Reviews by johanlefourbe

I remember it very well, when ‘Lola rennt’ was released, there was some buzz about Tom Tykwer but afterwards he eventually made two rather osbcure movies much less accessible to the mainstream audience than ‘Lola rennt’ which was visually quite appealing but above all lots of fun. He first made ‘Der krieger und die Kaiserin’, also starring Franka Potente, a thoughtfull but difficult to follow drama and, after that, he made this movie from a script written by Krzysztof Kieslowski just before his death (it is part of a trilogy called 'Heaven’ , ‘Hell’, ‘Purgatory’). This movie was Tykwer’s first international production and he managed to get one of the best actresses around, Cate Blanchett. Honestly, pretty much like ‘Der krieger und die Kaiserin’, the whole thing was quite intriguing but I also had a hard time to follow what the whole thing was getting at. Basically, it is actually a thriller but whereas US thrillers tend to dumb down the story with some cheap thrills, here, it is the opposite, you get some pretty obscure scenes and you never really understand what the hell is going on with the characters which makes for a compelling but also, at times, frustrating viewing. To conclude, even though it is nothing really remarkable, it remains an interesting feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Tom Tykwer and Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Honestly, I don’t really know why I keep wasting my time with Jackie Chan’s US productions. Ok, I have to admit it, the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon flicks were quite enjoyable but the rest is just some serious garbage (I still have to see ‘The Tuxedo’ but I’m not really optimistic). I mean, at first you get a pretty neat montage including other Jackie Chan spy movies and you think for a few seconds that the whole thing might be actually pretty entertaining but, right away, you get a really pityful scene involving a mom, her 3 kids and a pig. From then on, it never became better and the whole thing was just a chore to watch. First of all, I find it rather surprising that even though Jackie Chan has been making movies in the US for about 15 years and before that, for 20 years in Hong Kong, his English is still really weak. Of course, you don’t watch his movies for the dialogs but even the action scenes were rather underwhelming. Concerning the plot, it reminded me of ‘The Pacifier’, another inane comedy starring Vin Diesel about a Navy Seal office who has to protect some kids. To conclude, I thought it was pretty bad and you should definitely avoid it.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, to be honest, I actually didn’t remember much about the damned thing but, on the other hand, it was hardly surprising though. Indeed, I have noticed that those Lara Croft flicks don’t get much love in general but I have to admit that the first installment is actually a guilty pleasure of mine. Basically, I have always been a huge fan of Indiana Jones and it is always a lot of fun to watch an adventure flick dealing with archeology. Of course, I’m not pretending that the first installment came near the level of greatness of the Indiana Jones franchise but I think it was watchable, at least as far I’m concerned. However, I really had a hard time to care about this sequel though. I mean, I still believe that, once again, Angelina Jolie was incredibly charismatic, she was probably the only actress who could pull something like this without being completely ridiculous and I think she had some solid chemistry with Gerald Butler. Unfortunately, they completely messed up the tone though. Indeed, the first movie was a fun and light adventure flick while this sequel was just grimmer for no good reason. Indeed, half of the movie was about some tedious shooting parties and I wonder how many people Lara Croft actually killed during this movie. As a result, it very often felt like a boring action flick. At least, the funny thing with this movie was that, on one hand, it was the beginning of the beginning for Angelina Jolie since she was becoming a superstar back then and, on the other hand, it was the beginning of the end for Jan de Bont who wouldn’t direct another movie ever after. Anyway, to conclude, I’m not surprised that Angelina Jolie didn’t want to come back for a 3rd movie to play this character and even though I have seen worse, this sequel turned out to be rather tedious and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was on TV, I thought I was as well give it a try. Well, the only thing that this movie proves is that you don’t actually need to make a good movie to have a massive success at the box-office. I mean, I can understand somehow that the first movie was a success but a 2nd sequel?!? Come on, by now, the audience should know better than this. At least, I saw it for free. Honestly, it is rather difficult to find any redeeming features in this piece of garbage. At least, even though it wasn’t better than the previous installments, it wasn’t worse either and I guess that (very) young children might enjoy it. And indeed, the animation is technically pretty good but what an abysmal plot… Basically, Alvin is terribly obnoxious and it makes it terribly difficult to care at all about his adventures and since they are stranded on a desert island, you get these really cringe-inducing jokes about ‘Cast Away’ (as if the kids would understand what the hell it was all about). To conclude, the whole thing is just a terrible waste of time and even you have some children to entertain, just show them anything made by Pixar instead.

Every year, I organize a poll concerning the best movies according to the Listal members and even though ‘The Godfather part I’ usually wins or ends up in the top 3, this movie doesn't get much love. Indeed, in spite of its greatness, it will always remain a sequel, probably the best sequel ever made but still a sequel nonetheless. Anyway, the fact remains that it is a great flick, probably as good as the first one. The masterstroke was to continue the story with most of the same characters but it still stands on its own though. To do so, Coppola chose a different structure which was quite spellbinding. Indeed, not only you follow Michael Corleone in his rise (or fall, it depends how you see it) as the new godfather but you follow also Vito Corleone going from Sicily to New York with literally nothing and slowly climbing his way up in the mob hierarchy. To make things even more amazing, to portray a young Vito Corleone, Coppola picked up a then still unknown Robert de Niro so he had two acting giants at the top of their games to play 2 generations of Corleones. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than that. To conclude, it is a great gangster drama, the best sequel ever made, it is absolutely worth a look and a must see for any decent movie buff.

Recently, Ben Affleck has made one of the most impressive come-backs and even won the Best Picture Academy award which is something that none of us actually expected. Well, 10 years ago, the situation was quite different for Affleck as he showed up in a string of huge flops and this movie was one of them. With this in mind, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but I still wanted to give it a shot. Eventually, I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, to start with, it was based on a very fascinating story by Philip K. Dick (which I haven’t read, to be honest) and I thought the whole thing was quite entertaining. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for science-fiction features and this one was mixed with a rather tensed thriller so I don’t really get the hate towards the whole thing. All right, I have to admit it, it was still rather flawed. I mean, even though there was a nice cast (Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, Michael C. Hall), the performances were not that great. Above all, even if Ben Affleck happens to be a fine director, he wasn’t really the best choice to portray a brilliant scientist. Concerning John Woo, he was obviously way other his head with this material and it was once again another underwhelming US feature for him. Still, in spite its flaws, I thought it was a fairly entertaining SF feature and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Ever since I saw ‘Gegen die Wand’, I became interested in Fatih Akin’s work and I was really eager to check this last directing effort. This time, he made a rather light and daft comedy but it was very much welcome. The first nice surprise was to see Birol Ünel, the amazing actor from ‘Gegen die Wand’, and it was even better when I discovered that he played a somewhat different character. I mean, it was again a nutjob but still a different one than in ‘Gegen die Wand’. And that was probably the most enjoyable thing about this flick, all those eccentric characters, but even though all of them were pretty far out, they still felt real which made for a very satisfying viewing. Concerning the plot, it was certainly quite entertaining but, to be honest, there were just too many sub-plots. I mean, check the main character, he runs a restaurant, his girlfriend is gone to China, his brother is in jail (more or less), he has a massive hernia, some gangster wants to buy his restaurant and he starts to fall in love with his physical therapist. That was quite a lot and that was just for the main character! Still, even though it was nothing really groundbreaking, it remains an entertaining comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Fatih Akin’s work.

Even though it has been a while since Oliver Stone has done anything really impressive, I still have a weak spot for this director and I try to watch all his movies whenever I get the opportunity. This time, it is basically another one of his really obscure features and, as a matter of fact, it took me quite a while to finally get my hands on it. Personally, I really enjoyed this movie. I mean, I have to admit it, the story was actually not really original but I thought that the main character was quite fascinating and Eric Bogosian gave a hell of a one-man show. As a matter of fact, this movie was an adaptation of his own play which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (I wonder how those things work actually… Do they have some play-offs or something?!?) so that should mean it must have been worth something. Except for Bogosian, there is literally not much else going on in this movie and it was a little bit light but there was definitely something spellbinding about the whole thing and I really enjoyed it. To conclude, even though it is nothing great whatsoever, it remains an intriguing drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Oliver Stone’s work.

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but my wife and I both have a weak spot for romantic-comedies so I thought we should check it out. Honestly, I don’t really get all the hatred about this flick. Is it because Sarah Jessica Parker is not much loved anymore? I mean, indeed, she basically played once again some other form of Carrie Bradshaw and it seems she will be stuck playing this character forever. I have to admit it as well, the plot was quite pedestrian but, come on, it is something inherent to the genre and I was actually able to relate with what the characters were going through. The main thing that bothered me was why both parents had such a demanding job. I mean, one of them, why not? My mother was working all the time and I was raised by my father who went back to work when my little brother was about 12 years old. But both parents? Furthermore, if you have a job like hers, it is obvious from the start that you won’t spend much time with your family, it goes with the territory. I don’t know, maybe I’m generous with this movie because I was expecting something really terrible but I don’t think it was bad at all and I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Back in 2004, there was not one but for 4 movies released which were entirely shot against blue screens. I have seen all of them : ‘Immortal (Ad Vitam)’, ‘ Casshern’ , ‘Sin City’ and this movie. Even though 10 years later, this process doesn’t sound really impressive, I thought it was quite fascinating back in those days and I watched all of them. Eventually, except for ‘Sin City’, none of those movies were successful, this movie was not an exception and Kerry Conran hasn’t direct another movie ever since. Personally, I really have a weak spot for this flick. Indeed, first of all, I thought it looked great and there was a pretty cool cast (Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Bai Ling) and they were all perfectly cast, even though back then, we were getting an overdosis of Jude Law who was pushed to become the next best thing. Unfortunately, I have to admit it, even though the plot was rather entertaining, it wasn’t really impressive and it was quite obvious that the makers were mostly focusing on the visual aspect. Still, I appreciated the fact that they tried to push the envelop and I thought it was a rather impressive experiment. To conclude, even though the whole thing was not entirely successful, I thought it was an intriguing feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in experimental movies.