Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, even if it was nothing really groundbreaking, I thought it was still a pretty good thriller. Above all, it strongly reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s work because it was so  stylish with a very nice mood and also because the main character was one of those typical blond ice queens that Hitchcock used so much in his own movies. This movie also reminded me of 'Teorema', a movie directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini during which Terence Stamp came along and made a whole familly go crazy for him. However, to be honest, even though the story was really entertaining, it was unfortunately nothing really original and I thought it was actually predictable but it was very well directed and acted and the whole thing was still quite spellbinding to watch. Anyway, to conclude, even if I don’t think it was really a masterpiece, it was still a really solid thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in French movies.

I have noticed recently that Bruce Willis has actually a rather lousy reputation in the business (for example, he was even fired from ‘Café Society’, one of the last movies directed by Woody Allen). To make things worse, his most recent movies have been only some straight-to-DVD garbage. Still, I always had a weak spot for this actor and I was quite eager to check this flick, especially since it was his official acting debut. First of all, it is interesting to note that, before he showed up in ‘Die Hard’ and became afterwards one of the biggest action stars in the world, Bruce Willis actually started his career playing  some kind of funny charming man which was something drastically different than his current image. This movie is good example of this and, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was still a decent watch. Indeed, the story was completely preposterous and really far-fetched but there were some good jokes along the road. To conclude, even though it is a rather obscure feature, I thought  it was a fairly entertaining comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in seeing how Bruce Willis started his career.

Since this movie had a very lame reputation, I didn’t expect much from the damned thing but I still ended up watching it at some point. Well, to be honest, I didn’t think it was not so bad after all and there were a couple of interesting things. First of all, Stuart Townsend did a fine job and I thought he was quite convincing. Furthermore, I really liked this idea of a vampire becoming a rock star and playing around with the fact that he is an actual vampire. Unfortunately, the movie seriously suffered from a lack of ambition and focus. Indeed, there were maybe four different storylines (the rockstar thing, Lestat looking for Marius, Jesse looking for her past, Akasha who wants to rule the world and the Talamasca society) and none of them was actually properly developed. It probably had to do with the fact that they tried to combine the last 2 books of the trilogy before the studio lost the rights on these books. Futhermore, the special effects were just pathetic and Aaliyah, with all respect, delivered a terrible performance. If they would have been more ambitious and focused only on the rock star storyline, it could have been pretty awesome but, instead, the end result was still a really average and flawed vampire flick.

Well, it is probably the least regarded movie made by Pixar so far but, surprisingly, I thought it was actually quite enjoyable. To be honest, I do think that my rating was probably too generous and a re-watch might drop it consequently. In fact, the first installment was already poorly received so it seemed a rather odd move to make a sequel. Some argued that it was made in the first place just to sell even more merchandizing which is a pretty nasty thought considering that Pixar has always been synonymous with creativity. Anyway, since I didn't expect much from this flick, I thought it was actually not bad or, at least, a slight improvement on its predecessor. Indeed, in my opinion, it was better than I expected. First of all, the whole thing just looked amazing and the amount of details was quite mind-blowing. They were also some awesome new characters (Finn McMissile and Professor Z above all). So, it was better than ‘Cars" but did it belong to the Pixar masterpieces? Definitely not. Sure, it was quite entertaining but not really great in any way. After ‘Toy Story 3’ (which was good but not great either, in my book), those sequels have been decent but also rather tiresome and I can't wait to see Pixar touching some new material again. Anyway, in spite its rather lame reputation, I think it is worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Pixar.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie and, in fact, it was for the very first time that I watched a movie that I first discovered here, on Listal. It shows how influential this website had become to me at that point. Anyway, since Nick, my step-son, has always been a huge fan of zombie movies, we ended up watching this flick together and I’m pretty sure he had a blast watching the damned thing. Eventually, I have to admit that, even though the concept was really preposterous, the movie was in fact not bad at all. As expected, they went for  a combination of horror and comedy but it worked rather well. First of all, I have to congratulate the make-up artist(s) as there were some really gruesome scenes but they were extremely well done. However, I'm not sure if the comic aspect worked for me. Indeed, as a result, I felt detached during the whole thing and didn't care much about the characters and what they were going through. Concerning Tommy Wirkola, this movie definitely got him noticed and he would then go to Hollywood to direct ‘Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ which was another horror feature with a presposterous concept but it turned out to be rather underwhelming. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it was a very original zombie flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like this genre.

In fact, I had actually already seen this movie but it was only once and it was more than ten years ago with my sister. I remember it very well, I saw this movie during the 100th birthday anniversary of Cinema and I was able see it on the big screen (which was very cool) but, unfortunately, the copy they managed to get was in such a very bad shape that they had to stop the show every 10 minutes to fix it up (which was completely not cool...). As a result, it wasn't really a rewarding experience and a re-watch was pretty much a must. Eventually, after all these years, I finally saw the damned thing again and it was definitely worth it. Indeed, it was quite extraordinary how insane and visionary this movie was. To be honest, the pacing was not always amazing and the lack of dialogues made the whole thing still rather sluggish (the fact that there was no real complete version didn't help either I guess) but, still, it is definitely the first Science-Fiction masterpiece and,  90 years later, it still holds up very well. To conclude, it is a great classic and it is definitely a must-see for any decent movie lover.

To be honest, it was yet another really obscure feature and I really had no idea what to expect from the damned thing. It was mostly because I have a weak spot for Andie McDowell that I wanted to check the damned thing. Eventually, when I saw Andie McDowell at the altar, it really reminded me of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ but, unfortunately, this flick never reached such a level of awesomness. Still, the beginning was actually quite charming. On top of that , the 3 actresses (Andie McDowell, Imelda Stanton and Anna Chancellor) were all rather funny and witty. The fact that I do have a weak spot for romances involving young men with older women did help as well (my wife is 10 years older than me, it may have something to do with this). Unfortunately, one of those women stubbornly decided to ruin the whole thing and it lead to a really annnoying twist with some tragic consequences. As a result, the movie was kind of ruined for me. They then tried again to go further with a comedy but the whole thing just became sad and tragic and the jokes and relationships just seemed really fake at that point. Still, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent watch and if you love romantic comedies , it is actually worth a look.

To be honest, it was yet another really obscure feature and I really had no idea what to expect from the damned thing. Basically, it was above all because there was an impressive cast involved that I wanted to watch this flick (Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels, Robert Forster, Anna Paquin, David Schwimmer, Josh Brolin, Gary Sinise, January Jones, Giovanni Ribisi). Eventually, the beginning, when you get to see Jeff Daniels killing 'by accident' his partner in the middle of the night, turned out to be pretty good. Indeed, this scene was really well done and it precisely had the right dosis of black humor. Unfortunately, the whole thing rapidly losts focus afterwards. Eventually, I think the biggest problem was that  the running time was just way too short to handle all these various story-lines and all the characters involved. As a result, maybe half of the story-lines and the characters were quite interesting and captivating but the other half was rather ridiculous and even obnoxious. Eventually, even though the whole thing really had some potential, it didn't work out too well in the end but I still think it is worth a look though, if only for its very neat cast.

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.