Reviews by johanlefourbe

Until recently, this movie was easily my least favorite one directed by Sam Raimi. However, I finally saw ‘Crimewave’ and I have to admit that, even though this movie was rather underwhelming, it was at least watchable which wasn’t the case with ‘Crimewave’ at all. Anyway, basically, after finishing the Evil Dead trilogy and before starting the Spider-man trilogy, Sam Raimi directed this baseball flick which seemed to be a rather odd choice for such a director. Seriously, I wonder how Raimi actually ended up getting this directing gig. On the other hand, Kevin Costner was rather familiar with this genre as it was already his third baseball flick. Unfortunately, I must say it was the least entertaining one. I mean, the whole thing was just way too cheesy and predictable for my taste. The final baseball game at the end was not bad and mildly entertaining but it was nothing I hadn't seen 100 times before. Honestly, I praise Sam Raimi for trying something drastically different but it is easily one of his most boring movies. To conclude, I have seen worse movies but it is still some pretty average stuff and it is not really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard baseball fan.

Back in the 40’s, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger made some really lavish productions during which what was considered by many movie viewers as the Golden Age of British cinema. With this movie, once again, the production value was quite impressive and it is hard to believe that the whole thing was shot in a studio and not on location. Indeed, the decors, the sets, the colors were just amazing to watch. I was also amazed that Kanchi, supposedly a native girl, was actually played by Jean Simmons, a British actress. Unfortunately, to be honest, the story didn’t turn out to be anything really mindblowing. Basically, it was about 5 nons who went to live in a convent in the Himalaya and they all became more or less crazy. Even though this set-up could have been interesting, they spent just too much time to make sure that the whole thing looked great instead of expanding the psychological turmoil of the characters. I was also bothered about their attitude towards the natives who were described as either 'primitive', 'childish', 'stupid' or  'ignorant'. Such a patronizing and discriminating attitude was unfortunately rather common back then. Anyway, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a very well made drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Powell and Pressburger's work.

I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Diane Keaton, I thought I might as well check it out. By the way, what the hell happened to her?!? I mean, I still believe that she is one of the best actresses around but, my God, most of her recent movies have been some really worthless comedies. Actually, she wasn't really the one to blame for this movie. Indeed, in my opinion, the biggest issue was that they spent the whole duration making sure we really despised the main character, but of course, at the end, he suddenly understood that he was an *sshole which was just really convenient. Anyway, as a result, I didn't care much about the whole thing. The weird thing is that I couldn't help laughing from time to time as there were here and there, some hilarious scenes and dialogues. Furthermore, I believe that Anna Faris actually gave here her best performance so far. Still, what happened during the whole duration of the movie was just way too contrived and plot-driven for my taste. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think the whole thing had some potential, it was just plain average and not really worth a look whatsoever.

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.