Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I was really eager to check it out again. In fact, to be precise, the last time I saw it was 20 years ago in the movie theatre when it was released. Well, even though I had some fond memories about this movie, the first thing that surprised me was how little I actually remembered the damned thing which was, to be honest, not really a good sign. Anyway, I still really liked this movie though. In my opinion, it was in fact the last great picture directed by Emir Kusturica and, as a matter of fact, this movie might be my favorite among his movies. By the way, what the hell happened to this director?!? Anyway, coming back to our main feature, Kusturica has always been the master of the Gypsy movie and this one must the best one he has made in this genre. Indeed, at first, the whole thing might seem to be a huge mess but there was actually a plot that you could easily follow and some very well defined characters. In my opinion, to generate such an intoxicating chaos and still deliver an entertaining tale required some great directing and the whole thing was just so fun to behold. Anyway, to conclude, I really enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Emir Kusturica’s work. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. First of all, what the hell happened to Michael Mann?!? Seriously, he used to be one of the most interesting directors at work but, after 'Collateral', his following movies have been increasingly disappointing and this trend reached an all-time low with 'Blackhat' which was one of the biggest commercial and critical flops released in 2015. Anyway, even though I have started to lose some faith in the guy, I still really like his work (at least, his older work) and this one is probably one of his best movies. Nowadays, it seems to be rather forgotten but when it was released, it was a big critical success and it definitely deserved all the praise it received. Indeed, to start with, the performances delivered by Al Pacino (in probably one of his last very good movies) and Russell Crowe were really good and, above all, the story was just very interesting and entertaining. In my opinion, it is almost as good as ‘All The President’s Men’, probably the best movie in this genre, it was above all thanks to Michael Mann's solid directing which managed to perfectly mix the usual thriller gimmicks with a realistic and compelling story. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved this flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Mann's work.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick (in fact, I even saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released) and I should definitely watch it again at some point. After the also criminally underrated ‘Crash’, it was something completely different for this director but it was just as spellbinding to behold.  Indeed, David Cronenberg must be one the most interesting directors around and I’m rather amazed that this feature doesn’t get more credit because it was in my opinion just fascinating. Indeed, as usual with this director, the whole thing was half creepy, half intellectual but it was always challenging. In fact, when you think about it, if Christopher Nolan would have made ‘Inception’ as an horror movie instead of some action flick, I think it would have looked really similar to this feature. Back in those days, Jude Law was still one of the most promising actors in the world (eventually, he never became so huge after all) and I thought he did a decent job here. To conclude, I really loved the damned thing, it is in my opinion one of the best movies directed by David Cronenberg and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this director. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it had a solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. At least, the title sounded really neat. I have to confess, I had no idea what the whole thing was actually about and the beginning was quite confusing, at least, to me.  Furthermore, it took a while to take off. Still, it was definitely worth the wait after all. Indeed, I really enjoyed the realistic approach but, above all, I thought that the 2 characters played by Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster were just fascinating. Indeed, those 2 guys were some of the most slimy and conniving characters I have ever seen thanks to some really strong performances from Curtis and Lancaster. In fact, this movie didn’t get much love when it was released at least from the audience,   it was mostly because both actors were playing such dark characters and it was apparently too difficult to swallow for the audience at the time. In my case, I just loved how bleak the whole thing was, the dialogues were really neat and the end was like a Greek tragedy. To conclude, I thought it was pretty awesome and it it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for John Cusack, I thought I might as well check it out. When I was watching this flick, I couldn't help thinking about 'K-Pax'. Indeed, it was once again dealing with a young boy who thinks he is an alien. By the way, even though ‘K-Pax’ is considered by many as one of the most underrated movies ever made, I thought it was a decent watch but not much more than that. Coming back to our main feature, John Cusack tried really hard and the movie was rather sweet but it was just too sentimental and not original enough for me. I mean, the whole thing was just so predictable and you had all the predicable obligatory scenes such as they don't get along with each other, but Cusack is pretty cool so eventually there is some bonding but then, there is always some mean person from the social service who comes along and they get separated but there is, of course, a happy ending after all.... Still, thanks above all to a pretty good cast (John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Sophie Okonedo, Joan Cusack, Oliver Platt), it was still fairly enjoyable to watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.