Reviews by johanlefourbe

Back in the 80’s, not only Lawrence Kasdan had some major success as a screenwriter (he wrote ’The Empire Strikes back’ , ’Return of the Jedi’ and ’Raiders of the Lost Ark’ , not too shabby, ain’t it?), he developed also a solid career as a director and all his movies were acclaimed (’Body Heat’, ‘The Big Chill’ , ‘Silverado’ , ‘The Accidental Tourist’) . However, in the 90’s, his directing efforts were not that impressive and, in my opinion, it all started to go wrong with ‘I Love You to Death’ which was pretty lame. Anyway, his directing debut was a definitely critical and financial success. Indeed, it is a pretty solid néo-noir, almost a remake of ‘Double Indemnity’ (which I still need to watch) and not only did it launch Kasdan’s directing career but also William Hurt and Kathleen Turner (this movie was also her acting debut). So, it was a pretty steamy affair and, personally, I really enjoyed the mood provided by the competent directing. Hurt and Turner were really good as well, they had some great chemistry and after this movie, they would both become major players in Hollywood in the 80’s. Unfortunately, I was still not completely blown away by the whole thing. Indeed, like in most of the néo-noir features I am familiar with, the plot was pretty pedestrian and all the characters were really stereotypical. I know, it is something inherent to the genre but I always find it rather frustrating. Still, even though I don’t think it is really a masterpiece, it still remain a really solid erotic thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick. Indeed, McG would be the last guy I would expect to direct a sport drama based on a true events. Still , according to IMDB, it is his best movie so far so I thought I should give it a try. This movie was also starring Matthew McConaughey who made recently an impressive come-back. Back in those days, pretty much like McG, McConaughey had a pretty lousy reputation and this movie was one of the very few which wasn’t a lame romantic-comedies during which McConaughey would loose his shirt half-way through. Anyway, how was this flick after all? First of all, this story really had some potential as it dealt with a huge trauma for this (American) football team, this school, even the whole town. Unfortunately, the makers barely went into the psychological turmoil involved and, at the end of the day, it remains a rather pedestrian and predictable sport feature. I mean, as usual, you have a multitude of characters with their own story-line and it gives an excuse for the makers to avoid spending too much time with one character and instead they kept jumping from one to another and eventually, all those plots were pretty much half-baked. The other thing that bothered me was that, even though it is a sport feature, it was not about competition, winning, trophies and that kind of stuff. It was more about a community and how they tried to deal with grief and yet, they felt compelled to add a big game at the end during which Marshall won as the underdog. Of course, it was uplifting and I must admit that McG directed some really nice football scenes but it wasn’t what the story was supposed to be about. Still, it remains a decent sport flick with indeed some pretty uplifting bits and there was a nice cast as well. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, at the end of the day, it is a rather standard sport drama but I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I have a weak spot for Wes Craven and since this movie had developed a rather infamous reputation since its release, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the whole thing. I mean, it was still much better than the recent remake which was really weak but, in my opinion, it was just a rather nasty cheap-ass horror flick like they used to make back in those days. I was really surprised to discover that the late Roger Ebert actually liked a lot this movie since he never displayed much love for this genre. I mean, there was some good stuff, absolutely. For example, the juxtaposition of raping and mutilation with the upbeat soundtrack was really striking and some of the actors were actually decent (not all of them unfortunately). The mood was also really dark, grim and quite relentless and I can imagine that it must have been quite shocking when it was released 40 years ago. Still, even though it was an interesting directing debut for Wes Craven, personally, I really preferred his 2nd directing effort, 'The Hills have eyes', which wasn't really a masterpiece either but it was still much stronger story-wise, at least, that's my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was a little bit disappointing, it still remain a classic horror feature and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though I'm not really a fan of musicals, I still try to catch the classics in this genre and a true movie buff should watch all kinds of movies in my opinion. This time, I was actually pretty optimist with this flick since it sounded pretty alternative. Unfortunately, I thought the whole thing was rather disappointing. I mean, it is a pretty neat time-capsule, displaying the ideas of manners from the 70's but that was also the main issue with this flick. Indeed, if it was pertinent when it was released, it does look pretty cheesy nowadays. Furthermore, and that's the main issue I have with musicals in general, is that the story and the characters were poorly developed. Indeed, musicals always focus more on the mood and the emotions than the actual plot which is something that always bothers me. Coming back to our main feature, the songs were ok but nothing really mind-blowing. Still, there was something really intriguing about this flick, at least it tried to be original and, I'll give them that, it must be one of the most bad-ass titles I came across. To conclude, even though it was slightly disappointing, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.

Since I am huge a fan of Paul Giamatti and above all Dustin Hoffman and since I heard some pretty good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be a really intriguing movie with a hell of a one-man show by Giamatti. To be honest, the whole thing was still rather flawed though. I mean, the first half hour was for example pretty messy. Once again, they used this back-and-forth between past and present which was as usual pretty annoying. I mean, even though the make-up on Paul Giamatti was very well done, I was still confused about when was the action taking place. Furthermore, the fact that they dropped the back-and-forth half way through made it even more pointless. It was also rather unclear what the hell was he doing in Rome to start with and who were these people with him. Later on, the whole thing got more focused and I was able to dive into the life of this Barney character. And it was such a great character. I mean, the guy was deeply flawed but that made him even more interesting. It was also great to see Paul Giamatti in the lead for once and his performance was a real tour-de-force. I also loved Dustin Hoffman and their scenes together were probably the best. At the end of the day, I think the makers got too ambitious and tried to develop too many stories (Rome, his 3 marriages, his friend Boogie who died mysteriously, the cop suspecting Barney of murder, his kids, his TV work, his alzheimer,...). I mean, that was a lot to digest and they could have dropped a few things. Still, the main character was really fascinating and the acting was excellent so I really liked it and it is definitely worth a look.

I don't why exactly but I was really eager to check this flick and eventually it took me a while to get my hands on it. It was probably the idea of watching a thriller with a confrontation between Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman that attracted me. Anyway, it was the first movie Denzel Washington and Tony Scott made together (they would make eventually 5 movies in total together) and, in my opinion, it is definitely and easily the best one. Yeah, even 'Man on Fire' which has become a cult classic is not that good in my opinion. Coming back to our main subject, it is easily one of the best submarine features I have seen. Of course, it doesn't come near 'Das Boot' which will remain the ultimate best in this genre for a very long time but it is still damned fine entertaining and this Clash of the Titans between Washington and Hackman was just awesome. Actually, it could have been pretty neat if they switched, you know, Hackman playing the righteous man and Washington playing the devious bad guy for a change but I guess it would have been too confusing for the average viewer. Still, even though the whole thing is actually rather pedestrian, it remains a very well made and really entertaining thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was directed by the great David Lean, I thought I should give it a chance. Honestly, I can think of a 1000’s reasons why I shouldn’t have liked this flick, it is way over-sentimental for my taste, the whole thing was far from being historically accurate and I could go on and on. Still, I really liked it. I mean, I haven’t read the book so I don’t know if it was a faithful adaptation but I really enjoyed this flick. First of all, I’m a huge fan of Julie Christie. I mean, I have seen only 10 movies with this actress and most of them were really recent but there is something really mesmerizing about her and she is pure and simply a terrific actress. Furthermore, David Lean had a great flair for those grand scale spectacles. I mean, to be honest, it never reaches the level of ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ or even ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (easily his best movie), but it was still quite impressive and simply damned entertaining. To conclude, it is one of the most ultimate romantic movies ever made, a classic, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since it is one of the last movies directed by Clint Eastwood which I hadn’t seen yet, I was obviously really eager to check it out. Obviously, it is a minor effort and when we are far from the level of his most prestigious work here but it was still fun enough in my opinion. Indeed, basically, it is one of those typical flicks that good old Clint used to make back in those days, combining some pretty preposterous action scenes with his really dry sense of humor. At first, the main character shows up as an alcoholic bump but pretty soon he gets really tough but I guess it goes with the territory. One of the interesting aspects was the relationship between Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke who was his long time partner at the time. Indeed, it was their 2nd movie together (they will make 6 together eventually) and they had some great chemistry here even if the romantic scenes at the end in the bus were not really convincing. Eventually, it is above all thanks to Eastwood’s awesome charisma that the whole thing still worked and with another actor, it would have been pretty tedious I’m afraid. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent action comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwood’s work.

Very often, I will end up watching a very obscure flick just because there are a couple of interesting actors in it. This movie is a perfect example. I mean, before watching it, I never heard of it and I had absolutely no idea what it was actually about it but since the cast was interesting, I thought I should check it out. And indeed, there was a pretty cool cast (Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Max Minghella, Kate Bosworth) and they all delivered some solid performances. Basically, it is an intriguing drama about a dysfunctional family but the problem is that each family member had his/her own agenda or issue and the movie really had a hard time juggling between all these sub-plots. I mean, Kate Bosworth was barely in the movie at all and her part was pretty much reduced to a cameo and I really had a hard time figuring what the hell was going on with Binoche’s character. Indeed, her character started to behave rather heretically pretty suddenly without a shred of explanation. In my opinion, the whole thing would have worked better if they focused on one or two storylines at most. Still, there was something really intriguing about the whole thing and I did enjoy the directing style and the actors involved all did a pretty good job. To conclude, even though it was rather flawed, I still think it was a decent drama and it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Of course, I have already seen this flick but I thought it was time for a re-watch, this time, with Nick my step-son. To be honest, even though I liked the first installment, I never thought it was really amazing and this sequel is pretty much a vanity project. I mean, one of the great things about the first movie is that Rocky didn’t actually win and all those underwhelming sequels undermined the impact of this classic. However, since ‘Rocky’ was a huge financial and critical success, it wasn’t surprising that they decided to make a sequel. The other thing that bothered me with this flick is that it follows one very old and annoying gimmick that you see in many fighting movies (not necessarily about boxing). In this template, the main character can’t/doesn’t want to fight but , since it is a movie about fighting, of course, he will eventually fight so it makes the whole dilemma really pointless and rather annoying. In this case, it was even more tedious because at first Rocky himself doesn’t want to fight, but then when he changes his mind, than it is Adrian who doesn’t want him to… It is just goes on and on forever and it was not really interesting. Still, the whole thing remained rather entertaining. I mean, there is something really endearing about Rocky himself and there were some really uplifting scenes, for example, when he is running in the streets of Philadelphia. Basically, this scene is totally corny but it still works somehow. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, it still remains a decent flick though and it is definitely worth look especially if you like the genre.