Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since Keanu Reeves was starring, I thought I should give it a try. At first, it seemed like a very bad idea to cast this guy in such a romantic feature but, surprisingly, I thought it was not bad at all actually. First of all, Keanu Reeves always had a bad reputation about his so-called wooden acting (ok, he is not always convincing, I'll give you that...) but I think we should give him some credit for constantly trying various genres like here for example. Aitana Sánchez-Gijón was also really charming in this movie, a real shame that she never showed up in some other Hollywood productions. Furthermore, the setting and atmosphere were frankly really lovely and I have to admit that there was something rather mesmerizing about the whole thing. Of course, the story was way too light, pedestrian and predictable to make it truly remarkable but I have to admit that I enjoyed most of this flick. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing whatsoever, I think it is actually a decent romantic feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Wong Kar Wai is one of those directors which I admire even though I’m eventually I’m not really a complete fan of their work (Bergman is definitely one of those as well). I mean, concerning Wong Kar Wai, I have seen 7 of his movies and even though I enjoyed all of them, I only really loved ‘Chungking Express’. Anyway, this movie was more or less a sequel to his previous feature ‘In the mood for love’ but it was still a really different beast altogether and probably his least accessible directing effort, at least among the ones I have seen so far. I mean, ‘In the mood for love’ was actually pretty straight-forward which was probably its appeal but, this time, the whole thing was pretty messy, convoluted and really really hard to follow. Furthermore, the pacing was really slow which didn’t help either. Still, like everything directed by Kar Wai, there was still something mesmerizing about the whole thing. First of all, there was a great cast (Tony Leung Chiu Wai , Gong Li, Maggie Cheung), especially Tony Leung, what an amazing actor, even more impressive and fascinating when working with Kar Wai. Eventually, the biggest appeal with this feature was the directing. Indeed, even though I barely could follow what was going on, it was visually so striking, it was quite fascinating to behold. To conclude, even though the whole thing was rather alienating, I still enjoyed it and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Wong Kar Wai’s work.

Since it is a rather obscure feature, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it but since Jake Gyllenhaal was starring, I thought I should check it out. To my surprise, I actually really loved this flick. The funny thing is that I’m not a huge fan of those real-life based stories and I would never expect from Joe Johnston (‘The Wolfman’, ‘Jurassic Park III’, ‘Jumanji’, ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’) to make such a heartfelt and sensitive drama. It was also pretty neat to see Jake Gyllenhaal in his first major part and he did a pretty job good here but the other actors were not bad as well. Of course, the whole thing follows the traditional rules of your typical inspirational drama but, somehow, it did work very well , at least for me. I don’t know, maybe it has to with the fact that those boys were trying to be really smart, instead of becoming the next football/basketball/baseball/whatever star. I think that there is something awesome about those blue-collar kids trying to build something really neat, an endeavor which was seemingly out-of-their league. I mean, to think that this guy eventually ended up in working for the NASA was just, well, really inspirational. To conclude, even though it is really obscure and even though the whole thing was actually rather pedestrian, it was so well made and the story was just so neat, I really loved this flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing good things about this flick, especially from my favorite Listal members (jaytoast’s rating : 4 stars, Xanadon’t’s rating : 4 stars, the giraffe’s rating : 5 stars), I was really eager to check it out. Unfortunately, even though it was indeed a decent feature, I didn't manage to see what was so amazing about it and, in my opinion, it was just another overrated horror flick directed by James Wan just like ‘Saw’. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I thought it was a solid haunted house feature but they didn’t play enough with the rules of the genre and I thought that the whole thing was barely scary. Still, there were some nice elements. For example, I liked how, at least in the beginning, there was no background music at all. It was unexpected and a really refreshing approach and it’s too bad they didn’t keep this until the end. Furthermore, I thought that Rose Byrne was not really convincing. I mean, she was a little bit too young (31 years old) to portray a mother with already 3 kids but I have to admit that she did look really weary and exhausted which did fit the character very well. Furthermore, the last act was actually pretty good with some creepy moments. Still, there were enough misfires. For example, the way they decided to move houses was barely convincing. I mean, of course, one of the oldest clichés in this genre is that the main characters will refuse to move from the haunted house for no convincing reasons. However, here, they decided to move just like that, as if they just changed their pants. In my opinion, to move from one house to another is a huge hassle and, in this case, it didn’t change anything so it felt really pointless. Furthermore, the whole ghostbuster thing was also really bewildering. Indeed, the whole thing became somehow and really suddenly a comedy but it didn’t mix well with the rest of the movie. Eventually, the main issue I had is that the whole thing was fairly cliché and therefore a little tedious, at least to me. Still, it remains a well made flick and I have to admit that I was entertained throughout the whole thing. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent horror flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Unfortunately, even though I did like it, I'm afraid I didn't really connect with the whole thing. I don't know, maybe I wasn't in the right mood or maybe it has to do with the fact that I saw it on the BBC without subtitles so I missed a bit of the dialogs. Still, like I said before, I still liked it and it is a very nice dark satire which must have been quite shocking when it was released. The thing I enjoyed the most was how sophisticated and articulate all the characters were. It was just a delight, especially compared to the abysmal figures we get nowadays. Of course, the other attraction was to see the great Sir Alec Guinness shining in no less than 8 different parts, including one woman. Man, the man was gifted, that's for sure. Still, I smiled a couple of times but I never find it really funny and it never really gripped me like I was hoping for. Maybe I should give it another shot in the future as it certainly deserves it. Still, it remains a really solid comedy, a classic, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

At last, they finally got it right... Indeed, so far, all the installments in this franchise were, in my opinion, rather disappointing. Yes, even the 4th movie which was really successful and heralded by the fans was just a tiny improvement if you ask me. I must admit it though, there were many things to enjoy in this new entry but still, was it really a great movie? I don't think so. I mean, it was a really solid action flick, they provided the best story-line so far, the action scenes were simply phenomenal, the multiple cast was very well used and there were even a few funny bits so why am I still complaining? First of all, even though the story-line was indeed improved, there were still plenty of stupid stuff that bothered me ( the first example that pops up to my mind is the way Dwayne Johnson suddenly changes side towards the end but I could point out many other things). Furthermore, the non-existent acting was also rather painful, just like the abysmal cheesy dialogues. I know, you might argue that a movie like this is not about the acting or the dialogues but, in my opinion, an action flick doesn't have to let us down on that field (just check 'Die Hard', 'Lethal Weapon' or even 'The Bourne Identity' for example). Still, most of it worked fine and I enjoyed many things about this movie especially the spectacular action scenes which were just amazing. To conclude, it is in fact a really solid action movie and it is, in my opinion, the only installment in this franchise which is actually worth a look.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for romantic-comedies, I thought I should give it a try. Furthermore, Nancy Meyers had so far a pretty impressive track record ('Something's Gotta Give', 'What Women Want', 'The Parent Trap') and there was a really impressive cast (Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach, Edward Burns, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, John Krasinski) so it seemed that it could be actually pretty good. Unfortunately, I didn't like it much. I mean, it was very well made, it was great to see all those actors together and it was slightly entertaining but, to be honest, I thought the whole thing was pretty lazy. I mean, in her previous movies, Meyers always managed to give us some full-fledged and rather interesting characters whereas here, I didn't care much for any of them. Furthermore, the plot was just way too pedestrian and predictable for my taste. I mean, I know, in this genre, there are some golden rules beloved by the fans but, in my opinion, a good romantic-comedy always manages to shake those rules a little bit or, at least, to provide some captivating characters. Well, it just didn't happen here, that's for sure. Still, like I said before, it remains a well made romantic-comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since there was an interesting cast, I thought I should check it out. Honestly, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. Back in those days, Stephen Baldwin was still a legit actor (I mean, nowadays, he is actually still acting but have you seen any of his movies recently?) and was not bad, just like Laurence Fishburne, but, together, they didn't have enough charisma to carry this movie. Furthermore, the plot was not really strong enough and I really had a hard time to believe that Salma Hayek would fall for a fugitive just like that. I mean, there wasn't even a decent bad guy but about 3 of them and none of those were hardly interesting. Still, there were here and there a few nice scenes and it was nice to see a genuine R rated action flick instead of the PG bullsh*t they give us nowadays. I don't know, it is pretty much like the running jokes about Baldwin quoting movies all along. The first time, when he speaks about 'The Fugitive', it is really spot on and quite funny but, at some point, we got the idea and it is not funny anymore. To conclude, it wasn't really bad and it could have been pretty good but, at the end of the day, it is just a rather average action flick and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

Even though this movie was barely seen when it was released, it managed to become later on a rather impressive cult flick so I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I thought it was indeed pretty good but nothing really amazing and, frankly quite overrated. Basically, it has the Matrix syndrome all over it. What I mean by that is that it is visually appealing, there are some pretty bad-ass action scenes, it is taking place in an impressive futuristic world and it is all wrapped up in some pseudo philosophical babble. I have to admit that, story-wise, it was actually a little more convincing than 'The Matrix' (one of the most overrated movies ever made in my opinion) but it was still nothing mind-blowing. Apparently, the makers spent a lot of time creating this martial arts called 'Gun Kata' and even if many people thought it looked awesome, I wish they actually spent more time on the script instead. Still, it was pretty cool to see Christian Bale before he became a super-star and the rest of the cast was quite nice as well (Dominic Purcell, Sean Bean, William Fichtner, Taye Diggs, Emily Watson). To conclude, even though I think it is slightly overrated, it still remain a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It is once again one of those really obscure French movies which I'm the only one to have seen here on Listal. Gosh, as a matter of fact, if you check Imdb, not even 60 people(!) have seen it so it might one of the most obscure movies I have ever seen. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good, albeit not really original. Basically, the main attraction was to see the lovely Emma de Caunes in one of her very first parts. You probably have never heard of her but she was in (the terribly dreadful) 'Mr. Bean's Holiday'. Anyway, she is the daughter of a very famous French TV host, Antoine de Caunes, and she is quite known in France as well. Eventually, she won the prize for the Most Promising Actress back then at the Césars (the French Oscars) and I think she definitely deserved it. Indeed, she gave a very convincing and impressive performance, especially at such a young age and when she was just starting as an actress. To be honest, the movie itself was not really amazing but it was still a decent drama. To conclude, even though it is really really obscure and completely unknown, it is actually a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.