Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since it is a rather obscure feature, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a nice cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, it turned out to be rather disappointing. I mean, sure, there was an interesting cast (Claire Danes, Gabriel Byrne, Lena Olin) and Claire Danes was really charming as usual but it was certainly not enough to save this movie. Eventually, I thought that the directing was rather average and the story was not really entertaining. In my opinion, the biggest mistake they made was to try to create some quirky characters but those characters turned out to be eventually rather obnoxious. Eventually, this movie would be the only directing effort from Theresa Connelly. Apparently, she has a Polish background and she might have thought that she would give a charming portrait of the Polish culture with this movie. Unfortunately, this was pretty much a failure as the Polish (or American Polish) and their supposedly whimsical way of life and thinking either bored or annoyed me. To conclude, even though the whole thing actually had some potential, it was eventually rather underwhelming and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

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 back to our main feature, to be honest, the best thing about this movie was the title. I’m just kidding, in fact, for a James Bond flick, it was not bad and I thought that it was a decent James Bond flick with the usual tricks and treats. Indeed, there are the usual effects and gimmicks and if you don't expect much before watching it, it is rather entertaining. Back then, Roger Moore was not supposed to come back as James Bond but, the very same year, a competing studio was releasing ‘Never Say Never Again’ starring Sean Connery, the original James Bond performer and they didn’t want to gamble with a new actor so Moore still came back after all. Personally, I preferred ‘Never Say Never Again’ because Sean Connery was just so awesome but their plan did work as ‘Octopussy’ did slightly better at the box-office. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a decent installment and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a pretty cool cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, there were indeed some good things and some other things which were not so great. The good stuff : the whole thing looked good and I thought it was rather well directed. There was also a nice and competent cast (Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Basinger), I especially enjoyed to see Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland together and I thought they made a really interesting duo. Kim Basinger was also a neat choice to play a very charming First Lady. On the other hand, even though it was a nice surprise to see Eva Longoria in a thriller (she just had her breakthrough at the time thanks to ‘Desperate Housewives’), and even though she did her best, I thought that her character was rather poorly developed and I’m not sure if she was really a good choice for this part. On top of that, the story was not really impressive and it was actually rather far-fetched. Still, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I think it is a rather entertaining thriller and I believe it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Cate Blanchett, I was really eager to check it out. Cate Blanchett is definitely one of the best actresses at work nowadays and if you're not convinced yet, you should definitely watch this feature. Indeed, she gave a rather impressive performance and she managed to give her character some very interesting layers. Concerning Judi Dench, I wasn’t completely sure, to be honest. I mean, she also delivered a fine performance, no doubt about it and with Blanchett, they provided a very interesting duo on the screen. It’s just that the main character was already going through a lot in this movie and to add this old spinster with some lesbian feelings was a little bit too much to deal with. I mean, you already have to deal with one flawed but very interesting woman so to add another one also with some major issues was maybe too much to handle for a drama like this one. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a fascinating character study going pretty deep into the human pyschology and I think it is definitely worth a look.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it has a pretty good reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have never been a huge fan of Roald Dahl's work and I never really enjoyed the movies adapted from his books. I mean, some of them were pretty good but none of them really blew me away (except 'The Fantastic Mr Fox) and this feature was not an exception. I mean, sure, it's not bad at all and there was indeed an interesting creepy mood, something you wouldn’t expect in a family feature like this one. However, to be honest, I didn't think the story was really entertaining whatsoever and like most of Roald Dahl's stories, I was rather bored during the whole thing. I don’t know, I always had a hard time to connect with his tales but, at least, Nicolas Roeg had an interesting directing style and Angelica Huston was perfectly cast (in fact, Roald Dahl himself was really pleased because she had always been a personal favorite for the role). To conclude, even though I didn’t like it much, it was still an interesting watch and it is worth a look especially if you enjoy Roald Dhal's books more than I do.

Honestly, I’m not really sure how I ended up watching this flick but I think I checked it out because Kenneth Branagh was involved. In fact, Branagh had actually a rather small part and the lead was played by the upcoming young actor Freddie Highmore. Basically, Highmore made this little known movie just between his two breakthrough performances in ‘Finding Neverland’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Eventually, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was actually not bad at all and I thought it was fairly enjoyable. In fact, I thought that the concept was actually similar to ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, it takes place during WWI and some kids are brought to the countryside to be spared from the war and they end up with some fantastic creature. So, obviously, the whole thing was nothing really original and the special effects were honestly rather pathetic but Eddie Izzard gave a very nice performance as the ‘It’ creature and, somehow, it was still a rather decent family feature. To conclude, even though it was not really ground-breaking, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are looking for something to watch with your young children.

I already saw this movie, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released but, since it was a while back and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. I have to admit it, I never really was a huge fan of Robert Zemeckis’ work but I have to admit that there has always been something intriguing about his movies, at least, some of them. Eventually, from the 3 motion-capture features he had delivered, this one was not as good as ‘Beowulf’ was (it was easily the best of the bunch in my opinion) but it still managed to be better than the creepy ‘The Polar Express’. Anyway, I rather enjoyed this feature after all. Indeed, the animation was quite awesome at the time but, more than 10 years later, it did look terribly dated though. Apparently, I didn’t see it in 3D when it was released and, when I was re-watching it, I actually wished I did because the whole movie was obviously shot to be seen this way.  Concerning the story, it is a classic and it was fairly entertaining but, to be honest, not really much more than that though. Jim Carrey also seemed to have a blast playing Ebenezer Scrooge. Basically, the only real issue I had was the fact that Zemeckis chose not only again another story based on Christmas but also one very old tale which had been told already in so many different versions and, personally, I’m not a huge fan of this classic story. Anyway, since it was already his 3rd underperforming effort using this technology, Robert Zemeckis seems to have dropped this genre (at least for now). To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still pretty impressive visually speaking (at least, when it was released) and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Zemeckis’ work.

At the end of the 70’s, Don Bluth decided to leave Disney and, in the 80’s, he managed to have even more success than his previous employer, especially with ‘An American Tail’. 5 years later, Steven Spielberg decided to produce a sequel but he couldn’t get along this time with Don Bluth, so Bluth was not involved with this sequel and the animation style was distinctly different. On top of that, at the time, Disney was going through one of his greatest reinaissance and this sequel had to compete with ‘Beauty and the Beast’ which was a critical and commercial success so this 2nd installment didn’t get much attention. Eventually, even though it was obviously a step down from the original movie, I thought it was actually still enjoyable. Sure, it might be a little boring for the adults but there is no doubt that it is a nice watch for the kids as they are definitely the target audience here. So, the story was nothing original whatsoever but I thought it was entertaining enough and the animation was pretty good. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I think it is a decent animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I have always been a huge fan of Alfred Hitchock’s work, of course, I was really eager to check this flick . Eventually, it wasn’t one of his most famous movies and it was definitely not one of my favorite but it was still a pretty good picture. In fact, even though the plot was taking place in Great Britain, it was Hitchock’s 2nd Hollywood feature after ‘Rebecca’ and it was in fact entirely shot in the USA. Anyway, the directing, as usual with Alfred Hitchock, was really solid and the story was entertaining enough but, to be honest, I thought it was just another spy feature something he used to make in those days. I mean, sure, it was entertaining but it was nothing I hadn’t seen before. Maybe the fact that no big star was linked to this feature didn’t help either (in fact, Hitchcock wanted Gary Cooper to play the lead but Cooper turned down the offer) but I doubt it would have made a big difference. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is not really a masterpiece, it is still a pretty good old spy feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Alfred Hitchock’s work.

In my opinion, this movie had a lot of potential and I honestly think that it could have been awesome. Indeed, at the time, the great Jane Fonda was coming back from retiring (7 years later, she still hasn’t done anything really impressive though) , the story was really perfect for Lindsay Lohan but, unfortunately, they really messed up the whole thing. Basically, the characters were barely developed and the plot was just too sentimental, too predictable and not edgy enough. The most disappointing thing was probably to see Lindsay Lohan remaining in her comfort zone throughout the whole movie instead of actually becoming the character. It is actually a pity because the character must have been closed to who Lohan was at the time but, instead of embracing this experience, she just made sure she didn’t show any amount of depth and the whole thing was therefore rather underwhelming. Anyway, for her, even if she probably didn’t know it at the time, it was pretty much the beginning of the end, her career went through a downward spiral ever since and you wonder if she will ever manage to make a come-back. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing could have been interesting, it was still a failure and I don’t think it is really worth a look.