Reviews by johanlefourbe

Earlier this year, I saw ‘Lady Vengeance’ but even though I did like it, I thought it was slightly underwhelming but since I really loved ‘Oldboy’, I was really eager to complete Chan-wook Park’s revenge trilogy. On top of that, I did watch the first half of this movie at least 6 years ago and I can’t believe it took me so long to finally see the whole damned thing. Well, I really liked it, that’s for sure. I mean, I have to admit it, ‘Oldboy’ remains by far the best movie in this trilogy but this first installment was really solid as well. Indeed, in contrary to ‘Lady Vengeance’ which tried awkwardly to mix different genres, it worked very well this time. Indeed, the whole thing is some kind of weird mix of drama, thriller and comedy but it was just quite spellbinding to watch. Basically, you spent the first half of the movie with the deaf-dumb young boy and then the second half with the father of the victim and you can’t really take side at any point. However, even though by now I’m rather used to Chan-wook Park’s style, I must admit that the violence was quite relentless and if you are too sensitive, you should rather skip on this one. Anyway, to conclude, even though the pacing was kind of sluggish, I really liked it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It had been a while since I had seen a movie directed by David Cronenberg and the concept of Cronenberg directing an adaptation of the most famous book written by William S. Burroughs was quite intriguing. Well, I’m not sure if I should recommend it but it was still something ‘else’. The point is that 90% of the movie is basically the feverish dream of a junkie but, somehow, you could still make up what was actually going on. I also did appreciate the fact that the main character (basically Burroughs himself) was pretty far out but still rather aware that he was pretty much hallucinating the whole thing. Eventually, the guy did shot his wife, apparently Burroughs really did the same thing with his own wife so that wasn’t an hallucination. On top of that, Cronenberg had basically a blast creating those weird creatures and the whole thing was pretty unsettling to watch, that’s for sure. I wonder if it's a movie you should be watching while being under the influence of any substance because it is filled with paranoid tension and I’m rather glad I watched the damned thing sober. The other main element was the ambiguous sexual choices made by the main character who doesn’t really know if he is gay or if he should be gay at all. Anyway, to conclude, it was a rather tough watch but I still liked it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Cronenberg’s work.

Once again, it was this delightful time to go watch a movie with my dear film club. And once again, I discovered a new director which made the whole thing even more intriguing and, on top of that, I knew really nothing about this flick. Eventually, I have to admit it, it was a rather tough watch, probably the most difficult movie we have seen so far. What was actually about?!? Difficult to say… Middle-life crisis maybe? It is pretty obvious that Paolo Sorrentino tried to make a modern version of ‘La Dolce Vita’ but I’m not sure if his movie will be remembered in 50 years. I mean, right from the beginning, you have nothing really to hang on to, no plot whatsoever, just some random scenes following one after the other. I don’t necessarily need a plot but, then I need then some really fascinating characters. There again, I didn’t care much for the characters, except for the lead, Jep Gambardella. Indeed, this guy was pretty cool, really smart but not a snob. Still, I liked the damned thing though. Indeed, it was visually quite exquisite with no static shots, constantly moving, and there was a great combination with the music. Basically, it is a rather enigmatic feature which doesn’t give you any answer and you are constantly on your toes trying to guess what the hell is actually going on. To conclude, I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look.

Basically, it is once again one of those really obscure French movies which almost no one has seen here on Listal. Let me correct this, I’m the only one who has seen this movie so far! A few years back, we used to have a French-speaking channel called TV5 and they would often broadcast movies. Some of them were pretty classic and some others were pretty obscure. Well, this movie definitely belonged to the 2nd group. In fact, the director, Catherine Breillat, is actually pretty notorious for her rather sexually explicit movies like ‘Romance’. If you expect something edgy like ‘Romance’ when watching this, you will be quite disappointed though. Basically, it is a rather straightforward police neo-noir feature but I did like the tone which was pretty dark. It was also fun to see Lio in this. You have probably never heard of her but back in the 80’s-90’s in France, she was one of the most obnoxious singer you could think of but, to be honest, she gave here a decent performance. I also liked Claude Brasseur who was pretty good, portraying a seasoned tough cop. To conclude, even though the whole thing is nothing really amazing, it is actually a pretty good flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Dustin Hoffman, I thought I might as well give it a try. Basically, it is one of his more obscure movies, apparently not even 10 people have seen it here on Listal and it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. At first, when I realized it was an adaptation of a play written by David Mamet, I got pretty intrigued but I seriously had a hard time to care about the whole thing. Indeed, it is just about two losers who spend a whole day in a junk shop, arguing about some pathetic heist and, from time to time, you have a black kid showing up. I don’t make it sound really exciting and, indeed, it wasn’t. I mean, it wasn’t bad either, Dustin Hoffman is a fine actor and delivered a decent performance and the dialogs written by Mamet were quite entertaining but those guys were not really interesting, I would even say that Teach (played by Hoffman) was just terribly obnoxious. I don’t know, the play is apparently a classic (even Al Pacino played Teach for a couple of years) and maybe it wasn’t the right material for a movie adaptation. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it still remains a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I’m a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s work, I was really to check this flick. I wonder if it was his first real success. I mean, before that he already did direct about almost 20 movies but they were all pretty much obscure. Anyway, Hitchcock would even remake this flick 20 years later with James Stewart and Doris Day with even more success. Since I already saw the 2nd version, I wasn’t really sure what to expect this time but I was rather pleased that the two movies didn’t have much in common actually. I mean, the basic plot is indeed similar but the execution was really different so it is really worth a look to watch both movies. Basically, it follows the usual gimmick used by Hitchcock, which is to put some ordinary folks in some obscure thriller. The thing I enjoyed the most was probably Peter Lorre’s performance. The guy became famous with ‘M’ and this was his first English language film and he did a great job. Indeed, all the other actors were decent but Lorre clearly stood out creating a spellbinding mannered man which was even more impressive when you learn that he didn’t even speak much English at the time. To conclude, even though it is not one of Hitchcock’s masterpieces, it remains a pretty good thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I’m rather surprised that so few people have rated this movie. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I don’t care much about this franchise but I always thought they were very much loved. Anyway, my wife is a die-hard fan so she bought the dvd box and, obviously, I had to watch those flicks with her. At first, I thought it would be completely awful but, to be honest, the first installment was not bad at all. I mean, I wasn’t blown away either but I could see its appeal and why it was so popular. On the other hand, I really had a hard time to care with this 3rd installment. Indeed, at that point, the whole concept was really starting to get on my nerves. The poor little impress who doesn’t get to see her husband because he has to rule the country…. She knew what she was getting into when she married him, didn’t she?!? And of course, she becomes ill but, since it is a very (sappy) romantic feature, the whole thing is perfectly timed and she is completely cured by the end of the movie. Apparently, they were even planning to make a 4rth movie but Romy Schneider refused to play the title character any longer. Good for her! To conclude, obviously I wasn’t the target audience for this movie and I have seen worse but I still think it was a rather lame romantic feature and it don’t think it is really worth a look.

Honestly, even though I was interested by this sequel, I actually wanted to see the first installment before but, somehow, it never happened. Indeed, even though it has now reached a cult status, it is never broadcasted on any of the channels I have and I never came across a dvd with a decent price. On the other hand, this sequel was finally on TV so I thought I should skip the first installment for now. Eventually, I must admit, it looked pretty awesome and, apparently, it was one of the few movies worth seeing in 3D in the theaters and with the cool soundtrack provided by Daft Punk, they managed to create a really nice mood. Unfortunately, it was still not really amazing though. I mean, you could feel that the whole thing had some great potential, it could have been more than another fancy looking blockbuster but, unfortunately, you end up with a slightly idiotic plot with some major plot holes. On top of that, I was never convinced by Garrett Hedlund but I’m not sure that it was actually his fault, I think it was more due to the fact that his character was rather poorly developed with some really cheesy dialogs. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a decent SF feature and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I had some really low expectations about this flick but, somehow, my kids ended up buying the dvd so I still had to watch the damned thing (and since we have the dvd, I even watched it a couple of times by now…). I’ll give you that, young kids really love it. My youngest daughter have watched it maybe already 10 times so I guess it’s a real treat for the target audience but, God, I thought it was seriously tedious. I mean, come on, the story is about a zebra who thinks he is a horse and wants to become a racehorse... It was quite inane and to see all those talking animals didn’t really cheer me up. On a positive note, it was rather fun to see Hayden Panettiere before she became a huge star with 'Heroes' and I guess I would watch anything involving Dustin Hoffman, even if it means he will only voice a grumpy pony (although I’m pretty sure I have seen only the Dutch dubbed version so even this small pleasure was lost on me…). I know, it is just a family feature so I shouldn’t take it too seriously but I really had a hard time to care about the whole thing. To conclude, I have seen worse but it still remain a rather weak kid flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except if you have some very young kids who need to be entertained.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Sidney Lumet’s work, I thought I might as well give it a try. Lumet had a rather productive career managing to direct more than 40 movies, some major classics, some major bombs and a whole bunch of really obscure features. This movie definitely belongs to the last group. It doesn’t mean that it was a bad movie though, in the contrary. Indeed, if there is one genre that Lumet really mastered, it was definitely the gritty crime feature and this flick is a pretty good example. I mean, it never reaches the level of ‘Serpico’ but it was still quite intriguing. As usual, Sidney Lumet managed to give the whole thing a really nice mood and Nick Nolte gave once again one hell of a performance. Against him, you had Timothy Hutton, an actor who never really managed to breakthrough even after winning an Academy award for ‘Ordinary People’ and there again, he didn’t really blow me away and he was obviously upstaged by the superior Nolte. Still, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I thought it was a really solid crime feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.