Reviews by johanlefourbe

Following the success of ‘Romancing the Stone’, unsurprisingly, they decided to make a sequel reuniting Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The only person missing was Robert Zemeckis who had some fun with the 1st installment but he had no real interest in this sequel and he moved on towards bigger thing, a little movie called ‘Back to the Future’. Honestly, this movie has a rather poor reputation and, indeed, it was not as good as the first installment which had a really nice sarcastic tone, especially in the 1st half. However, I still have a weak spot for this flick (I have to admit it though, it has been a while since I saw it and a re-watch might change my opinion) and I really liked this flick back then when I was a kid. The point is that even though the plot is actually rather weak, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner still have this great chemistry and it was a blast to see those characters again. To conclude, my rating might be a little too generous but I thought it was actually pretty good and it is worth a look, especially if you enjoyed the first installment.

Ever since I saw Keisha Castle-Hugues in the amazing ‘Whale Rider’, I had the highest hopes for this actress so I try to watch her movies whenever I get the opportinity. Unfortunately, except maybe for ‘The Nativity Story’, she hasn’t done anything remarkable (apparently, she has/had some major drinking issues already as a teenager) and, in this movie, she only had a very small part. Fortunately, the movie itself was not bad at all. Honestly, I usually don’t really care about movies dealing with dogs or animals but I thought it was actually superior to ‘Hachiko’, a very popular true story with quite a similar plot about a dog waiting endlessly his master who passed away. This time, it worked better not only because Red Dog was cute and had an intriguing personality but, above all, thanks to the colorful characters surrounding him, something which was terribly missing in ‘Hachiko’. Still, in spite of the fact that it was quite entertaining, the whole thing still remained too pedestrian to become really remarkable. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is really amazing, it remains a decent watch, probably the best dog movie I have ever seen and it is definitely 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. Nowadays, we don’t hear much from him but, back in the 90’s, I was quite a fan of Barbet Schroeder and, back then, he was really a popular director, especially after ‘Reversal of Fortune’ which must have been his most famous picture. His follow-up was definitely not so classy though as it turned out to be one of these sleazy thrillers that they used to make in the 90's. Indeed, while rewatching the damned thing, I was surprised by how much nudity was displayed by the two main actresses which is something you would never see nowadays. Anyway, it is pretty neat how much Schroeder managed to achieve with this material which was after all a rather thin premise. Another interesting thing about this movie was that it starred two female actress who were really popular in the 90’s but their respective careers has taken a dive since then. Indeed, at the time, Bridget Fonda was one of the most popular actress but, nowadays, she is retired, and Jennifer Jason Leigh was considered one of the most talented actress of her generation but, nowadays, she is still working but usually in some supporting parts. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I thought that the people involved made the best of it and I was actually entertained throughout the whole thing. Unfortunately, the final act did drag on for too long and I wish they managed to wrap the whole thing up with something else than Hedra going full mental. Indeed, it was just so predictable and therefore rather underwhelming. Another option could have been to go the complete opposite way and make her do some really crazy stuff but then it should have been so much more extreme than what was displayed in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent flick though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Considering the current hype involving super-heros and this other wave of found-footage features, it was just a matter of time before a smart ass would think of combining the two genres. Fortunately, it turned out to be a pretty good flick, even if it was not as original as the makers would like you to believe. First of all, I always had a weak spot for the found-footage genre, I have always been a fan of ‘The Blair Witch Project’, and this type of film-making works very well when used properly which was the case here. Indeed, instead of the glossy look of your average blockbuster, you get something more down-to-earth, more realistic, even documentary-like. I also enjoyed the performances by the three main actors. Since then, both Dane DeHaan and Michael B. Jordan have become quite popular and will soon move on with some blockbuster super-hero flick, respectively as the Green Goblin in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and The Human Torch in ‘The Fantastic Four’. Still, even though I really enjoyed it, I thought there was still a lack of ambition. I mean, at some point, it seemed that they got stuck with the story and the ending was a rather underwhelming showdown mixing some influences from ‘Akira’ or Magneto or basically any super-hero feature which always seem to end with some massive mayhem. Still, even though it wasn’t quite a masterpiece, it remains an enjoyable feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see a different take on super-heros.

‘A bout de souffle’ is and will remain one of my favorite movies forever and I have been following Godard ever since his masterpiece really blew me away but, unfortunately, no one of his movies have reached this level of awesomeness, at least not in my opinion. The point is that, pretty soon in his career, his movies started to get pretty cryptic and became harder and harder to follow and, nowadays, except for a few die-hard fans, we all pretty much agree that his work has become some incomprehensible pseudo-intellectual and political mix, a mix I always had a hard time to appreciate. This movie is a pretty good example. I mean, it has a pretty good reputation and it was actually quite intriguing but it was so hard to follow, I can’t say I really loved the damned thing. Still, the cast was pretty cool, it included the always awesome Jean-Pierre Léaud, the most popular actor among the French new wave, and also Chantal Goya who was really lovely at the time but she would actually end up singing some really lame children songs in the 80’s. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is a masterpiece whatsoever, it remains a typical Godard effort, I enjoyed it and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Basically, it is once again one of those really obscure French movies that nobody else have seen here on Listal (I just checked, on Imdb, not even 200 users have seen it). So, it is probably one of the most obscure movies I have seen and, if I recall correctly, I saw it while I was in a business trip in Belgium. The main point of interest is that it was directed by Michel Audiard. Yeah, he was indeed the father of Jacques Audiard, one of the most heralded French directors and while Jacques A. is mostly famous for his deep and emotional dramas (‘De rouille et d'os’, ‘Un prophète’, ‘De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté’, ‘Sur mes lèvres’, ‘Regarde les hommes tomber’), Michel A. was known mostly as a screenwriter and wrote some memorable movies with some very colorful dialogs. Eventually, Michel Audiard tried a career as a director at the end of the 60’s but he wasn’t satisfied by the end-results and decided to go back as a full-time writer. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I thought it was a pretty nice flick, nothing really amazing but still quite entertaining and it was above all pretty neat to see a very young Gérard Depardieu in his very first part. To conclude, it is nothing great but I thought it was not bad at all and it is worth a look.

Continuing my reviews of the Muppets movies, I went further with the 2nd installment and since the ratings were pretty good, I was rather hopeful. Eventually, I thought it was pretty good but not much more than that, I’m afraid. This time, they are sent to England, for no particular reasons, and they are investigating on some jewel heists and, once again Miss Piggy falls in love with Kermit and it begins to become a tired old gimmick. I thought that the intro in the balloon was pretty cool with some funny comments about the opening credits but I’m afraid it was the funniest scene in the movie. To start with, pretty much like the 1st installment, I had a hard time to care about all those songs. I mean, they are not bad and obviously a trademark of the Muppets but they popped up too often and they were simply not that good. The other thing that bothered me is why do they cram all these muppets in each movie? Just keep the leads and add a few supporting characters but don’t put all of them everytime around. Still, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it remains a fun and entertaining movie and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Wes Craven is above all famous for his horror flicks but, at some point he decided to make this drama which was quite surprising. Apparently, it was a labor of love for Wes Craven and he made a deal at the time with Miramax that he would only direct ‘Scream 3’ if he could also direct this movie which would be his first and only non-horror/thriller film. Honestly, the whole thing sounded pretty cheesy (I mean, come on, just check the title...) and I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but, I have to admit it, it was actually a decent drama after all. Indeed, even though it is and remains rather pedestrian and quite predictable, it was above all thanks to Meryl Streep that it actually mostly worked. Indeed, even though Madonna was originally cast, Meryl Streep eventually got the part which would get her her 12th Academy award nomination (right now, she has reached a staggering 3 wins and 18 nominations already!). Eventually, the main issue with this movie is that it followed to closely the formula of the genre but I have seen worse. To conclude, it is nothing really amazing but I thought it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Guillermo Arriaga has written some very good screenplays for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (‘Amores Perros’, ’21 Grams’ and ‘Babel’) so I was really eager to check his directing debut. Unsurprisingly since it is his trademark, he went for a hyperlink feature which is when some unrelated stories are developed separately and brought back together towards the end. Unfortunately, even though I have a weak spot for the genre, it didn’t work very well here. The point is that it didn’t add much to the story and felt more like an annoying gimmick to trick the audience. Eventually, I figured it all out midway through (Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence portrays the same woman at difference age). I mean, visually, you don’t get absolutely any clue that there are actually two different time periods involved which was once again a rather worthless way to put the audience on the wrong foot. Above all, when you get what was actually going on, you wonder what was the whole point and you might wonder if a more linear narrative wouln’t have been more appropriate. Still, it is not a bad movie, far from it. Indeed, the directing was actually pretty solid, the 3 tales were quite intriguing and the 3 main actresses (Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger and Jennifer Lawrence, two years before her breakthrough in ‘Winter’s Bone’) gave some very intense performances. To conclude, even though it remains a failure, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Guillermo Arriaga’s work.

Following respectively ‘The Thin Red Line’ and ‘Memento’, James Caviezel and Guy Pearce became hot properties and the studios decided to surf on their new found popularity and make this ambitious period piece. Well, even though I’m not a huge fan of the genre, I thought it was pretty good but, unfortunately, it was a flop and for both those guys their career never became as huge as some thought it would be (personally, I don’t really care, Guy Pearce remains a great actor no matter what). Coming back to our main feature, it is a classic of the French literature (as usual, I didn’t read it but don’t make a fuss about it) written by Alexandre Dumas père, the guy also responsible for ‘The Three Musketeers’. To be honest, even though I’m familiar with this tale, I don’t think I saw another adaptation before and I thought it was a pretty cool adventure flick, one of those flicks they don’t make anymore nowadays. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing or groundbreaking, I thought it was a pretty good flick, I really enjoyed it and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.