Reviews by johanlefourbe

After ‘Monster’ and winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Charlize Theron’s profile got pretty serious and since then, she has tried to reach that level again with some rather mixed results (on the other hand, if you compare her career with Hilary Swank's , one of the most disappointing actresses out there, she didn’t do so bad after all). Anyway, this time again, she goes for a feature which was obviously aiming for the Academy Awards but, when this movie came out, it was fairly unnoticed. Personally, I think it's pity since it was actually a pretty good flick. I mean, to be honest, it was not a very original story but I thought it was still a very well made and strong drama. Once again, Charlize Theron provided a very good perfomance as a white trash woman (since 'Monster', it seems that it has become some kind of speciality for her) and she was surrounded by a very good supporting cast. To conclude, even though it is pretty much forgotten nowadays, I think it is actually a really good drama and, in my opinion, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I kept hearing so many good things about this flick, I was really curious to check it out. In the fact, the whole project sounded rather unlikely as it was written by Nick Cave (best known as the frontman of the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and directed by John Hillcoat, a rather unknown director at the time who shot music videos for several bands including Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed. Basically, I thought it was a really gorgeous 'Western' (this term actually doesn't fit since this story took place in Australia but whatever...) and all the actors involved (Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Emily Watson, John Hurt, David Wenham ) gave some really amazing performances. I must say it was a really raw and bleak movie filled with hopelessness but it didn't bother me, in the contrary. Following this critical success, John Hillcoat has become quite a popular director and his following features (‘Lawless’, ‘The Road’) managed to get some pretty good reviews as well, even though I was personally slightly disappointed by ‘The Road’.  To conclude, I think it completely deserves its reputation, it is indeed a rather fascinating picture and it is definitely worth a look.

You can say whatever you want but this is one bad-ass poster and only therefore I was quite eager to check this flick. Basically, it is one of those cheesy monster movies that they used to make in the 80's and even though it was not a big hit during its theatrical run, it became a runaway smash in the home video market, and ultimately tripled its original box office gross with VHS sales and rentals. Personally, I have to say it was quite well done and the whole thing was pretty entertaining. In my opinion, Kevin Bacon has always been really underrated and here he was pretty good as usual. My main complaint would be the that this flick didn't surprise me whatsoever. That's too bad and I wished they pushed the envelop a little bit instead of pretty much following the formula. After watching this flick, Nick, my step-son, who has always been a huge fan of monster movies, has kept bugging me to watch the numerous sequels (there are 3 of them) but I’m not really interested in these direct-to-DVD features which seem pretty lame. Still, even though it is nothing really amazing in my opinion, it remains a very well made and entertaining flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but, since I have a weak spot for Ashley Judd and Jim Carrey, I thought I should check this one out. First of all, you shouldn't watch it just for Jim Carrey since he just has a cameo, nothing more. Honestly, I wonder why he decided to show up in this flick and it was actually rather distracting to see him for no obvious reasons. Concerning the movie itself, I thought it was a rather well made drama but it didn't add much to this genre and there was nothing original about it. Furthermore, the story was alright but definitely not mind-blowing whatsoever and after watching many dramas with a similar plot before, I was rather underwhelmed by the whole thing. I mean, they tried very hard to make it all sound inspiring and uplifting but it didn't really work for me but maybe I was not the right audience for this. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it remains a well made drama, the actors involved did a good job and it think it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Personally, I have never been a huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise but my wife and kids really loved them so we ended up watching the last 4 installments in the movie theater at the time. In my opinion, this 6th installment might have been the most disappointing Harry Potter flick. I mean, like the previous installments, it was really well done and spectacular with some awesome action scenes but the story was rather underwhelming. Thanks to Alfonso Cuaron, they really improved the concept and the 4th installment was the best one, in my opinion, but after that, they never tried to push it even further. In my opinion, the biggest mistake was to bring back David Yates as a director. It's not that he did a really bad job with the previous installment, it's just that it would have been more interesting to have someone else trying to add something new  to this formula.  I mean, I have to admit it, it was not bad at all and it has always been neat to see the evolution of these characters but I can't say that the whole thing was spellbinding whatsoever and the end was just a really cold shower. Honestly, you spend more than 2 hours to get this conclusion?!? Also, what hell happened to Cho?!? I mean, Harry Potter's first crush was never really convincing but they did spend 2 entire movies developing this crush but, for this movie, she was completely dropped out for an even more underwhelming love story. Still, even though I don’t think it was anything mind-blowing whatsoever, it remains an entertaining blockbuster and it is worth a look, especially if you have followed the previous adventures involving Harry Potter and his buddies.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, I didn’t like it much. Indeed, when  Owen Wilson gets the right material, he can be very funny but this time, it unfortunately didn't work out. Indeed, Dupree was just really too obnoxious and not funny enough and the story was just so predictable. To make things worse, Matt Dillon used to be one of the hottest actors in the 80's-90's but now he only gets work for 2nd part in such average flicks which is a real shame. To round up the cast, you have Kate Hudson who gave her usual girl nex door act and she didn’t add much to this movie. It is interesting to note that Anthony Russo and Joe Russo’s following directing effort would be ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ which was a rather odd decision but it turned out fine once again for Marvel as it was a critical and financial success. To conclude, I can't say I enjoyed this flick, I think it is just a really average comedy and it is not really worth a look. 

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick. Indeed, since I heard only bad things about this movie, I thought it would be something really bad. Eventually, even though it was indeed pretty average, it was definitely not the worst movie I have ever seen and I was (almost) positively surprised. In my opinion, if you don't take this movie too seriously, it is actually not completely awful and barely enjoyable (even Roger Ebert actually gave it a positive review which would still be a little too generous though). Basically, it is a rather awkward combination of various (better and with a bigger budget) adventure flicks. The main issue is that it came just after ‘Jurassic Park’, another adaptation of a book written by Michael Crichton, which looked really awesome while, here, the special effects were rather ridiculous and pathetic. Eventually, you wonder how Laura Linney's career has been able to recover from this turkey (as a matter of fact, even though it was panned by the critics, it was actually a box-office hit at the time). Anyway, to conclude, it is not one of the worst movies ever made and if you are a fan of B movies, you may actually end up enjoying it but don't expect much from this though.

Back in the 80's, Debra Winger was on the A list and she was one of the most wanted actress in the world. But, suddenly, in the mid-90's, she just disappeared which was/is quite a shame. Apparently, it was actually her own choice to stop after making this flick. Honestly, I have my doubts but whatever happened, it definitely managed to kill her career. I mean this was her last flick (she actually appeared in other movies but only 4 in the last 16 years!) and unfortunately it was a flop. Honestly, I think it's too bad because it is actually a pretty good romantic feature. Indeed, I though it was fairly realistic, with some believable 3 dimensional characters and it reminded me of 'When Harry met Sally...' in some way. Even though it was a promising directing debut for Billy Crystal, it was a flop when it was released. A few years later, he would direct the baseball feature ‘61*’ which would be much better received. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, it remains a really solid romantic-comedy which should get much more credit and it is is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I always considered Sean Connery to be the best James Bond ever, I was really eager to check this flick. However, in my opinion, it is probably his least impressive Bond flick. I mean, it is rather well made and Sean Connery is awesome as usual but the story was less captivating than the other Bond flicks. Still, apparently, Sean Connery was quite pleased with this flick and it was even his own favorite performance as the most famous spy in the world. Eventually, he will even end up remaking this flick in the 80’s with ‘Never Say Never Again’. Personally, even though I thought it was really neat that Sean Connery decided to play again his most iconic part, I always thought it was a pity that it was a remake and a remake of a rather weak story. Still, it was the most popular Bond movie racking up 140 million ticket sales so those movies were still hugely popular at the time (and with the current revival with Daniel Craig, it will remain so for many years to come). To conclude, even though it is far from being one of the best installments, it remains entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Bond movies.