Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I’m a huge fan of Michael Caine, I was really eager to check this movie which belongs to his classics. Indeed, since this movie had a really solid reputation, I had some rather high expectations but, to be honest, I thought it was actually slightly disappointing. Of course, it was better than the remake starring Jude Law but, somehow, I had a hard time to get into this movie. Personally, I think it is because the morals and opinions have changed. I mean, 50 years ago, when this movie was released, you can imagine the impact that this libertine character must have had but, nowadays, we have a different relationship with sexuality (30 years of AIDS epidemic didn’t help either I guess). I also had a hard time with this guy, Alfie. Obviously, Michael Caine shouldn’t be blamed as he gave, as usual, a brilliant performance but I just didn’t like this character much. Indeed, he is really unlikeable, obnoxious and, even though the makers try to convince you that he is pretty cool, I thought he was actually rather pathetic. I don’t know, maybe I was in the wrong mood the first time I watched it and I should maybe give it a 2nd chance one day. To conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, it still remain an intriguing feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Caine’s work.

Honestly, I wasn’t really dying to watch this flick but since I had the dvd for ages (seriously, I think I bought it something like 2 years ago at least…), I thought it was finally time to watch the damned thing. Well, it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. I mean, Rainn Wilson can be pretty funny and it was a nice to see him playing the lead for once but that wasn’t the right vehicle for him. Eventually, the funniest thing was actually to see Emma Stone and Bradley Cooper just a year before they really broke through (respectively, Emma Stone in ‘Zombieland’ and Bradley Cooper in ‘The Hangover’, even though you could say that Emma Stone already made a splash with her debut ‘Superbad’). The main issue was that the whole concept was not really interesting and they played it just way too straightforward. There were also way too many little weak sub-plots like the fact that Rainn Wilson seems to be in physical pain because of the concerts, or his relationship with Christina Applegate which really underdeveloped or the background of the other band members. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really bad, it was still pretty average and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

Meryl Streep is my favorite actress and I’m not the only one who thinks she is the best actress in the world. Not only she is incredibly talented, she is also really versatile and she has done movies in almost any genre you could think of. She didn’t do much action movies though and I think this flick was the only one she did in this genre. As usual, she completely nailed her performance and, as a result, you can see how more compelling an action flick movie can be when the main character is played by a very good actor (see also ‘The Bourne Identity’ for example). This movie was also directed by Curtis Hanson, a decent director who has just recently retired due to Alzheimers. His previous directing effort, ‘The Hand that Rocks the Craddle’ was a hit but it is above all his following movie, ‘L.A. Confidential’ which would be massively heralded. This movie that he made in between is nowadays pretty much forgotten and it is actually rather understandable. I mean, the whole selling point is to see Meryl Streep in an action movie and that’s precisely what you get, no more and no less. Indeed, basically, Streep was very good but the plot was just too pedestrian and predictable for my taste. Still, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was not bad at all and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Meryl Streep’s work.

Like most of the kids of my generation, I grew up with those Karate Kid flicks and it was with a great joy and nostalgia that I re-watched them with Nick, my step-son. To be honest, even though I really enjoyed the first installment, the sequels were not really good. Of course, since the first movie was a big success, it was pretty obvious that they would come up with some sequels. The issue, in my opinion, is that the first movie worked fine on its own but the concept was just too limited to be expanded over more movies. At least, with this first sequel, they tried to add something new to the mix by moving the action to Japan which was a nice touch. It was also interesting that they tried to develop Mr Miyagi’s background (even though you could argue that making him a mysterious figure was more interesting). Unfortunately, the rest of the movie just followed basically the same plot of the previous installment making the whole thing rather pedestrian and terribly repetitive. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a decent sequel and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Like most of the kids of my generation, I grew with those Karate Kid flicks and it was with a great joy and nostalgia that I re-watched them with Nick, my step-son. To be honest, you can skip the sequels but this first installment is still actually pretty good. Especially if you watch it as a kid, it is pretty much a total blast. Basically, it follows the standard formula : a kid gets into trouble, finds a master, they don’t get along at first but they eventually become best pals and, at the end, the kid becomes some kind of martial arts expert. And, of course, he is never allowed to fight! Yeah, whatever... So, the whole thing is actually really pedestrian and predictable but Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita were both charismatic and they had some great chemistry together. Eventually, most of the training is actually pretty much rubbish but, if you are a kid, you don’t care about these things, as long as it is uplifting and inspirational, you don’t care. Eventually, some of the scenes have become pretty iconic (‘Wax on… wax off...’). To conclude, even though it is actually nothing really great, it is still a really entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a pretty cool cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Basically, it was an intriguing paranormal thriller which was mildly entertaining but not much more than that, I’m afraid. I mean, when you watch a thriller, they try to make you believe that the far-fetched plot is remotely possible (usually, it is not) but when you deal with a paranormal thriller, well, there is pretty much no boundaries, everything is possible, and you need a good dose of suspension of disbelief otherwise it is pretty much unwatchable. In this case, I thought it was some kind of mix between ‘The X-files’ and ‘Akira’. Like I said before, there was some qualities about the whole thing but the biggest mistake, aside the fact that the running time was too short so the whole thing felt pretty rushed, was the fact that the FBI agent played by Aaron Eckhart was also a nut job and, in my opinion, it would have worked better if this character would have been more grounded. Still, there was a nice mood, it was not bad and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Like most of the kids of my generation, I grew up with those Karate Kid flicks and it was with a great joy and nostalgia that I re-watched them with Nick, my step-son. To be honest, even though I really enjoyed the first installment, the sequels were not really good and this 3rd installment was obviously the weakest one (at least, until they released ‘The Next Karate Kid’ starring a young Hilary Swank which turned out to be even worse). By now, even though they were still surfing on this hype, it wasn't really working anymore. In my opinion, one of the issues with this franchise was that Ralph Macchio was just too old to play this part. At least, at first, with his baby face, it did work for a while but with this 3rd movie, it was really obvious that the guy was in or reaching his 30’s. Anyway, the biggest issue was above all the fact that the plot was just so repetitive. To be honest, the formula was never really complex but it was entertaining enough but, instead of taking any risk, they kept repeating the same plot in all the sequels and, at this point, it was just getting really tedious. To conclude, it is easily the weakest movie in this trilogy and it is not really worth a look, I’m afraid, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.

Even though I have never been a fan of Roald Dahl’s book adaptations, since this movie was a classic and arguably the best of these adaptations, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, I have to admit it, it is a pretty cool story, absolutely, I even think I read the book when I was a kid but, still, I wasn’t really blown away by this movie and I would say that I preferred Tim Burton’s version. Indeed, I forgot that it was a musical version and all those songs were pretty boring to me. Then, I’m sorry, but I wasn’t really impressed by Wonka’s factory. I mean, 40 years later, the scale was not really impressive and it didn’t look delicious (apparently, 1/3 of the set was actually eatable, even the chocolate river so they did actually try). Another thing that bothered me was that maybe half of the movie was about looking for those damned golden tickets and the rest of the movie felt pretty rushed. Finally, Gene Wilder gave a really good performance but I felt they only scratched the surface about this mysterious Willy Wonka figure and it would have been nice to learn a little more about him. Still, for a 40 years old feature, it still stand out from the other productions from that time, it remains a nice watch and it is definitely worth a look.

In my opinion, it is pure and simply the worst movie made by Pixar so far (though I'm not a huge fan of 'A Bug's Life' either) and that's why it is rather dubious that they decided to make a sequel for this. Eventually, even though this sequel was even more poorly received, I enjoyed it slightly more than this first installment and, apparently, Disney/Pixar decided that they wouldn't stop here and produced the spin-off 'Planes'. Anyway, even though I didn't like much this movie (if I'm not mistaken, it is actually the only Pixar feature that I haven't seen in the theater), it doesn't mean it was actually bad whatsoever. Indeed, Pixar hasn't made a real stinker yet (though it has been a while since they have done something truly amazing). In this case, the animation was still really gorgeous and the whole thing was still mildly entertaining. The point is that, this time, it was clearly aimed towards very young children and the rest of us didn't really care about the whole thing. Still, it has more charm and wit than many other animated features you can find on the market nowadays and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Mike Figgis' work and since there was a pretty good cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, even though I didn’t have some really huge expectations, it actually turned out to be a rather dreadful movie. I mean, it started like a rather decent atmospheric thriller, not very original but there was some potential, but pretty quickly, it became quite obvious that the whole thing was actually going nowhere. For once, it didn't care much for the build-up and, of course, like 90% of any US thrillers, the conclusion was completely underwhelming. Eventually, even though there was indeed an intriguing cast (Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Stewart, Christopher Plummer), they didn't manage to make this movie more entertaining. This flick was basically another addition to the already disappointing career of Sharon Stone, who was once a promising actress after 'Basic Instinct' but who has mostly made underwhelming features ever since. To conclude, even though my rating might be a little bit harsh, I just really didn't like this flick at all and I don't think it is worth a look.