Reviews by johanlefourbe

Oh dear... It was even worse than I thought it would be. I mean, I didn't have some really high expectations concerning this flick but even so it turned out to be a huge disappointment. Indeed, it must be one of the weakest haunted house movies I have seen so far... Basically, you wait during the whole thing for something scary to happen but nothing remotely frightening happens during the whole duration. I thought it was some king of mix between 'Saw' and 'The Haunting', expect it was never unsettling or scary at any moment. Even though the cast was actually decent (Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher, Ali Larter, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), the performances were quite terrible going from very cheesy to just plain annoying. Even though it seemed to be an interesting idea to remake an old horror flick (I haven't seen the original version), they couldn't have made a more terrible job than this. Compare to this, the remake of 'The Haunting' which was released the same year almost look like a masterpiece. At least, it had some decent special effects which wasn't the case here at all. To conclude, it is a very weak horror feature, I'm actually being really generous with my rating here, and it is not really worth a look whatsoever.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on the KPN pluspakket, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, first of all, I usually don’t care much about the hype around most movies. I mean, I saw Titanic maybe a couple of years after its release (I really boycotted this one for a long time), the first Harry Potter flick at least 6 months after it was released, same thing with Twilight and it took me a while to finally see ‘The Hunger Games’. I eventually watch all these movies, just to check what was the fuss about, but always on my own terms and I never rush to watch them. Anyway, the first time around, my sister had this movie on DVD so I thought it was time to finally see the damned thing. Eventually, I must admit it was not bad at all but I still think it is extremely overrated though, especially concerning the gore aspect. I mean, I was nothing really hardcore in my opinion and, honestly, it still remains pretty mainstream, especially if you compare it to the weird sh*t coming from Asia, especially Japan, it is actually pretty harmless. Still, I have to admit that the concept was pretty cool and they definitely managed to create an unsettling mood. Of course, since it is an American thriller, you had some very far-fetched and rather ridiculous twists but it is inherent to the genre. Eventually, was it original ? Yes, it was intriguing. Was it really groundbreaking or amazing? Not really. Since then, I have seen all the sequels and, even though the die-hard fans might disagree, I thought they were all terribly underwhelming. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn't blow me away, I must admit it was actually a decent horror flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick since some loved it (Roger Ebert) and some didn’t like it at all (Xanadon’t) but I was still eager to check it out anyway. Eventually, even though I enjoyed most of it, I can’t say it was really good though. The first issue, in my opinion, considering its rather short running time (just a little bit more than 80 minutes), I thought there were way too many supporting characters (Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg, Olivia Thirlby) and none of those characters were properly developed. Basically, for most of them, they would show up once really randomly, and then once again only when was required by the script. Furthermore, I thought the scenes came the one after the other rather randomly. For example, at first, you see the main character at the doctor and then, you move 6 years later but it was rather difficult to find the connection (of course, it was explained eventually but it was far from being really convincing). I also found it rather exaggerated that when the main character has finally hit bottom, he goes to work at a dinner with his friend, you would think ‘Ok, the guy has messed up but he is now starting all over from scratch’ but, no, it doesn’t end there and he finally gets beat up for some rather dubious reasons. So, it was honestly rather poorly written but, like I said before, I still enjoyed most of it. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for Michael Douglas, especially when he plays this kind of fast talking oversexed sleaze. In fact, he even gave here one of his best performances. Indeed, he managed to give his character many layers and, eventually, even though the guy is basically a worthless and very destructive sex addict, he is also very charming and fun to be around. To conclude, even though the whole thing is actually a failure, I still think it is worth a look especially if you have a weak spot for Michael Douglas.

Ten years ago, when the first trailers showed up for a hopeful big summer blockbuster, many thought it would be a disaster. Indeed, they were taking on a genre which until then produced only flops and this flick was starring some relative unknowns backed up by quirky character actor Johnny Depp, and finally it was based on a very unlikely source material. But the summer of 2003 saw "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl" become a monster hit, launching one of the biggest modern-day franchises turning Depp from a box-office poison with a few die-hard fans to a global megastar. But how was this 2nd sequel? It was not bad and even rather entertaining but it all depends to which movies you will compare it eventually. I mean, if you compare it to some other recent blockbuster such as the ‘Transformers’ franchise or ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, then it is rather decent with some impressive action scenes and some pretty cool special effects. But if you compare it to Johnny Depp's older and more obscure work such as ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, ‘Dead Man’, ‘Ed Wood, ‘What's Eating Gilbert Grape’, ‘Arizona Dream’, … than it is pretty damned disappointing. Above all, the story was just a mess. Indeed, it went along for way too long and it was just way too convoluted. After watching this 3rd movie, you wonder if they should have made those sequels at all but since the 1rst movie was a huge success, it was rather inevitable. To conclude, even though it is nothing amazing whatsoever, it still remains a fun blockbuster and it is worth a look, especially if you enjoyed the previous installments.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Apparently, before making this movie, Billy Bob Thornton was a struggling actor and he basically launched his career by starring in his own movie. It is a rather unusual move but it has been done by some other actors such as Gary Sinise, Sam Neill and even Vin Diesel. I must say I was really amazed by Thornton’s directing debut. Indeed, at first, you think it might be about a deranged killer who is let loose in the real world and goes back killing some more people but it was much more than that. Indeed, it was in fact one of the most fascinating character studies I have ever seen. Not only Thornton’s directing was pretty good, his acting was quite amazing as well. Basically, he completely disappeared behind the character and changed his face, his walk, his body language, his speech and there was not a single moment when he stepped out of character. There were a couple of moments when I thought they made Karl sound a little too smart just to fit the needs of the script but it was something really minor. I was also impressed by a very young Lucas Black. Black would eventually end up playing the very same character in every single movie (‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’, ‘Friday Night Lights’, ‘Jarhead’) but, as a child, he was quite amazing. On the downside, the whole thing was filled with some awfully decent people, except for one terrible douche bag which happened to be there only to make sure that they will be a dramatic climax at the end. Furthermore, there was also this one scene which really blew me away. At first, it seemed rather odd that Frank’s mother would let Karl so suddenly live with them when she didn’t know him at all. But then, when he finally told her what happened in his past, I thought she would really freak out and throw him out of the house but, no, she told him to sit down and fixed him some biscuits! I was really floored by this scene which was so refreshing because she reacted completely against expectation. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a very impressive drama and, if you, like me, didn’t care much for ‘Forrest Gump’ and would rather watch something grim, bleak and realistic, you should definitely check this one out.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick, but since I have a weak spot for Micheal Douglas, I thought I should give it a try anyway. At first, it seemed to be a rather promising thriller. I mean, you had a pretty good cast (Michael Douglas, Brittany Murphy, Sean Bean, Jennifer Esposito, Famke Janssen, Oliver Platt), the mood was pretty good and a thriller taking place in a psychiatric hospital always has something intriguing in my opinion. Unfortunately, this movie didn’t hold up to those good promises and pretty quickly became just another average flick. Indeed, even though the late Brittany Murphy gave a decent performance, there was no real depth given to the whole psychological thing and it was quite difficult to take it seriously. And it was the same thing concerning Micheal Douglas. I mean, the guy gave his usual solid performance but it was just really unconvincing to see this child psychiatrist getting involved in all those action scenes. Above all, I thought the story was just truly disappointing. Indeed, basically, it is just a long succession of unbelievable twists and I stopped caring about the whole thing way before the ending approached. To conclude, even though there is a pretty cool cast, they are all wasted here, eventually, it is just a really average thriller and it is not really worth a look.

When I was a kid back in France, when I used to go to the videostore to rent some videos, I would always get petrified by the VHS cover of this movie. I was just 10 years old or something like that and I thought there was something really unsettling about it. Eventually, it took me about 8 more years to finally get the nerves to watch it and, eventually, it was not as hardcore as I thought it would be. In the mean time, I already saw 'Braindead' so I was already aware of the fact that it wouldn't be too scary. Anyway, for Peter Jackson, it was the start of a very interesting career. Basically, like some other directors like Christopher Nolan, David Lynch or Kevin Smith, he shot this movie on the week-ends with a bunch of friends and since it got enough attention, his film career was launched. Personally, I thought it was pretty good, especially considering that it was his directing debut but it was still a little too random and messy for my taste. Indeed, there was never a script for the movie and each scene was filmed from ideas Peter Jackson had come up with during the week. Still, it remains a fun movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, once again, I wasn't disappointed. Indeed, it remains such a fascinating thriller. Somehow, it did remind me of 'Zodiac' in the way that the main character was obsessed with this case for 25 years. At first, I wonder how they would manage to keep my attention since I (thought I) knew how it would end. Eventually, many unsuspected things happened and I was captivated until the end which was quite impressive as well. I usually don't care much about such twist endings but this one gave much food for thought. I mean, did the murderer really get his rightfull punishment? Didn't Morales become a monster by treating this man this way? Didn't he throw his whole life away to get his revenge which basically meant for him to take care of his worst enemy for the rest of his life? Just like the rest of this movie, it was really intriguing and thought provoking. Basically, this flick takes its time to develop some very interesting characters, even the smaller ones, instead of throwing at us some typical boring gimmicks. Even the unconsumed love story was quite fascinating and the fact that they never ended up with each other made complete sense considering the way the characters were developed. Anyway, to conclude, it is absolutely one of the best thrillers I have seen lately and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though I have always been interested in Asian movies, I've never been really familiar with Shohei Imamura's work (as a matter of fact, without counting this flick, I have seen only one other full length feature and a short). Still, since this movie won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film festival back then in 1997, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, it is a rather strange flick mixing various genres with more or less success. Like most of Asian Art movies, the whole thing is rather cryptic and I'm pretty sure I didn't get most of the symbolism. Still, I'd rather watch a movie like this which doesn't give some straight answers and let me think than your usual Hollywood production where everything is completely dumbed down in order to reach the biggest audience. So, it is rather slow and somethimes a little tedious but I still liked it anyway, I enjoyed Shohei Imamura's directing and I will check his other movies when I get the opportunity. To conclude, even though it is definitely an acquired taste, I still think it is pretty good and it is absolutely worth a look, especially if you're interested in Asian movies.

Once when I went to see my sister in France, I borrowed her a box-set with some documentaries directed by Raymond Depardon. Depardon is pretty much unknown here in Listal and also abroad, I guess, but he has a decent reputation in France, above all, as a documentary maker (as a matter of fact, I have seen none of his fictions but I’m not sure if they are any good). Personally, I really like his directing style. Indeed, there is no comment whatsoever, no music added. Basically, you have to make it up on your own the significance of what you just saw and I thought it was a rather spellbinding approach. This time, he was allowed to film some civil hearings which is something quite exceptional since it has never happened before in France. Here, we are really far from the glamour and excitement of your typical Hollywood feature and the only thing you get is the sober reality of some usually mundane proceedings but it gives a really striking view on common people. To conclude, I thought it was a really well made and rather fascinating documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this genre.