Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it was the first movie starring Whoppy Goldberg after her breakthrough performance in ‘The Color Purple’, I thought it could be a decent comedy and I was really eager to check Penny Marshall’s directing debut as she made some pretty strong movies at the end of the 80’s (‘Big’ and ‘Awakenings’). Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most unlikely spy flicks I have ever seen. I mean, it was rather fun to see them involved in some king of prehistorical MSN instant messaging and I’ll have to give her that, Whoopy Goldberg did her best to sell this concept but it just didn’t really work out. Of course, since it is an action comedy, nothing serious or dramatic happen but, therefore, you never have the feeling that anything is at stake. I mean, could you imagine if Alfred Hitchcok decided to make ‘North by Northwest’ a comedy and, on top of that, add some rather underwhelming characters and some really poor jokes? Now, you get the picture. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really awful, it was still terribly weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

I have a dilemma with this movie. Indeed, on one hand, it has been ages since I saw this flick and my rating might be a little too harsh and maybe I should re-watch it to make up my mind for good. On the other hand, there are so many great classics I should really re-watch, should I really waste my time with this one, just to make sure it was as pathetic as I remembered? Probably not, plus the fact that Roger Ebert really didn’t like it at all (he gave it a zero star rating) doesn’t make a re-watch really appealing. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though the concept might have had some potential, they eventually gave us some really pathetic characters and, instead of a plot, we got an endless succession of stupid jokes. Of course, you can argue that it is exactly the point, it is supposed to be stupid but, I’m sorry, it was also supposed to be funny somehow and it was definitely not the case. Eventually, this flick was a success and the start of a franchise with 6 sequels each new one apparently worse than the previous installment (I think I have never seen any of them). To conclude, it might not be bad as I remember but I still don’t think it is worth a look.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Amanda Seyfried, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, right from the start, I was rather annoyed by the whole thing. Indeed, they gave one of those typical introduction when they building some tension about some dark past involving the main character. It is such a tedious gimmick… Basically, you wait and wait until they finally tell you what is bothering this girl which was rather boring and then, what followed, was one of those really far-fetched thrillers involving Amanda Seyfried running endlessly, half private detective, half super spy that no police force can catch up. Furthermore, it is also one of those thrillers which give you an obviously mentally disturbed lead character but instead of developing the psychological aspect of this situation, it turns out that every single wild theory this character can think of turns out to be true (see also ‘Flightplan’ or ‘The Flock’). That was rather underwhelming and the number of plot holes didn’t help either. Do you believe the police would spend so much time, energy and police forces to go after her? What did she do after all? The best for me was to see Wes Bentley for maybe 10 minutes, than completely disappear for half of the movie and then turn up at the end. I mean, why was he in the movie at all? To conclude, it wasn’t really awful and still watchable but it still remains a really weak thriller and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

Even though I tend to think that ‘Rocky’ is somewhat overrated (It won the Best Picture Academy Award against such classics like ‘Network’, ‘All the President’s Men’ and above all ‘Taxi Driver’), I still thoroughly enjoyed it and it was one hell of an underdog tale. However, it is such a shame that Sylvester Stallone went on and on with those sequels. I mean, to start with, one of the biggest assets of the first movie is that Rocky Balboa, even though we root for him, still loses at the end concluding this dramatic story with a huge emotional punch but, right away with the first sequel, the whole effect was undone since he eventually became the new champ. Fast-forward 10 years later and Stallone comes now with a bewildering 4th sequel and the end-result has become really pathetic. I mean, it was actually a pretty good idea to have Rocky to become a trainer but Tommy Morrison was a bad choice and there was no chemistry between him and Stallone. Eventually, the whole thing was just terribly tedious and the last fight in the street between Stallone and Morrison was quite ridiculous (as if the makers couldn’t let go, Rocky absolutely needed to fight at the end and, of course he had to win). To conclude, this movie was pretty bad, even Sylvester Stallone was embarrassed by the whole thing and it is not really worth a look.

Ever since I have been living in the Netherlands, I have been interested in the Dutch movies. In the 10 years I have been there, I have seen many movies and, I have to admit it, the Dutch movie industry is not really impressive. For example, every year, only a few Dutch movies manage to make a splash at the box-office and not really because they are really great. Indeed, one of the leading genres is the family feature which has been quite successful for many years. Personally, I think it has to do with the fact that, in the Netherlands, except for the animated features, all the movies remain in their native language and if the parents wants to watch with their kids a live action feature for a change, they basically have to watch a Dutch movie. Anyway, some of them are actually not half bad and this movie was definitely one of them. Indeed, even though I thought it was still rather pedestrian and predictable, it was quite entertaining and it is definitely a nice watch for young kids. To conclude, even though I think it might be slightly overrated in the Netherlands, it is actually worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.

Since it is such a classic, I was really eager to check it out and I had some very high expectations. Eventually, even though I enjoyed it, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. To be honest, I have seen it only once and a re-watch might change my opinion about this flick. I don’t know, like some other classics, I didn’t really connect with it and maybe I wasn’t in the right mood. The point is that I’m pretty sure that the movie was pretty shocking back then in 1969, but nowadays, there are so many movies much more violent than this one so I have become rather numb and uninterested by the genre. It is pretty much like ‘Staw Dogs’ (a movie I enjoyed more than this one), even though it developed some strong ideas, I still think it is rather dated. Anyway, for Peckinpah, this controversial movie would be his breakthrough and he will be forever remembered for his extremely violent features. Still, even though it didn’t really meet my expectations, it remains a really solid and entertaining Western and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Sam Peckinpah’s work.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a pretty good cast, I thought I might as well give a try. First of all, it was really nice to see the late James Gandolfini playing the lead for once. The guy was definitely a fine actor and he was probably the best thing in this movie. On a sidenote, the whole current wave of impressive TV shows on HBO but also on other US channels pretty much started with ‘The Sopranos’ and his terrific turn as Tony Soprano. That’s how influential the guy was. Coming back to our main feature, even though Gandolfini was very good, I wasn’t sure about the whole thing though. I mean, I really had a hard time to accept how his relantionship with Kristen Stewart evolved. I mean, there was no real reason why she let him stay that long with her. To be honest, I don’t think Kristen Stewart should be blamed, I thought it was just poorly constructed. And the way Melissa Leo finally decides to leave her home and go all the way to New Orleans was even more preposterous. Still, the actors were really good and the characters felt genuine. To conclude, even though the story didn’t really work out, it still remains a decent watch and I think it is worth a look.

I already saw this movie but, following the huge of success of 'Joker', I thought I might as well check again this previous directing effort from Todd Phillips. Well, in fact, for many actors involved, this movie was where it all really started. Indeed, after this movie, the press created the concept of the ‘Frat Pack’, a nickname given to a group of comedy actors who would appear together in many of the highest grossing comedy movies during and after the late 1990's. Anyway, for Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn, that’s when it all started to really take off. It was also another success for Todd Phillips and, 6 years later, he would even be more successful and get a massive blockbuster with ‘The Hangover’. Coming back to our main feature, to be honest, I wasn’t really sure about the concept as it did sound rather moronic if you ask me. Indeed, the whole thing about some grown-ups starting a college fraternity did sound pretty stupid. Still, back in those days, Ferrell and Vaughn were pretty much on fire and the jokes were often quite hilarious. Eventually, the main issue I had is that they didn’t dare to go even further and the whole thing remained rather safe and predictable after all. Anyway, to conclude, even though I don’t think it was really anything great, I have to admit that it is actually quite entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Harrison Ford, I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it is a rather obscure feature (only 6 listal users have rated it so far) and Harrison Ford filmed this just before ‘Star Wars’ even though it was released afterwards. Eventually, even though it was about a very interesting subject (war post traumatic disorder), it was apparently one of the first movies dealing with this subject, the end-result was rather disappointing. I mean, there were actually some very good ideas but there were all rather half-backed. For example, they never really explained how Sally Field decided to tag along with Henry Winkler. Furthermore, they really messed up the tone and you never know if they were aiming for a comedy or a drama. Still, there was some pretty good stuff, like the fact that those two apparently messed up people were falling for each other, it was kind of endearing and I reminded me of how I met my wife but that’s a different story altogether. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing really had some potential, it remains a rather average flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

Not so long ago, I have discovered that Sergio Leone’s last movie project was a massive epic about the Stalingrad battle. Apparently, he spent many years making some research about this flick, he managed to gather an impressive $100 million budget but he died just two days before officially signing the contract for this film. It doesn’t get much tragic than this, does it? Apparently, Jean-Jacques Annaud claimed that Leone had wanted him to take over the project, but he bailed when he discovered that there was no actual screenplay. Eventually, many years later Annaud eventually managed to make another movie about Stalingrad. To be honest, it has been a while since I saw this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. Still, I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, visually, it was pretty impressive, Jude Law and Ed Harris were both quite convincing and the fact that I always had a weak spot for stories dealing with snipers might have helped as well. At the end of the day, I have to admit it, the plot was a little bit disappointing and especially the love triangle involving Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz was really underwhelming. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, it remains a decent war feature and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.