Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, I find it rather difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, I have always had a weak spot for John Boorman's work and I wanted to watch this flick for many years. Furthermore, it had built up a decent cult following since its release so my expectations were pretty high up. However, I can't say that the whole thing was mind-blowing though. I mean, I did like this movie but there were many things that also bothered me. For example, the beginning really looked cheesy but it got better after a while, even though I don't agree with Roger Ebert who thought that it was visually amazing (he did write his review 30 years ago so maybe, back then, it was a milestone in this area). And it was the same thing about the cast. Indeed, the cast was pretty impressive (Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Stewart, Ciarán Hinds) but, even though they were usually pretty good, the dialogs were sometimes downright cheesy but, on the other hand, we have no way to know how they talked back in those days. Still, I enjoyed this movie and it is definitely the best version of the Arthurian Tales I have seen so far. Indeed, we are pretty far from Disney here, since the whole thing is drenched in violence, blood, lust and you even have some incest. Basically, the mood and general approach was really dark and gloomy but it was a great way to handle this material. To conclude, even though it wasn't the masterpiece I was hoping for, it still remains a solid medieval feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

After their huge success with 'Airplane!', the directing trio Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker went to direct another parody but, this time, about WWII spy movies. Even though this flick wasn't as successful as its predecessor at the box-office, it has since then become a cult classic and it is considered as one of the best parodies ever made. Personally, even though I thought it was not bad at all, I can't say I really enjoyed this flick. I mean, after watching almost everything those guys have made starting with 'Aiplane!' to the Scream franchise and passing by the Naked Gun trilogy, I came to the conclusion I just don't really like this genre after all and this movie wasn't an exception. I mean, there were many funny jokes, that's for sure, but there was also plenty of stuff for which I couldn't care less and, sometimes, it was even downright pathetic. I know, it is inherent to the genre but I always find it difficult to enjoy a flick when it indulges itself with some stupid jokes. Still, there was definitely some neat stuff like, for example, Val Kilmer, in his acting debut, delivered a decent performance. I always had a weak spot for this guy and I hope he will make one day make a deserved come-back (he would have to stop to make all those dreadful straight-to-dvd gardage though...). To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it remains a decent parody, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out and the fact that I always enjoyed Sydney Pollack's work made made me even more eager. Actually, it had been a while since I saw one of his movies but this one really blew me away and it is definitely one of his best efforts. I mean, I knew beforehand that it was dealing with a dance marathon but I thought those events lasted about 2 or 3 days but, in fact, apparently, those marathons lasted weeks, even months! As a result, you see the contestants undergoing some kind of physical and mental meltdown and it was seriously quite distressing to watch this amount of human dispair. Furthermore, even though the ending was a little bit predictable, I thought they would find a way to revert the course of those events somehow but, no, they just went all the way which was quite courageous. Eventually, this movie was pretty depressing but it wasn't a bad thing since the story and the characters were really compelling. Pretty much like Pollack, it had been a while since I saw something with Jane Fonda. Back then, she was a terrific actress, she gave here one of the best performances and I definitely must watch more movies with her. To conclude, even though the whole thing is terribly grim and gloomy, I thought it was quite spellbinding to watch and it is definitely worth a look.

James Foley is not a really famous director but he has made a few notable flicks such as 'Glengarry Glen Ross' and I always had a weak spot for his work, even though it tends to get a little too generic. This movie is a perfect example. Indeed, it is rather entertaining, the directing and acting were decent but the plot was just too pedestrian to make it really remarkable. In my opinion, the main attraction was to see such young actors like Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon starring in this at the beginning of their respective careers. There was even Alyssa Milano in one of the very few theatrical releases she has done in her career. You could argue that Mark Wahlberg was not really convincing as a violent pyschotic young man but I thought it was a decent attempt and it was interesting to see him portraying something else than his usual macho tough guys. At the end of the day, the main flaw was the plot which was just terribly generic and predictable but I still enjoyed most of it, above all, thanks to Foley's moody directing. To conclude, in my opinion, it remains a decent thriller and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Ooooh boy, what was I thinking again?!? Why did I watch this flick?? I guess there was nothing else on TV so I ended up watching this but, still, what a waste of time... And what the hell happened to Martin Lawrence?!? Already 17 years ago, Will Smith and him both gave their breakthrough performances in 'Bad Boys' but whereas Will Smith subsequently developped a really impressive career, becoming a huge super-star in the process, it never really took off for Martin Lawrence and he keeps playing the same character in some weak comedies which get more and more moronic. Honestly, this must be his worst movie I have seen so far. I mean, it is based on a very old formula (a celebrity goes back to his home town and is confronted with his familly and his past) and not only this formula is not really interesting but the jokes were just pathetic. The best example is this scene where you have 2 dogs, a big one and a small one, having sex and, no, the whole thing is not implied, it is displayed right in front of you... Not only is it physically impossible but, above all, it wasn't funny at all. Eventually, the rest of the movie didn't rised above this level of stupidity. To conclude, it is just pretty bad and it is not worth a look whatsoever.

Way before Jake Gyllenhaal and Maggie Gyllenhaal both became some major players in Hollywood, their father Stephen Gyllenhaal had been making movies for a while now. If I'm not mistaken, it is the only one of his movies I have seen so far but, honestly, it wasn't really good. I mean, I ususally have weak spot about movies dealing with weed and there was a pretty cool cast (John Lithgow, Ryan Phillippe, Hank Azaria, Billy Bob Thornton, Kelly Lynch, Jon Bon Jovi, Judge Reinhold, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ted Danson) but, in spite of all the talent involved, the whole thing was barely funny. Basically, it is one of those comedies which tries to make you laugh with some really stupid characters. Unfortunately, I'd rather spend my time with some smart and interesting people and I found those guys usually obnoxious than funny. I don't think the actors should be blamed though, they did what they could with the material and there were indeed a couple of funny bits but, all in all, it was not really amazing, that's for sure. To conclude, it is a rather average comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

It is one of the many movies I kept coming accross on this wonderful website and since everyone seemed to be really enthusiast about it, it made me really curious. And, boy, I wasn't disappointed... Indeed, it turned out to be a fascinating and really bold experimental feature challenging some of the most basic narrative rules. Contrary to most viewers, I have seen Jaco Van Dormael previous work, so I knew he was a pretty good director but I didn't expect him to make something so impressive. I really wonder how he managed to get the fundings for this flick. I mean, it really looked amazing and rather often quite expensive but it is far from being made for a mainstream audience and apparently, it was barely seen upon release. Anyway, the whole thing is a huge (almost 3 hours long) mindf*ck, dealing with life, death, love, the future, the past and many other things that went over my head. Not only was it pretty deep and weird, there was also some fun stuff with some (seemingly) random and quite often hilarious small events taking place every 5 minutes. My only complain I would have is that, since you keep jumping from one story line to another without much continuation, you had only a few minutes to get acquainted with the characters and what was going on before being moved to something drastically different, so it gets rather alienating sometimes. It didn't help either that Juno Temple and Diane Kruger, two actresses who didn't look like each other at all, portrayed the same character. Still, it remains an amazing experimental feature, something to cherish, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Nowadays, the movies based on Nicholas Parks' books (just like the books themselves) are quite popular but the opinions are quite extreme concerning those. Indeed, the fans love them but the rest of us usually are not really thrilled by those movies. Personally, except for 'The Notebook' which I really enjoyed (surprisignly, director Nick Cassavetes said that it is his worst movie so far), I can't say I really enjoyed those. Anyway, this movie was the very first of these adaptations and, I must admit, it was actually not bad at all. Indeed, Kevin Costner and Robin Wright were both terribly charismatic and had some great chemistry together. Furthermore, the great Paul Newman had a small part and delivered, as usual, a very solid performance. Unfortunately, like many Sparks stories, the whole thing was based on some very contrived romantic situation and, at the end of the day, you either buy or not. Personally, I found it really hard to swallow but what really sold the deal for me was this terribly disappointing ending. Don't misunderstand me, I don't mind at all when a story ends badly but, in this case, it just felt really manufactured and it was there only to add some drama to an already cluttered melodramatic plot. I mean, I had a hard time to care about the convoluted plot but thanks to the decent directing and the work of the actors involved, when I was finally starting to believe in and invest myself in this romance, this ending made me really feel as if the whole thing was just a waste of time. Still, even though it is really flawed, there are some good stuff here and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I thought it was rather disappointing. Indeed, even though 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' was nothing really original, I thought it was a very nice romantic-comedy and I thought it was a brilliant idea to make a spin-off about Aldous Snow. Furthermore, the story sounded really cool and had some potential to be really outrageous and hilarious. Unfortunately, like I said before, the whole thing didn't really convinced me. The point is that, even though there were definitely some funny scenes, it was never really hilarious and some of the jokes were just terrible. Take Sean Combs, for example. I thought he gave a very decent performance and he was definitely one of the highlights in this movie. However, if his jokes were at first really funny, they wore me down pretty quickly and it was basically the same for the rest of the movie. I mean, Russel Brand and Jonah Hill can be both pretty hilarious so it should have been a riot but, eventually, it was not bad but nothing really mind-blowing whatsoever. For example, not so long ago, I have seen '21 Jump Street' also starring Jonah Hill and the scene where they take some drugs was much better developped and 10 times funnier than the binch drinking/drugs taking scenes they displayed here. Still, Aldous Snow is pretty cool character and I think it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Sometimes, I really wonder myself what kind of crap I watch... Basically, the main reason why I watched this movie is because I have a weak spot for Shannyn Sossamon. Eventually, she was in this movie only for one scene, maybe for only 10 minutes. Thankfully, Forest Withaker, one of the most underrated actors, had a major part so the whole thing was not a complete waste of time. Still, what a borefest... Basically, it is some kind of variation on 'Guess who's coming to dinner' but, this time, you have a clash between the African-American culture and the Mexican culture. I mean, not only it wasn't really funny but very often, it was just plain rude, rather depressing and borderline offensive. It is rather sad to see that our prejudices haven't changed much in the last 45 years since 'Guess who's coming to dinner' has been released. To be honest, there were some scenes that did work and some of the actors tried really hard to do something with their poorly written characters but the whole thing was just really misguided. To conclude, it is a very weak romantic-comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.