the point of this flick. At the end, I was really wondering about what went wrong actually. I mean, it’s good that they didn’t give some simple answers (even though the speech given on TV given by Kevin was rather pedestrian and not really necessary) but I still wondered though. Obviously, you can blame Eva for not being a good mother but, as a parent myself, I didn’t see her doing anything drastically wrong (seriously, raising a child is an every day challenge and you shouldn’t be too quick to judge). At the end of the day, you just hope for the best and wish your kids to be happy and healthy and not end up like this boy which is every parents’ worst nightmare. To conclude, even though it didn’t completely convinced me (one other thing that bothered me is how underdeveloped and clueless was John C. Reilly’s character), it still remains a very solid drama with another impressive performance by Tilda Swinton and it is definitely worth a look.

At last, I finally managed to watch this flick… Seriously, it was one of those movies I had like ages on DVD (apparently, I bought it at least 2 years ago) and, somehow, it didn’t get to watch it until now, even though it looked rather promising. Before it was released, there was a little bit of fuss about it because Lindsay Lohan, at the time still an actress with a bright future, dropped just before filming began and was replaced by Sienna Miller. Anyway, that’s when it started to go really wrong with Lohan and after watching this flick, I seriously couldn’t imagine her portraying a woman living in Great Britain during WWII with a child on top of that. Even though Sienna Miller is far from being a great actress, at least, she did fit the part. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, honestly, it was not really good, I’m afraid. I mean, there was definitely some potential about these characters but I was expecting a lot of passion but the movie was apparently missing some ‘edge’. On top of that, it was rather unfocused. I mean, when you look at the promotional material, it seems that it was about the relationship between those two women but it wasn’t the case. Then, you would think that it was about the relationship of Dylan Thomas with those two women but it wasn’t the case either. Basically, it jumps from one couple to the other without really knowing what to say and therefore, the end-result was rather underwhelming. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look but don’t expect anything really amazing.

You might wonder if George Lucas will ever direct another movie again. The point is that the guy managed first to create one of the most popular franchises ever but then spent the last couple of decades basically trashing the legacy of these beloved movies. I mean, the situation became so bad, he simply handed over the rights to Disney, making sure that he wouldn’t be involved anymore in any future installments. Anyway, way before all this happened, Lucas made this directing debut, a much smaller SF feature starring Robert Duvall, and even though this movie doesn’t get much love, it is actually quite a decent science-fiction flick. I mean, as usual with George Lucas, the whole thing was actually not really original and he ripped off many elements from older movies and books from the same genre but I thought it was still quite an entertaining flick with the always dependable Robert Duvall who gave as usual a solid performance. On top of that, the tone was much darker than in ‘Star Wars’ which is actually pretty much a childish fairy tale when you think about it, and this grim tone was quite welcome. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a long time ago and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might check it out again. It is Jane Campion’s directing debut and it was actually a small Australian indie feature but it was noticed at the time at the Cannes Film Festival and her career was launched. Well, I have to admit that I didn't remember much about it and I'm glad I gave it a second chance since I was, this time, more able to appreciate it. After all these years, I thought I was bothered by Sweetie because she seemed to be a rather unlikeable character, which is not necessarily an issue, but it can be something rather tricky. However, I was surprised that she showed up only half way through and only for a few scenes and, in fact, she was a very interesting character. Indeed, in spite of her neurotic and chaotic behavior, she was even quite charismatic and there is no doubt that Geneviève Lemon delivered here a strong performance. In fact, I was now more bothered by Kay and Louis who were obviously supposed to be a quirky couple but I thought they were rather dull after all. In my opinion, it would have worked better if this couple would have been super square and normal, it would have created a huge contrast with Sweetie. By the way, the parents were also interesting and compelling to watch but they were also given too little screen time to be properly developed. Anyway, eventually, after this debut, Jane Campion would make the very strong ‘An Angel at My Table’ followed by  ‘The Piano’ which was massively critically successful. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it is still an intriguing directing debut though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jane Campion’s work.

When I started to go the movies on my own, I was just about 12 years old. My first passion were action movies, I was a huge fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme and I had watched virtually all his flicks on vhs at the time. So, when I heard that this movie was coming out, I was totally excited and I definitely had to see it in the theater. I remember it very well, I went to see it with my brother but the people working there wouldn’t allow him to watch it (he must have been 9 or 10 years old at the time) so I said he should see instead ‘Batman Returns’ (in retrospect, how they figure out it was an Ok choice for him is beyond me…). Since my little brother also really wanted to see this flick as well, he was really pissed off and he resented me for making him watch a movie he didn't care about all but there was no way I wasn’t going to watch it because he couldn’t get inside. Anyway, at the time, Van Damme was really at the height of his popularity and it is probably one of the few decent movies he has made through his career. Obviously, it is not really amazing and rather clunky sometimes, but it remains a decent SF flick with a cool showdown with Dolph Lungren as the bad guy so I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Man, I have always loved this documentary. The first time I saw it, I was about 16 years old and it really blew me away. Indeed, back then and still nowadays, I was a huge fan of the music they made in the mid-60’s to the mid-70’s, probably one of the most prolific periode in music history so it was just a blast to see this massive concert with all these legendary music artists involved. What I didn’t know is that there were also a lot of footage involving the audience and what was going on around the concert. Those bits were also really interesting and the whole thing is just an invaluable time bubble which made possible to more or less experience what it must have been to live in this age. I have seen it a couple of time since then (I think I have seen it at least once every decade) and it hasn’t lost his power after multiple viewings. The only thing that might have changed is that I don’t feel the urge to go back in time as, when I was a teenager, I thought it would be awesome to live at the time. To conclude, I think it is an amazing flick, one of the greatest documentaries ever made and it is definitely worth a look.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but the poster was so cute and the people involved were quite interesting so I was quite eager to check it out. Basically, they took over the same idea developed in ‘When Harry met Sally…’ and added a gimmick on top of it (you just spend one single day - the 15th July - with both or one of the characters every year for about 15 years). Well, this idea was interesting but it was still just a gimmick and I don’t think it really improved the story. On top of that, right from the very first scene, there was some huge chemistry between Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway, who both gave some very solid performances, so there was no reasonable reason why they shouldn’t end up together earlier. I mean, basically, they tried to convince you that Anne Hathaway was an ugly duckling which was rather pathetic and that Jim Sturgess was some kind of douche-bag but, at the end of the day, they were both some witty and cute kids who were meant to be together so the whole thing was terribly plot-driven. Still, it remains a well made romantic feature, there was still something interesting about this relationship 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 was quite eager to check it out again, especially since it has such a stellar reputation. Indeed, this movie is considered as Sofia Coppola's masterpiece and, with this mind, the first time around, I had some high expectations but, to be honest, it didn't really blow me away then. Well, even after rewatching the damned thing, I still ended up with some mixed feelings. Eventually, even though I was able to see that it was indeed something quite special, I had a rather hard time to connect with the whole thing. I don’t think it was because it was too slow or too boring or that not enough was happening, I think it was more because I didn’t care much about the characters and what they were going through. I don’t think Bill Murray or Scarlett Johansson should be blamed though as they both gave some very good performances and the directing was really solid as well. Eventually, I think that this movie gives a rather depressing view on travelling and I think it provides a good explanation on why I don't miss travelling that much. Indeed, I always dreamed about going to Japan, especially Tokyo, but after watching this movie, you can come to the conclusion that there is nothing really special about this city since huge cities like this one all look alike. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really love this flick, it wasn't bad at all, far from it, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.