Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I had some rather low expectations about this flick and I wonder how I actually ended up watching the damned thing. I guess I watched it mostly because Peter O'Toole was involved. The funny thing with this actor is that even though I always thought that he was a fascinating actor, I haven’t watched many of his older (great) features and I have seen mostly some of his more recent (underwhelming) work. Anyway, if there was ever one really boring cinematic genre, it is definitely all those family features involving animals (talking or mute). However, I have to admit it, this movie was definitely an exception. Indeed, in spite of my low expectations, I thought it was not bad at all and I actually enjoyed the damned thing. Honestly, I never cared about this character, apparently, it was already the 11th movie made about Lassie, so, you might wonder if another feature was really necessary, but, in my opinion, it was actually well done for a familly feature. To conclude, even though I don’t think it is really a masterpiece, it is actually a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you have a weak spot for this kind of features.

To be honest, I didn't expect much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Monica Potter, I thought I should give it a shot anyway. Unfortunately, the whole thing was just rather lame, I'm afraid. I understand that Freddy Prinze Jr. is/was a charming guy but I don't think that he is really talented. By now, I have seen almost all his movies (don't ask me why... I guess I love to waste my time with worthless movies...) and he always picks up some very average flicks and he always ends up playing the same part. This one is not an exception. Indeed, the whole thing was just very predictable and very forgettable. Concerning Monica Potter, even though she looked as usual quite charming, it wasn’t enough to make the whole thing worthwhile and concerning her career, I’m afraid it turned out to be even more disappointing than Freddy Prinze Jr. A the end of the day, to watch this flick is basically like seeing a rom-com involving two moderately attractive people with pretty much zero charisma. It doesn’t sound really exciting, does it? Anyway, to conclude, I didn't really like this movie, I was actually bored during the whole thing, and it is therefore not really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of Freddy Prinze Jr.

To be honest, I never felt any attraction towards this franchise but one of my colleagues at the time had a box-set with the first trilogy (I still have to watch the last 2 installments but I'm seriously in no rush), so, in this case, I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, I have to admit it, the first installment was actually rather well done and there was indeed an interesting concept behind it but I had a rather time to really care about the sequels. At least, I really liked the intro, it was pretty cool, very spectacular and violent but, unfortunately, I was rather bored by everything else that happened in this flick. The main problem I had is that it was just exactly the same idea as the first movie and I understand that all these movies all belong to the same franchise but still I found it rather boring and uninteresting. At least, it was nice to see again the always charming Ali Larter. To conclude, I have seen worse but I still thought that it was underwhelming and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.

To be honest, I never felt any attraction towards this franchise but one of my colleagues at the time had a box-set with the first trilogy (I still have to watch the last 2 installments but I'm seriously in no rush), so, in this case, I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, I have to admit it, the first installment was actually rather well done and there was indeed an interesting concept behind it but, by the 3rd installment, it was getting pretty tiresome... Of course, the introduction sequence was again pretty spectacular but that was about it, I’m afraid. I seriously don’t understand how some viewers could think that it was original in any way. In my opinion, it was in fact rather predictable and completely forgettable. The only memorable thing was to see the always charming Mary Elizabeth Winstead who was just starting at the time and who could blame her to start up her career with a rather lame ass horror sequel? A year later, she would work with Quentin Tarantino so she definitely knew what she was doing. Anyway, to conclude, I have seen worse but I still thoink that it was underwhelming and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.

To be honest, it is a rather obscure flick and I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it was on the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was quite eager to check this flick. Eventually, even though I thought it was indeed pretty good, I failed to see what was so great about it. Apparently, I have read somewhere that it is even Roman Polanski’s favorite movie of all time. Basically, it is a very old movie and the most striking element about this movie is how dark and gloomy the whole thing was. It was still pretty good though , especially if you compare it to the garbage we usually get nowadays. One of the biggest asset in this flick was James Mason who was fine here (Mason himself thought it was the best performance of his career) and it was pretty neat to see him playing the lead for once. The directing by Carol Reed was decent and, eventually, a few years later, Reed would make ‘The Third Man’ which would get much more noticed than this flick. Anyway, to conclude, even though I didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much before watching this movie but since I have a weak spot for Viggo Mortensen, I thought I should give it a try. First of all, one of the great things about ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy is that it launched the careers of many of the actors involved and, thanks to those movies, Viggo Mortensen basically became a star overnight. It was even more impressive when you know the fact that Mortensen actually replaced Stuart Townsend after filming began and he didn’t have any time to rehearse or to prep himself for the role. Anyway, after the massive success of the LOTR trilogy, Viggo Mortensen became immensely popular, the producers were quick to cash-in on his newfound popularity and released as soon as possible a new blockbuster starring Mortensen on his own this time. Eventually, even though the whole thing was obviously very predictable and pretty generic, I thought it is was actually rather entertaining. On top of that, Viggo Mortensen is always charismatic and the whole thing looked pretty decent. To conclude, even though it is a rather average popcorn flick, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn't so sure what to expect from this flick. I mean, on one hand, it was very well received but, on the other hand, it pretty much sounded like your typical drama based on actual events about a mother looking for her missing son. Still, I expected it to be decent but, to be honest, it was even better than that. Indeed, it was still about a mother looking for her son but Eastwood went way beyond this theme and they ended up with a heartbreaking drama mixed up with a fascinating thriller. Concerning Angelina Jolie, to be honest, I wasn't so sure. I mean, she did a decent job, probably giving one of her best performances, but it was also rather distracting to have this huge star playing this woman because, in my opinion, even though the main character was indeed interesting, I think that what happened around her was even more spellbinding to watch. Eventually, the stars here were actually the very strong script and the expert directing by Eastwood. The same year, he also directed the terribly overrated 'Gran Torino' which would be remembered as the better feature but I think it is a mistake because this movie was easily his best directing effort to come out in 2008. To conclude, don't be fooled by the seemingly pedestrian plot, it is a spellbinding flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by Clint Eastwood's work.

Since I have a weak for André Téchiné’s work, I though I should check this flick. Téchiné is actually not really famous here on Listal but he is actually one of the best living French directors. On top of that, you had Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, the two of greatest actors that ever lived, so you should be expecting something quite impressive, I sure was. Unfortunately, I thought the whole thing was rather disappointing and I would go as far as saying that it was the least satisfying movie I have seen so far directed by André Téchiné. I mean, in fact, it was far from being a bad movie. Indeed, like everything else done by this director, the whole thing was well done and , with such actors, of course the performances were fine but the story was not really fascinating and I didn't care much about the characters or what they were going through. Above all, I thought that Gérard Depardieu's character was rather pathetic and slighty annoying so it was rather difficult to root for the guy. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was slightly disappointing, it was still a decent drama and I think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Not to be confused with ‘The Flyboys’ released in 2008. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for James Franco, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, have you noticed the amound of work done by James Franco?!? Indeed, he has already played in more than 60 movies, directed already a dozen of features, written several books, followed some classes in UCLA and NY, teached as well in NYU, was involved in some art projects,… The guy probably doesn’t sleep much, I guess. Anyway, as a result, not all his movies are amazing and this movie was a perfect example. Indeed, I really like James Franco and there were some nice aerial action scenes but that was it, I’m afraid. Indeed, the story and the directing were not really entertaining enough and, on top of that, the characters and the story were just full of clichés. To conclude, even though it wasn’t really awful, I thought it was pretty average and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of James Franco’s work.