Reviews by johanlefourbe

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 and the only reason I watched it was because it was featuring Eddie Murphy. In fact, back in the 90's, Eddie Murphy's career was already not in a really good shape and, at some point, he made this vampire movie with Wes Craven who was obviously one of the great horror masters. At least, we have to give Murphy some credit for trying something different but, unfortunately, the end-result turned out to be just really disappointing. Indeed, they basically tried to combine Murphy's humor and Craven's horror but the whole thing was never really funny or scary. Back then when it was released, this flick was a huge flop and it wasn’t really surprising. Fortunately, the year after, Wes Craven would direct 'Scream' and make an impressive come-back. For Eddie Murphy, unfortunately, he kept making some worthless comedies without much success. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, it was again another average effort from Eddie Murphy and it is not really worth a look whatsosever.

To be honest, even though 'Rosetta' did manage to win the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. However, afterwards, I really enjoyed all the other movies directed by the Dardenne brothers and this one must be my favorite one ('L'enfant' was also pretty amazing though). Indeed, Olivier Gourmet who appeared very often in their movies, had this time the lead part and the guy gave here a really amazing performance. Like the directing, his performance was subtle and understated and it was just a marvel to watch. This time, , the Dardenne brothers pretty much managed here to combine a social drama with a thriller and the end-result was just spellbinding. Obviously, you shouldn't expect any shootings, chases or explosions. Instead, you get a character driven picture which went very deep to show the emotional and psychological turmoil of the characters. Eventually, you won't get any (easy) answers but a deep reflection on human nature and that's more valuable than any action scenes, at least, in my opinion. To conclude, it is definitely an acquired taste but I really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Dardenne brothers work.

Since I was reall positively surprised by 'Rogue', I was really eager to see Greg Mclean's directing début. However, even though this movie seems to have a decent reputation, I thought the whole thing turned out to be rather disappointing. Basically, since there were only 3 characters, I knew pretty much from the beginning that it would take a while before anyone got killed but it didnt really bother me. In fact, I did like the beginning with some naturalistic directing and acting, including some improvisations by the actors. Indeed, it was an interesting and refreshing approach. However, the second half, when the sh*t really hits the fan, was nothing really mind-blowing.  I mean, sure, it was technically rather well done but it wasnt really scary and it was nothing I haven't seen 100 times before. Another detail that bothered me was that they made a big deal about the fact that it was a true story but, in fact, the only thing that really happened was that, on a regular basis, some people is disappearing in the outback. Indeed, the characters, the circumstances, even what they tell you at the end, everything was entirely fictional. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing original or mind-blowing,  I have to admit that it was still a rather well made horror flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

First of all, Jerry has always been famous for producing some huge blockbusters like 'Pirates of the Carribean', 'Prince of Persia' or 'Bad Boys'. However, from time to time, the guy does try something really different and this comedy was a very good example. This time around, he was working with P.J. Hogan who had some success in the past with 'My Best Friend's Wedding'. Anyway, the whole thing turned out to be seriously average. I mean, there was an interesting cast involved (Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, John Lithgow, Kristin Scott Thomas) but the whole thing wasn't never actually funny and I was eventually rather bored during the whole duration. Eventually,  I felt really bad about Isla Fisher. Indeed, she always seemed to be a very funny and talented actress but I keep seeing her only in boring and average flicks like this one. Eventually, I do think that this premise actually really had some potential but the end-result was just way too generic and predictable for my taste. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that I have seen worse movies but the whole thing was still pretty damned average stuff and it is not really worth a look whatsoever.

The original 'Friday the 13th' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' were both some really enjoyable horror flicks so even though I didn’t expect much from the damned thing, I had to watch this flick at some point just out of sheer curiosity. Unfortunately, even with such low expectations, the end-result still turned out to be terrible... Basically, they tried to combine more or less two storylines together but I didn’t work and I thought the whole thing was just a boring mess. Furthermore, the acting was just abysmal throughout the whole thing. I guess, for the fans of the two franchises, it must have been a blast to see those two legendary villains fighting against each other, at least, I hope so but, honestly, I thought it was rather underwhelming since there was nothing really at stake (since none of them was actually alive, how could they possibly kill each other?!?). I know, I shouldn't take the damned thing too seriously but it was never scary or funny whatsoever. Still, even though it was a box-office hit when it was released, the fact that they didn’t come up with another sequel with this concept shows that nobody really cared about the damned thing. Anyway, to conclude, I thought the whole thing was pretty bad and not really entertaining and I don‘t think it is really worth a look.