Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I kept hearing some great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I was really impressed by the damned thing and I think it completely deserves its stellar reputation. Apparently, back in those days, the biggest rival to Alfred Hitchcock was the French director, Henri-George Clouzot. They were actually both competing to make this movie but, eventually, Clouzot was the one who had the honor to adapt this best-seller and he did it with great success as it became an instant classic. Indeed, some older movies didn’t grow old very well but this one is still pretty damned amazing, even after all these years. Basically, the directing was quite amazing and provided a mesmerizing eerie atmosphere. The cast included one of the biggest French stars Simone Signoret and also Vérat Clouzot and they both gave some impressive performances. In my opinion, this movie is the perfect example that you don't need any shootings, explosions or chases to make a fascinating thriller. The characters, the dialogues, the shots build up the tensions, that's it and that's more than enough. To conclude, it is a great classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

To be honest, I wonder how I actually ended up watching this flick. Indeed, at first, I thought that it was included in the list ‘1001 movies you must see before you die’ but it wasn’t the case. Anyway, with such a title, you would get nowadays something really cheesy but more than 70 years ago, it was a really different kind of ball game. Indeed, with this movie, they gave a completely different approach to the zombie concept than the bloodsuckers we are used to get today. To be honest, the story was rather unfocused from time to time but, even so, the whole thing was usually quite mesmerizing to watch. In  my opinion, it was above all thanks to the eerie directing with some great use of black and white and the shadows and lights. I have to admit it, it was also sometimes borderline discriminating (for example, the natives were either some obedient servants or some primitive savages) but it was tolerable and it was not surprising for a movie produced 70 years ago. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was a decent classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing some good things about this flick, I thought I should check it out but I actually hard a hard time to enjoy it, probably due to my personal background. Indeed, my father is Dutch and came to live in France and, of course, is fluent in French. I'm French and went to live in the Netherlands and learn the language within 2 years pretty much on my own (indeed, my father apparently never thought it would be a good idea to teach me his mother-tongue). As a result, it was rather infuriating for me to see this Mexican woman who was living in  the USA for 6 years or more and still didn’t speak any word of English. And it was the same issue with her bosses. Indeed, they hired someone who didn’t speak any English but they still didn't try AT ALL to learn a few Spanish words so they could communicate with her. Furthermore the whole thing was basically about a boss who wants to f*ck his Mexican maid, no more no less, and Téa Leoni's character was beyond obnoxious and not funny at all. Actually, the only redeeming feature was, surprisingly, Adam Sandler. Indeed, he gave her a very good performance and his character was really believable and likeable. Without him, this flick would have been really terrible. Another thing that really bothered me, except that I couldn't buy the fact that Paz Vega would fall in love with Adam Sandler, was the ending. Flor (the mother) asked Cristina (the daughter) is she really wanted to become someone else than her mother but it was something really stupid and pathetic to say. Indeed, she was born and bread in Mexico whereas her daughter grew up and will probably spend all her life in the US so they WILL be different, it was just inevitable. It was something she should understand and accept, otherwise, she should have stayed in Mexico. Anyway, eventually, I didn't enjoy this movie but I was probably not the right audience for this and if you want to see Adam Sandler eventually shining as an actor, you should actually check this one out.

Back in those days, Katharine Hepburn was the best actress around and it has always been a pleasure to watch one of her movies (as a matter of fact, I have seen only 6 movies starring this actress and it is a terribly low digit). Since this flick was one of her classics, I was really eager to check it out and it turned out to be an interesting romantic-comedy. I mean, you had the usual slapstick common for this period but it had also some actual serious thoughts about women rights. Actually, I think they tried to deal with a sensitive subject but, to make it more bearable to watch, they did hide it behind an innocent comedy so the viewers back then wouldn't be shocked with what was actually a critic on our modern society. In fact, I wonder if they could make such a comedy nowadays. Eventually, the issue would be that we 'think' that man and woman are equal so it wouldn't work but it could be interesting. Anyway, to conclude, it was still an enjoyable romantic-comedy with some strong chemistry between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like those good old comedies.

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.