Reviews by johanlefourbe

When I watched this movie, I really had no idea it would be Joaquin Phoenix's last movie. However, fortunately, in the mean time, he is back from this BS retirement thing. Anyway, I thought it was a pretty good flick like all other movies directed by James Gray, except he didn’t wait 7 long years to make it (it was released only a year after his previous directing effort ‘We Own the Night’). To start with, this movie had a rather amazing mood (even though, I have to admit it, the whole thing was actually rather depressing) and it was really well shot, something I always enjoy in James Gray’s work. As usual, Joaquin Phoenix delivered an amazing performance and even Gwyneth Paltrow showed that she could be a terrific actress, in spite of what most of us might think. Still, I thought that the story was actually nothing really original, and there was something slightly annoying about these characters but it was definitely an intriguing approach and they gave an interesting turn to the triangle romantic dilemma. To conclude, it is a rather grim romantic drama and many viewers won't appreciate it but I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in James Gray’s work.

Even though this flick was rather poorly received and flopped, since it was directed by Steven Soderbergh, I still wanted to check it out. I mean, a movie directed by Soderbergh with George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguirre did sound like a winner to me. How could it go wrong? Unfortunately, I have to admit it, it was indeed, quite disappointing. Basically, it is a tribute to the movies from the 40's, it was beautifully shot and the actors did deliver some pretty good performances but the story was far from being spellbinding, I’m afraid. Like some other movies directed by Soderbergh (for example 'Full Frontal), the movie seems to remain an exercise, an experiment which doesn't really interest anyone expect Soderbergh himself. By now, he has officially retired (or is it another hoax? We will know soon enough I guess) and he is done experimenting for the time being. This movie was also one of the last George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh would work together and it won’t be remembered as one their best efforts, that's for sure. Still, in spite of its flaws, it is far from being a bad movie and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Soderbergh's work.

Since I heard some pretty good things about this flick and since I have a weak spot for Bruce Willis, I was really eager to check out this movie. It was also the last movie directed by Richard Donner (did he actually retire? ) and it was a huge improvement on his previous directing effort, the rather lame ‘Timeline’. Anyway, after all these years, Bruce Willis remains my favorite action stars but, I have to admit it, nowadays, he is actually way too old to play most of his parts. Fortunately, this movie is however an exception and shows he could do something else and play some more believable characters. At last, Bruce Willis plays an old cop and not some kind of super hero and I think he pulled it off very well. Mos Def, an actual hip-hop artist and not a 'real' actor, delivered a good performance as well and I think they were together a good combination. Of course, the plot was pretty pedestrian and rather predictable but it was still entertaining enough in my opinion. To conclude, it is nothing exceptional but it remains a good action flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see Bruce Willis doing something rather different than his usual stuff.

James Dean is a real legend, even though he has made only 3 movies (in fact, he has made actually other movies but with a very small part). So, I was really curious to see those flicks to finally find out if the guy was actually any good. This movie was the first of his that I have seen and I have to say I was indeed really impressed. Honestly, even though the directing was really good, I thought that the story tended to get a little bit overdramatic but the performances, especially by James Dean, were nothing short of amazing and, as a result, the movie was just spellbinding to watch. It does help that this movie was an adaptation of a classic book written by John Steinbeck. Later on, I have also watched ‘Rebel without a cause’ and even though it was indeed pretty good, it was hardly as impressive as this picture was (I still need to see ‘Giant’). Anyway, after watching this flick, I have to admit that the legend was true, James Dean was the real deal and the dude was really talented. To conclude, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in James Dean's work.

Every movie released by Wes Anderson is a big event so I was really intrigued by this movie and I realy wanted to check it out. First of all, as usual with Wes Anderson, there was an impressive cast (Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon) and they all delivered some pretty good performances. The flick itself was basically some kind of weird comedy and I'm not sure if it actually tried to honor or to make fun of Jacques-Yves Cousteau's work and, obviously, if you don't know who is Cousteau, you won't get half of the movie. Still, in my opinion, the tone was pretty uneven and I had a hard time to follow where he was getting at with this tale but I could say the same thing about most of his movies. It might explain why I have always been intrigued by his work but still had a hard time to really enjoy it (the only exception would be ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ which was a total blast). Still, even though I wasn’t completely blown away by the whole thing, there were many hilarious scenes, I enjoyed the whole thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Wes Anderson's work.

Since I kept hearing good things about this flick (it was even chosen by Roger Ebert as one of the best movies released in 2005), I was really intrigued and I really wanted to check it out. Eventually, to be honest, I wasn't completely blown away but it was still definitely a very good movie. The point is that I still believe that it is rather an acquired taste and many people will be annoyed by the slow pace and the lack of plot. Personally, I thought it was definitely a different and thoughtful picture and I praise the director for trying another innovative direction in film-making. Still, it was not completely successful, as the movie was sometimes rather alienating and some other times the whole thing seemed rather to be a personal indulgence of the director. Still, there were many intriguing characters and it was nice to see someone like John Hawkes (a great underrated character actor) playing the lead instead of the usual suspects with some good looks. To conclude, I really enjoyed this movie a lot, it remains a rather unique and spellbinding feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Even though Sidney Poitier is a movie legend, I haven't seen much of his movies and he was the main reason why I decided to watch this flick. Eventually, even though it is nothing really amazing, I thought it was a pretty good movie. Indeed, it is basically a rather standard action buddy movie but, I have to admit it, it was actually very well made. Furthermore, Poitier delivered a decent performance and Tom Berenger, in his prime, did a pretty good job too. Above all, they worked very well as a couple and, thanks to them, the whole thing was pretty entertaining to watch. Concerning Sidney Poitier, I have still seen not even 5 of his movies, mostly his most recent features, and I definitely have to watch his more classic work like for example ‘In the Heat of the Night’ which I have somehow not managed to watch yet. Concerning Tom Berenger, even though he was cast recently in ‘Inception’, his career is pretty much dead nowadays and it's a shame since he made some pretty cool movies in the 80’s and 90’s. Anyway, to conclude, even though the plot was nothing really remarkable, it remains an entertaining action movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but I don’t know, it seemed to be a pretty cool idea to make a romantic-comedy with such fine actors like Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore . And, indeed, it started like a rather standard romantic-comedy, not great but not awful either, I really enjoyed Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore and I thought they had some great chemistry. But, suddenly, in the second half, the whole thing completely went down the drain. Indeed, at some point, they get married , the plot completely lost focus and the whole thing became really worthless. The best asset of this flick was the tension and attraction between those two characters and, in the 2nd half, this edge was gone and the rest of the movie was pretty much cringe-inducing. Personally, I always had a weak spot for romantic-comedies, I have seen some pretty terrible ones but it is not very often that I see one of those completely loses its edge right in the middle of it. To conclude, even though it was not a total disaster, it was still a very average romantic-comedy with a pretty bad plot and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

To be honest, I haven’t seen many movies directed by Zhang Yimou so I was really eager to check this one out as well. Eventually, I had a really hard time to judge this flick. At first, I thought it was pretty good but the more that I thought about it, the more I thought it was actually a little bit disappointing. I mean, it is definitely a well made and wel acted drama and, that’s for sure, and like I said before, at first, I thought it was a rather touching story, at the same time sad and funny. But then, I gave it some second thoughts and then, I actually thought that the plot tried to make the whole thing sound sweet and all but when you think about it for a few seconds, the whole thing was actually a mean and quite worthless way to handle a blind person. So, I ended up with some mixed feelings and, even though it was far from being a bad movie, I still think it was actually a failure. Still, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Zhang Yimou's work.

Honestly, I thought that the whole thing looked pretty lame and I had some rather low expectations but since I have a weak spot for Michael Douglas, I still wanted to give it a try. Eventually, I was actually surprised that the end-result was not bad at all after all. Apparently, it is a remake of a movie starring Peter Falk and Alan Arkin which I haven’t seen so I can’t compare but the original seems to be way better, even though you might wonder if it was really so good that it deserved to be remade. Anyway, concerning this remake, above all, I thought it was really refreshing to see Michael Douglas trying something completely different, I thought he was pretty good and he actually pulled it off. Furthermore I thought that he had also a good chemistry with Albert Brooks. However, I have to admit it, the story was a little too over-the-top and far-fetched for me. Basically, they started with a nice concept but it was barely developed and, therefore, the whole thing was still nothing amazing. Still, in spite of its flaws, I think it is actually an fun action comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.