Reviews by johanlefourbe

Honestly, even though this movie had a terrible rep (like most of the movies involving Nicolas Cage nowadays), since there was a pretty neat cast, I was still eager to check it out. Indeed, before watching the damned thing, I had heard so many bad things but I was (almost) positively surprised by the end-result. Indeed, there were indeed a lot of good things and the best was probably the concept which was actually pretty awesome. Eventually, they had this very cool idea which was very well developped for about, let's say, 15-20 minutes, but then the movie took a very bad direction and it became watchable at best but still pretty average. And, then, there was the end.... I have seen about 5000 movies so far but this ending must one of the worst I have ever seen. I mean, it is so underwhelming, so lame, it completely shattered the little hope I still had at this point for this movie. To conclude, I still think it was a great concept but it was eventually very poorly developped which was too bad because it actually had some potential. Anyway, all in all, I don’t think it is worth a look, except if you want to be disappointed again by Nicolas Cage.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Carice van Houten, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, in my opinion, van Houten is a fascinating actress, probably the most successful Dutch actress of the last 10 years and I try to watch everything she's involved in. Unfortunately, she actually had a very small part and even though she is a very good actress and always a pleasure to watch, I was bored to death during the whole thing. It is too bad because the late Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen made some pretty good dramas but this flick was just terribly underwhelming and it was definitely not an improvement on the average Dutch family production we get to see every year. For Carice van Houten, following her breaktrough success with ‘Minoes’, another family feature which was actually decent, this movie was actually a step back but considering the rather weak Dutch movie industry, I guess she didn’t have many choices. To conclude, even though the whole thing was pretty harmless, it was still pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look even though it might be more enjoyable for a very young audience.

Honestly, since it is a pretty osbcure flick, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it but since there was an interesting cast, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, I thought this movie was not bad at all and the whole thing definitely had some potential. First of all, there was indeed a nice cast with the always charming Zooey Deschanel and it was a really nice surprise to see Debra Winger who had pretty much disappeared for almot a decade. Unfortunately, there were a couple things that bothered me about the whole thing. First of all, like many indie productions, they tried sometimes too hard to make the story too quirky but, honestly, it became more annoying than entertaining at some point. On top of that, I always find Ray Romano terribly underwhelming and rather annoying and any movie starring this guy would really need to be great to make me forget him. That was unfortunately not the case with this flick. For the director Michael Clancy, it would be his only directing credit so I guess it didn’t turn out to be a huge success. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a decent dramedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I had already seen this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Of course, like everyone else, I did enjoy 'Ocean's eleven' but, honestly, I do think it was actually kind of overrated. I mean, sure, it was a fun flick but it was certainly nothing really amazing, at least, that’s my opinion. On the other hand, I don't think the sequels were actually so bad. Anyway, the biggest issue with this 3rd installment is that we had all seen this not only once but already twice before so it was becoming a little bit tiresome and repetitive at that point. Still, there was still a prestigious cast involved (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Al Pacino, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Eddie Izzard, Ellen Barkin, Vincent Cassel, Andy Garcia) and they obviously had a blast making this flick. It is just a shame that they only got together to make such a shallow commercial picture. I mean, I get that it was for them a lot of fun to make but, to watch it, it was enjoyable but completely forgettable. Still, to conclude, if you want a star studded cast and some brainless entertainment, it is actually a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I'm a big fan of Charlie Chaplin so I really had to watch this flick at some point. Apparently, the film was originally meant to be directed by Orson Welles and starring Charles Chaplin, but Chaplin backed out at the last moment, saying that he had never had anyone direct him before and didn't want to start. Can you imagine this combination?!? Eventually, Chaplin directed the thing himself and regarded the film as the cleverest and most brilliant film of his career. Unfortunately for him, it was a huge flop when it was released which was not really surprising when you think about it. Indeed, Chaplin was beloved for a playing the same character for years and, suddenly, he decided to do something entirely different and, a usual, the ruthless audience wouldn't have it. Personally, even though I didn't enjoy it as much as his previous movies, I still think it was pretty good and it is now highly regarded. You can't deny that it was way ahead of its time, some kind of lugubrious dark comedy. As a result, it is much more cynical and dark than his previous work but I really enjoyed it and I will probably re-watch it some day to make up my mind about it. To conclude, it is yet again another brilliant movie by Chaplin and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in his work.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it sounded quite intriguing, I was quite eager to check it out. I have noticed that this flick has a rather poor reputation, of course, it is not a masterpiece but I thought it was a really fascinating story. Later on, I have finally seen ‘Dogtown and Z-Boys’, the documentary which was the inspiration for this feature and, indeed, the doc was much better but, still, I was just hooked from the beginning until the end. Furthermore, I thought the movie was actually really well done and the actors (Emile Hirsch, Heath Ledger, Rebecca De Mornay, Nikki Reed, Sofia Vergara) were pretty good. Eventually, Heath Ledger was the only one who really received some praise but, even though he did a fine job as usual, the other actors were not bad at all either. Anyway, the main flaw was in fact, as with all sport movies, that it was rather predictable and not really original after all. Still, in spite of this fact, I thought it was actually a pretty good flick, I think it is definitely worth a look and I will re-watch it at some point since I have the DVD in my collection.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Kate Winslet, I was really eager to check this flick. Indeed, she is an amazing actress, easily one of the best at work nowadays and I try to watch all her movies whenever I get the opportunity. She did this flick just after ‘Titanic’ and it is probably one of the most obscure movies she has made so far. As usual, Winslet was pretty good in there and the movie was rather well made but, unfortunately, the story was not really strong. Basically, it is one of those typical stories about the clueless woman who is trying to find something meaningful so she goes to some exotic country but, of course, she doesn’t find any answers. Honestly, it was hardly original, really predictable and bordeline annoying at some point. It is interesting to point out that that her following feature, ‘Holy Smoke’ directed by Jane Campion, was also another obscure feature and it had actually a rather similar plot but I thought it was actually much better. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of it flaws, it is far from being a bad movie and if you're a Kate Winslet fan, it is definitely worth a look.

Since I kept hearing many good things about this movie, I was really curious to see it. Eventually, I thought it was pretty good and, in my opinion, it is probably one of the best remakes ever made. Indeed, there was a pretty good cast (it was above all a nice and welcome surprise to see Sarah Polley in a commercial feature like this one), it was visually quite impressive and the whole thing was simply really entertaining. Indeed, the whole thing was just very well done, with some good action scenes and Sarah Polley is definitely one of the most underrated actresses around and she displayed her acting skills once again with this flick. On the downside, Znyder has dropped the whole reflection on consumerism which made the original so stricking and thus the weakest point with this movie is that the story was not original and rather predictable. For Zack Snyder, it was still a really solid directing debut and the start of a rather prolific career (my favorite is, by far, ‘Watchmen’ which unfortunately didn’t get much love when it was released). To conclude, all in all, it is a really entertaining picture and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it was a surprise success at the box-office (probably one of the last starring Michael Keaton), I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I thought the whole thing was actually a terrible waste. Indeed, in my opinion, this movie had such a great potential but, at the end of the day, they completely messed it up... To be honest, I really don't believe in EVP (electronic voice phenomena) but like exorcism, ghosts and other paranormal phenomenoms, you will actually never know for sure and there was actually something fascinating about this concept. However, instead of making an interesting study about this subject, they eventually went completely over the top and displayed some really unbelievable stuff that has never actually happened to anyone confronted with EVP... Sure, you could argue that I shouldn’t take the story so seriously but, for me, it completely ruined the movie and it was too bad because it could have been way better than this. To conclude, even though the whole thing was not completely awful, I still think it was really disappointing and I don’t think it is really worth a look, expect maybe if you love the genre.

The other day, I noticed something funny. Indeed, even though I always considered Roger Moore the weakest James Bond, or at least, the least interesting one, I came to realize that I actually didn't really dislike any James Bond installments involving this guy (on the other hand, none of them are among my favorites either). Anyway, coming to our main feature, I thought it was a decent James Bond flick with the usual trick and treats. To be honest, in my opinion, there was absolutely nothing really original about the plot but the action scenes were (as usual) rather spectacular and it was entertainig enough. It was also pretty neat to see a very young Carole Bouquet, quite a famous actress in France, in such a huge international blockbuster and she was definitely a pretty good Bond girl. It is interesting to point that, at the time, Steven Spielberg who was still a young upcoming director was very interested in directing a James Bond flick and he was almost chosen to direct this movie but it didn’t happen after all. Apparently, they decided to take a step back after ‘Moonraker’ which was quite far-out and they went for something a little bit more down-to-earth with some decent results. To conclude, even though I have never been a huge fan of this franchise, this was a solid installment and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.