Reviews by johanlefourbe

Seriously, what happened to Neil Marshall? Indeed, at some point, he seemed to be the next best thing coming from Great Britain but, suddenly, he completely disappeared and his last directing effort was already 5 years ago.Indeed, back then, especially after 'The Descent' was released, there was actually a huge buzz about this director. Since then, and after a couple of underperforming movies ('Doomsday', 'Centurion'), we don't hear much from him but it didn't stop me from watching all his directing efforts. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it was Marshall's directing debut, it seemed to have become somewhat a cult-classic in the UK, and for a first effort, I thought it was not bad at all. Basically, the directing was decent and it was refreshing that they relied on practical special-effects instead of the usual CGI which has been dominating the blockbusters for a while now. Unfortunately, the story was nothing original though and it is obvious that the makers didn't care much about the plot or the characters involved but, instead, they were more interested in creating a nice tense mood. Anyway, to conclude, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you enjoy monster/werewolve movies.

Oh boy... I find it rather difficult to review this flick... Indeed, following the poor reception and the dysmal revenue at the box-office, I was expecting something really bad but eventually it was way better than I expected! Of course, it is not a good movie at all but if you watch something like this expecting something great, than you're the one who's got an issue, not the movie itself... I mean, the show was nothing amazing to start with, at least, in my opinion. Is it actually faithful to the original show? Do you think I really care? I thought the 3 leads (Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson) were not bad, yeah, even Jessica Simpson but I'm not really being critical here since this flick didn't require some Shakesperian acting. Basically, it is a stupid movie coming from a stupid TV-show and it is indeed very lame, very moronic but there were still here and there a few acceptable jokes. To conclude, it is still very average, my rating should be lower actually (it gets an extra point because my expectations were really low), it is not worth a look whatsoever and you should watch it at your own risk!

Since this movie is a classic, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, even though I thought it was fairly enjoyable, I can’t say it was really my thing though. I think it has to do somewhat with my political beliefs. Indeed, I'm a left-wing and I find it always difficult to care for the supposedly difficult romantic life of the rich and aristocrats. Sure, you could argue that since it is a romantic feature, I shouldn't take it so seriously but it is just too frivolous for me or maybe I'm just too cynical for this material. Eventually, the greatest thing about this flick was probably the fact that it introduced Audrey Hepburn to the world. Right away, she managed to win an Academy award for her performance and, above all, she became instantly one of the biggest movie stars in the world, a position she would keep during the following 10 years. Indeed, Hepburn was always nice to see in a movie, especially right there at the beginning of her career and she had some great chemistry with Gregory Peck. I must admit that the ending was also rather refreshing (I won't spoil it!). To conclude, even though I'm not a huge fan, it is still a classic and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I always has a weak spot for Julianne Moore, I thought I might as well give it a try. Basically, it is a really obscure feature and even though it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004, it failed to receive any kind of distribution and it was finally released on DVD in 2009. Myself, I found it in the DVD bin with the usual deal ‘5 DVDs for 5 euros’. Well, eventually, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. Indeed, Julianne Moore tried very hard and, as usual, she was pretty good but the lead characters were both so annoying, it made viewing this picture very painful. I mean, I don’t mind watching a minimalist picture with barely anything happening throughout the whole duration (For example, I really loved ‘The Man from Earth’) but if the few characters involved are not interesting and also fairly unlikable, well, the end-result is not what I would call a rewarding watch. To conclude, I think I’m being rather generous with my rating here, it was rather weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie since I always had a weak spot for Lawrence Kasdan, I thought I might as well check it out. On a side note, Lawrence Kasdan will make a return at the end of 2015 with Star Wars, 30 years after 'Return of the Jedi'. Hopefully, it will better than the disappointing prequels delivered by Georges Lucas. Anyway, only is he a succesfull writer (he was also responsible for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark') , Kasdan also managed to have a decent career as a director, at least, until the mid-90’s. Indeed, back then, he released the ambitious but eventually really underwhelming ‘Wyatt Earp’ and his directing career never really recovered from the blow. 4 years later, Kasdan would come up with this flick which was barely noticed when it was released. Eventually, I must admit that I find it rather difficult to judge this movie which was kind of weird in my opinion. Basically, the makers tried very hard to make it all sound deep and thoughtful but, at the end of the day, the whole thing was actually pretty cheesy. Still, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look.

Obviously, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I have always had a weak spot for Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, the title was really lame, I had heard some really harsh critics about this movie like, for example, according to Seann William Scott himself, it was, with "The Dukes of Hazzard", the worst movie he had ever made. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one and Billy Bob Thornton and Craig Gillespie both disliked the film and, for Gillespie, it was mostly due to some last-minute re-shoots done with another director (David Dobkin). However, even though it might sound really surprising, I thought that it was actually not bad at all. Of course, it is not a masterpiece at all and the whole concept was really stupid but Seann William Scott was OK and, in my opinion, Billy Bob Thornton is always quite hilarious when he is in his "Bad Santa" mode. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing whatsoever, I think it is actually a guilty pleasure, at least in my case, and it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre but don’t expect anything great beforehand.

To be honest, I wonder how actually ended up watching this flick. If I recall it correctly, I read some good things about it on our TV magazine and I thought I might as well check it out. Usually, I don’t really care about true stories but this one was just really heartbreaking and, apparently, the original event called the Sugamo child abandonment case was actually even more worse (to think that, in real life, the mother regained custody of the two daughters after 3 years in jail is also rather mind-blowing). Anyway, it was definitely a strong story and, on top of that, the directing and the acting were very good as well. Apparently, the director Hirokazu Koreeda spent a lot of time with the children to make sure that they could really express themselves freely as a genuine children without too much interaction from any adults. Indeed, in most movies, children actually act following the stereotypes grown-ups have but, here, the acting felt really natural, believable and quite spellbinding to watch. To conclude, I think it was a really shocking and fascinating drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Asian movies.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Gerard Butler and Sara Polley, I thought I might as well give it a try. Basically, there was a time when I would buy a whole bunch of really obscure movies on DVD with such deals like ‘5 dvds for 5 euro’. Well, that was one of those. Eventually, it doesn’t happen really often but, to be honest, I just didn’t really know what to think of this movie. Indeed, one one hand, it was not bad and fairly entertaining but, on the other hand, it looked pretty cheap and clumsy. Concerning Gerard Butler, he made this movie just before getting his breakthrough with ‘300’. Through the years, there has been quite a few adaptations of the ancient poem ‘Beowulf’ and I think it was a nice touch that they shot it in Iceland giving the whole thing a rather authentic look (apparently, it was a rather hellish shoot and it could be neat to watch the making-of documentary called ‘Wrath of Gods’). Anyway, to conclude, I actually think it was a decent watch but, still, I’m not sure if I should recommend it so you should watch it at your own risk.

Basically, it is another really obscure French movies that almost no one has seen here on Listal. It is one of the last movies directed by Louis Malle and since I always had a weak spot for this director, I was quite eager to chek it out. I don't know why exactly but I really liked this movie a lot. Maybe it has to do with the fact that, when I was just kid growing up in France, I saw this intriguing poster, all green with trees and leaves, only with this guy all dressed up in white in his small boat (French legend Michel Piccoli). Even the rather enigmatic title (even though I'm French, I still have actually no idea what it actually means) had something mesmerizing to it. Anyway, it's a really a laid-back movie, especially if you compare it to the super heavy dramas directed by Louis Malle such as 'Au revoir les enfants' or 'Damage'. Basically, it is a very easy movie to swallow, even relaxing, dealing with some fully-fledged but pleasant characters.To conclude, even though it wasn't really a masterpiece, I liked it a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you're interested in French cinema.