Reviews by johanlefourbe

Following his tremendous critical success, like many other directors before him, Wong Kar Wai finally deciced to make the move to the USA. Unfortunately, even though the damned thing really had some potential, I'm afraid he delivered his least appealing movie so far. I mean, he definitely got a very a nice cast (Norah Jones, Jude Law, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz, Natalie Portman) and they all delivered some decent performances. Furthemore, his directing was, as usual, quite gorgeous but, unfortunately, the whole thing still didn't really impress me. Eventually, I think it had to do with the fact that this director has actually a rather artificial approach to direct his movies but, so far, most of them turned to be quite spellbinding to watch so it wasn’t really a big issue. Unfortunately, this time around, it didn’t work very well and it even became bordeline boring to watch. I don’t know, maybe it was because the English language don't fit well with his style or maybe it was because the story was actually rather weak. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still loved the directing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Wong Kar Wai's work.

I already saw this movie, in fact, I saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but, since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Basically, after making all those gangsters flicks, Scorsese decided to make for the first time a 'family' feature which was pretty neat. Well, after all these years, I still don't get why this movie was such a critical success though. Indeed, in contrary to what most of the critics seemed to think, I wasn't exactly blown away by the whole thing and this rewatch didn't change my opinion at all. First of all, to be honest, I don't think it was an appealing movie for the kids in general. I mean, it was not fun at all even rather sad and all the movie references were just way too high-brow for the young viewers (even most of the adults won't have any clue about who was George Méliès). Still, it is a really gorgeous movie and one of the very few movies I have seen where the 3D provided some actual added value. It was also a really sweet love letter to the history of motion pictures. Eventually, as long as the movie was focusing on Méliès, it was actually working fine, especially if you actually know the guy and/or are interested in motion picture history. Unfortunately, all the other characters involved were not interesting and barely entertaining, especially Hugo Cabret. I'm not blaming Asa Butterfield, he actually delivered a solid performance, but his character was just too bland. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was a decent watch, in my opinion, it is in fact a minor effort from Martin Scorsese but, still, a minor Scorsese is always better than most of the garbage you can see nowadays.

It’s a movie I had been willing to watch for a very long time and since two of my best listal friends were really positive about this movie, I was really  eager to check it out and I had some rather high expectations. Well, you have to admit that it must be one of the coolest movie titles ever created but, to be honest, the whole thing turned out to be rather disappointing after all. Sure, the directing was decent  enough, there was a really nice cast involved and they all delivered some pretty good performances but, eventually, the main issue I had was with the story. I mean, it wasn't really bad but it was not really good or really entertaining either. In my opinion, it was basically a standard crime thrillers but during the whole thing, I can't say I was on the edge of my seat. Frankly, I couldn't care less about the story of the characters involved. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws,  it was still pretty neat to finally see a movie with Andy Garcia playing the lead for once and it was still a decent watch so the whole thing is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I really enjoyed 'Michael Clayton',  I was really eager to see Tony Gilroy's following directing feature. Well, once again, Gilroy had a very interesting cast at his disposal (Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Paul Giamatti, Tom Wilkison) and they all delivered some decent performances. Furthermore, the directing was pretty good as well and the subject of the movie, industrial espionage, definitely had some potential. So, it seemed that they had all the ingredients to make another great picture but, eventually, I was not really impressed by the damned thing after all. I mean, sure, it was fairly watchable but the main issue, in my opinion, was that they tried to make this story sound complicated and clever but, at the end of the day, it turned out to be actually a simple story told in a very convoluted way. Eventually, the big difference between this movie and 'Michael Clayton' was that, while 'Michael Clayton' was a really intriguing and intelligent feature, this movie was in fact a rather fluffy and forgettable piece of generic entertainment. Eventually, in spite of its flaws, the whole thing was still well made and rather entertaining and I think it is worth a look but you shouldn't expect anything brilliant before watching the damned thing. 

Even though this movie didn’t turn out to be a huge critical success, since I’m a big fan of Clint Eastwood, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, who would have expected the man with no name to deliver a movie about psychics? Anyway, Eastwood had a pretty good cast involved, Matt Damon gave, as usual, a pretty good performance and the directing was seriously really strong, especially during the opening scene which was dealing with a tsunami. Unfortunately, even if the story was quite intriguing, in fact, they should have focused on one of these 3 stories, instead of developing those 3 story-lines at the same time. Indeed, each one could or should have been a fully-fleshed tale and it would have worked better that way. Still, even though I have always been rather skeptical about psychics in general, this movie gave an interesting view on the subject. To conclude, even though the whole thing was flawed and even though it might be considered as a minor effort from this director, I still think it was an intriguing and well made fantastic drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwood's work.

To be honest, it is a rather obscure movie but since I have always been a big fan of the great Philip Seymour Hoffman, I was really eager to check it out. On top of that, it was dealing with a fascinating subject, compulsive gambling, and, even though this movie doesn’t seem to have a stellar reputation, I think it might be the best movie  I have seen dealing with this subject. Seriously, I'm so amazed that this movie is not better known. Anyway, Hoffman definitely gave one of his best performances here and the whole thing was just merciless in showing the ordeal of those gamblers. I mean, even when the main character seems to have won enough to get out of trouble, he goes on with gambling until he loses everything ... and he eventually loses more than 10 million dollars !!!! Indeed, eventually, those gamblers never really care about winning or losing, they just want to play as long as they have some money, regardless of the consequences.  Eventually, I thought it was a rather depressing but also fascinating study about human psychology. To conclude, it is a real shame that nobody seemed to have heard about this movie, I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Philip Seymour Hoffman's work.

Even though it seemed to be a rather obscure movie, since I have a weak spot for Cate Blanchett, I was still eager to check it out. Well, eventually, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, I have to admit that I actually had a hard time to care about the damned thing. Basically, it was another tale about the French resistance and while it was not bad, it was nothing original and, to be honest, rather stereotypical. Indeed, the French people was constantly portrayed as either some brave resistance fighters or some worthless collaborators but  I'm afraid the reality was a little more complex than that and this approach was justly seriously tedious. Furthermore, even though Cate Blanchett delivered a solid performance, it was rather difficult to judge if she was really good or not. Indeed, she was supposed to portray a British spy in France but these French guys didn't look or sound French at all (indeed, except for a few words, they all spoke English throughout the whole thing). Anyway, to conclude, even though it was a rather flawed, it was still a decent WWII story and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Nowadays, I have Netflix and Popcorn and not only I have since then an endless selection of movies to choose from but, as a result, I have become slightly more picky regarding the movies I watch. Before, I used to watch pretty much anything as long as it was starring one or two actors I was interested in and, as a result, I would sometimes end up watching some really obscure features. This movie was a perfect example. Obviously, I didn’t expect much from this movie but, somehow, I still ended up watchin the damned thing. In fact, the funniest thing about this movie is that, literally just minutes before I was going to watch it, I got a message from one of my dearest listal friends warning me as, and I quote, it is 'one of the most inane movies ever made'. Eventually, I'm afraid this message was the only funny thing concerning this really weak family feature and my buddy was just right. Apparently, there seems to be some kind rule saying that every major action star has to star at least once in a comedy but, except maybe for Schwarzenegger, the end result has always been dreadful and this movie was definitely not an exception. Indeed, the premise was just completely predictable and not entertaining whatsoever and, even worse, Vin Diesel, who has never been really the most skilled actor in the world, didn't have any feeling for comedy. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was indeed inane, boring and rather embarassing to watch and it is not worth a look whatsoever.