Reviews by johanlefourbe

Back in the 90's, the Dardenne brothers already won the Golden Palm with 'Rosetta' but, to be honest, I thought this movie rather underwhelming, probably the least appealing movie they made so far as a matter of fact. On the other hand, it saw this movie years ago in the movie theatre when it was released and I should probably check it out again at some point. Anyway, the Belgian siblings are one of the few directors who managed to win twice the Golden Palm and I was really curious to see if the second time around, they did actually deserve this prestigious award. And indeed, this time, I thought it was pretty amazing. The story was really heartbreaking and offered no redemption whatsoever. The Dardennes brothers have a very natural directing style and the whole thing almost looked like a documentary. Furthermore, the actors were no well-known stars (at least, back then) but they all gave some very convincing performances. I think I enjoyed more 'Le Fils' but this flick is still one of the best directed by these guys. To conclude, I think it is a great picture, it is maybe not for everyone but it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Dardennes' brothers work.

Since I kept hearing some good things about this flick (it won the Golden Globe of the best foreign movie and was very close to win the Academy award as well and it won the Golden Calf of the best Dutch movie of the year), I was definitely eager to watch this flick. Eventually, I thought it was even better than I thought it would be. Indeed, it was a fascinating and totally heartbreaking story with some really solid directing and some top notch acting. If you think that Palestinian terrorists are all monsters, you should really check this movie. The directing is very effective and the actors were all seriously convincing. As said before, it is really a heartbreaking picture and makes you wonder if they will ever solve their issues in the middle east one day. Probably never, I’m afraid. To be honest, I can't believe that 'Tsotsi', which was in my opinion a decent flick but nothing more that, did eventually won the Academy award for the best foreign movie back then instead of this masterpiece. Anyway, to conclude, it is a great flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.

I already saw this movie, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released but, since I have it on Blu-Ray, I thought I might as well check it out once again. I remember, back in 2014, after 9 long years, they finally came up with a sequel but, unfortunately, it seemed that nobody cared anymore and it was eventually a flop (and, indeed, the damned thing was such a disappointment). Anyway, when this first instalment came out, it had quite an impact and it became right away a cult-classic. I remember pretty well, as I mentioned before, I got pretty lucky as I managed to see it in the movie theater when it was released and I was seriously blown away by the damned thing. By now, I have seen most of the movies directed by Robert Rodriguez and, in my opinion, it is easily his best movie and I would go as far as saying that it is definitely one of the best comic book adaptations ever made. Since then, I have actually bought the original Sin City comic books, those are great as well and I can tell you that this movie is a very faithful adaptation, probably the most faithful adaptation of a comic-book that you will ever see. Of course, the story was rather preposterous but, for once, it didn't bother me. While I was re-watching it, it also took me back 20 years ago, when I was around 25 years old and Jessica Alba was around the same age and, damned, the girl was quite gorgeous back then. It's too bad her career was nothing really impressive after all but I guess she was never a great actress after all. Anyway, to conclude, this flick just looks awesome, I loved the mood of the whole thing, I think it is a great achievement and it is definitely worth a look.

Even though Richard Linklater made the best movie released in 2014 (‘Boyhood’) and one of the best released in 2013 (‘Before Midnight’), somehow, I still have some mixed feelings about this director. Even so, I was quite eager to check this flick. Eventually, I thought this movie was really a typical example of why Linklater is an interesting director but not really a great one. First of all, I really liked this movie. Indeed, it was dealing with a really topical subject, I thought it was fairly well a done and the whole thing was just really interesting. Indeed, the movie made some very strong points about the fast food industry and I thought it seemed pretty realistic to me. The bottom line is that it made me think and wonder and that was its best asset. Still, the whole thing was not flawless though. Basically, there were just too many story lines and characters and the whole thing felt rather unfocused sometimes. The cameos felt also rather irritating and unnecessary (with the exception of Bruce Willis who was pretty good though). So, as often with Linklater, he came up here with a really awesome concept but the end-result was not exactly mind-blowing, I’m afraid. Still, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Richard Linklater’s work.        

I actually already watched this movie but it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, to be honest, I was at first slightly worried. Indeed, the beginning was seriously awkward and poorly paced. Basically, they tried to introduce all the major characters and explain their motivation all at once in a very short time but it was really weak. Fortunately, as soon as Bowen and Draco got properly acquainted, the whole thing went much more smoothly and the rest of the movie worked much better. Of course, it was still not really a masterpiece but I thought it was still pretty enjoyable. Indeed, even though Dennis Quaid seemed to be a rather odd choice to play a knight, he gave a competent performance and the special effects were actually pretty good too. Indeed, we have seen better since then but, 20 years later, I still think that Draco holds up pretty well visually speaking and I’m pretty sure it was one of the very first CGI character playing a lead, 5 years before Gollum showed up in the LOTR. Finally, the rest of the cast was also solid (David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer, Jason Isaacs, Julie Christie, Sean Connery) and the whole thing was simply quite entertaining. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.