Reviews by johanlefourbe

Well, that was definitely a very intriguing picture. Basically, it was dealing with a talented man who made the decision to literally throw it all away and, in the process, he also decided to make a mess of himself and his life. Eventually, the guy didn't give a sh*t about anything or anyone and it lead to a rather destructive behavior. Who else than Jack Nicholson could play such a conflicted part?!? Not many actors, I guess. Following his guest part in 'Easy Rider', this movie definitely put him in the spotlights and he didn't leave the A list for the following 40 years. To be honest, the first half was in fact rather slow and I wasn't really interested by the whole thing but during the second half, you finally get acquainted with his dual side and then the movie became a fascinating character study. Eventually, you come to the conclusion that this guy didn't fit anywhere. He despised the elitair crowd with which his family was hanging out but he despised just as well his working class ‘friends’. You really wonder what he will be doing with himself but you get the feeling he didn’t have a clue himself either. To conclude, it is a huge classic, I was really impressed by the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look.

Since this movie is such a huge classic, I was really eager to check the damned thing. Well, I don’t know, since it had such an impressive reputation, I had some really high expectations but, to be honest, I can't say I was really blown away. I mean, sure , I thought it was pretty good, I guess, but I don’t think the whole thing grew old very well. For example, when you get to see Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper on their bikes with ‘Born To Be Wild’ on the soundtrack, it might have seen awesome back in the days but, almost 50 years later, it does looks slightly cheesy. Above all, the main issue was probably the fact that there was actually not much going on during this  story. Basically, it was a typical road-movie and there was no real plot but it wasn't not really necessary. The most important value of this movie remains that it perfectly captured this period of time, the flower power, and those days are long gone, I’m afraid. And of course, thanks to this flick, Jack Nicholson finally became a star. To conclude, even though I don't think it was actually anything really mindblowing, it is still a huge classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though it is a rather obscure feature, for some reasons, I was really eager to check it out. Well, the whole thing turned to pretty good. Indeed, the directing was really solid and, above all, all the children involved gave some really impressive performances.  Yet, the whole thing didn’t manage to completely blow me though. Maybe it was due to the fact that I saw ‘Bully’ before. Indeed, both movies were really similar as they were dealing with some teenagers and how they managed to get revenge from their bully but ‘Bully’ was actually better in my opinion. Another small issue with this movie was that it was actually slightly too short in my opinion. Indeed, the whole thing felt pretty intense but, somehow, the ending felt flat and I think they could have developed this tale a little bit more. Still, it wasn't a big deal as it was a chilling and fascinating story.  For Jacob Estes, this movie was definitely a strong directing debut and even though many, including myself, expected a lot from this guy, during the next 10 years, he would only direct the really obscure ‘The Details’ starring Tobey Maguire. Anyway, to conclude,  even though this movie wasn’t really flawless, it was still a strong drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since it was one of the last movies with Kate Winslet which I hadn't seen yet, I was really eager to check this flick. Furthermore, there was a really impressive cast involved (James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker and Christopher Walken) so I had some rather high expectations concerning the damned thing, even if I'm not a big fan of musicals. Well, to be honest, the whole thing turned out to be a huge disappointment, I’m afraid. Eventually, the main issue I had was above all with the story but the characters were not really interesting either. Eventually, I was just really bored by the whole thing. At first, I was really hoping that it would get better at some point but even Christopher Walken in his awesomeness couldn't make it more entertaining. Apparently, Roger Ebert really loved the damned thing so maybe it is matter of taste but I just couldn’t care at all for the damned thing. At least, I have to admit it that the really sexy poster (actually featuring Kate Winslet) was really awesome but it would be probably the only positive thing I could find regarding this movie. To conclude, in spite of the interesting cast, I can't possibly recommend this movie and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but someone gave me an illegal copy of the damned thing so I thought I might as well check it out. Indeed, ever since Robert Pattinson showed up in the ‘Twilight’ franchise, the guy got a terrible reputation and everything he touched was automatically labelled as ‘garbage’ which was probably not really fair. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though I had some rather low expectations, I thought it was not so bad after all. Indeed, first of all, the whole thing looked really neat and the three leads (Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz) all gave some convincing perfomances. It was actually quite refreshing to see Pattinson in something else than 'Twilight'. Unfortunately, the story was rather weak and it would have been more interesting if the characters would have been more nuanced. Indeed, the character played by Pattinson was just way too nice and the character portrayed by Waltz was just way too despicable. To conclude, some amazing movies have been made in the past about the circus ('The Circus' by Chaplin, 'La Strada' by Fellini) but even though this flick was not one of them,  it was rather well done and entertaining enough so I think it is still worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, even though this movie has quite an impressive reputation, to be honest, I always had a hard time to connect with the damned thing. I mean, as usual with Studio Ghibli, the animation was really neat and this story dealing with a post-apocalyptic world had a nice dark edge but it was still missing something. In my opinion, the biggest issue was actually with the main character. Indeed, Nausicaa was a bright kind and courageous princess but that was exactly the problem. Basically, she must be the most flawless character ever created by Hayao Miyazaki but she was so flawless that, as a result, she became in fact rather boring, I'm afraid. The other characters were even less interesting which didn't help either. I undestand that, in this dark and chaotic world, she was supposed to be some kind of beacon of light but this approach actually really backfired in my opinon and I really had a hard time to care about what she was going through. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn't not really blown away by the damned thing, I still enjoyed it since there was so much creativity and imagination displayed and it is definitely worth a look though, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I thought it was a really gloomy and depressing movie. Basically, after ‘Monster’ and ‘North Country’", Charlize Theron shows once again that she definitely can play a white trash woman. Concerning  the other  actors, they all delivered some good performances and the directing was decent as well. Unfortunately, I can't say I really enjoyed the damned thing. The main issue was probably that none of the characters was really interesting. Joleen (the mother played by Charlize Theron) was basically a total bitch, she dropped her kid for months and when she came back, we were supposed to rejoice but it didn't work for me. James (the brother played by Nick Stahl) was a pathetic loser who barely could take care of himself and who was completely incapable of taking care of his niece. Randall (the colleage  played by Woody Harreslon)  was a drunk spending his free time playing quarters and finally, Mr. Reedy (the father played by Dennis Hopper) was pretty much a sadistic dictator. Tara (the little girl played by AnnaSophia Robb) seemed to be a bright kid but she was surrounded by some serious morons so her chances for a better future were rather thin. Do you get my point? Well, I really didn't care about those characters and the story was neither entertaining, interesting or emotional. In spite of its flaws, as it was a rather well made drama with a decent cast, I still think it is worth a look though.