Reviews by johanlefourbe

Why on Earth every single major action movie star always get involved in some worthless comedies? Sylverster Stallone did it ('Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot'), Arnold Schwarzenegger did it ('Jingle All the Way'), Vin Diesel did it ('The Pacifier') and now it is Dwayne Johnson AKA 'The Rock's turn to make the same mistake (Jason Statham has been smart enough so far to keep away from such comedies). What a terrible flick... A few weeks ago, I saw 'Hop', another bad movie, which was dealing with the easter bunny and this time around, they chose to make a movie about the toothfairy... How come I was not excited by this concept? Because it was simply a very bad idea... Furthermore, it was just sad to see Ashley Judd to play such a thankless role. I mean, it has been maybe 5 years since I saw her and she used to be on the A list at the end of the 90's and the beginning of the 2000's. Same thing for Billy Crystal. Apparently, it was his first live-action movie role in 8 years. What a way to make a come-back... Anyway, the whole thing was just an inane and stupid familly feature and an incredible waste of talent. To conclude, it was pretty bad, I didn't like it at all and it is not worth a look whatsoever.

After watching so many amazing movies directed by Clint Eastwook, I was rather curious by what his daughter, Alison Eastwood, would do with her directing debut. Eventually, I thought it turned out to be a decent drama. Basically, it deals with 3 story-lines (a woman is dying of cancer, her husband kills a suicidal woman when running a train, a boy witnesses his mother killing herself). All those plots were really interesting and I was especially interested by the one involving Kevin Bacon. Indeed, I never thought of it before but each time a man or a woman decides to jump in front of a train, they make somehow the train driver their executioner. I thought it was an very interesting thought and something really heartbreaking for someone involved in such a tragedy. It's too bad the mix of all those storylines didn't work very well (it was indeed a rather far-fetched idea that the boy losing his mother by a train crash would live with the man driving the very same train and that they would get all along very well. It is like one of the last scenes were they both played with some model trains. I mean, his mother was killed by a train! Rather awkward...). I still give it a positive rating because the acting was really good and the three main characters were really interesting and well developed. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it remains a well made drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you lik the genre.

Unfortunately, this movie turned out to be the 3rd disappointing picture in a row for the great Pixar (indeed, even though I thought that 'Toy Story 3' was pretty good, I didn't think it was mind-blowing at all). I guess we have been spoiled by Pixar, the only studio in the world capable of delivering one masterpiece after the other ('Toy Story', 'Toy Story 2', 'Monster Inc.', 'Finding Nemo', 'The Incredibles', 'Ratatouille', WALL-E', 'Up'). The amazing thing about this new flick is that even though it was disappointing, it was still a decent watch though. First of all, the whole thing was just really gorgeous to look at and, in this area, it seems that the guys from Pixar were still miles ahead visually speaking from any contenders. Indeed, this movie was just so beautiful, so full of details and it was just a marvel to behold. Unfortunaly, to be honest, the story was actually pretty weak. At least, it wasn't a sequel and it was also their first fary tale which was pretty exciting but, eventually, the plot was just really pedestrian and unoriginal. Basically, it was some kind of mix of 'Brother Bear' with a fairy tale but this body switch routine has always been one of the most boring gimmicks ever. It was probably good enough for the kids but it was definitely not interesting or entertaining enough for the adults. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn't turn out to be another Pixar masterpiece, it remains a gorgeous animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn't really interested by this flick but, if I remember correctly, a colleague of mine had the DVD, so I thought I should give it a try. Honestly, it is really beyond me why this movie gets such good ratings here on Listal and on Imdb. I mean, it is not really awfull but it is really damned average, that's for sure. Personally, the biggest mistake they made was to put an American as the main character. Maybe it does work for the American audience and helps them identify with him but it didn't work for me, that's for sure. It felt really superficial, a phony way to add an American element in a story where it absolutely didn't belong. Honestly, I don't think Elijah Wood should be blamed, he is a decent actor and gave his best shot but it was obviously a bad idea. Furthermore, they try to make it a gritty thriller but the whole thing was still way too glossy to be taken seriously. Still, it's too bad since they don't make many fictions about this subject and the whole thing really had some potential. To conclude, like I said before, even though it had some potential, I really didn't like it and I don't think it is really worth a look.

I'm not sure if I discovered David LaChapelle's pictures before or after watching this flick but it is above all for his photographic work that he has reached fame. I think his work is pretty cool but is definitely an acquired taste. Anyway, LaChapelle decided to do something completely different and made this documentary about Hip-Hop. The documentary is about a new dance form known as krumping that originated in the early 1990s in Inner City Los Angeles. Honestly, I have never of 'krumping' before and, honestly, it was not really a nice dance to see, I would rather have some good old breakdance. Still, the energy coming out of these performances was pretty impressive and obviously a great way for this young people to be creative and to handle their frustration concerning the issues in their life. To conclude, it is a well made and interesting drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a nice cast, I thought I should give it a try anyway. The usual complain concerning this movie would be that the whole thing was too sentimental, syrupy and not really realistic. Personally, I thought the main issue was that there were too many characters and too many sub-plots involved (the main character has killed her mother when she was 4 years old, she then ran away from her violent father, you have also some racial issues, the civil rights movement, some mental illness, 2 love stories including one interracial, some religious stuff, some honey making and I'm probably forgetting a few things...). Some of it was actually pretty good but it was just way too much and the whole thing was eventually rather unsatisfying. Still, there was some good stuff as well, I especially enjoyed the cast which was pretty good (Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Hudson, Paul Bettany). I wasn't so sure about Okonedo but Alicia Keys was really impressive and it's too bad her character didn't get more screentime. Dakota Fanning was also really good and she was such an amazing professional, already at such a young age. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it remains a well made drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

It is quite tricky to review this flick because when I saw it, I haven't seen yet the original version 'Spoorloos' but now I do. Anyway, I thought it was an intriguing thriller. The directing was allright, George Sluizer was actually remaking his own movie, the acting was pretty good and I especially enjoyed the performance by Jeff Bridges who was pretty awesome, as usual. It was also funny to see Sandra Bullock who did this flick just before her breakthrough with 'Demolition man' and 'Speed'. Even though this remake was destroyed by the critics (Roger Ebert hated it) and it was a flop at the box-office, I thought the story was still quite mesmerizing. Of course, the end didn't feel right and when you see the original version, it is pretty ovious that they messed up the whole thing. In the Dutch movie, at the end, the missing girl has been dead all along and the main character is buried alive and will die the same way. Definitely one of the best ending I have seen in a thriller, no doubt. Unfortunately, in the remake, there is this totally disappointing happy ending where the new girlfriend saves the main character and the missing girl.... But, honestly, beside the terrible ending, I think it remains a solid and entertaining thriller. To conclude, even though it is one of those useless remakes, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.

Well, eventually, it turned out to be yet another recent heralded comedy that I eventually found rather disappointing (pretty much like 'Easy A' which I saw last week and which I found also rather underwhelming). The major difference between these 2 comedies is that whereas I didn't care much about the story in 'Easy A', this time, the concept was actually pretty awesome. I above all enjoyed the first part, dealing with thoses awfull bosses. The second part, dealing with the 'killing', didn't work very well, in my opinion. It didn't work because there was not a single moment when I actually believed that they were taking the idea seriously (by 'they', I mean, the characters, the director, the actors and even the viewers). Personally, as soon as I don't take seriously what's going on, I don't really care anymore about the plot or the characters and I kind of lose interest in the whole thing. Furthermore, the 3 main characters were barely developed. Still, there were a lot of funny scenes and it was nice to see Kevin Spacey stealing the show like in the good old days. Man, what a great actor! It was also nice to see Jennifer Anniston finally trying something else. Her character was a little bit over the top for my taste but she delivered a solid performance. Finally, Colin Farrell looked awesome but, unfortunately, he didn't have much to do. To conclude, the concept was great but the script was not always good, I'm afraid. Still, it remains a decent comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I have a somewhat difficult relationship with Penélope Cruz. I mean, she is definitely charming and she seems to be rather talented but I'm never really blown away by the movies she's involved or her perfomances, even in the movies directed by Pedro Almodovar and the American productions in which she is usually casted are even more disappointing. Anyway, this time around, it was a Spanish flick directed by a decent director, Fernando Trueba, so I thought it should interesting, or at least entertaining. Eventually, the whole thing was pretty disappointing and, honestly, pretty boring. I mean, the story actually had some potential but I really didn' like the fluffy tone at all. Once again, I'm not sure if Penélope Cruz should be blamed but I thought her acting was rather bland, like all the other actors involved, as a matter of fact. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, I thought it was an average and boring flick and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Before watching this flick, I had some rather low expectations but, honestly, it was even worse than I thought. Since I have 3 kids, I watch a lot familly features and cartoons. Some are great like everything done by Pixar, Wallace and Gromit, 'Fantastic Mr Fox' or 'Spirited away' and the rest is usually pretty average or even damned terrible. This flick definitely belongs to the 2nd group. I mean, I'm not surprised it was a flop when it came out and I really can't understand why Roger Ebert was so enthousiast about (one of the very few times I completely disagreed with him). Anyway, I thought the whole thing was an inane and boring modern fairy tale, some kind of mix of a classic fairy tale with a little bit of 'Shrek' and some bits of 'The Princess Bride'. I have nothing against Anne Hathaway and she is quite charming and all but I really didn't care about her character and what she was going through. To conclude, I thought it was pretty bad, it is definitely not worth a look and if you want to watch something with your kids, just watch 'The Princess Bride' instead.