Reviews by johanlefourbe

After hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Honestly, even though I enjoyed it, I thought it was slightly disappointing. That’s actually a rather common problem when you first watch a decent remake like the version directed by Martin Scorsese, when you see later on the original version, there is this feeling of déjà vu and you usually end up enjoying more the recent version, usually just because you saw it first. Another effect is that you spend way too much time comparing the two movies, sometimes for the most trivial details. So, you can imagine that this first viewing was not really optimal and I might give it a 2nd chance in the future. On the other hand, is it such a great movie which requires multiple viewings? I’m not so sure about it. Anyway, it remains a pretty entertaining thriller (way less gloomy and tensed than Scorsese’s version) and Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum were both very good in this (I still preferred Robert de Niro though. You see? I’m still comparing…). To conclude, even though I was expecting more, it was still a solid feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie when it was released but since it was a while back and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back then, after 5 long years, during which he dropped out from 'The Hobbit' among other things, Guillermo del Toro was finally back with a new directing effort so the damned thing was definitely promising. On top of that, when Nick, my step-son, saw the trailer with these huge robots and monsters, he got pretty excited too so we went together and both had some high expectations. Unfortunately, it turned to be pretty disappointing. I mean, I have to admit that it was not bad at all and there were indeed some massive action scenes (even though those took place only at night) but everything in between those action scenes was just really underwhelming. Sure, it was a nice touch that del Toro took a more worldwide approach instead of only focusing on the USA but he only partially succeeded (like 'World War Z', they should have taken us around the globe to really achieve this). Furthermore, they introduced this concept called 'drift' which is basically the melting of two minds and while this concept was pretty far out and could have been really interesting, it was never properly developed. Above all, the dialogues and the characters were just really underwhelming and even if I had a weak spot for Mako, she was not really fascinating either. At the end of the day, for his first big budget blockbuster, del Toro didn't really make a home run and, in my opinion, this movie was only slightly better than the Transformers franchise or even 'Battleship'. Anyway, to conclude, even though it turned out to be disappointing, I have to admit that it was still a visually appealing blockbuster though and I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though this movie was not really well received, since there were a couple of interesting actors involved, I thought I should check it out anyway. First of all, making a movie about an insurance sells man convention is a pretty tough sell but, personally, I thought they almost pulled it off. Indeed, I liked the general atmosphere created and it is not hard to believe that, in real life, some of those insurers must go pretty wild. As usual, John C. Reilly was pretty awesome, he stole the show every time he was on the screen and I really liked the fact that, at first, he seemed a real douche-bag but he turned out to be a rather nice fellow. I also liked Anne Heche's character even though she was a little too much underwritten for me and, concerning Sigourney Weave, she had even less to do. Still, I wasn't completely sold. Indeed, Ed Helms was rather underwhelming but it wasn't entirely his fault since his character was not really funny or interesting so I didn't care much about what was happening to him. Furthermore, some scenes didn't work very well (the party with Bree was just way over the top) and the whole scheme concerning the Two Diamonds was just totally uninteresting. Still, I think it remains a decent comedy and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn't sure about this flick. I mean, I always had a weak spot for Hugh Grant but a thriller?!? It didn't seem to be a genre for him and, indeed, it didn't get much loved when it was released. To my surprise, I thought it was not bad at all. Of course, since it is an American production, you have the usual unnecessary chases, action scenes and, obviously, the annoying twist(s) at the end but, still, I actually enjoyed most of it. Indeed, Michael Apted is a very decent director, especially when he is given the right material. I was also rather surprised by Hugh Grant who was actually pretty convincing and much more interesting that the typical macho tough guys that you usually get in this kind of production. And, of course, you have the always dependable Gene Hackman (such a shame that the guy doesn't make any more movies). You could say that, at this point, it has become a cliché to see Hackman playing such figures but he does it so well, with such gusto, it is always a pleasure. Especially, with his amazing speech at the end, I was rather floored. I mean, it is not unusual to have a showdown between the good guy and the bad guy to finish the whole thing but, and I won't spoil it for you, there is actually a really interesting and rather thoughtful debate to conclude. It was rather smart, really unexpected and completely appreciated. To conclude, even though the whole thing was still a little too generic for my taste, it is actually a decent thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I had seriously no idea what to expect from this movie beforehand but since there were a couple of interesting actors involved, I thought I might as well give it a try. Actually, I had to think a lot about my wife while watching this. Indeed, my wife is crazy about dogs, we have 4 of them right now and she would keep getting a new one every year if she could (in our 10 years relationship, we had 3 horses and about 7 different dogs...). Anyway, to be honest, I'm not really a dog person, I just tolerate them, just like she tolerates my obsession for movies and I had a hard time to figure out what the makers wanted to say about the subject. Is it a good thing to love animals so much? Is it a bad thing? After watching this, it remains difficult to say. Basically, that's the main issue I had with this flick. I mean, you never know if you should laugh at the main character, feel sorry for her or admire her for what she was trying to achieve here. Personally, I didn't really laugh at her but I didn't admire her either and, frankly, I didn't care much about her at all. Still, it wasn't a bad movie at all. What I enjoyed the most is how realistic all the characters were written. Indeed, no glamorous superstar, just some average looking people like you and me and that was much appreciated. Furthermore, the cast was indeed really solid (Molly Shannon, Laura Dern, Regina King, Thomas McCarthy, John C. Reilly, Peter Sarsgaard). To conclude, in spite of its flaws, this movie presented some interesting characters and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this flick but since I hadn’t seen something directed by Jonathan Demme for a while, I thought I should check this one out. Eventually, I didn’t like it much, I’m afraid. Indeed, I thought it was a terribly murky and rather underwhelming thriller and I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. I have to admit, I did watch the movie on the BBC without subtitles so I might have missed a couple of things but I highly doubt that it would have made any difference in another context. To be fair, I don’t think Roy Scheider should be blamed as he did his best with this material. One of the cool things though was to see the great Christopher Walken. He was pretty cool as usual but his part was very small, unfortunately. Even though he gave his breakthrough performance in ‘The Deer Hunter’ a year before, he was still showing up in some minor roles at that time. Anyway, it was seriously one of the most tepid thrillers I have ever seen and I have watched tons of garbage. To conclude, I really didn’t like this movie and I don’t think it is really worth a look, even if you are interested in Jonathan Demme’s work.

Rian Johnson must be one of the must intriguing directors at work nowadays. I mean, check his first three movies : ‘Brick’, ‘The Brothers Bloom’ and ‘Looper’. They are all wildly different in genre and style and I really wonder what he will do next. Still, pretty much like ‘Brick’, even though I did like his 2nd directing effort, I wasn’t completely blown away by the whole thing though. Indeed, it has been a while since I have seen such a messy and hectic feature and, as a result, I was half amused and half annoyed throughout the whole thing. I mean, I usually love movies about conmen but the makers really didn’t care about the cons and those were poorly set-up and not really interesting in my opinion (the notable exception was the con involving the children, the rest was just a mess). After a while, the whole gimmick got pretty old and they could have stopped 20 minutes earlier instead of going on forever. Still, I did like the damned thing though. Like I said before, I love cons and there were some really hilarious moments. Basically, the whole thing was just too quirky for its own good and Rian Johnson definitely has some skills but he needs to focus a little bit more. Anyway, to conclude, I’m probably being a little bit too generous with my rating here but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock, I thought I should give it a try. First of all, apparently, since the movie has fallen in the public domain, many versions of this film are available online and many of those versions are of rather poor quality so the whole thing looked pretty terrible. Still, this time, I was able to follow the story without much trouble. Indeed, it is one of the most basic pattern used by Alfred Hitchcock, the story of an ordinary man involved in some wild story, usually a murder or a conspiracy. This time, Hitchcock had added much humor but even though it was indeed often funny, it made it hard to take the whole thing really seriously. Furthermore, the whole plot about the main character looking for his raincoat was very thin. Still, the young lady was dashing, there were indeed some funny bits and here and there, you could catch a glimpse of the great stuff that Hitchcock will provide in the future. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is not a really great flick, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Hitchcock's work.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I have to confess, I actually have a weak spot for this flick. It might surprise you but I thought it was actually not bad at all and it is probably one of my biggest guilty pleasures. I know, this flick has actually a pretty bad reputation nowadays but, in my opinion, it actually worked on several levels. Indeed, I have always been a huge fan of Indiana Jones, I always loved those archeological adventures and, even though Lara Croft is obviously not as awesome as Indy, I thought she was a decent female counterpart. Furthermore, I thought that Angelina Jolie looked pretty stunning and she was really bad-ass in this. I mean, you can imagine that many other actresses would have crashed and burned with a similar role but Jolie actually enhanced even more her status with this flick which is quite an achievement (as a matter of fact, it was the highest grossing action film with a woman in the lead role for a very long time). Another pleasure in this flick was to see the ever-dependable Daniel Craig 5 years before his breakthrough with ‘Casino Royale’. Finally, back in the days, I actually bought the very first ‘Lara Croft’ game for the Playstation and, in my opinion, the movie was actually rather faithful. Alright, I have to admit it, I didn’t play that much (I think my little brother did finish it though. He was always a greater player than me, the little bugger) as I was starting to loose interest in the whole gaming thing but I thought they did a decent job with this adaptation. Of course, the story was nothing really amazing but it was still entertaining enough. Anyway, to conclude, even though I probably give this movie too much credit, I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Back in those days, I saw this movie in the theaters and I really had a blast. Indeed, following his biopic about Ed Wood, Tim Burton wanted to make his own cheesy SF feature influenced by the 50's. Obviously, since he was influenced by Ed Wood, you shouldn't take this movie too seriously. Indeed, I'm always amazed when I see the low ratings concerning this movie here and on IMDB and, apparently, it is considered as one of Burton's weakest outings (only behind 'Planet of the Apes'). I don't know, personally, I thought it was pretty awesome. Indeed, there was a huge cast (Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Rod Steiger, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman, Pam Grier, Lisa Marie) and they all delivered some really funny performances. Above all, I thought the martians were just hilarious (F*ck E.T.!). Like I said before, I saw it back then when it came out in the theater and I was about 16-17 years old so maybe I'd lower my rating nowadays but I still have fond memories of this one. Still, in my opinion, in this age of the mega-blockbusters where the Earth is blown up ten times over, you have this movie which stands on its own and gives you a more satirical view on the whole concept and it was highly appreciated, at least, in my case. To conclude, I really liked this movie a lot and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Tim Burton's work.