Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, I'm not really knowledgeable about Spanish cinema. I mean, I have seen my share of Pedro Almodovar features but I'm rather oblivious concerning the other movies made there. I have seen also a few movies directed by Bigas Luna who might not have such an prestigious international reputation like Almodovar but his work is really interesting nonetheless. His most famous movie must be 'Jamón, jamón', a rather erotic flick starring a very young Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem almost 20 years before they became an item. So, this other movie was also directed by Bigas Lunas, and even though it was not as good as 'Jamón, jamón', it was still pretty good in my opinion. Basically, it is another intriguing erotic drama even though it was nothing really original, to be honest. Still, the directing was pretty good and the actors were definitely convincing. It is also interesting to note that it features Javier Bardem's acting debut, unfortunately in a very small part. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, it still remains a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Spanish movies.

It has been a while since I saw this movie back then when I was living in France. Basically, Pierre Carles is some kind of French Michael Moore. The big difference is that in France, the people criticized by him pretty much managed to censor his movies and barely no one has seen them, even in France, whereas Michael Moore is one of the most successful documentary maker, at least, if you check the box-office results. Anyway, in his first movie, Pierre Carles decides to disclose the close relationships between some major media personalities and some highly placed politicians, showing in the process that the media are totally biased in France (like everywhere else, I'm pretty sure). When it was released, it was highly controversial and I was expecting some fireworks. Unfortunately, I must admit, I thought it was a little bit underwhelming. I mean, it was pretty good and really interesting but, honestly, there was not a single moment when I was really surprised about what was told during this documentary. What I mean by that is way before watching this flick, I was already aware of those connections and I didn't feel like this movie was providing some sensational revelation. Still, it remains a very solid documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but I was expecting, at least, a mildly entertaining blockbuster. Indeed, basically, you have here the same team which made ‘National Treasure’, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Jon Turteltaub and of course, Nicolas Cage, so at least, I thought it would at least reach this level. Unfortunately, I thought it was terribly underwhelming and yet another disappointing feature starring Nicolas Cage. Nowadays, each new movies starring this guy is another blow to his career and he makes it really difficult to defend him against all those haters. The sad thing is that, this time, at least there was an interesting concept. Seriously, Cage could have given one of his really wacky performances and there were a (very few) moments when you could catch a glimpse of what it could have been (‘I can read minds!’was one of those moments) but it wasn’t meant to be. Indeed, he played the whole thing straight but the rest of the movie was not much better, I’m afraid. I mean, it was well made and the special effects were pretty cool but the story and the characters were terribly generic and I was seriously bored during most of the duration. Honestly, I was rather amazed about how lazy and pedestrian the whole thing was. For Jay Baruchel, it was a missed hat trick, since in 2010 he already had 2 surprise success with ‘She’s Out of My League’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and this movie was supposed to finalize his status of storming talent but guess what? 2 years later we don’t hear much from him anymore and I’m pretty sure this movie is to be blamed. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really awful, it was still pretty damned average and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

It is not really a famous French movie but since I have a weak spot for the actors involved, I still wanted to check it out. When looking back at this feature, the most striking thing is that, many years later, both main actors tragically died. They were also both children of some of the most famous French actors, Guillaume Depardieu was the son of Gérard Depardieu and Marie Trintignant was the daughter of Jean-Louis Trintignant. The first one to die was Trintignant, only 5 years after making this movie. Back then, she was shooting a movie in Lithuania and, in the evening, she had an argument with her boyfriend, French rockstar Bertrand Cantat (lead singer of the band Noir Désir) and he literally beat her to death. Concerning Guillaume Depardieu, 5 years later after Marie Trintignant, while he was shooting a movie in Romania he contracted pneumonia and died within a couple of days. It is as if this movie was some kind of French version of ‘The Misfits’. But what about the movie itself ? It was the 3rd movie director Pierre Salvadori made with Depardieu Jr. and even if it might not be the best they made together, it was still pretty good. Indeed, it is a rather light and fluffy story about mythomania and I thought it was pretty enjoyable, even if it was nothing really amazing whatsoever. To conclude, Salvadori and Depardieu made only good movies together, this one was not an exception and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a nice cast, I still wanted to check it out. To start with, seriously, the opening was really pathetic. I had some issue to make out what was going on... Was it serious? Was it a joke? I mean, basically, you have this bunch of white kids (poorly) imitating some black gangsters, it was just barely bareable and the whole documentary thing made it even worse. Later on, it got a little bit better but they never really recovered from this dreadful start. Like I said before, there was a very interesting cast (Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips, Shiri Appleby, Michael Biehn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Freddy Rodríguez, Laura San Giacomo, Alexis Dziena, Josh Peck) but even the usually very talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt was seriously ridiculous and the rest of the cast was not much better. I have to admit it, Anne Hathaway and Freddy Rodríguez had some moments and came over as some more genuine characters but even they didn't really convince me. I mean, it wasn't really awful, there were here and there some good ideas but they were poorly developped and I have seen better movies such as 'Thirteen' and 'Crazy/Beautiful' dealing with the same themes. To conclude, even though it is not a complete failure, it is still really average and I don't think it is really worth a look.

I actually already saw this movie but it was a long time ago, when I was a teenager but even though I enjoyed it, I didn't see what was so great about it. Indeed, I thought that the story was interesting but I didn't care much about the love story. However, since I kept hearing good things about this movie, especially from my good friend Xanadon't who thinks it is one of the finest movies ever made, I was really intrigued and needed to watch it again. Eventually, the second time around, I was quite blown away. Even though I still prefer 'Vertigo' and 'Psycho', it has still managed to become of my favorite Hitchcok's features, easily in the top 5. This time, I was able to realize how marvelous the love story was. Indeed, when I was young, I didn't see how subtle it was. Indeed, when those characters say something, their faces actually tell a different story, with some amazing performances by Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. I always had a weak spot for Cary Grant who always makes me think of Georges Clooney but his best work was always with Hitchcock who was the only director who really managed to use his charisma, going the extra mile to make his characters darker and more interesting than his usual suave womanizers. Not only was it one of the best love stories I have seen but it was also a very good spy thriller and the combination of those two was just lethal. To conclude, I'm really glad I re-watched this movie, it is amazing, a great classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Alfred Hitchcock's work.

When this movie was released, it didn't get much love and it was added to the long list of disappointing 2nd sequels such as 'Alien 3', 'The Godfather 3' or even 'The Dark Knight Rises '(ok, I might be in the minority concerning the last movie I mentioned...). To be honest, I don't think it was actually so bad. To begin with, I wasn't really a fan of the previous 'Spider-Man' flicks. I mean, they were entertaining, that's for sure, but they were enough elements such as the terribly cheesy dialogues that really bothered me. So, I didn't watch this movie with the highest expectations like some others did. Anyway, in my opinion, the whole thing was pretty spectacular and Venom was sure a really badass villain even if, indeed, he was rather poorly developed without really blaming Topher Grace. I do agree that 3 bad guys was just way too much to handle, just like the two love interests. In my opinion, Sam Raimi was actually pretty much done with Spidey, he didn't even want to use Venom in the first place but gave in under pressure. Furthermore, I think it is also too much to ask for a director to come back every two years with yet another brilliant sequel. You should either give him more time or bring someone else with some fresh ideas. Anyway, in spite of its bad reputation, it was still a huge success at the box-office and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick and I was actually planning to watch it with my 6 year old daughter. Eventually, she had already watched it with my wife so I ended up watching it on my own... Basically, it is one of those really tedious Dutch family features. Still, I must admit it, the beginning was actually not bad at all. Indeed, it was some kind of family version of 'The Prestige' and it was actually pretty neat. Unfortunately, as soon as the young girl disappeared, the tone was just wrong and the whole thing became really misguided. Indeed, first you see the audience slowly leaving the building (a girl just disappeared in front of them!), then the police shows up 2 days later (!), the parents of the main character decide they might actually divorce and his school decides to expel him (as if he was responsible for anything...). All this felt wrong and the fact that when you find out what was actually going on, they just keep it as a secret when, in fact, a missing girl is nothing to joke about. I know, you'd probably say that since it is a kids flick, I shouldn't take it so seriously but I don't agree. The material was actually pretty good but they just messed it up. To conclude, it is yet another average Dutch family feature and I don't think it is really worth a look, even if you are interested in Dutch movies like me.

After hearing many great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Personally, I was more familiar with Lean's later work, composed of great epic adventures such as 'Doctor Zhivago', 'Lawrence of Arabia' or 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. Here, it is something quite different entirely, in fact, it is the complete opposite. Indeed, it is in black and white and it deals only with two characters, a man and a woman dealing with some rather mundane predicament. However, if the scale was smaller, the whole thing was nonetheless quite fascinating. Indeed, basically, it is a very simple story about love and adultery but so human, so recognizable, so relevant which is something quite amazing considering the fact that this movie is now almost 70 years old! Honestly, I can't pretend I was really familiar with the actors portraying the two main characters but they both did a really good job. Above all, I was really impressed by the directing by David Lean. Indeed, like I said before, we are here far from his epic work but he still managed to share with us the tormented life of those two lost souls and it was quite something to behold. To conclude, in my opinion, it is David Lean's first masterpiece and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in his work.