Reviews by johanlefourbe

Not so long ago, I came across this website who listed which directors should retire now instead of further damaging their career. This list was pretty spot on and I really wonder if Ivan Reitman was on it. Indeed, while his son Jason has become one of the most exciting directors at work nowadays, it has been a while (a few decades?) since Ivan Reitman has done anything really amazing. From his last directing efforts, this flick was the only one which had some potential but even so, it was eventually a flop. Honestly, I don’t think it was that bad at all. Indeed, I thought there was actually a nice tone and it was really nice to see David Duchovny (obviously poking fun at his most famous character, the notorious Fox Mulder) and Julianne Moore in such a comedy instead of their usual work. However, the rest of the cast was not that interesting and, above all, the whole thing never really took off. Still, considering the two movies Reitman has made afterwards (the abysmal ‘My Super Ex-Girlfriend’ and the disappointing ‘No Strings Attached’), it remains a decent SF comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Contrary to most of the viewers, I made sure to watch all the Planet of the Apes movies before watching this new installment. It is something I did last year with the Star Trek franchise as well and I think it ensures a much more rewarding viewing. Anyway, after hearing so many good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. And indeed, there were many things I enjoyed in this movie. The first thing that impressed me was the state-of-the-Art CGI displayed in this movie. Indeed, it was pretty mind-blowing and you can imagine that in 10 years from now, you won’t even be able to make the difference between a real monkey and a CGI one. The other thing that I enjoyed was the performance provided by Andy Serkis as Caesar. By now, after portraying such iconic figures such as Gollum and King Kong, Serkis can be considered as the undisputed master of the motion capture performance. This time, he managed to create a fascinating character and that was even more impressive when you take into account that it was almost only based on body language. So, I really loved those elements but, unfortunately, the rest of the movie was not really impressive. Indeed, even though the story was entertaining, it was still pretty generic and predictable. Furthermore, all the human characters were terribly underdeveloped and rather underwhelming. It was above all obvious with Freida Pinto’s character. I mean, in spite of the fact that she looked insanely gorgeous, she didn’t have much to do there except warning the main character that what he was doing was wrong. It was about the same thing for John Lithgow’s character who was there mostly to explain James Franco’s drive to find a cure. Hell, even the main character was rather underwhelming. Still, to conclude, in spite of these flaws, it remains a pretty decent reboot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick, but since I found a cheap DVD, I thought I should give it a try. In France, for many years, the golden couple has always been Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci (Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis were their biggest concurrent but after a 14 year relationship, they eventually broke up). The intriguing thing about them is that they made a whole bunch of movies together starting with ‘L’appartement’ in 1996. Anyway, this is definitely one of the most obscure movies they have made together but I thought it was not bad at all. Basically, it is one of those European spy flicks. In contrary to the American movies in the same genre, the focus is not on the huge action set-pieces but more on the mood and the characters and, sometimes, it works pretty nicely. So, this movie is a rather typical outing in this genre but, I have to admit, it was still missing something to become truly remarkable. Eventually, even though I was entertained throughout the whole thing, it was still nothing mind-blowing though. Still, to conclude, even though it is pretty obscure, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Ok, now, it is official… With Johnny Depp, Edward Norton must be the most overrated actor at work nowadays. I mean, ever since ‘Fight Club’ and ‘American History X’, Norton was hailed as the best actor of his generation and I was one of the many who believed so but everything he has done afterwards was rather disappointing. I mean, all his subsequent work was basically divided in two categories, under-performing blockbusters (‘The Bourne Legacy’, ‘The Incredible Hulk’,…) and underwhelming indie features (‘Death to Smoochy’, ‘Down in the Valley’,…) with the notable exception of ‘25th hour’ which was really good. Actually, none of his movies were really bad but all of them were really forgettable which was rather frustrating especially since I was expecting something amazing each time around. Anyway, this flick definitely belongs to the 2nd category (underwhelming smaller features). Basically, it is a really obscure movie that almost nobody saw when it was released and it wasn’t really good I’m afraid. I was actually really surprised to find out that Roger Ebert actually loved this flick. Well, we don’t have to agree all the time. Basically, it is a really misguided comedy with some rather annoying characters and after 30 minutes, I really started to worry. And then, when the two brothers got together, it really got better but the level of the whole thing kept swinging between quite compelling and really underwhelming. As usual, even if the movie itself was not really good, Edward Norton always delivers a solid performance and it was not different here. Indeed, he managed to create two distinctive individuals and it was pretty impressive. To conclude, I think I’m being really generous with my rating here but, somehow, I still think it is worth a look but, as usual with Norton, don’t expect anything amazing though.

Since I'm a huge fan of Charles Chaplin, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. Even though the whole thing had a pretty bad reputation, I was still looking for to watch it, especially since Marlon Brando was in it. Anyway, according to Quentin Tarantino, most of the great directors have messed up their 3 or 4 last movies and after watching Chaplin's last directing feature, I would tend to agree with this statement. Indeed, after 10 long years, Charles Chaplin finally came up with this new movie which was his first and only movie in color. This time, he was working with Marlon Brando who was one of the greatest actors that ever lived so you could expect something amazing with those two. Unfortunately, they didn't get along and the movie was a critical and financial failure leading Chaplin to a deep depression. Honestly, this movie was really weak. Indeed, it was basically just a really boring romantic comedy, the jokes were not really funny and there was absolutely no chemistry between Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren (who didn't get along either). Eventually, it is a real shame that one of the greatest directors would end such a prestigious career with such a disappointing feature. To conclude, to be honest, I'm not sure it is actually worth a look, even if you are like me a die hard fan of Charles Chaplin's work.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this movie but since it was on the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die' list, I thought I should check it out. Basically, it is a really obscure flick and it is something that many complain about this list but, for me, it is just the opposite. Indeed, I think it is really intriguing to watch a very old and rather forgotten feature. In this case, I really liked the black and white photography and there were some amazing shots. Unfortunately, I saw it online streaming on archive.org and the quality of this video was really poor so it was rather frustrating to watch this blurry black and white feature. So, it took me a while to get into it but I sure liked it. Basically, it is not really a fiction and it is not really a documentary either, it is some kind of really sober and realistic account of the life of a young boy living in the Bayou. Not surprisingly, I found out it was one of Robert Bresson's favorite movies. So, there is no plot, no good guy, no bad guy and I thought it was really refreshing. It is never really clear what the director tried to achieve here but it was definitely intriguing. For example, at first sight, you might assume that this young boy is really ignorant but there is also something rather angelic about his behavior and instead of ignorance, you might call it pure innocence. To conclude, even though I wasn't completely blown away by the whole thing, I still think it was a very interesting feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since it was the last movie directed by Clint Eastwood that I hadn't seen yet, of course, I was really eager to check it out. It is easily his most obscure directing effort and it was not easy to find (eventually, I found a DVD in Amazon coming all the way from Italy). To be honest, it wasn't really good. I mean, it was something really different than his usual work and it was the very first movie he made in which he wasn't starring. It was also the only movie he made with a female main character and pretty much like other masters such as Stanley Kubrick who never made a flick with a woman in the lead (even 'Lolita' doesn't count) and Martin Scorsese who only made one ('Boxcar Bertha' also very obscure), he had some trouble to make her more than just a sexual object. Eventually, I really hard a hard time to care about this Breezy girl who was really invasive, childish and rather annoying. Not surprisingly, William Holden's character worked better. Anyway, at the end of the day, the whole thing was pretty much some old man sleazy fantasy of having a sexual relationship with a very young woman. I mean, it is pretty notorious that Clint Eastwood is/was really a womanizer, having 7 children with 5 different women and his (ex)-wife was 35 younger than him. Still, even though it was really flawed, I can't completely discard the whole thing. Back in those days, it took some guts to make something so uncommercial, making a romance which was something new to him. The directing was also pretty shabby in the first 15 minutes but got better and William Holden was definitely not bad at all. To conclude, even though it is obviously a weaker effort, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwood's work.

Francis Ford Coppola completely ruled the 70's. He made 4 movies, 'Apocalypse Now', 'The Godfather: Part II', 'The Conversation', 'The Godfather', they were all critically acclaimed and at least 3 of them are arguably some of the finest movies ever made. So, he ruled the 70's but it was as much a blessing as it was a curse. I mean, basically, for each movie he made afterwards, the audience was expecting another 'Godfather' or another 'Apocalypse now'. Well, it never happened and with each new release directed by him, his reputation continued to diminish and, nowadays, he is pretty much considered a has-been. Personally, I think it's a shame because he has actually made some decent flicks which are terribly overlooked and this movie is a perfect example. Indeed, it is probably one of his most obscure movies and even though it is a little too generic, I thought it was a pretty good war drama. Even though it deals with the Vietnam war, all the action takes place in the US which was an interesting move. I thought also that James Caan (reunited with Coppola 15 years after ‘The Godfather’) gave a pretty good performance. To conclude, even though it is nothing really mind-blowing, it is actually a pretty good drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Coppola’s work.

Since I kept hearing good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out and I had some pretty high expectations. Honestly, I thought it was slightly disappointing. I mean, it was visually appealing and I thought that the cast (Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luena, Maribel Verdu) all gave some solid performances but I seriously failed to see what was so amazing about this story. Pretty much like ‘Children of men’, another universally heralded movie directed by Cuaron, I didn’t really connect with the story. I mean, it was not bad at all, it was even quite intriguing but I thought it never really took off. Basically, it is supposed to be a steamy affair but I really had a hard time to care about the characters. I mean, good for them, they managed to explore their sex life but I didn’t think it was really that compelling. I don’t know, maybe I wasn’t in the right mood and I might re-watch it in the future to make up my mind for good. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I actually liked the damned thing, it’s just that I didn’t get why it was so highly regarded. To conclude, even though I thought it was slightly underwhelming, it is still a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Alfonso Cuaron’s work.