Reviews by johanlefourbe

During the last decade, Nicolas Cage’s work has become increasingly disappointing and, even though I have been defending him for many years, I have to admit that his movies are nowadays terribly underwhelming. As a result, some of his older movies which seemed pretty weak when they were released now seem actually to be pretty decent after all. This movie is a perfect example. Indeed, basically, it was a rather predictable comedy but it was still fairly enjoyable and Shirley Maclaine and Nicolas Cage were both pretty good in this. Especially Cage, back in those days, not matter how lousy or dubious the material was, the guy would always deliver a bad-ass, sometime over-the-top but quite often hilarious performance. In the same genre, you have also ‘’ Honeymoon in Vegas’ with an ever more ridiculous premise but it didn’t stop Nicolas Cage to give a really compelling act anyway. Gosh, I really miss those days and, hopefully, some day, this fine thespian will finally wake up and get his act back together but I highly doubt it will happen anytime soon. Coming back to our main feature, even though it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was a decent comedy and it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Right now, the biggest thing in movie land are nowadays obviously the super-hero features but some already predict that, at some point, the mainstream audience will eventually get bored with this fad and the next rage could be the video game adaptations. However, currently, except for a few exception like ‘Silent Hill’, the first ‘Resident Evil’ installment or even the ‘Tomb Raider’ flicks, virtually all the video game adaptations have been terribly disappointing and some big flops at the box-office. This movie was a perfect example. In fact, the whole thing actually had some potential. Indeed, the main character was really bad-ass, Timothy Olyphant actually did a pretty good job in this movie and the action scenes were well done. What kind of ruined the movie for me was basically the romantic relationship between the lead character and Olga Kurylenko. Sure, Kurylenko is a really charming lady but, seriously, it just didn't fit the character at all. 8 years later, they will reboot the whole thing with Rupert Friend to play the lead this time but, to be honest, I really doubt that it will be much better than this first feature. Anyway, coming back our main feature, even though the whole thing had some potential, I thought it was pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

Honestly, beforehand, I had never heard of this movie before but since the cast was pretty nice, I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, I thought it was actually not bad at all and there were many things I enjoyed concerning this little unknown and obscure movie. First of all, I thought that Michael Keaton was really good in this movie and it was nice to see him in such a good shape as it doesn't happen very often those days (he did make an impressive come-back with ‘Birdman’ in 2014 though). The other big star, Robert Downey Jr., had a very small part and played one of these typical weird eccentric characters. To be honest, I never really cared about such characters because I always find that the writers give them such a weird attitude just because those characters don’t have anything actually interesting to say. Anyway, like I said before, it was just a small part. My main issue was actually with the story which as not riveting enough, at least, that's my opinion. Still, the whole thing had some potential and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you have a weak spot for Michael Keaton.

To be honest, before watching this movie, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a pretty cool cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I thought the whole thing was just really underwhelming. I mean, is there anything worse than a weak thriller? Yes, a paranormal thriller with some religious undertones. Basically, that’s a trend that started more than 40 years ago with ‘The Exorcist’ (already one of the most overrated movies ever made in my opinion) and I’m afraid we’ll be getting such features for a very long time. It’s too bad because the whole thing actually some potential. Indeed, I really liked the cast (Kim Basinger, Christina Ricci, Rufus Sewell, Ian Holm) and I have to admit that the topic of the movie was actually pretty cool but, eventually, the whole thing was just poorly developed and it was just a really average flick. Concerning Kim Basinger, by now, I have seen more than half of all her movies and I’m afraid that she is pretty much just another gorgeous lady with not many acting skills, I’m afraid. To conclude, I have seen worse but still don’t think this movie is really worth a look.

Since this movie has a really solid reputation, I was really eager to check it out. On top of that, because this movie was another adaptation of 'Alice in Wonderland', I assumed it would be fine to watch it with my kids. Fortunately, I ended up watching it on my own but I guess it would have been a little bit too much for them. Indeed, it is a basically a really weird picture with some very nice animation. Somehow, it reminded me of 'Where the Wild Things Are'. Basically, Spike Jonze spent years developing this children book and even though the end-result was intriguing and appealing, it was also really dark and, therefore, it pretty much lost its purpose since it wasn't any longer a children story. Well, I had pretty much the same feeling here but, on the other hand, aren't we allowed to expand on a traditional children tale like this one to develop and explore our own fears and neuroses? Ok, maybe, I'm going too far in my analysis but there is no doubt that it must be the most nightmarish version of Lewis Carroll's tale. To conclude, even though I wasn't completely blown away by the whole thing, I really liked it and it is definitely worth a look.

Nowadays, it seems that Adam Sandler, just like Will Smith and Johnny Depp (they were the last 3 big stars who could secure a box-office hit every time around), has pretty much lost his touch. Indeed, a couple of weeks ago, they released his last picture called 'Pixels'. It must have seemed ambitious for some but it looked pretty lame to me, anyway, it was yet another flop for the supposedly funny guy. Anyway, with this in mind, it is actually interesting to look back to his older work like this movie for example. Indeed, it was pretty much one of those typical lame Sandler pictures with a lame premise and it is basicaly a lame movie. But check the gross. Basically, loads and loads of people actually paid some expansive theater tickets to see this feature back then it was released. Personally, I saw it for free on TV but still felt ripped off. At least, we got to see Jessica Biel in her underwear but, while writing this, I feel kind of depressed that it was my big highlight while watching this flick. To conclude, sure, Adam Sandler has made worse since then but, still, you should pretty much avoid this movie, expect if you're a big fan of this guy.

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.