Reviews by johanlefourbe

I have never heard of this flick before but since it won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival, I thought I should check it out. Well, eventually, even though it was a decent watch, to be honest, I still had a hard time to really care about the damned thing. I mean, it wasn't bad at all but the damned thing was just so sad and depressing. Basically, it was taking place somewhere in Mongolia where there was no running water, electrity (pretty much how it used to be in West-Europa 200 years ago). But, apparently, it wasn’t enough hardship so the main character broke her back, her husband was handicapped and even though she loved her husband, she had to divorce him to marry someone else who would provide for the whole family... Seriously, even if I have seen my share of dark movies, it was still really gloomy and the ending was even more heartbreaking... Fortunately, the directing and acting were not bad and, above all, this movie gave an interesting look on a foreign culture which I didn't know before. Still, I can't say that this movie was really entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t really sold by this flick,  it was still an interesting movie and it is worth a look, especially if you want to see something really different.

A movie starring both Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman is an event not to be missed and I'm so glad I finally managed to watch this flick. I was expecting something pretty good and I wasn't disappointed, in fact, it was even better than I thought it would be. Indeed, Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman were both really good here and when there was this big confrontation, it was like witnessing some kind of awesome cinematic Clash of the Titans. They were both so into their characters, it was just amazing. Concerning Amy Adams, to be honest, at the time, I wasn’t really a fan of her work because she used to play some really obnoxious characters but, fortunately, she toned down her usual hysteria and she wasn't bad at all. A part from that, I thought it was a rather fascinating and relevant story, even if it took place almost 40 years ago. During this movie, even though it might not be the point at all, I was reminded about our attitude towards children and, pretty often, if you get close to a child, it will be judged as inappropriate by many people. Furthermore, it was dealing with many interesting subjects such as religion, pride, ambition, guilt and, of course, doubt. To conclude, the actors were awesome, the story was spellbinding and it was definitely worth a look.

Since I'm a huge fan of Jeff Bridges and since virtually everybody was really enthusiast about this flick, I had some rather huge expectations towards the damned thing. Well, to be honest, I was in fact rather disappointed. I mean, I did like it but , basically, it was just way too similar to 'The Wrestler' and I thought it was not intense enough. Furthermore, I wasn't really convinced by the relationship between Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal which felt rather plot-driven than anything else. Still, I liked this movie above all thanks to the acting. Indeed, you had here a pretty good supporting cast (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall) and they all gave some decent performances and, of course, Jeff Bridges was, as usual, quite awesome. Indeed, I totally believed in his character and it was as if Bridges had been an alcoholic country singer his  whole life. Furthermore, even though the guy was obviously a rather pathetic loser, Bridges still managed to make him charismatic enough (but not too much) so we would still care for him throughout the whole movie. To conclude, even though it was a rather weak story in my opinion, Jeff Bridges was so good, he made it really spellbinding to watch and, eventually, the whole thing is still worth a look.

Since this movie had a rather bad reputation, I wasn't expecting much from the damned thing. Well, probably because I had some rather low expectations, I thought it was not so bad at all after all. To be honest, it’s a shame that they still tried to get the smallest budget possible and, as a result, the whole thing still looked really cheesy. Furthermore, the whole thing felt long and slow when in fact the movie lasted only a little more than 90 minutes. Still, there were many things I enjoyed. For example, it was interesting that, this time around, this sequel started right after the previous movie which was a nice approach. Furthermore, there were more things I enjoyed like seeing the Klingons finally in action, to see the Enterprise being destroyed which was rather unexpected and, of course, the return of Spock which was rather expected. Above all, I have to admit that, after watching the first 3 movies in this franchise, I'm finally starting to care about  these characters and, each time, they bring a new story instead of repeating the same pattern with each sequels which is a good thing. To conclude, even though it might not be not one of the most beloved Star Trek installments,  I thought it was not bad and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

For most of his career, Jeremy Piven had been focusing on some supporting parts but, finally, the guy got a starring role in this flick so I was rather curious to see the end-result. Well, the concept did have some potential and there was here and there some funny bits. I especially loved the introduction by Charles Napier as it was downright hilarious and, for a while, it made me believe that this flick could turn out to be a really nice surprise. Unfortunately, most of the movie was just not funny at all as it was full of moronic and stupid jokes which I didn't find amusing whatsoever. On top of that, they kept throwing a new joke literally every 10 seconds which was very quickly rather tiresome. I mean, even when there was eventually something funny coming through, they would provide at least 10 stupid jokes ruining the whole effect. I guess, this kind of humor is a matter of taste but it was obviously not mine and concerning Jeremy Piven, he was not bad but I can't say I was blown away by his performance either. Anyway, to conclude, it wasn't really bad but it was still rather average and the whole thing was not really worth a look.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for both Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow, I thought it should check it out. Eventually, I’m afraid the whole thing turned out to be rather underwhelming. It's too bad because Don Roos who made before 'The Opposite of Sex' seemed to be an interesting director. Basically, it is one of those typical romantic-comedies based on a misunderstanding/lie and I always thought that this concept was  utterly predictable, pointless, rather obnoxious and just plain boring. I mean, as a viewer, since you already have all the answers about what's going on, how is it supposed to be entertaining in any way? Furthermore, sooner or later (usually later), the characters will all find out what was actually going on, then they always break up but they usually end up together (ooops... I hope I didn't spoil it for you...). At least, Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow were bother really charming, they both did their best with this material and I thought they had some good chemistry. Still, even though it wasn't really bad, I thought it was a boring and unoriginal romantic-comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I was directed by Stephen Frears, I thought I might as well check it out. Furthermore, even though Michelle Pfeiffer might not be anymore one of the most famous actress in the world, I always had a weak spot for her. For this movie, she was working again with Stephen Frears more than 20 years after ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ which sounded quite promising. Eventually, even though both movies were costume dramas, they didn’t have much in common and this movie never reached the level of ‘Dangerous Liaisons’  which must be one of the best movies delivered by Frears. I mean, it wasn’t really bad and there were many things I actually enjoyed about this flick. Indeed, the whole thing (costumes, sets,...) looked really neat, the directing was decent emough, the acting was quite good and the dialogues were very nice and witty. However, I didn’t care much about the story and, even if it wasn't comptetely boring, it wasn't far from it, I'm afraid. At least, the characters were rather interesting but I didn't care much about what they were going through. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a well made costume drama and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.