Reviews by johanlefourbe

After writing 'Scream' (which was very good) and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (which was not bad), Kevin Williamson decided to make his directing début with another one of his scripts. Unfortunately, the end-result turned out to be seriously disappointing. Seriously, was it supposed to be funny or was is it supposed to be scary? Because this movie was neither of those. I mean, to have such a great actress like Helen Mirren waste her talent in a such an average flick was just a real shame. Actually, it was thanks to her that this movie didn't become really dreadfull since she still managed to deliver a decent performance. Concerning the rest of the cast, they gave us 3 young actors (one of them being Katie Holmes) and the gap of acting talent with Mirren was just so obvious, it was just rather painfull to watch. Above all, it was just a really weak story which did have some potential somewhere but they clearly didn't have a clue what to do with this material. Anyway, to conclude, I have seen worse movies but it was not a surprise that Kevin Williamson didn't direct any other movie after this one and, honestly, it is not really worth a look.

I must have been about 11 years old when this movie came out and, back then, it was in fact a big event. Eventually, I had a good time watching this and I thought it was pretty good when I saw it at the movie theater but it did receive some rather poor reviews and it was not a real success at the box-office. Eventually, 20 years later, I watched it again with Nick, my step-son, and, honestly, I have to admit it that I still enjoyed the damned thing. Indeed, basically, it is one of those typical huge Spielberg productions with some breathless action scenes, some great set-pieces and a really impressive cast (Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Phil Collins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Glenn Close). In my opinion, Robin Williams was basically born to play this part and the whole thing was indeed tailor-made for him. Obviously, like most of the features directed by Steven Spielberg, it worked fine as some popcorn entertainment but it was not really deep whatsoever and it tends to drag a little bit. Still, even though it is obviously a minor Spielberg effort, I think it remains an enjoyable family feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially for young children.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for John Boorman ‘s work, I was quite eager to check it out. Nowadays, Boorman is pretty much forgotten but from the 60's until the 00's, he had delivered some major movies such as 'Deliverance'. Back in the 80's, he also directed this forgotten gem. It features one of the best performances by Power Booth who was never really known for his subtle acting. I have to admit that it is a rather generic plot about a young white boy who spend 10 years in the Amazon jungle before his father, played by Power Booth, finds him back. There was also the old ecological message (which was actually some kind of new hype back then) but still I really enjoyed it. Indeed, the directing was quite amazing with some beautiful shots and you could feel they did some research about the tribes represented there. At least, it seemed rather believable and definitely mesmerizing to watch. Above all, even though the plot was rather generic, I was touched by the characters and what they were going through. Anyway, to conclude, in my opinion, it is a forgotten gem and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in John Boorman's work.

Since this movie was on the list ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’, of course, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, to  be honest, I have to admit that I have never been a huge musical fan. As a matter of fact, I recently saw ‘La La Land’ and even though , it was a big critical and commercial success, I still had a hard time to care about the damned thing. Well, coming back to our main feature, since it is a huge classic, I still had to watch it at some point. Well, even though I usually prefer Gene Kelly, I must admit that Fred Astaire was really awesome in this flick. Indeed, together with Ginger Rogers, they had some great chemistry and they gave some really strong dance scenes here. Furthermore, I laughed a few times, above all  thanks to the supporting cast which was pretty good. Still, even though I'm well aware that it is inherent to the genre, the plot was just so silly and frivolous and I really had a hard time to care about the story and the characters involved. Still, it is and remains a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like this genre.

I didn't expect much before watching this damned thing and, indeed, it turned out to be  nothing great. It's a sad thing that such a fine director like Roland Joffé would end up directing such a generic horror flick. Furthermore, I’m really getting fed up with this whole torture porn hype. Seriously, it is such a boring and uninteresting genre.... Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it was a really weak 'Saw' copycat with an omnipotent serial killer who sees and hears everything and who seems to have an illimitated budget and no day job whatsoever. To be honest, I always had a hard time to believe such a premise but, here, it was even more difficult than usual. I mean, usually, I never cared about the usual twist at the end but, this time around, I figured out right from  the start and the end-result was just rather weird. Indeed, if you are in captivity, with a strange guy, you might maybe end up having a close relationship with him, to kiss him would be already  a stretch, but do you really think that you would have sex with this guy, when you just have been tortured and when a psycho is filming the whole thing?!? I really I don't think so .... Anyway, to conclude, it was a really weak horror flick and I don’t think it is worth a look at all.