Reviews by johanlefourbe

I find it really difficult to judge this flick… Many people love this kind of movies, you know, the movies based on a real stories, they even created a special channel for those ‘Lifetime Movie Network’. Personally, I really don’t like this genre but since my wife really liked this movie, I thought I should give it a try. Basically, it is a rather decent drama which faithfully follows the rules of this genre but the different is that there was a major actress, two times Academy Award winner Sally Field (ok, after this flick, her career slowly went down but back then, she was a major player) who gave a really strong performance and the directing was pretty effective as well. The story was not bad, but still really over sentimental and quite pedestrian but that’s inherent to the genre. So, that’s what you get when you analyze this movie without going to deep but when you think about it for more than 10 seconds, the whole thing is actually rather unsettling. Indeed, basically, this movie is one of the most hateful representation of Muslims I have ever seen. Indeed, except for a couple of characters who dress like Occidentals and talk better English than the main character, all the other Muslim characters were portrayed as evil hysterical people. Indeed, there was not a single effort made to make us understand this people and their culture and even when they’re talking, they were always shouting like mad people in Arabic without any subtitles. Basically, it was plain and simply a rather racist feature with no subtlety whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even though there were some rather despicable things in this movie, if you don’t care about this or if you manage to discard them, it is actually a rather well made drama and it is worth a look, if you like the genre but make sure you know where your morals and values stand.

My God… This must be one of the most disappointing horror movies I have ever seen… The point is that beforehand, I was told the first half was really like pornographic and the second half was some very hardcore unsettling horror stuff. But, eventually, none of it was true. Above all, I thought the first half was just reall tepid. Indeed, first, they get in Netherlands where everybody speak German…. For someone living 10 years in Holland, it is quite unacceptable and just plain stupid. But then, those guys get to Slovakia where they were supposed to find this hotel where they will have the greatest sex orgy ever but, eventually, the only thing they find are 2 reasonably good-looking chicks, that’s it. Was it really worth all this hassle?!? I thought it was just so underwhelming, I really had a hard time caring about the rest of this flick. Then, the butchery started and I have to admit it was not that bad. Indeed, the concept was pretty decent but, still, it was nothing really horrifying, in my opinion. Once again, the whole thing was truly overblown. Eventually, even though it is not a really bad horror movie, the whole thing is just so dim-witted, it made it really hard for me to enjoy it. I think it was actually a step back for Eli Roth since I thought that ‘Cabin Fever’ was pretty good and way more interesting than this second directing effort. Anyway, to conclude, in my opinion, it is a very overrated and rather weak horror flick and it is not really worth a look, except if you really like the genre.

Even though I have seen all the official full length features directed by David Lynch, I though it was time to watch his even more obscure movies which are almost all available on Youtube. Honestly, since I didn’t really like ‘Inland Empire’, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick though. Indeed, this movie was a direct-to-DVD feature made of outtakes from his final directing efforts so if you enjoyed ‘Inland Empire’, you will be thrilled to get back to this strange world but if you, like me, didn’t care much about its randomness, you won’t enjoy it much. Indeed, I had about the same feeling I had while watching ‘Inland Empire’, half of the time I was thinking it was some huge crap and I was just wasting my time but the other half, I was just mesmerized by this other nightmarish world created by Mr Lynch. One thing I enjoyed is that this time around, we got to see Nastassja Kinski who was credited in ‘Inland Empire’ whereas she was there only for a split second sitting on a chair. Ok, this time she was there only for one single scene, for just 5 minutes, but at least, she had some dialogues and her scene was one of the best in this movie. To conclude, even though I didn’t really like this flick very much, it was still an intriguing piece and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Lynch’s work.

Even though I have always been a fan of Wallace and Gromit, to be honest, it is not my favorite feature starring those two amazing characters. If I recall it correctly, I saw it when it was released with my wife and step-kids and I have just rewatched it recenly with my daughter. As a matter of fact, I prefer 'The Wrong Trousers' which remains, in my opinion, their best movie. Indeed, I really loved the first and second short movies they made but then, from then on, I thought that the stories were not really inspired. Basically, if you have seen 'The Wrong Trousers' and, to some extent, 'A Close Shave', you'll notice that all the movies afterwards pretty much followed the same pattern. Indeed, they basically have the same plot and I always thought that it was kind of disappointing. Still, it doesn't change the fact that the animation was once again just mind-blowing, the two characters but also the supporting ones were great, the jokes were hilarious and the whole thing was still really entertaining. To conclude, even though the story was nothing really original, it remains a very well made and fun clay animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. I always tried to follow Walter Salles' work but, honestly, he never really managed to became a great director. I mean, he made some pretty good movies but he never became one of the greatest and it is pretty much the same thing concerning Gael Garcia Bernal. Ever since I saw this young actor more than 10 years ago in 'Amores Perros', I thought he was very talented and might become one of the most interesting actors of his generation but it honestly never really happened. Anyway, those two guys got here together to tell this tale about Che Guevarra. The most interesting thing about this historical figure is that there is absolutely no middle ground concerning him. I mean, he is considered either a role model, a legendary revolutionary figure fighting for the poor and the underprivileged or a blood thirsty dictator, a torturer who killed many innocent people. I always find this intriguing. Anyway, here, they chose a different approach and decided to tell the story of the young Guevarra way before the Cuban revolution. Personally, I really enjoyed this flick. Indeed, the directing was smooth and Bernal gave, as usual, a very good performance and it was just a rather fascinating story. After watching this flick, it seems hard to believe he became a heartfless killer but it is just a movie after all, not a history class. To conclude, I thought it was really good and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I thought this movie was just so embarassing... I mean, I have a weak spot for romantic comedies but this was just plain average. In the same year, they managed to release 2 rom-coms dealing with artificial insemination and both were just terribly uninspired. At least, with 'The Back-Up', I enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads and, right from the start, they knew what was going on. Here, you just had this terribly annoying misunderstanding/lie trick stretched out forever... Once again, I felt so bad for Jennifer Anniston. I mean, she seems to be quite talented but she always ends up playing this kind of character in such boring movies. Justin Bateman also played his typical character but, at least, he made me laugh a couple of times. Eventually, I above all enjoyed Jeff Goldblum who made me laughed every time he was on the screen, even though his character was completely underwritten. I shouldn't even mentioned Juliette Lewis and Patrick Wilson who were completely wasted here. Basically, even though there was actually a fine cast, the story was just terribly pedestrian and I couldn't wait until it was finished. To conclude, it is a really weak romantic comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

Well, I really didn't expect to be blown away like this... I mean, I have to admit it, I was at first intrigued. Indeed, it is not every day that you get the opportunity to watch a movie written and directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski's siblings. Eventually, it is one of those movies which absolutely needs to take 3 hours, I couldn't imagine a shorter version. Basically, during the first hour, I thought I was watching something inspired by David Lynch's work, because of the randomness produced by the whole thing. But then, at some point, I started to see the connections between the characters and the different storylines and, at the end, I was just really overwhelmed. Basically, you have 6 stories more or less intertwined together, a couple of costum dramas, a couple of science-fiction tales, a 70's thriller and a comedy mixing Guy Ritchie's 'Snatch' and a glorious escape from a retirement home and all those stories were eventually quite spellbinding to watch. Still, it wasn't completely flawless though. For example, I'm still not sure if it was such a good idea to have the same actors playing several characters. I mean, it was definitely a bold move but, somehow, it did transform the movie in some kind of game like 'Let's spot Hugh Grant in this scene! Was he the blood thirsty warlord?!?'. I mean, it was rather distracting and it was the same thing concerning the make-up. You had some real black people, some fake black people, some real Asians, some fake Asians and some ridiculous big noses and it was, once again, rather distracting. Still, it is such a bold and ambitious picture, it really floored me, at least, the first time I watched it. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is really an acquired taste, I really enjoyed it and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see something really inspiring.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but with such a cast, I really had to watch it at some point. Eventually, it was a decent action flick, no less and no more than that. There was indeed a great cast (Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Morgan Freeman, Ernest Borgnine, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Helen Mirren, Richard Dreyfuss) and they all seemed to have a lot of fun with this concept. There were also some decent action scenes and I really enjoyed a few scenes with some witty dialogues. Still, who am I kidding? It was nothing amazing though. Indeed, the plot was rather disappointing and really pedestrian and it felt as if the makers stop caring about developing the concept beyond then 'Ok, let's get some old actors together who would be some retired top spies'. Eventually, even though the material was pretty cool and the cast was quite awesome, there was a certain laziness to the whole endeavor and that's too bad since it could have been much better than this. Eventually, they of course had to come up with a sequel but it turned out to be a flop which was hardly surprising. Still, I had a good time watching this movie, I was entertained throughout the whole thing and I think it is definitely worth a look but don't expect anything really amazing.

Since my wife and my step-daugther are (or were) kind of crazy about horses (we even had three of those at some point), I ended up watching a whole bunch of movies about thoses animals with them. Some of them were rather decent, like 'Seabiscuit' for example, but most of them were just terribly boring, at least to me. This one was definitely one of the boring ones. I mean, the story was terribly pedestrian and completely predictable and I honestly couldn't care less about the whole thing. Another thing that really bothered me was to see, once again, Alison Lohman playing the eternal teenager. I mean, it was fine with 'Matchstick men' where she gave a terrific performance but come on! Now we were 3 years later, she was 27 years old, still playing a 16 year old girl. I now, it is a small detail but I found it utterly unconvincing and I'm pretty sure there were plenty of younger actresses who could have done the job. Of course, I'm well aware I'm not the targeted audience and there is a good chance that young girls would actually enjoy this flick but I don't think it should be this boring for other viewers. To conclude, even though it is not really awful, it is still a rather average and boring flick and it is not really worth a look in my opinion.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but I thought it was actually pretty cool. Indeed, Francis Lawrence managed to make with his directing debut, a visually really appealing fantastic thriller. Honestly, I have never read the comic book so I have no idea if it was faithful or not but, honestly, I couldn’t care less. As usual when Keanu Reeves gets the lead part, you have always some people complaining how wooden he is and how awful he was but I thought he did a decent job here. Furthermore even if the character of John Constantine is actually supposed to be from Liverpool, and is actually supposed to look like someone like Sting, eventually, in the movie, the character is actually from Los Angeles but the truth is that in the original script they actually retained his nationality but since they got no response from producers, they changed him to an American and the script quickly gained attention. Anyway, I thought it looked pretty awesome, there was a cool cast (Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou, Tilda Swinton) and the whole thing was usually pretty entertaining. I might be a little too picky but I was still missing something about the story in order to make it truly compelling though. That’s always the risk with such paranormal fantastic thriller, it can get pretty preposterous and, as a result, I tend to lose interest after a while. Still, all in all, I thought it was a very well made and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.