Reviews by johanlefourbe

What a nice surprise! I had some rather low expectations concerning this movie but since Nick, my step-son, was really enthousiast, I thought we should give it a try anyway. Eventually, I really enjoyed it and, as a matter of fact, I do believe it is one of the best animated features produced by Dreamworks, way better than the terribly overrated 'How to train your dragon' for example. First of all, the animation was really great. After watching so many CGI animated flicks, I should get used to it but I thought it was just really gorgeous. Furthermore, I thought that the story was actually pretty good. Indeed, for once, they took some time to develop the main character, Jack Frost, and I really cared about him and what he was going through which was something I terribly missed in 'How to train your dragon'. The main flaw, I guess, is that I wasn't really sure about the tone. I mean, the whole thing was still too childish for teenagers and grown-ups but I also thought that it was also too scary for young children so I'm not sure if it will eventually find an audience. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good, against all expectations, it is one of the best animated features of the year and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

When I heard about this movie, I was thrilled. I mean, come on! A movie starring both Robert De Niro and Edward Norton, it really sounded awesome. But then, when it was released, it received a very lackluster reception so I became rather skeptical. Eventually, it was indeed pretty disappointing. A while back, De Niro and Norton (with Brando! that was an awesome cast) also did together 'The Score' and even though it was also a rather weak movie, at least, it was a fun watch. I wish I could say the same about this flick... I mean, it was not really bad, there was a promising start with a great confrontation between the 2 masters but the development was far from being satisfying. Basically, you have only 4 characters but none of them were properly developed. Above all, Frances Conroy had the most thankless job since she had barely anything to say and just looked really sad during the whole thing. Milla Jovovich had more to chew on with her character and gave honestly one of the best performances but, still, at the end of the movie, I wasn't sure what was going on with this woman. Robert De Niro gave also a solid performance, I mean, he always does even if the movie stinks but it was the same thing with Jovovich, you never got the opportunity to know him, to understand his predicament. Eventually, Norton was the biggest disappointment. His performance was not bad but it reminded me of 'American History X', one of the most overrated movies in my opinion. Indeed, pretty much in the same way, Norton starts really convincingly but, somehow, his character completely changes and the transformation was way too hard to swallow. Here, he started as a trash-talking convict, than became really depressed and finally ended up as some kind of mystical guy... Still, even though the whole thing was rather poorly written, I still can't really dismiss this flick. Indeed, the beginning was pretty strong and they were some good ideas out there, it's just too bad it didn't really work. To conclude, it is nothing really amazing but I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in the actors involved.

Those last years, I have seen many movies starring Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy and I was honestly rather shocked about the low quality concerning their work, especially dealing with Murphy. Basically, most of their movies were just pretty bad, it is as simple as that. However, when I read that this movie starring the both of them was pretty good, I started to get optimistic. Furthermore, it was directed by Frank Oz, a rather decent director, so there was a good chance we actually had a winner in our hands. Eventually, even though it was a decent effort, much better than Murphy’s or Martin’s usual output, it was still nothing mind-blowing though. I have to admit, there were here and there some hilarious scenes, absolutely, but also a lot of boring or uninteresting stuff as well in my opinion. Above all, I thought the original concept was actually great but, unfortunately, it was rather poorly developed as it was just an excuse to throw as many stupid jokes as possible to your face. To conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, it still remains a decent comedy, probably one of the best Steve Martin or Eddie Murphy have made during the last 20 years, and I think it is actually definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

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.