Reviews by johanlefourbe

Wayne Wang is not really a famous director nowadays but I have a weak spot for him so when I got the chance, I always check his movies. Apparently, it was the first movie he made which was not focusing on the Asian community living in America and, to be honest, it wasn't really good and probably the weakest movie made by Wang I have seen so far (Yeah, it was even worse than 'Maid in Manhattan'...). Apparently, even Wayne Wang himself wasn't satisfied by the end result and tried to get his name off the picture after getting some creative interference from the producers. Indeed, the story was really unnecessary messy and I really had a hard time making out the genre of this movie. Was it a comedy? Was it a thriller? Was it a neo-film noir? This movie had some serious identity issue and I really had a hard time to care about the whole thing. I mean, the main character was actually rather interesting and Tom Hulce (the guy who played Mozart in 'Amadeus' just a few years before) gave a decent performance. But like I said before, the plot was neither entertaining or interesting and I was bored during most of the duration. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, it was still pretty damned average and I don't think it is really worth a look.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Ever since I saw 'Boogie Nights', I have been faithfully following Paul Thomas Anderson's work. This time again, we had to wait 5 long years to see his new directing effort so my expectations were sky high and it was one of my top priorities back in 2012. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. I mean, it was really good, there were even some really brilliant moments but I never thought it was never truly amazing. Indeed, in my opinion, even though the two main characters were fascinating, the story didn't work so well and the whole thing was sometimes pretty random (for example, at the end, Hoffman manages to find Phoenix, ask him to come all the way to England and when they meet, after just a short conversation, he is simply sent away...). I also had a hard time to make up the motivations of all the characters which were often acting pretty randomly as well. Still, there was some great stuff here. Indeed, the directing was really good and the whole thing looked amazing with some awesome shots and like I said before, the two main characters were just fascinating with some great performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Thank God Phoenix stopped with this retirement nonsense and got back in the game, it is such a fine actor and he gave here one of his best performances. Well, I’m glad I gave it a second chance because I was much more able to enjoy it the second time around. Basically, the biggest challenge with this movie is its opacity and its lack of clear linear narrativity. As soon as you manage to not getting alienated by this aspect, it’s actually pretty damned enjoyable. Now, I believe it’s a fascinating study of two characters who were nothing alike, who had nothing in common and, yet, they became fascinated by each other. I think they were basically two lost and broken souls who both thought they have found the key to their salvation (one with his mysterious moonshine and the other with his mysterious mysticism). Anyway, to conclude, even though it might be Paul Thomas Anderson’s most difficult movie to read, it is actually pretty good and definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in his work.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie but since it was Richard Donner's directing debut, I still wanted to check it out. At first, I was rather pleased by the scientific approach they took to describe the events occuring, it was almost like a documentary. However, it got tedious pretty quickly and, after a while, it felt more like a boring promotional feature for the NASA. Even the narration provided by James Stewart himself (whose voice I didn't even recognized) didn't manage to make this thing more compelling to watch. They mixed this with some domestic scenes involving the pilots and their wives but these were even more tedious than the flying scenes. Once in a while, they would throw some rather uplifting music but I never felt any excitement, even when some form of danger was involved. Basically, it was the complete opposite approach then the one used in 'Top Gun' and, in this movie, the pilots were not some hot-shots but some cool headed engineers and even though I appreciated the detailed science, it was also damned soporific to watch. Fortunately, later on in his career, Donner will manage to make some pretty damned entertaining pictures ('16 Blocks', the 'Lethal Weapon' franchise, 'Maverick', 'The Goonies', 'Ladyhawke', 'Superman', 'The Omen') but this debut was a real misfire, that's for sure. To conclude, the whole thing is pretty damned boring to watch and I don't think it is really worth a look, even if you are a huge fan of Richard Donner's work.

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.