Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since there was an intriguing cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. I mean, to start with, I’m not a huge fan of costume dramas but this one was particularly tedious with some rather dull characters. Furthermore, I really had a hard time to figure out what was the motivation of the main character. Seemingly out of nowhere, he gets a shot to do something with his life but I never really understood what he was looking for. Was it love, lust, money, power? I mean, he basically has sex with 3 women, married one of them, than even marry the daughter of one of his mistresses but the reason why he did all this never became really clear during the whole thing and I can’t say I really cared. On top of that, there was some really murky political intrigue which I never really fully grasped. Apparently, it was an adaptation of a novel written by Guy de Maupassant and only this piece of information is already more intriguing than the movie itself. To conclude, even though it wasn’t a total disaster, it was still a rather weak drama and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

By now, I have seen most of the movies directed by Mike Leigh and even though I’m not really a huge fan of his work, he still is a really interesting director so I was quite eager to check his last directing effort. And this time, once again, even though I did enjoy it, I still had a hard time to really connect with it. The point is that Mike Leigh has a very nice sober directing style and he always manages to get some very impressive performances from his actors who are mostly improvising. As a result, you get some very realistic and quite intriguing characters. His realism is also increased by the lack of plot which gives the feeling that you are watching a genuine slice of life. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I didn’t have any clue about where the whole thing was getting at. Basically, it centers on one of the most charming and harmonious couple I have ever seen  and how they deal with their rather messed up friends and relatives (it is pretty impressive how they never loose their temper in spite of all what is going on around them). Like I said before, it is on one hand quite spellbinding to watch thanks for the work of all the people involved but, on the other hand, I couldn’t help thinking ‘What is actually the whole point?’. Maybe his directing style is too subtle for me but, anyway, it still remains a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Mike Leigh’s directing style.

It is obviously the first masterpiece directed by Steven Spielberg and also a huge milestone in motion picture. I saw it again recently and even though it is almost 40(!) years old, it is still quite amazing and completely entertaining. We all know the story by now, Spielberg didn't have such a huge budget back then but he still managed to make one of the most thrilling flicks ever made. Indeed, because the budget was so small, the shark really looked cheap and just plain terrible so Steven Spielberg decided to show the beast as least as possible but it turned out to be a blessing. Since then, virtually every year, you get similar movies but none of them has ever reached its sheer awesomeness. Back then, it was only Spielberg's 3rd directing effort but it became the highest grossing movie ever made at the time (he will beat his own record in 1982 with 'E.T.' and again in 1993 with 'Jurassic Park'). So, already very early in his career, starting with this movie, he had a huge influence on the movie world and he introduced to us the summer blockbuster, if you like it or not, and it is a concept which is still going strong almost 40 years later. To conclude, even though I’m not always a huge fan of Spielberg’s work, I have to admit it, this one is quite awesome and a must see for any decent movie lover. 

I remember it very well, while I was on holiday in France, this movie was just released there and it was already a huge success. Right away, I dismissed it. Indeed, I thought it was just another successful French comedy based on a very old formula and I was really not interested. But then, it became this massive international success, becoming the highest grossing French movie ever made in the process (surprisingly, it didn’t beat ‘Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis’ which is still the most successful French film in France, a movie which seems even less appealing than this one). Obviously, since this flick was such a success, I started to wonder if I might have been mistaken so I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, I have to admit it, it is actually a pretty good flick but does it really deserve such praises and box-office records? I don’t really think so. I mean, it is a solid feelgood feature with some good performances by Omar Sy (who will soon have his international debut with ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’) and François Cluzet and there were some funny scenes but, seriously, what was actually so amazing about this story? In my opinion, even though it tried to break some stereotypes, it was still rather stereotypical, pedestrian and quite predictable. Still, even though it might not be as amazing as everyone seems to think, I have to admit that it remains an enjoyable flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I’m not sure how or why I ended up watching this flick. I think I have even saw it when it was released in the theaters. Anyway, it is a really obscure and odd feature, which came and went completely unnoticed but I thought it was fairly enjoyable. Of course, you could think that the appeal was to see Jason Priestley playing around with his image (he was still actually playing in ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ at the time)  but even though it was indeed interesting, I enjoyed above all John Hurt in this flick. Indeed, at 70 years old, John Hurt is still a hard working man and you keep seeing him in some big blockbusters like the Harry Potter franchise, ‘Hellboy’ or ‘Immortals’ and art movies like ‘Melancholia’ or ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ but he is always playing a supporting part. Well, in this movie, he plays the lead for once and I thought he was quite impressive. Indeed, he could have played the character as your standard creepy stalker but Hurt managed to add other layers to his character. I mean, he still remains kind of creepy but you also feel some melancholia about the guy and the fact that he was some sort of intellectual was also a nice touch. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent drama and I think it is worth a  look.

Like all the major action movie stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger had to make some comedies and, even though I have to admit it, he made a few mildly enjoyable funny flicks like ‘Twins’, ‘Kindergarten Cop’ or even ‘Junior’, this movie was truly dreadful. To start with, I’m not a huge fan of Christmas movies, even less Christmas comedies and this one must be one of the worst. The main issue was above all that they never managed to figure out the tone of the whole thing. I mean, sometimes, he seems to become a rather dark satire which could have been pretty cool but, then, they made sure to water it down with some really tedious supposedly family friendly jokes. At the end, when all hope seems to be lost for any kind of redemption for Arnold Schwarzenegger who is basically playing a hopeless douche-bag, they throw in a rather misguided action climax during which a kid is hanging from a building. Was it really necessary to put this boy in such a life threatening situation? To conclude, even though the concept had some potential, they completely messed it up and made one terrible comedy in the process, probably one of the worst movies starring Schwarzenegger and it is definitely not worth a look.

Honestly, even though ‘Shakespeare in Love’ was a huge success, financially and critically, I didn’t care much for this flick. Anyway, following this movie, John Madden became in demand and there were some rather high expectations concerning his directing follow-up.  Eventually, it was a flop and received some poor reviews when it was released. With this in mind, I didn’t expect much from this flick but I still wanted to check it out and, in my opinion, it was not so bad after all. I mean, of course, the whole thing is deeply flawed but I still think it was a rather charming romance and it was entertaining enough. The main issue was that the actors were widely miscast. Indeed, Nicolas Cage as an Italian, Penélope Cruz, John Hurt and Christina Bale as Greeks?!? They were all not really convincing and, from then on, it was rather difficult to take the whole story seriously. Still, like I said before, for a romantic feature, it looked really nice and if you are not too picky, you might enjoy most of it. To conclude, even though this movie was basically a failure, it was still not a complete disaster and I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre

Basically, it is once again one of these really obscure French movies that almost no one has seen here on Listal. I remember, back in the 90’s, André Téchiné released his movie ‘Les roseaux sauvages’, it was a huge success in France, arguably one of the best French movies from the 90’s. Well, a few years laters, one of the main young actors from ‘Les roseaux sauvages’, Gaël Morel, released his directing debut which was also starring his other co-stars from  ‘Les roseaux sauvages’, Élodie Bouchez and Stéphane Rideau. Apparently, Morel wanted to be above all a director and would act only in handful movies and, to be honest, except for this debut, I haven't seen his other directing effort so I don’t really have a definite opinion about his work. Anyway, this flick was pretty good though. I mean, it is really reminiscent of ‘Les roseaux sauvages’ in mood and style but it was not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, most of the musicians start with copying their favorite artists and, at some point, they develop their own style and, for filmmakers, it is not much different. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was a solid drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I have always been a fan of Michael Haneke’s work, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. Man, even though the guy is already around 70 years old, he is definitely on fire right now and won with this movie his 2nd Golden Palm in a row at the Cannes Film Festival and it won many other awards as well. And, indeed, it definitely deserved all the praises it has received. Personally, I enjoyed it more than ‘The White Ribbon’ which was pretty good but didn’t really blow me away. Anyway, it is pretty amazing to see the evolution of Haneke through his movies. I mean, he has always been fascinated by death and how mankind deals with it (‘Der siebente Kontinent’, ‘Benny's Video’, ‘71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls’, ‘Funny Games’) but his vision has always been ice cold and pretty much emotionless. Here, he finally gave us the opportunity to dive in his vision of our world but, for once, he allowed us also to invest ourselves in the characters and the end-result was quite amazing. Furthermore, I think it is disappointing that so few movies are dealing with elderly people (even though the older population is ever growing) and, instead, there is always this disappointing focus and obsession on youth. Well, here you finally get a realistic and spellbinding portrait of two old people who are facing the end of their journey together and the subject has never been handled so brilliantly before. Anyway, to conclude, like all the movies directed by Haneke, it was not an easy watch but, as often with this director, it was also quite fascinating to be behold and it is definitely worth a look.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from  this flick but since I’m (or was) a huge fan of Edward Norton, I was still eager to check this movie even though it is a really obscure feature. At the time, Edward Norton was one of the most exciting young actors around (he just showed up in ‘Fight Club’ and ‘American History X’)  and this movie was one of the many bewildering choices he made afterwards throughout his career. I mean, Danny DeVito did make some decent movies as a director (I especially enjoyed ‘The War of the Roses’) but he has never become a major director and this movie must be his most obscure one. Surprisingly, it was a wide release but it turned out to be a major flop at the box-office. Personally, I thought the story had some potential as a dark black comedy dealing with some messed up children's television hosts but the whole thing never managed to find the right tone. Indeed, basically, both Robin Williams and Edward Nortong were portraying some rather annoying caricatures so I was rather difficult to take the whole thing really seriously. To conclude, even though it was very flawed, I still think it is worth a look though somehow, especially if you are a fan of Edward Norton’s work.