Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I’m a big fan of Michael Moore, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. Even though he has become the most successful documentary maker ever (at least, if you consider the box-office), this movie is actually pretty obscure and almost no one on listal has actually seen it. Well, unfortunately, I have to admit it, it is so far his weakest effort. I mean, the whole thing was basically a failure when you realize that Moore has actually become a victim of his own success. Indeed, each time he gets up on the stage, you don’t think you are watching a movie-director or a controversial thinker, you get more the feeling that you are watching a mix between a rock-star and a stand-up comedian and that was just plain wrong. I mean, they try to convince you all along that all these people came for his ideas and they did but they mostly came because, by now, he has become a huge celebrity and that it is rather sad. Also, I thought it was rather weird to have this huge focus on Michael Moore himself during most of the duration and it is not as if you got to know the guy, no, you just got to see his performance. Furthermore, I’m sorry but, in my opinion, the democracy in the USA is kind of joke, you have just 2 big parties and even though they try to convince you that there is a huge difference between Republicans and Democrats, they are in fact only slightly different. I mean, what kind of democracy is that? Therefore, the whole impact of this effort was rather marginal. Eventually, they got a Democrat in the White House, Barrack Obama, but even though he definitely seems more competent than George W. Bush, his policy follows more or less the same path and there is still a war in Irak going on. To conclude, even though I thought the whole thing was pretty disappointing, there was still some good stuff (it was a good reminder that George W. Bush more or less cheated the first time around and got incredibly lucky the second time around) and it is still worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Moore’s work.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since Angelina Jolie was in it, I thought I might as well give it a try. I think it must be, so far, the most obscure movie starring Jolie that I have seen but, surprisingly, I thought it was actually pretty good, especially considering the poor ratings it gets here on Listal and on IMDb. Of course, it was nothing great whatsoever and the whole thing looked pretty cheap but I did like the tone and the cast was pretty decent (Rosanna Arquette, Angelina Jolie, Mekhi Phifer). Since it was made on a rather low budget, you didn’t get the usual preposterous action scenes and, instead, they put the focus on the characters who were, most of the time, quite intriguing. Since she is nowadays arguably the most famous female movie star in the world, you won’t see Angelina Jolie show up in a such a small production (at least, without anyone noticing) and it was rather fun to see her when she was a bit younger and not yet such a huge star. A year later, she would be in ‘Pushin Tin’ and, above all, ‘The Bone Collector’, and from then on, her star never stopped to rise, for good or bad. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, it is actually a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Angelina Jolie’s work.

Somehow, I thought this movie could be decent. I seriously don't know why I thought so but I did. Well, all I can say is that I was seriously disappointed. The first issue with this flick is that the two main male characters were played by Dane Cook and Dax Shepard, two of the most underwhelming actors at work nowadays. Dane Cook got lucky since he played a rather likeable guy but Dax Shepard ended up playing one of his usual obnoxious dudes and he was eventually more annoying than funny. Actually, the whole premise had some potential with this awesome and completely lame huge super-market. I mean, if they played it more straight and realistic, a little bit like ‘Clerks’ (one of my all-time favorites), it could have worked. Unfortunately, instead, they went for some really over-the-top and underwhelming jokes and it was mostly rather boring. Concerning Jessica Simpson, she did look good, I’ll give you that, but she didn’t have much to do but, even so, she was hardly convincing. To conclude, I have seen worse but it still remains a rather weak comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. To be honest, I have to admit that I have never been really a huge fan of Ron Howard's work but this movie still seemed to be interesting though. Indeed, 4 years after his success with 'A Beautiful Mind', Ron Howard was working once again with Russell Crowe and, at first, there was logically a very good buzz about this flick but, somehow, it was completely overlooked when it was released. Indeed, even though it garnered some really good reviews, it was actually a flop at the box-office. Maybe nobody wanted to see yet another flick about boxing? Well, in my opinion, it was actually really good, as a matter of fact, it was actually probably even better than ‘A Beautiful Mind’ . I mean, you could argue that the whole thing was not really original and, indeed, it never reaches the level of ‘Raging Bull’ but I thought it was a very well made and really entertaining sport biopic. Basically, even if it might be quite generic, it is still a really strong and inspiring story and, combined with the Great Depression backdrop, it was actually quite powerful. Apparently, the one who was the most hurt by this failure was neither Ron Howard or Russell Crowe, but Renée Zellweger. Indeed, until this movie, she was definitely on the A list and one of the most sought after actresses, but after this movie failed, her career went all downhill from here. Anyway, in my opinion, even though this movie was terribly overlooked, it is actually a pretty solid feature, easily one of the best directed by Howard, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since it was the very last movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio which I hadn’t see yet, of course, I was really eager to check it out. It is probably one of his most obscure features and it took me quite a while to get my hands on it. As a matter of fact, Rimbaud was supposed to be played by River Phoenix but he tragically died just before production started and was therefore replaced by DiCaprio but I thought he was a perfect choice. And so was David Thewlis. Still, I wasn’t sure about their performances. I mean, there were some good bits but it was also quite frequently rather over the top. Also, the fact that they mixed an American actor, an English actor and some French actors to all portray some French people was rather odd and didn’t work very well. Still, the main subject, the stormy relationship between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlain, was quite spellbinding and I always had a weak spot for the tormented life of some messed up artists. Still, as usual, like most of the movies dealing with poetry, it focuses mostly on their romantic and sex life and, even though you seem them writing a lot (at least, Rimbaud. As a matter of fact, I don’t remember seeing Verlaine writing a single word) , you don’t hear much poetry which was too bad. Still, it must be the most risky part by Leonardo DiCaprio and even though he didn’t quite nailed it, it was still an interesting and courageous attempt. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I actually liked this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Basically, it is one of those movies I have been hearing about for years and I was definitely eager to finally check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be a really solid thriller and probably the most convincing movie dealing with hacking that I have seen so far. You see, I have been working in the ICT branch for many years and even though I’m not a expert (the cause of so much frustrations for my dear colleagues…), it is always pretty neat to see a movie about this subject but it is always disappointing how ridiculous and unconvincing all the computer stuff turn out to be portrayed. This flick was however an exception. Indeed, even though I have no clue if what the main character did was actually possible, it seemed possible and what he did with his computer usually made sense. The other thing I enjoyed is the way those two high-school kids were portrayed and both Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy provided some decent performances. Unfortunately, even though the whole thing was really entertaining, it was still a little too far-fetched for my taste and there were still some major plot-holes. Still, for a thriller dealing with computers, it was pretty good, I really enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I’m a huge fan of David Lean’s work, of course, I had to see this flick at some point and since it is considered as one of his best movies, I had some rather great expectations (pun intended). Eventually, even though I did like it, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. I don’t know, maybe it has to with the fact that I never really loved those Charles Dickens’ movie adaptations. Maybe I should try the books instead, if I recall correctly , the late Roger Ebert was a massive fan of these books. Anyway, it remains a pretty good flick though. Indeed, the cinematography was really nice, something expected from a David Lean production, and the acting was really solid as well. Another interesting element in the movie was that it featured Alec Guinness' first major screen role and it was also the first film he made with Lean (they would make eventually 6 movies together). Also, the fact that I first watched first Alfonso Cuaron’s version might I have influenced my views on this much older version. Still, even though this movie didn’t really quite blow me away, it remains a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much and, indeed, the whole thing was terribly underwhelming. To start with, Rob Minkoff who once did direct ‘The Lion King’, one of the most successful and heralded animated features ever made, had ever since a rather mixed track record and this might be his weakest directing effort so far. I mean, it is pretty obvious that Patrick Dempsey is trying very hard to breakthrough on the silver screen but with such pathetic attempts, it won’t happen anytime soon, I’m afraid. Indeed, Dempsey tried to portray a mental patient and even though it wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously, it wasn’t funny either and, frankly, it was one hell of a weak performance. The rest of the cast was slightly better but there were just too many characters and they were all rather poorly developed. Finally, the plot was just a bore involving an overly complicated heist involving several burglar teams. Even though the makers try to make you guess who’s who and who’s doing what, after a while and many idiotic twists, you simply don’t care about what is actually going on and how it will all end up. To conclude, I think my rating might be really generous, it is just a really weak action-comedy and it is not worth a look, even if you like the genre.

As may you have noticed, I’m not a huge fan of costume dramas. Indeed, I always have a hard time to care about the love life of the Victorian upper-class. I mean, come on, ‘I’m filthy rich, I don’t do anything to make a living but it’s so hard to end up with the person you really love…’ just stop whining already. On the other hand, I always had a weak spot for Oscar Wilde because the guy was so witty and I always enjoy the way he took every opportunity to show how vain his contemporaries were. Here, you had Rupert Everett who was simply born to play in Wilde’s stories and the guy was just on top of his game at the time. I always had a weak spot for this actor ever since I saw him in ‘Dellamorte Dellamore’ and his was a riot in this movie. The rest of the cast was pretty spot on as well (Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson) so I really had a good time watching this. Alright, I have to admit, the plot was terribly light and fluffy especially coming from Oscar Wilde but the actors were good enough to make me forget the weaknesses concerning the storyline. To conclude, even though it is nothing amazing whatsoever, it is actually a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I have never really paid attention to the current worldwide crisis (thankfully, I always managed to keep my jobs) so I never really dug into it but since this movie had some pretty good ratings, I was definitely eager to see what was actually going on. And boy, that was such a depressing movie... I mean, they threw in from time to time an upbeat tune but there was no way they could remove the general sour taste giving by this. To be honest, I'm totally a left-wing guy, it came with my upbringing, and this movie shows how nasty and unhealthy capitalism can be in general. From an ideological point of view, I still believe that left-wing ideas such as socialism, government control and regulation, social welfare would be a better option but it is unfortunately not in our human nature, I'm afraid. Like they said in this movie, if most of the people get the opportunity to get a massive amount of money with a minimum risk for themselves, they will almost always go for it. I have to admit it, the whole thing was quite reminiscent of Michael Moore's style in the sense that many people get ridiculed during the interviews, the editing was massive and there was a fair amount of manipulation. Still, the message remains strong and, like I said before, terribly depressing, but it is and remains a really impressive documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.