Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though it is a rather obscure flick, since Emma Thompson is one of my favorite actress, I was really eager to watch this flick. Like I said before, it is actually a rather unknown and forgotten movie directed by Christopher Hampton who is mostly famous as a screenplay writer (he even won a Academy award for the screenplay he wrote for ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ which was an adaptation of his own play). Coming back to our main feature, it is a rather well made drama with some solid performances but, unfortunately, I wasn't really convinced by the combination of the political intrigues (which were very interesting) and some paranormal phenomenon (which wasn't really spellbinding). It was a rather odd mix and while it was a bold move, it didn’t work out very well. Indeed, even though it started out as a rather gripping and realistic political drama, it suddenly lost itself in some paranormal mumbo-jumbo which was rather disappointing. For Hampton, it would be so far his last directing effort which is too bad because even though this flick was somehow misguided, it was still not awful whatsoever. To conclude, even though the whole thing is really flawed, I still think it is worth a look.

Oh my God... Maybe you have noticed but I watch a lot of movies and sometimes I even watch some major garbage for the weirdest reasons you can possibly imagine. For example, I watched this flick which really looked and sounded terrible just because Donald Sutherland had a (very very) small part in it. Obviously, watching this flick was a huge waste of time. I mean, as you can imagine, the whole thing was just really moronic and I know it was actually the whole point but it was also supposed to be funny and it was not the case at all. Apparently, this project was developed by an American comedy group called Broken Lizard and their previous feature ‘Super Troopers’ (which I haven’t seen) became a cult classic. Anyway, with this new feature, in my opinion, it was basically about some stupid characters doing some stupid things from the beginning until the end and I was bored senseless while watching this. I don’t know, because I never really enjoyed drinking endless liters of beer in my youth (I was more a weed lover but that’s another subject altogether) so maybe I wasn’t really the best audience for this. Anyway, to conclude, it was neither funny or entertaining and I don’t think it is worth a look whatsoever.

In the Netherlands, kids movies are really popular and quite often very successful and since I have been living there, I have seen quite a few of them. However, I must admit it, most of them are actually boring to death and this flick was not an exception. It was directed by Ben Sombogaart, one of the very few Dutch directors with a really decent career, and he started his career with family features until he made ‘De Tweeling’, a really impressive WWII feature. Afterwards, he went back to this kids flick which was an adaptation of a famous book written by Annie M.G. Schmidt (you might have never heard of her but she is pretty huge in the Netherlands and you can consider her the Dutch Roald Dahl). Anyway, coming back to our main feature,  I mean, it was rather well made and all but it was not entertaining whatsoever. Indeed, it was basically made for very young children but, personally, I thought that the characters were rather annoying and the story was just lame. Like I said before, maybe it is a nice watch for kids under 6 years old, otherwise I don’t think is really worth a look. 

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast, I thought I should check it out. Fortunately, this movie turned out to be a nice surprise and it was actually better than I expected. Back in the 90's, Wesley Snipes was a major action star but nowadays his movies are really lame and most of a time directly released in DVD. As a matter of fact, I found out later on that this movie was actually also released on direct-to-DVD in the USA but it still turned out to be one of the best movies starring Wesley Snipes I have seen in the last 10 years. Indeed, the whole thing was rather well made with some cool action scenes and the story was rather decent with a good cast (Wesley Snipes, Jason Statham, Ryan Philippe). I read here and there that some viewers thought that Jason Statham gave a poor performance but I thought it was rather irrelevant. Indeed, Statham has a rather limited range as an actor and basically plays over and over again the same character but I thought he was rather convincing in this flick. Above all, I was entertained during the whole thing. To conclude, it is not a masterpiece whatsoever but it remains a decent action movie and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Back in those days, I hadn’t see yet ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ (I have seen it in the mean time though) but , thanks to this flick, Jared Hess became a hot property and there were some rather high expectations with this follow-up. Eventually, it didn’t really get much love and never really became a cult classic like ‘Napoleon Dynamite’. Personally, before watching this flick, I thought that the concept was pretty good and I thought that the whole thing could be hilarious. Eventually, it was alright but I can't say it was as funny as I expected. I mean, with this flick, Jack Black went way over the top here (even more than usual) and it became rather obnoxious after a while. Furthermore, I never really cared about the story or the characters involved. Indeed, Jared Hess manages to create some rather colorful and eccentric figures (definitely his trademark) but it feels sometimes like a gimmick as they tend to become some tedious caricatures. To conclude, it is not a great comedy but, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still rather original and entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jack Black's movies. 

Pretty much like the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise, it is one franchise which has been going on for far too long. I mean, the first movie was not bad and rather watchable but there was no way it needed 3 other sequels. Anyway, I have to admit it, even though the first movie failed to impress me, there was still something intriguing about it and this sequel basically gave me  the same feeling. I mean, once again, the movie looked pretty cool with some awesome action scenes but, once again, I was also terribly underwhelmed by the story and I really didn't care much about those intrigues involving those lycans and vampires. On a positive note, I always had a weak spot of Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen and they were definitely fun to watch here. Concerning Kate Beckinsale, I still have a hard time to make up my mind for good. I mean, sure, she looks great in a catsuit but I have some doubts about her acting skills. To conclude, it is far from being a bad movie but I still cannot really recommend it (I’m rather flabbergasted by the rather high rating it gets on Imdb). Still, I guess if you are a huge fan of the first movie, it could be worth a look though. 

Since I'm a huge fan of Orson Welles, I try to watch all his flicks whenever I get the chance and I was really eager to check this one out. Eventually, this one was not as good as his masterpieces such as 'Citizen Kane' but it was still a damned fine picture. As usual with Welles, there was some major tempering from the studio and, as a matter of fact, Orson Welles only made this movie in the first place because he really need some quick cash at the time. Still, even though the whole thing was flawed, the directing was quite awesome and there was also a great mood. At the time, it caused some controversy that Orson Welles decided to have Rita Hayworth cut her hair and bleach it but I thought she looked great. On top of that, she gave a solid performance and stole the show every time she was on the screen. In my opinion, the main weakness was with the story which was nothing original and actually rather pedestrian. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a solid film noir feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Orson Welles' work. 

Even though I wasn't expecting much from this flick, it still managed to disappoint me somehow. Apparently, this movie was a labor of love for Billy Crystal who wrote it years before and he was even supposed to direct this flick. I mean, there was definitely some potential and the 4 leads were all likable and charming (Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cusack) and the supporting cast was pretty cool as well (Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin, Seth Green, Rainn Wilson, Eric Balfour) but, unfortunately, the plot was just too lame. I mean, it is not necessarily that the plot was lame but the execution was just really lazy, in my opinion, and within the first 5 minutes, you already know pretty much how the whole thing will end which was seriously tedious. Of course, I am well aware that, with any average rom-com, you shouldn't expect an awesomely original story but the whole thing was simply not really entertaining and the fact that I didn’t care about any of the characters involved didn’t help either. To conclude, in spite of its potential, it remains an unoriginal and boring romantic comedy and it is not really worth a look. 

I remember it very well, before this movie was released, there was a pretty good buzz about it. Indeed, after the critical success of ‘Hustle & Flow’, there was some pretty high expectations concerning Craig Brewer’s directing follow-up. Eventually, even though it has somewhat become a cult-classic for some people, it didn’t really find an audience when it was released and it is not really surprising. Basically, it is a rather weird movie with some very peculiar theories, for example that you can cure something like nymphomania with blues. In my opinion, I think there are 2 ways to handle this flick. You either take it seriously and you won't like it because it is rather unrealistic or you don't take it seriously, you loose yourself in this rather messed up world and you may end up enjoying it. I guess I was pretty much in between. I mean, the directing was very good and all the actors involved (even Justin Timberlake) provided some solid and decent performances but, somehow, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. I guess my main issue was that I was never really fascinated by the story or by the characters involved. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a really intriguing feature and it is definitely worth a look. 

Back in the 90's, I used to be a big fan of Wim Wenders and I would try to watch all his flicks and therefore I was really eager to check this movie. Unfortunately, during the last decade, his work wasn't really mind-blowing anymore and this movie is a perfect example. I mean, it is not a bad movie at all, indeed, the subject was very topical and interesting, the whole thing was very well directed and it featured a solid performance by Michelle Williams who is definitely one of the most inspiring actress at work nowadays. Unfortunately, I’m afraid it was not enough. Indeed, the movie never really took off and the slow tempo familiar to Wenders directing style, a style which was truly amazing in some of his masterpieces like ‘Paris, Texas’ (which was made exactly 20 years before this flick),  eventually got on my nerves this time. The fact that I didn’t care much about the characters involved didn’t help either, I guess. Basically, the movie started promisingly but eventually never delivered. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains an intriguing feature and I think it is definitely worth a look especially if you are interested in Wim Wender's work.