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. Seriously, I keep watching movies starring Tim Allen and, each time, I'm amazed how worthless his movie are. Even this time, he was playing a womanizer which was actually something new for him but, as usual, he was not convincing whatsoever. Concerning the movie itself, it was basically an awkward and embarassing mix of dark comedy and drama. The jokes were terrible and sometimes even tasteless and when they tried to get serious, the whole thing just became painfully corny. Honestly, I think the concept was not bad at all and it actually had some potential. There was also an interesting cast (Tim Allen, Elisha Cuthbert, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Jenna Elfman, Andie MacDowell, Chris Klein, Paz Vega) but none of them impressed me whatsoever. To conclude, once again, Tim Allen displayed his lack to talent and charisma in this abysmal comedy, the damned thing is not worth a look at all and you should definitely avoid it. 

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[Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]a 2nd chance. Well, once again, I’m afraid they let me down. Indeed, the whole thing was just so half-baked. I mean, I have to admit it, the directing was not bad but the story was just way too generic for me and, above all, the acting was actually pretty weak. I'm not sure we should blame the actors since they didn't have much to chew on. Indeed, the dialogues were very poor and the characters were just boring and uninteresting. Basically, it was your typical ghost house story with a few (very predictable) jumpy moments but there was absolutely nothing new or remotely original about the whole thing so I was rather bored during the whole duration. To be honest, I’m not surprised the Pang brothers went back to Hong Kong after delivering these 2 really weak features. Anyway, to conclude, it was just a really average horror flick and it is not really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of Kristen Stewart.

Since I kept hearing some good things about this flick, I thought I should check it out. Eventually,  it was starring 2 really impressive performances by Peter Mullan (easily one of the most underrated actors at work nowadays) and Andrew Garfield (one of the most promising actors at work nowadays). I must say that the sober directing was really effective as well and the whole thing turned out to be a gloomy and pessimist flick which shows that there is basically no redemption possible for children killers. Actually, when you think about it, almost nobody would forgive anyone for such a crime and that's maybe the weakest point of this movie. Indeed, they displayed in details how twisted and damaged Philip was but Eric came up as rather innocent and, in my opinion , they should have shown what he did to that girl. By showing nothing, they gave him some kind of angelic qualities which he actually didn't have. And this effect was reinforced by the casting of Andrew Garfield, a rather awesome young man who portrays a character who seemed to be so nice. I think the movie would have been even more effective if the lead was, maybe not really despicable, but at least, not so 'charming'. Still, the story was really thought-provoking and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are curious to see how Andrew Garfield started his promising career.

To be honest, nowadays, I don’t care much for Jason Statham’s movies but since I kept hearing some interesting things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I have to admit that I wasn't disappointed and that it really deserves its reputation., In fact, I would even go further and say that it is, in my opinion, one of the best action flicks made during the last 10 years. Indeed, at last, after the disappointing 'Transporter' franchise, there was a movie correctly exploiting the acting skills, charisma and humor provided by Jason Statham, easily one of the best action movie stars at work nowadays. Of course, the premise was completely preposterous and it didn't make much sense whatsoever but who cares? Everything, the plot, the action scenes, the dialogues, the weirdest sex scene ever, the characters were completely preposterous, over-the-top and unbelievable. Well, I thought the whole thing was a adrenaline filled riot and they perfectly managed to share with us Chelios’s disturbed state of mine. To conclude, of course, it was not a masterpiece whatsoever, but it was still a very well made and entertaining action flick  and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to watch some good old R rated feature.

In fact, I  watched this movie just a few days before Christmas. It wasn't on purpose at all but I thought the coincidence was pretty neat. Anyway, basically, it turned out to be one of those French dramas dealing with a dysfunctional familly. Indeed, it was really talkative, unfocused and rather chaotic (it took me almost 30 minutes to figure out who was who) but I really enjoyed it. In the contrary with similar flicks coming from Hollywood, there was no formula here, ending-beginning, just some genuine, flawed, messed up and realistic characters. It helped that you had here a top French cast (Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil Poupaud, Hippolyte Girardot, Emmanuelle Devos, Chiara Mastroianni and more) and they all gave some strong performances. Above all, I thought that Mathieu Amalric was quite mesmerizing. Indeed, he portrayed here an obnoxious, destructive and honestly rather despicable guy but the guy was still really charismatic and it was therefore quite an achievement. I’m rather surprised that I noticed this guy only a few years ago but he is slowly becoming one of my favorite French actors. To conclude, it was an impressive drama with some really interesting characters, I really loved it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.