Reviews by johanlefourbe

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.

Since I have a weak spot for Emily Blunt, I thought I should check this one out. Honestly, I think she is very talented but I'm still waiting for a movie starring this actress that will completely blow me away. I mean, she always delivers a solid performance but the movies themselves are usually rather disappointing and this flick was a pretty good example. I mean, it was a decent costume drama and it was pretty obvious that they wanted to recreate the same succesfull formula reached with 'Elizabeth' but it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. Indeed, I'm not really a fan of those dramas dealing with the so-called difficult life of the royals, privileged and financially fortunate. Furthermore, I thought the plot was pretty thin. Still, there were also some things that I enjoyed here. Indeed, the directing was pretty good and the costumes and sets were just plain gorgeous. I also enjoyed the sweet love story involving Victoria and Albert and it was refreshing to see a royal figure marrying someone she really loved instead of getting the usually gloomy relationship they usually end up with. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it remains a well made costume drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Personally, I was positively surprised by the 1st intallment. I mean, I really loved the game, at least the first one which has always been one of my all-time favorite games so I was really glad when the movie adaptation was actually pretty decent. Of course, it wasn't entirely faithfull but the mood was pretty good and reminded me of the game which was a really good thing. Before watching the sequel, I was again pretty sketpical and, unfortunately, this time around, the whole thing was not really impressive, I'm afraid. I mean, it was a good move to move the action into a whole city and it was also nice that they added Jill Valentine but it wasn't nearly enough to make this movie interesting to me. I mean, the plot was just a really standard zombie invasion and I was rather bored during the whole thing. Sure, the action scenes were allright and Milla Jovovich really kicked ass again, absolutely, but I always find this action stuff rather pointless if I don't care about the story or the characters involved. To conclude, it is not really bad at all but it is still pretty average and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Since I have a weak spot for Nick Cassavetes' work and since it was the last movie he directed that I haven't seen yet, I was really eager to check this one out. I was also intrigued also by the fact that this flick seemed to create some polarizing responses. I mean, half of the viewers think it is a great tearjerker and the other half seems to think it is just an awfull tearjerker. Personally, I thought it was pretty good but not really great though. The main issue for me was that, in my opinion, the whole thing was too elaborate. Take the scrapbook for example. It looked awesome but it was pretty obvious that it was made by a professional designer and not by some teenager dying of leucemia. Furthermore, there were way too many characters (the sick girl, the little sister, the big brother, the father, the mother, the aunt, the sick girl's boyfriend, the judge, the lawyer, the lawyer's dog,...) and almost all of them had their own sub-plot and, even though most of them were interesting, they were all barely developed and rather half-baked. Still, I liked this flick. I mean, the premise (a young girl refuses to donate her organs to her dying sister) was really fascinating and definitely heartbreaking. It is too bad the whole thing fell apart at the end (indeed, during the courtroom scene, she confesses that her dying sister told her to do so but, this way, it  terribly weakened this character who basically didn't have the right to have her own desire, feelings and thoughts but she was only allowed to follow what her mother or her sister told her to do). I still really enjoyed all the characters and the cast gave some very good performances, especially Cameron Diaz. I have seen some viewers complaining about Diaz and I know she can be pretty annoying but I think it was really not justified in this case. Indeed, in my opinion, she gave here a terrific performance, probably the best of her career. It was a difficult role because she had to be, at the same time, a loving mother but also a saint and also a ruthless dictator who wouldn't listen to anybody. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it remains a decent drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.