Reviews by johanlefourbe

I have been following their career for about 25 years now and it is above all thanks to this flick that the Coen brothers became pretty huge. I mean, before that they had a solid cult following (my older sister, for example, introduce me to their work even before this movie was released) but it is only after this feature came out that their popularity grew up exponentially. Indeed, it became basically their first classic movie and many think it should have won the best picture award back then (It lost eventually against 'The English Patient'). Personally, I have a strange relationship with this movie (In fact, I have actually the same feeling with almost all the movies made by the Coen brothers...). The first time I watched it, I thought it was great, the second time, I thought it was just Ok, the third time, it was great again, the fourth time, just ok again.... It's rather weird, isn't it ? I guess it all depends on my mood. Still, there was a great cast involved (William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Frances McDormand), they all delivered some terrific performances and, if you are in the right mood, the whole thing is just funny as hell. Anyway, to conclude, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the Coen brothers' work.

Either you like this movie or not, the fact remains that it is easily the most influential British movie released in the 90's. Even though I prefer 'Shallow grave', I must admit that I was really impressed by the second movie directed by Danny Boyle. Indeed, there was some great directing, some great acting and it was plain and simply a very entertaining movie. Still, even though I think it is really good, I'm not sure if it is really that great though. This is a really personal point of view that you may not share at all but, personally, I think it has an ambivalent attitude towards drugs. Of course, there are some horrible parts shouting "KEEP OFF THE DRUGS" but, in some over scenes, they rather seem to have a grand time. Eventually, I think it is a very well made and fun movie with some great characters but, at the end of the day, the whole thing is actually pretty shallow. As a matter of fact, I have just re-watched it recently and, I must admit it, the 1st half was really hilarious, some of the funniest sh*t I have ever seen, which is quite striking when you consider the subject. The 2nd half, on the other hand, was definitely weaker and felt more unfocused. Still, to conclude, even though I don't believe it is really a masterpiece, it still think it is a very good flick, a British classic, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

At the end of the 90’s, following their winning of the Golden Palm at the Cannes, I discovered The Dardennes brothers with ‘Rosetta’ but even though I thought it was indeed a decent drama, I can’t say I was really blown by the whole thing. And, yet, after this bumpy start, those guys would turn out to be eventualy some of my favorite directors. Indeed, after the disappointing ‘Rosetta’, I still wanted to give those guys a 2nd chance so I decided to watch their previous directing effort. And, this time, I was finally really impressed. Once again, the whole thing was really raw and realistic but the big difference was that, this time, it was completely spellbiding to behold. Indeed, not only it was socially completely relevant but I was also impressed in the depth provided to the characters and I really cared about what they were going through. For the young Jérémie Renier, it was a really impressive acting debut at only 15 years old, he would eventually have a decent career, working 3 times again with those guys (‘L’enfant’, ‘Le silence de Lorna’, ‘Le gamin au vélo’). To conclude, I thought it was a great drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Dardennes brothers’s work.

It has been a while since I saw this flick (I even think I saw it back when it was released in the movie theater) and since I really enjoyed it the first time around, I was really eager to give it a second look. Well, I think it is still a really fascinating story and, once again, Milos Forman managed to deliver an impressive biographical tale of one notorious famous figure (see also the even better ‘Amadeus’ and the not so great but still decent ‘Man on the Moon'). It is such a pity that Milos Forman is not really productive nowadays but I guess that at 80 years old, the guy has pretty much past his prime. Anyway, he did display once again some very solid directing and the acting was very good as well. In this department, the biggest surprise was Courtney Love, in my opinion. Indeed, honestly, who thought she could act so well?!? It’s too bad she pretty much dropped the acting thing and basically became a mess because she definitely showed some potential. It was also nice to see a young Edward Norton in a smaller part at the time when he was still one of the greatest hopes in cinema. And, finally, we get to see the great Woody Harrelson for once playing the lead, the guy was just great and he must be one of the most underrated actors at work nowadays. To conclude, I really liked this flick a lot and it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie but, after all these years, it is still one of the most unforgettable movie experiences I ever had. I remember it very well, when it was released in France, there was a huge buzz about the whole thing, it was eventually critically acclaimed and was watched by 3 500 000 viewers. Basically, this movie is just really unique and should be watched by anyone who has any remote interest in movies. In my opinion, the biggest masterstroke was to avoid providing any comment. Indeed, even though most people would find it actually interesting and educational to have some comment throughout their animal documentaries, I find those actually terribly distracting and sometimes ever annoying (the best example would be ‘La marche de l'empereur’ which was partially ruined to me because of the rather lame voice-over). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I thought it was just a gorgeous documentary about insects with no comments, just some beautiful classic music. To conclude, I guess this picture is pretty much forgotten nowadays but it's a shame because it is a true masterpiece and it is definitely worth a look.

Many movie fans are aware of Gary Oldman's talent as actor but only a few of them know that he has actually also directed a movie and a very good one on top of that. If I'm not mistaken, I even saw it when it was released and, back then, I was really impressed. Apparently, it was a very personal project for Oldman as the film was loosely based upon his own life growing up in London and he even spent $1.4 million of his own money into the film. Unfortunately, after so many years, Oldman hasn't directed anything else and it is a real shame since this directing debut was really good but, apparently, at last, almost 20 years later, he will finally come up with a new directing effort and I will definitely check it out. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it is one of those bleak and grim British dramas dealing with drugs, violence and dysfunctional people. The actors were pretty good, especially the always dependable Ray Winstone who would also eventually show up in Tim Roth's directing debut, two years later. To conclude, it might not be really original but I think it is a very bleak and fascinating drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Anyway, before ‘Magnolia’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’, it was with this movie that Paul Thomas Anderson started to get some deserved attention. In fact, even though his following directing efforts are usually better regarded than this movie, I still really love this movie. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick and I went to see it at the time in the movie theater because it seemed to be fun. Eventually, it turned out to be indeed a fun movie but also much more thant that as well. Indeed, it was in fact way better than I expected and, out of a topic which has produced so many lame comedies, Anderson managed to make made a really entertaining but also quite fascinating feature. I was also really impressed by the great cast involved, especially by Mark Wahlberg. Indeed, he would eventually get his breakthrough thanks to this movie and it is a real shame that he doesn’t make such movies anymore. Anyway, to conclude, even though it tends to be overlooked nowadays, I really loved the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Paul Thomas Anderson’s work.

I have always been interested in Japanese animation but, to be honest, the amount of movies is just so massive, I never took the time to really invest myself in this. Anyway, I still had the pleasure to see some amazing ‘mangas’ (that’s how they call them in France but I’m not sure if the name is really accurate) and this flick was definitely one of them. Honestly, I don’t really remember how I ended up watching this flick but I was thoroughly impressed. Indeed, the interesting thing with Japanese animation, is that, even though there is obviously a huge amount of garbage (probably the other reason why I never watched so many of them), they dare to take some risks and, in Japan, animation is pretty much consider as an Art and something not limited for their kids. Anyway, I thought it was quite a gorgeous animated feature and, above all, the plot was just really spellbinding. Basically, it is a very dark and rather complex thriller about a young girl who is losing her grip on reality. After this flick, Satoshi Kon went to direct some other impressive animated features which were all critically heralded and it is too bad I haven’t seen any of them yet. To conclude, I thought it was quite a fascinating feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Already 15 years ago, Cate Blanchett gave her breakthrough performance in this movie. Of course, since I’m a huge fan of her work, I was really eager to check this and, fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed. Indeed, first of all, the movie looked stunning. I mean, the sets, the costumes were just amazing and even though I’m not really a fan of costume dramas in general, I was really able to appreciate the work provided here. Thankfully, this movie was not only nice to look at, it also provided a fascinating story which was some kind of mix between a historical drama and a political thriller. Of course, you can always argue that the whole thing was not completely accurate but when you deal with some historical events that took place centuries ago, this argument is rather pointless if you ask me. Anyway, back in those days, it was nominated for the Best Picture at the Academy Awards but lost out from ‘Shakespeare in love’, one of the most controversial winners ever (the other losers were ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘The Thin Red Line’ and ‘Life is Beautiful’. Nowadays, not many people would argue that ‘Shakespeare…’ really deserved this prize). What remains is that Cate Blanchett was really impressive in this, she became overnight one of the best actresses of her generation and she has consolidated her career ever since with some smart choices and other brilliant performances. Basically, it was the start of a stunning career (the next Meryl Streep?). To conclude, it is a very good costume drama, probably one of the best in this genre and it is is definitely worth a look.