Reviews by johanlefourbe

It was nice to see Billy Crystal try something else but then that's about it. There is nothing original and it is rather predictable.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the whole thing but I was looking for something to watch with my kids so I thought we could check this one out. Eventually, I have to admit it, they really liked it but I was rather bored during the whole thing. At least, the guinea pics were well animated and rather cute, I'll give you that, so I guess it could be appealing for young children. Unfortunately, the story was way too generic, predictable and therefore really boring. This kind of movies is actually one of the results of the current CGI modern technology. Basically, if they have the right budget, the film makers can pretty much do whatever they want visually so, for the last 10 years, we get on a regular basis such movies with CGI animated animals. This one is maybe not the worst I have seen but it was still pretty weak though. Furthermore, even though we might give some credit to Jerry Bruckheimer for trying something in the family genre, it didn't work out really well for him as this movie didn't launch a franchise as he was probably hoping for. To conclude, I wouldn't recommend this flick and you should watch it only if you have some very very young children to entertain.

It a rather obscure feature so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since I always had a weak spot for Robert Redford and Willem Dafoe, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I have to admit it, the whole thing was rather formulaic and predictable but I still thought it was fairly enjoyable to watch. Indeed, as I mentioned before, I really like Robert Redford and Willem Dafoe and they were both pretty good in this. The directing was also all-right. Apparently, it was the directing debut of Pieter Jan Brugge, a Dutch producer who went to the same film school as me (the Nederlandse Filmacademie). Apparently, the guy managed to continue his film studies in the USA and became a fairly successful producer there (he was even nominated for an Academy Award for ‘The Insider’). It wasn’t really surprising that it was a directing debut but Brugge definitely displayed some potential and it’s too bad he didn’t direct anything else afterwards. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was a decent thriller and I think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.

After all these years, it is still pretty strange that those ninja turtles are still massively popular. I mean, if you think about for just a minute, it is actually a seriously concept but, somehow, the audience really loved it and still loves it to this day. Sure, when I was a kid, I did watch the cartoon but, even though I thought it was fairly entertaining, I wasn’t really a huge fan. On the other hand, my little brother just really loved the damned thing and I’m pretty sure he saw this movie when it was released. Eventually, it took me about 20 years to finally to watch the damned thing. Eventually, to be honest, I really hard a hard time to care for the whole thing and I thought it was just seriously boring. I don’t know, maybe if I had watched it when I was 12 years old kid, I would have enjoyed it more. But unfortunately, I'm in my 30's now and I thought it was actually pretty lame. To conclude, I thought it was pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of those turtles.

Since I kept hearing some good things about this flick, I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, the whole thing was just so preposterous and so over the top but I still thought it was pretty good. You can say what you want but I thought it was quite brilliant to make an outrageous comedy with some puppets. Above all, the parts with Kim Jong II were just hilarious. The whole idea is that you can show and get away with about anything (for example, one of the weirdest sex scenes you'll ever witness) with puppets whereas with 'real' actors, it wouldn't be possible (at least, I hope so...). Still, it is definitely an acquired taste and many people won't like it, for example, Roger Ebert really despised it. I was already positively surprised by the full length version of 'South Park' (whereas I don't really like the show) and I'm amazed that their following feature was also pretty good but the question is what will be the next step for Trey Parker and Matt Stone ? It all remains rather in bad taste and limited in my opinion but we'll see. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

First of all, I won't deny it, I'm big fan of Michael Moore and therefore I was really eager to check this flick. Well, he didn't disappoint me with this picture, that’s for sure. Basically, even though I was expecting most of it, it was still just heartbreaking to see all those people in the US not able to get proper health insurance (shouldn’t it be a basic human right?). The only main issue I had is when Moore talks about the other health care systems like for example in Europa, he made them seem perfect. In fact, even though the situation is much better than in the US, it is far from perfect. A part from that, it is a shocking movie about the supposed greatest super power which suddenly look like a third world country. I especially loved to see that Cuba, land of the devil communism, has a capable health system much better than in the US. Sure, there is a lot of manipulation here but there is no such thing as a completely straightforward documentary and I just really dig Moore’s point of view. To conclude, I thought it was a fascinating documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Michael Moore’s work.

I know, it might be surprising but, to be honest, I thought that the first ‘High School Musical’ installment was actually not bad at all. Sure, it was nothing amazing whatsoever, but even though I’m a definitely not a huge fan of the genre, I thought it was a solid musical, especially for its target audience. Indeed, there were some catchy songs, the characters were charismatic and likable and the whole thing was simply really watchable. Obviously, they had to come up with a sequel but this second installment was just really weak (it didn't even take place in a high school...). Finally, they made this third installment which was even released theatrically and, in my opinion, this last feature was pretty much between the 2 previous movies, quality-wise. I mean, it was a good move to finish this franchise with a Senior Year but, unfortunately, the whole thing was still pretty weak and boring and, at this point, the formula was starting to really get on my nerves. To conclude, I didn’t like this flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look and you should watch it only if you're a fan of those kind of movies.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick and the main reason I bought it was because my wife has 6 chihuahuas (I know, that’s a lot and that's a very long story...). Well, eventually, I did reach my goal, my wife really liked it and my daughter as well but, I'm sorry, as far as I'm concerned,  this movie was actually pretty bad. Seriously, even though I had some low expectations before watching the damned thing, it was even worse than I expected. Indeed, the dogs were just completely obnoxious (I fist saw it dubbed in Dutch and it was really pathetic. At least, it did work better in the original verison but only slightly, I'm afraid) and the plot was just so generic and boring. On the other hand, what should you expect from a movie with such a title?!? Eventually, they would release a couple of sequels, all direct-to-DVD, without anyone from the original cast involved, and, obviously, my wife had to buy those as well but, fortunately, I managed to avoid them. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was seriously lame but I guess it might be a decent watch for very very young children but if you're a grown-up, you should just seriously avoid it.

Personally, I never understood the appeal of Adam Sandler, even after watching about 20 of his movies  (I know, it was definitely a big waste of my time...) and, for at least 15 years, he was one of the very few movie stars who could guarantee  a hit at the box-office. Well, at least,  those days are long gone now. Anyway, I have to admit it, a few of his movies are actually watchable and this one was one of them. This time, instead of his usual raunchy comedies, he tried the family genre and, for some reasons, Disney thought they could work with this guy which seemed to me like a fairly misguided idea considering how moronic and borderline offensive his usual material can be. Well, eventually, this weird Sandler/Disney combination actually worked. Indeed, in order to keep  a low rating, he definitely had to tone down his jokes and, as a result, those jokes were usually slightly more amusing than what he usually provides. On top of that, the whole concept was actually pretty neat, with some endless possibilities but, unfortunately, it was rather poorly developed, I'm afraid, and it was all rather pedestrian and predictable. To conclude, I think I'm being rather generous with my rating here but, for a Sandler feature, it was actually not bad at all.