Reviews by johanlefourbe

Like everyone else, I heard about the hype surrounding this movie and I was rather curious about it. Eventually, I thought it was pretty good. Basically, it follows the same concept as 'The Blair Witch project', the big differences are that they replaced the witch with a monster and, this time, it takes place in New York instead of a forest. Otherwise, the style was really identical and it is a style that you rather dig or not. Since I loved 'The Blair Witch project', the directing style didn't bother me, in the contrary, but this time, it didn't feel really original. Eventually, what I really liked about this flick is how they suddenly shift gears. Indeed, it starts out as a romantic drama/comedy but suddenly (very suddenly), it becomes a disaster movie. Personally, I thought that the actors provided some decent and believable performances and it was a good thing that they were not some famous actors since it helped to identify more with the characters. I also liked the way the movie was directed in the sense that they were no heroes and you could really feel their despair. I guess, the main issue was probably the lack of originality. Eventually, when you think about it, they just gave a new look to some very old story that we have all seen 100 times before. Still, I think it is a very well made and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, except if you really cannot stand the shaky cams.

I know that those last years Tom Cruise has been more famous for his public shenanigans than for his movies but I still think he is an interesting actor. As a matter of fact, I have about the same feelings concerning Bryan Singer. Indeed, ever since his 'Superman' was a terrible flop, it seems that his career really has a hard time to recover and since ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ didn’t score either, it won’t change anytime soon, I’m afraid. Anyway, this time, they both worked together on this historical thriller and, in my opinion, the end result was actually pretty good. Indeed, the whole story was rather fascinating and thrilling, the movie was very well directed and the whole cast, even Tom Cruise, delivered some decent and believable performances. Still, it wasn’t really amazing though and the main issue with this flick, in my opinion, is that it was just too pedestrian and didn’t really take you by surprise at any moment. Eventually, it made the whole thing sometimes a little bit dull to watch. Still, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a very well made historical flick, I enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

After hearing here and there some rather good things about this flick, I was really curious about it. Furthermore, a movie directed by Richard Donner and starring Bill Murray should be pretty decent. Eventually, to my surprise, I thought the whole thing was actually pretty bad. I know, it is considered a cult classic, for many people, it is a real Christmas classic and they really cherish it but I definitely cannot see what so good about it (I'm not the only one by the way, Roger Ebert also thought it was utter rubbish). In my opinion, Bill Murray was completely obnoxious and this was once again another unnecessary new version of an old and overused tale. I don’t know, I never really cared about ‘A Christmas Carol’ but this alternative version was by far the worst one I have seen so far. Above all, the whole thing was not funny whatsoever and even though it supposed to be moralistic like the original tale, it failed rather miserably, in my opinion, showing some bad jokes and some truly unpleasant characters. To conclude, I thought it was a real failure, a pretty bad dark comedy and you should definitely avoid it, or maybe I missed the point and you should check it out to make up your mind on your own.

If I recall it correctly, I saw this movie when I was living in England. There, I took a movie course which I found just great. Every week we would watch a movie starting with 'Cabiria' released in 1914 (even though it is considered a classic, it was an awful 3 hours long silent epic, I think only 3 of us stayed until the end). So, we started from the very beginning of motion picture history and moved slowly towards more recent work. Anyway, I think this flick was the 2nd one we watched during this course. Honestly, except for the funny masterpieces by/with Charles Chaplin, I always found it difficult to get really interested in silent movies. But don't misinterpret my words though! I do enjoy other silent movies but they never really blow me away and this movie is a good example. Basically, it is one of the famous movies representing the German expressionism and it was indeed quite gorgeous to look at. However, even though the story was intriguing, I got restless due to the lack of dialogs and I had a hard time investing myself in the story and the characters. To conclude, it remains a beautiful and fascinating movie and since it is such a classic, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s work but, back in the 80's-90's, he was definitely one of the most dependable action stars and, from time to time, I can always appreciate a good old action flick. Honestly, with such a title, such a poster, I wasn't expecting a masterpiece but I was however expecting something really badass. Eventually, I must admit it, I was rather disappointed by the whole thing. Indeed, the story was pretty pedestrian which should not have been a problem but I thought that Schwarzenegger was just going through the motion and the action scenes were routine and didn't really blow me away (pun intended). To give the whole thing some gravitas, they even added James Caan and James Coburn to the cast but even them couldn’t make the whole thing more entertaining. Apparently, Chuck Russell didn’t go along with the producer Arnold Kopelson during the whole production which could explain the disappointing end-result. To conclude, it is basically a rather average and forgettable action flick and it is not really worth a look, except if you are really a diehard action fan which I'm not.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have always had a weak spot for Lasse Hallstrom, I thought I should check it out. I mean, 'Casanova' is one of the oldest and most overused characters ever and I was rather skeptical about this movie being capable of providing anything new on the table. Furthermore, Heath Ledger seemed a little too nice looking to portray this cynical character. Eventually, I have to admit it, the whole thing did look very good and it was well directed. On top of that, Ledger provided a good performance, as usual, and I thought he had some good chemistry with Sienna Miller. However, the main issue, in my opinion, is that the whole story was actually terribly dull. Indeed, it is basically just a standard Casanova plot, completely predictable and rather boring, in my opinion. It is also another example that, with all due respect, even though Heath Ledger was really talented, he didn’t really pick the best movies in my opinion (the two exceptions being of course ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and ‘The Dark Knight‘). Still, in spite of its flaws, it is a rather gorgeous and well made romantic flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ledger's work.

Back in those days, Will Ferrell was one of the most successful comic actors and since this movie was a big success at the box-office, I was quite eager to check it out. Furthermore, it was the second movie directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell and since the first one was ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ which is considered a classic by now, I had some rather high expectations with this follow-up. Eventually, to enjoy this flick, it all depends where you stand concerning Will Ferrell. Honestly, in my case, it is rather hit or miss. I mean, sometimes, the guy can be really funny but, some other times, he can be really obnoxious. Anyway, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought this movie was still pretty funny and it did help that there was in the supporting cast such amazing actors like John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen (both of them are actually way more talented and interesting than Ferrell, in my book). Eventually, the whole thing was most of the time pretty funny but, unfortunately, it tends to lose focus and steam during the mid section. Still, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it remains an entertaining comedy and it is definitely worth a look, except obviously if you cannot stand Will Ferrell.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock, I was really eager to check it out. Honestly, it is not one of the most famous movies directed by Hitchcock but I still enjoyed it anyway. Basically, it is one of those very old Hitchcock thrillers which still feel very modern somehow and they always keep you on the edge of your seat from the beginning until the end, at least in my case. The major attraction in my opinion was that, for once, Cary Grant played against type and he portrayed the bad guy. I mean, not only it was really unexpected but I also thought that he was just amazing, at the same time, very charming and suave as usual, but also menacing and potentially lethal. After watching this, you see that Cary Grant really had some skills and it is rather too bad that he spent most of his career usually playing the same characters (on the other hand, I’m not a huge expert on his work, so I might be mistaken). Still, aside Grant’s intriguing performance, the rest of the movie was a little too pedestrian to become truly remarkable but it was still quite enjoyable. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is actually a pretty good thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Hitchcock's work.

Recently, I have heard that Thomas Vinterberg , the great Danish director, was working on a new version of this story but even though the idea of him making another English speaking feature was pretty exciting, I’m not sure I’m dying to watch this flick since I don’t think it is really such a great story. I mean, the book is a classic written by Thomas Hardy (which I haven't read), the title is pretty awesome and so was the name of the main character (Bathsheba) but I can’t say I really enjoyed this flick. I mean, I think that Julie Christie is a fascinating actress (the best ever according to Al Pacino), I wish I would see more movies with her and she basically was the reason why I watched this flick. Eventually, I thought she gave indeed a very good performances and Alan Bates and Terence Stamp were both pretty good as well. Unfortunately, I really had a hard time to care about the story and the characters involved and, to be honest, when I was watching this movie, I actually wanted to give all the characters a kick in their butt so they could move on with their life instead of whining all the time. Still, even though I was rather disappointed by the story, I have to admit it, it remains a well made romantic movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Furthermore, I have to say it has one of the best title ever conceived and just for that, I wanted to see it and I had some rather huge expectations. Honestly, I haven't read the book so I don't know if the movie is really faithful or not but it is basically a love story with a historical background. To be honest, even though I thought that this story was good, I was actually expecting more somehow. Still, there were many things to enjoy about this flick and, eventually, the best thing about this movie was definitely the acting. Indeed, you had here 2 of the most amazing actors at work nowadays (Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche) and they both gave some stunning performances creating some fascinating characters in the process. Honestly, without them, I'm afraid it would have been a rather average romance flick, at least that’s my opinion. On the other hand, I might have been in the wrong mood when I watched it the first time around so maybe I should give it another shot at some point. Anyway, even though it didn’t really blow me away like I was hoping for, it was still a very good movie and it is definitely worth a look.