Reviews by johanlefourbe

Like most of the viewers, it is its infamous reputation that made me watched this flick. Basically, I just wanted to check it out if it was as bad and/or as shocking as everybody was thinking. Eventually, it might sound weird, but I don’t think it was that bad at all. Indeed, since this movie dealt with Caligula, the most decadent Roman emperor, I thought this movie eventually fit the man quite well. Indeed, the main character was just despicable, mad, tyrannical, and indeed, you had a few hardcore sex scenes here and there but it didn’t really bother me. As a matter of fact, it might sound odd but I think those scenes made the movie even more surreal. I’m not saying that those inserts were a good idea but I don’t think they really ruined the movie. Basically, it was pretty much like watching ‘Gladiator’ on acid. There was also a pretty good cast (Malcolm McDowel, John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren) even though they had no idea what they got into and most of them have subsequently completely rejected the movie. Don’t be mistaken though, it was still far from being a good movie. Indeed, the pacing was really terrible, the editing was amateurish and the whole thing was frankly quite messy. Still, all those flaws added to the surreal effect given by this movie. Basically, it is a completely decadent flick about the most decadent time in human history. To conclude, I might be mistaken, it might just be some total worthless trash (Roger Ebert really hated it), but personally, I think there was something still spellbinding about it and I think it is worth a look, if you don’t mind watching a totally depraved picture.

Even though I had seen most of the installments starring Sean Connery and a few starring Roger Moore when I was a kid, I was rather oblivious concerning Timothy Dalton tenure as James Bond. Anyway, 20 years later, I thought it was time to watch his flicks. Personally, I think they made a nice try with him to make the franchise a little darker than it was. Eventually, it was too soon, the audience was just not ready, especially following the fluffiness provided by Roger Moore’ s installments. Furthermore, the makers didn’t really dare to make it too violent or too realistic but this Bond was definitely a precursor to the one portrayed by Daniel Craig 20 years later. Timothy Dalton has been praised as being the closest representation to what Ian Fleming meant with James Bond and also criticized because he managed to make only 2 movies which weren’t really successful and the franchise stopped after him for 6 long years. Personally, I think Dalton did a pretty decent job, I liked the tone of this flick and there were of course some pretty neat action scenes. Jeroen Krabbé, one of the best Dutch actors, was also a pretty cool villain. Eventually, I think those movies were not really successful above all because the franchise was rather in a bad shape in that time, following 12 years of Roger Moore. I never cared about Roger Moore incarnation of James Bond and it is pretty obvious he was James Bond for far too long and it became detrimental to this franchise at some point. To conclude, even though this movie is nothing really amazing whatsoever, it remains a decent James Bond installment and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

In a few weeks, I will see ‘ The Hobbit’ which might end up being the best movie of the year (I really hope it will be that good). In the mean time, I thought it was time to watch this little TV feature directed by Peter Jackson. He made this movie more than 5 years before making ‘The Lord of the Rings’ , just after ‘ Heavenly Creatures’ and just before ‘ The Frighteners’ . Back then, he wasn’t yet a huge Hollywood mogul such as Steven Spielberg, Georges Lucas or James Cameron. He was just an exciting upcoming director from New Zealand making his small movies and most of the mainstream audience had never heard of him. Of course, in the 2000’s, this all changed, for good or bad. Anyway, I thought this flick was a decent mockumentary, even if it was pretty obvious from the start that it was a fake and I can’t believe that some people would fall for it. Still, I thought it was pretty enjoyable and there were some hilarious bits here and there. I thought also that the Black and White footage was pretty awesome and really convincing. It was also pretty neat to see Peter Jackson so often not only behind the camera but also in front of it. To conclude, even though it is nothing really mind-blowing, it remains a pretty cool mockumentary an it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Peter Jackson’ s work.

Since the ratings were pretty low, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since Wes Craven is an interesting director, I still wanted to check it out. Eventually, it was indeed pretty disappointing. Apparently, it seems that Craven wanted here to recreate the same success he had with the ‘Scream’ franchise. Indeed, it centers on a group of young people in high school getting killed one by one and the ending was supposed to provide a ‘clever’ twist. Unfortunately, about everything that was good in ‘Scream’ went wrong here… It started here with a messy and very lame introduction and I wondered how they would manage to recover from this. Actually, they should have removed the intro completely or set it later in the movie. Anyway, it got a little bit better when you got to learn the 7 of Riverton but it was still pretty damned average. Above all, I thought it was just really poorly written and I had a hard time remembering who was who and who was doing what. At the end, you get, of course, a twist but whereas it was pretty cool in ‘Scream’, here, it was far from being convincing at all. At the end of the day, it is obviously one of the worst movies made by Wes Craven, along ‘Cursed’ and ‘A vampire in Brooklyn’. To conclude, I’m being really generous with my rating, it is and remains a very average slasher flick and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

Even though Michel Blanc is pretty much unknown here in Listal, he is actually pretty famous in France as he is one of the most popular comedic actors for already more than 30 years. This was actually his directing debut and it is actually rather common for French comedic actors to eventually direct their own movies like Gérard Jugnot who has built up an interesting career on the side as a director. Anyway, this directing debut is a rather typical French comedy mixed with a buddy movie. On one hand, you have the handsome guy played by Gérard Lanvin and, on the other hand, the grumpy guy portrayed by Michel Blanc himself. Even though there were definitely some funny bits, I thought that the plot was a little too pedestrian for my taste and the whole thing never really reached its full potential. Still, it remains a decent comedy 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 not much else on my HD recorder, I thought I should give it a try anyway. Basically, it is decent quirky drama but not much more than that, I’m afraid. The main issue I had is that it was rather poorly written. Indeed, I didn’t care much about the story and I thought that the characters were rather stereotypical. I mean, even if Claire Forlani gave a decent performance, she was just another evil step-mother. Same thing about Sophia Myles who was a nice girl but, of course, she must have a pathetic affair with a douche bag married with someone else. How original… And even though the title character was a disturbed young man, it didn’t make him really interesting to follow, in my opinion. Still, in spite of these flaws, there was some quality about this flick. Indeed, Jamie Bell and Sophia Myles who both never really broke through in their career were pretty good in this movie, better than the material they were given. I also enjoyed the directing and I discovered afterwards that David Mackenzie also made the underrated ‘Young Adam’. This guy is definitely talented and I will check his other movies when I have the opportunity. To conclude, even though the end result was rather half baked, because of the actors involved and the interesting directing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though André Téchiné is pretty much unknown here in Listal, he is actually one of the most highly regarded directors in France and already for 40 years. With this movie, it was the 3rd time he worked with Catherine Deneuve and it is probably the best movie they made together so far. Deneuve was once again pretty amazing and even at 50 years old, she still looked really gorgeous. We shouldn’ t forget Daniel Auteuil though. Pretty much like Téchiné, Daniel Auteuil is pretty much unknown here in Listal but he is actually one of the best French actors and for the last 3 decades already. Too bad he never made some movies abroad. With Deneuve, they provided some really impressive performances and they had some tremendous chemistry which made it pretty awkward since they portrayed siblings but it was exactly the point in this movie. I have to admit that like most French dramas, nothing much really happens during the whole thing, expect that the characters are constantly talking to each other so it is an acquired taste but I’d rather watch something like this than your standard Hollywood feature filled with chases, shootings, explosions and CGI. To conclude, even though it is nothing really mind-blowing, it remains a pretty good French drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of sport movies, however, since the ratings for this movie were pretty good, I thought I should check it out. Since it is a Disney production, I shouldn’t expect anything really revolutionary and, indeed, it followed the rules of the genre like other similar features such as ‘The Rookie’ (which had in fact pretty much the same plot except that it was dealing with baseball) or ‘The greatest game ever player’. Still, I enjoyed most of it. Indeed, it is a rather amazing Cinderella story and it is quite endearing to see how humble Papale remained under the circumstances (at least, that’s how he was displayed in the movie). Going from absolutely nothing, losing his job, losing his wife, with no money to pay the rent, the guy managed to become a NFL player and became a local hero for a community struggling to make ends meet. I thought that Mark Wahlberg was pretty good and I wish he took more risks in his career like when he starred in ‘Boogie Nights’ for example but he still had a decent career so far. Unfortunately, like I said before, the movie still followed the usual template so you had a whole bunch of underdeveloped or unnecessary subplots like the obligatory love story, the family scenes with the coach, Papale’s friends… Still, it remains a really uplifting tale. To conclude, even though it is nothing remotely original, it is remains a well made and entertaining sport feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a pretty good cast, I thought I should check it out. Not only there was a really interesting cast (Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Colin Firth), but it was also an adaptation of a Pulitzer prize winning novel which was also a loose adaptation of ‘King Lear’ written by good old William Shakespeare. So, it all sounded pretty impressive on paper but, unfortunately, the whole thing ended up being a rather half-baked melodrama. I don’t think the actors should be blamed though. Indeed, they all did a decent job, it was pretty neat to see Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange together and Lange was even nominated for a Golden Globe award. I’m not sure which one was worse, the directing or the writing, which was quite disappointing especially regarding the source material. Eventually, I didn’t care much about the characters and what they were going through and I was rather bored during the whole thing. To conclude, it could have been an impressive drama but the end result was pretty disappointing and, at the end of the day, it is just a really average flick and it is not really worth a look, I’m afraid.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since Nick, my step-son, is a huge fan of Werewolves movies, I thought I should check it out with him. Eventually, it wasn't really good I'm afraid. For instance, if you think 'Twilight' was pretty pathetic concerning its portrayal of Werewolves, you should check this flick. Basically, the major difference between us and them is that they constantly make some weird jumps, that's it. I must admit that it was a nice approach to make them change into real wolves though. Still, the plot was pretty average and rather boring. You could sense that there was some potential and, apparently, the book tells a really different story but the end result was here pretty disappointing. I also found it a pretty pathetic this idea that a comic-book writer could live and spend time abroad like this for weeks. Indeed, it is in fact a very hard and thankless job, only a handful have managed to make some money out of this and I'm talking about the really famous ones. To conclude, I have seen worse movies but it still remains a rather average flick and it is not really worth a look, in my opinion.