Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though the whole thing did look pretty bad, since I have a weak spot for Camilla Belle, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, with such a lame title and poster, you already know beforehand what you are going to get. During the opening credits, I discovered that it was actually a modern version of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ which made it even worse since I also knew the main lines of the plot even before anything actually took place. The fact that this movie was just way too long for its own good didn’t help either. Concerning Camilla Belle, it is yet another disappointing flick on her résumé and even though she always looks charming and all, she definitely has to pick some better projects if she wants to be taken seriously at some point. Eventually, I was above pleasantly surprised to see Alexa Vega, yes the little girl from ‘Spy Kids’, all grown up but that was basically the only really positive thing I could think of while watching this. The main issue with these kind of movies is that the makers don’t take the subject seriously at all so you eventually end up with something terribly fluffy and underwhelming and since the makers don’t really care about the subject, why should you? To conclude, I have seen worse but it is still a rather lame romantic-comedy and it is not really worth a look, I’m afraid.

Of course, almost everybody with a decent movie culture has seen or at least, has heard about ‘The French Connection’ which is a classic (it reminds me that I should re-watch it at some point). However, most of us tend to forget that they actually made a sequel which might not have been as great as the original (was it even possible?) but which was actually pretty good. Indeed, this time, Popeye Doyle has to leave his home turf to go fight the drug lords in their own territory, good old France, and it was not an easy task that’s for sure. Indeed, this change of setting was quite intriguing and induced a whole new dynamic concerning Doyle and his crime fighting methods. Eventually, since he doesn’t speak a word of French and since the French, as usual, really suck in English, he gets in a pretty tight spot. Of course, the whole thing gets pretty far out when he gets hooked on smack and then goes cold turkey but most of the plot was pretty solid. I also enjoyed a lot the ending which was pretty exciting and the final shot was quite priceless (no worries, I won’t spoil it). To conclude, even though this sequel tends to be overshadowed by its illustrious predecessor, it is actually a pretty decent flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Back in the 90’s, Antonia Bird became noticed after directing ‘Priest’, a movie about a gay priest. 20 years later, I still haven’t seen this flick but I did manage to see this movie, her following directing effort which was also starring Robert Carlyle who was this time playing the lead. Back in those days, after breaking through with ‘Trainspotting’, Carlyle was one of the most interesting actors at work and it’s a shame his profile didn’t rise much and nowadays, he doesn’t make many movies and focus more on some TV work like ‘Stargate’ or ‘Once upon a time’. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a pretty solid and gloomy British crime flick. Basically, it is the old tale of some bank robbers who messed up one crucial job and even though it was not really original, it was very well made with some good performances by Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone. There was also an intriguing political sub-plot and the combination of the heist with some social realism was quite intriguing. To conclude, even though it is nowadays pretty much forgotten, it is actually pretty good 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 Nick, my step-son, is a huge fan of vampire movies, I thought we should check it out. Eventually, it is basically one of those movies with a really far out concept which sounded great paper but unfortunately crashed and burned at the box-office. Actually, while watching this, it did remind me of ‘Le Pacte des Loups’, a French movie released 10 years earlier, which also did mix some modern fighting techniques with an older time frame. The main difference is that, here, they went even further and added a historical setting and one of the most famous American presidents to kick some vampire’s asses. Personally, I thought it was not bad. I mean, Bekmambetov has a nice visual style and there were some spectacular set-pieces. Still, even though I shouldn’t analyze too much the story since it was all very preposterous, I didn’t see the link between slavery and the vampires or maybe I missed the point. All in all, it wasn’t really impressive and this movie seemed to be a step down for Bekmambetov after ‘Wanted’ which was maybe flawed but more intriguing story-wise and definitely more satisfying regarding the tone. To conclude, if you want to watch Abraham Lincoln fighting some vampires, you won’t be disappointed, but don’t expect much more enthralling than this.

The Americans are usually the specialist of the remakes but they are not the only one lacking imagination apparently since this movie is a Dutch remake of a Belgian feature (and guess what, next year the American version is coming up!). Unfortunately, as usual when you watch first the remake, I wish I saw first the original version which seems superior. Anyway, this flick was still pretty good, especially if you consider the Dutch standards. Indeed, I liked the slick directing by Antoinette Beumer, who happens to be the older sister of Famke Janssen, and the cast was pretty good (Anna Drijver, Katja Herbers, Fedja van Huêt, Barry Atsma, Kim van Kooten, Jeroen van Koningsbrugge) even though the wifes didn’t have much to do, I’m afraid. In my opinion, the weakest of the lot was probably Jeroen van Koningsbrugge. van Koningsbrugge is a pretty famous TV personality in the Netherlands and usually a really funny guy but he wasn’t convincing in this thriller. The other thing that was rather disappointing is that even though they share a loft for their little adventures, not much happens there, as a matter of fact, two of them never brought anyone there eventually. Furthermore, even though the story was entertaining, it was still pretty far-fetched with the usual annoying twists at the end. Still, in spite of its flaws, I enjoyed the damned thing and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.

Since, ‘Cronos’, Guillermo del Toro’s directing debut, was a critical success, he got his ticket for Hollywood and made there his sophomore directing effort. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be a disaster and, eventually del Toro disowned the film after constant clashes with his producer, Bob Weinstein. To be honest, I don't think it was that bad at all. I mean, it is indeed a pretty weak vehicle and you could see that Del Toro was inspirationally crippled but, still, there was something pretty neat about the whole concept and, for a B feature, I thought it was rather watchable. The fact that I always had a weak spot for Mira Sorvino (who was still in the A list back in those days) must have helped as well. Eventually, it took 5 more years for del Toro to have his breakthrough in the US with ‘Blade II’. Personally, I think that ‘Blade II’ is actually quite overrated and I slightly preferred this flick but I guess I’m in the minority. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, it remains a rather disappointing feature and it is not really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of Guillermo del Toro’s work.

Even though this movie had a pretty bad reputation, since it was directed by John Frankenheimer and since there was a pretty cool cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, the cast was nice with a young Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron but that was about the only interesting thing this movie had to offer (there was also a very small part by an even younger Ashton Kutcher). Eventually, Charlize Theron herself admitted that the movie was pretty bad and she did it just for the opportunity to be working with Frankenheimer. For Ben Affleck, it was the beginning of his downward spiral, a bad break in his career which would last actually only 4 years but would damage incredibly his career. The way he made a come-back recently was just downright impressive though. Coming back to our main feature, basically, it is a rather misguided and boring crime feature taking place during Christmas (why all those movies, even ‘Die Hard’, take place during Christmas is just beyond me…). For Frankenheimer, it would be his last directing effort and it is rather sad that such an interesting director would end up his career on such a low note. To conclude, I have seen worse, but it is still pretty damned average and it is not really worth a look, I’m afraid.

Following his reputation, many hoped/expected that Oliver Stone would make one of his controversial political dramas à la ‘JFK’ but unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be surprisingly tame. Indeed, it was criticized as being too cautious and easily playing on the emotions. On the other hand, he made ‘JFK’ a couple of decades after the murder actually took place so it might have been untactful to mess around so soon with this tragic event. For once, Nicolas Cage toned down his usual hysteria and played it pretty straightforward which was something rather expected if you consider the material. Personally, I don’t think the whole thing was completely worthless though. Indeed, the first part when they get there and got involved in all the disaster was actually terrific. However, as soon as they got stuck under the rubble (which is actually most of the running time when I think about it), it all became really mushy and not really interesting. It seems that, for once, Oliver Stone wanted to make an emotional and respectable drama which wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings but, in the process, he made a rather underwhelming feature. Still, even though the whole thing was rather disappointing, I still think it is actually worth a look, if only for the first 30 minutes and especially if you are interested in Oliver Stone’s work.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock, I was really eager to check it out. So far, it is his oldest movie I have seen. To be honest, with most silent dramas, I rather have a hard time to get into the whole thing. I mean, basically, you spent the whole duration trying to read the lips of the characters to figure what the hell they are actually talking about. Without dialogs, movies actually radically changes, in my opinion, with a greater focus on body language and weird faces. Still, with a guy like Hitchcock in the directing chair, you are bound to have some pretty nice shots and I wasn't disappointed. Recently, I saw ‘Easy Virtue’, another very old silent feature directed by Alfred Hitchcock and I preferred this one. Indeed, the plot was a little bit more intriguing and even though it deals with boxing, Hitchcock was obviously more interested by what was happening outside the ring. I especially enjoyed all those lugubrious characters involved in the boxing business (did you notice that most of characters had some pretty rotten teeth? I’m not sure if it was done on purpose but it was a nice touch). To conclude, even though it is not a masterpiece whatsoever, it is actually pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Alfred Hitchcock’s work.

It is not something that happens very often, a sequel better than its predecessor, but this movie is definitely one of the (very) few examples. Indeed, even though the concept of ‘The Expendables’ sounded pretty awesome on paper, the end-result was just decent even at times actually rather boring. With this sequel, they kept the same concept but improved all the weaknesses of the first installment. Indeed, at first, you have one of the most bad-ass impressive introduction I have ever seen in an action flick so, right from the start, they were on the right track. Then, the dialogues which were terribly disappointing with the first installment, were this time really fun and full of nice one-liners. All in all, even though the story was still pretty pedestrian, I thought the whole thing was much better written this time around. Take Dolph Lungren, they wrote a nice joke about the fact that the guy seems to be an idiot but he has actually a master in chemistry which also happens to be the case with Lungren in real life. That’s some smart writing there. And it was the same thing with Chuck Norris. I mean, the guy pops up seemingly from nowhere but makes a great entrance and throws in a ‘Chuck Norris fact’ on top of that. Simply awesome! At last, but not least, Jean Claude Van Damme who hasn’t done anything remotely good for a couple of decades (with the notable exception of ‘JCVD’) was just a hell of a bad guy, completely believable and a worthy opponent for our expendables. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is still one hell of an action flick, it is definitely worth a look and, right now, I really wonder how the 3rd installment will turn out to be.