Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since this movie seemed to have a really solid reputation (it has an impressive 8.1 rating on IMDB and it is even listed in the IMDB 250 Top Rated movies) and since I always had a weak spot for Lasse Hallstrom’s work, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I wish I saw the damned thing with my wife. Indeed, since we are together, she has bought 10 dogs and we still have 6 of them right now but I never managed to convince her to watch this movie because she was afraid it would be too emotional for her. Anyway, I must admit that it was a touching story, the directing by Hallstrom was pretty good as usual and Richard Gere gave a decent performance. However, even though the whole thing was touching, I’m sorry, but I didn’t think it was anything really mind-blowing whatsoever. It was also rather annoying to see all these people having some conversations with that dog. At least, they didn't make the dog answer them which would have been pretty awfull but I still thought it was rather ridiculous. I guess without this gimmick there wouldn't have been any dialogues during the whole thing. Anyway, even thoug it didn’t really blow me away, I have to admit it, it was a well made drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since this movie is such a huge classic, of course, I really had to watch it at some point. Eventually, it did really live up to its reputation as it was really a magical movie with a huge budget for that time. Indeed, the decors, the costumes, the special effects, the switch from black and white to colour, it all looked pretty awesome. Even though I have never been a huge of musicals, the songs were decent enough and I was even familiar with some of them, even before watching this flick, which shows of how influential this movie has always been. Still, even if I did admire the work done, I can’t say I was really blown away by the damned thing. On one hand, the whole thing was probably slightly too sugercoated for my taste and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had watched it back then when I was a kid. On the other hand, I guess it is just a matter of taste and the fact that I always had a hard time to care for this genre might explain that I wasn’t really impressed by this movie. Anyway, to conclude, it remains a huge classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are a fan of the genre. 

Since I'm a huge fan of Michael Haneke, I was really eager to check this flick and, as usual, Haneke didn't disappoint me. In fact, it was interesting to see how similar this movie was to 'Elephant', a movie directed 10 years later by Gus van Sant. Indeed, the subject was similar and they both took the same approach to display the events without explaining them. The big difference was that Haneke had chosen to display the different characters who would be eventually involved in this tragedy. I must admit that I was wondering where the whole thing was going but it became really clear at the end. It was also a rather depressing movie to watch since all the characters were so sad and no one of them seemed to live a happy life at all. Maybe Haneke wanted to display that in our modern age, ruled by computers and televisions, it has become really difficult to connect with a one and another and, some of us who can’t cope anymore, chose to end it all in some kind of mayhem. Of course, it is a personal theory and I might have missed the point entirely. Anyway, pretty much like all Haneke's features, it remains an acquired taste but I really liked it and it is definitely worth a look.

Since this movie was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, when you watch this flick, you have to keep in mind that you are actually watching one of the first ancestors of our contemporary horror movies and it was pretty neat to see how much have changed in 70 years. Back then, there was basically no sex, no blood, in fact, to be honest,  nothing much happened during the whole thing when you think about it. Pretty muck like today, they made this choice mostly because they basically had no money but it made the whole thing even more effective. There was indeed constantly this eerie atmosphere which was not really frightening but it still made me uneasy throughout the whole duration. To show the impact of this flick, you should know that the horror movie technique of slowly building tension to a jarring shock which turns out to be something completely harmless is actually called a ‘Lewton bus’ after a famous scene from this movie. How amazing is that? Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t grow old very well, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, before watching the damned thing, I have to admit that I had some rather had low expectations. In fact, it was quite understandable since 'Shrek the Third' and 'Shrek Forever After' turned out to be both really disappointing. However, against all my expectations, this spin-off turned out be actually quite enjoyable. In my opinion, the masterstroke was that they managed to come up with an entertaining adventure and, instead of copying Shrek's world, they provided a mix of tale with a zorro-like universe. Furthermore, there were some really colorfull characters involved and Puss in Boots was great as lead character. On a side note, I'm glad I was actually able to convince my step-son to watch this flick in English (so far, we used to watch animated features in Dutch which is his mother-tongue). Indeed, Antonio Banderas really rocked the voice-over and the guy was just hilarious. In the second half, the plot did drag on but I was still entertained throughout the whole thing. Of course, as usual, the 3D didn’t bother me but the damned thing was still completely unnecessary. Anyway, to conclude, even though it seemed to be a cash-in (it was still a cash-in though), it was after all a fun animated flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like this genre.