Reviews by johanlefourbe

When this movie was released, it was critically bashed but if you would compare it to the last movies starring Nicolas Cage, you might think that it wasn’t so bad after all which is rather sad. Still, even though the whole thing had a rather lame reputation, I thought I might as well give it a shot anyway. Eventually, I think it could have been actually a pretty cool movie and the whole thing definitely had some potential. Indeed, I really enjoyed the mood, it was really neat, and I always had a weak spot for such movies dealing with a hitman. Unfortunately, the whole thing was really poorly developed,  the end result was rather disappointing and it was pretty much just another  average action flick starring Nicolas Cage. I mean, something appeal about the original movie, also directed by the Pang brothers, was apparently (I haven’t seen it) the fact that the main character  was a deaf and mute hitman but, in this US remake, they dropped this aspect and instead, made his girlfriend to be deaf-mute. Anyway, to conclude, I think it’s too bad because this movie had some potential but, at the end of the day, it was actually pretty weak and I don’t it really worth a look after all.

When I first heard about this flick, that Robert De Niro and Al Pacino would finally work again together again more than 10 years after the legendary ‘Heat’, of course, I was excited and really eager to check the damned thing. Indeed, even though ‘Heat’ was really neat, De Niro and Pacino had only 1 or 2 scenes together which was rather frustrating and, with this movie, they would finally share some good screen time together. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be rather disappointing. I mean, De Niro and Pacino were both pretty awesome and it was really neat to have them together but the story was nothing really interesting or original. Indeed, I thought it was rather lazy and the rather predictable twist at the end didn’t help either. At the end of the day, it seems that this collaboration just came too late in their career. Indeed, by now, both actors seem to have lost their sparkle and most of their recent movies were rather forgettable. If they would have made this in the 70’s or in the 80’s, when they were at the top of their game, it would have been probably pretty awesome but it wasn’t meant to be, I’m afraid. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing was watchable, I think my rating is actually rather generous but I guess it is worth a look, at least, if you seriously lower your expectations.

Basically, there was a time when I would go to a video game shop (which is now closed) and I would buy there on a regular basis 5 DVDs for 5 euros and, sometimes, since I would be missing 1 DVD, I would pick up pretty much anything at random just to reach 5 movies. Anyway, following this amazing process, I ended up watching some rather weak movies and this one was definitely one of them. Indeed, first of all, I'm not a big fan of Stephen King and I didn't care much for the story or the characters involved at all so I can't say I really enjoyed it. Indeed, it was basically one of those typical King tale with a fantastic element but the concept was pretty weak. At least, there was a decent cast, I always had a weak spot for Ed Harris but I was above all impressed by Max van Sydow. Indeed, I have to confess that I haven’t seen enough movies starring this amazing actor. Anyway, even with such weak material, the guy completely stole the show with his performance. To conclude, even though I have seen worse, I thought it was rather underwhelming but, I guess, if you are big Stephen King fan, it might be worth a look but, otherwise, you should pass on this one.

I remember it very well, back in 2006, this movie managed to win the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year and, like many others, I was really surprised. Indeed, back then, it was expected that ‘Paradise Now’ (which was indeed pretty amazing) would win but it was eventually snubbed. So, with this in mind, I was quite eager to check the damned thing and I had some really high expectations. Well, eventually, even I thought it was a decent watch, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing and I really failed to see what was supposedly so amazing about the movie. I don’t know, the cast and directing were pretty good, I'll give you that, but the story was not really fascinating, or at least, it never really grabbed me. Concerning the director Gavin Hood, this movie opened for him the doors of Hollywood and he went directing such big projects like ‘Rendition’, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ and ‘Ender's Game’. To conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, I have to admit it,  it was still a good movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved,  I thought I might as well give it a try. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be really underwhelming. Indeed, even though I think that Paul Rudd is a pretty cool actor and usually really funny, this time, even him couldn't save this mess. I mean, sure, there were a few scenes that did work but most of the movie was just lame and really not funny at all. In my opinion, the main issue is that a romantic comedy involving ghost(s) is not really such a good idea and this movie is a good example. Basically, the whole thing was just pretty generic, predictable and just plain boring. Concerning Eva Longoria, I’m glad for her that she managed to have her breakthrough with ‘Desperate Housewives’ and I have to admit that she looks pretty stunning but it is not by showing up in such weak comedies that she will managed to be taken seriously any time soon. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, it was just pretty lame and I don’t it is really worth a look at all. 

Basically, there was a time when I would go to a video game shop (which is now closed) and I would buy there on a regular basis 5 DVDs for 5 euros and, sometimes, since I would be missing 1 DVD, I would pick up pretty much anything at random just to reach 5 movies. Anyway, following this amazing process, I ended up watching some rather obscure movies and this one was definitely one of them (indeed, I was only the 3rd Listal member who has rated the damned thing). Anyway, I thought it was a rather weird movie. Indeed, on one hand, I can't say it was really a bad movie but, on the other hand, I can't say I really enjoyed it either. Basically, the actors involved, especially Joan Allen, were all fine but I was rather underwhelmed by the whole story. Basically, it is one of those quirky indie pictures which tries too hard to be deep and thoughtful but eventually, it didn't really succeed in captivating me. It's too bad because the whole thing actually had some potential. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I had some rather low expectations concerning this flick but since I have a weak spot for Kurt Russell, I thought I should give it a try anyway. Well, eventually, it was honestly not really good, I’m afraid. Indeed, even though the whole thing had some potential, it was pretty much just a glorified B movie and, to really enjoy it, you shouldn't take it too seriously. I guess the main issue for me is that I'm not a huge fan of such B pictures... I have to admit it, there were some good action scenes and Kurt Russel was pretty good but the story and the movie remained pretty average. At the end of the day, it was a rather typical effort from Paul W.S. Anderson who is specialized in such average stuff. Honestly, I felt pretty bad for Kurt Russell as he worked out three or four hours a day for eighteen months to get himself into the "pumped-up" condition we see in this film. I mean, he was all right but the plot was just so tedious. Still, if you are fan of this genre, you may end up enjoying it more than I did otherwise you should probably watch something else.

I know, this movie really has a terribly reputation but I have to confess it, when I was a kid, I thought it was actually a pretty cool flick. Back then, I didn't know it was probably the most dreaded sequel ever made and I thought it was pretty neat to have those immortals fighting each other in the future. Eventually, I watched again the damned thing decades later and, I have to admit it, the whole thing was pretty weak. Indeed, the story and movie itself were rather lame . Above all, it barely made much sense most of the time and even contradicted many elements displayed in the previous movie. For example, the most obvious thing was probably the fact that Sean Connery was brought back when he was in fact killed in ‘Highlander’.  Even so, I still believe that the concept of the Highlander in the future was actually interesting, it’s just too bad they really messed up this concept. After this movie, they kept making some another sequels which always ignored this movie but I’m not sure if these sequels were actually much better. To conclude, even though the whole thing is pretty lame, I still believe it is a must see for any Highlander fan.

Since I kept hearing some great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out and I had some rather high expectations. Eventually even though it didn’t turn out to be one of my all-time favorites, I still have to admit that I really did like it a lot though. Basically, in my opinion, the plot and the characters were not really original, preventing this movie from becoming a real masterpiece, but it was still really entertaining.  Above all, what I really enjoyed was the cast filled many actors who were unknown at the time but all became pretty famous after showing up in this movie (Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Matthew McConaughey, Joey Lauren Adams, Parker Posey, Renée Zellweger, ...). For Linklater, this movie would be his breakthrough and for the next 20 years, he would become one of the more consistent US directors. In this movie, he would show that he would provide his best work when there is no actual plot, rather focusing on some realistic characters instead (see also the ‘Before…’ trilogy and ‘Boyhood’). To conclude, it is pretty much a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.