Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but I came across a very cheap DVD, so I thought I might as well give it a try. Even though Thomas Ian Nicholas was playing the lead and  he was supposed to the big attraction here, in fact, I was actually much more interested in Kate Winslet and Daniel Craig. Indeed, it was pretty funny to see them before they became famous but, unfortunately, they both had some minor roles. 10 years before becoming James Bond, Craig was displaying one of his most pathetic hairdo and I’m pretty sure he would rather that we all forget about this flick. Anyway, that was about everything this movie has to offer, I’m afraid. Indeed, basically, it was just another typical time-travel picture which didn't add anything original to this genre, I never really thought that this concept was interesting and I was seriously bored throughout the whole thing. Eventually, they even made a sequel 2 years later which was released directly to DVD but I don’t think I will bother check it out. To conclude, it turned out to be a rather lame picture and I don’t think you should waste time with this flick. 

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it is considered as a classic, I was quite eager to give it a 2^nd chance. Indeed, when I first heard about this flick, it sounded really awesome. The concept seemed to be pretty neat and, above all, there was a stellar cast involved (Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal, Gene Hackman, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, James Caan, Liv Ullmann, Elliott Gould, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford).  Well, to be honest, the first time around,  I thought it was actually rather underwhelming and this rewatch didn’t really change my feelings towards this movie. I don’t know, even though the whole thing was well made and quite realistic, I guess it was slightly dull. I mean, basically, you spend about 3 hours watching a botched war mission and while, according to the many fans, the whole thing was actually about the futility of war,  I didn’t really get that feeling while watching this movie.  A reason why could be that every 5 minutes you have a famous actor trying to be pretty damned heroic anyway even if they would show up for usually just a few scenes. As a result, on one hand, the makers wanted to show that this mission was a really bad idea but, on the other hand, they still wanted to show that the soldiers involved were quite amazing. Unfortunately, this mix never really worked in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn’t really blow me away, it still has a solid reputation so I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Eventually, even though it was obviously nothing amazing whatsoever, I thought it was actually not bad at all. Above all, I thought it was pretty neat to see Kristen Stewart before her ‘Twilight’ fame. Indeed, even though we tend to forget it, Stewart has been around for more than a decade already and, in fact, this movie was pretty much her first leading part.To be honest, I never really understood the hatred towards her. I mean, if you go behind the whole ‘Twilight’ thing, you will see that she showed up in some decent movies. Coming back to our main feature, the whole idea was basically to have some kids involved in some heist which wasn’t a bad idea even if, obviously, the premise was rather far-fetched. Anyway, at the end of the day, even though it was watchable, it was still some rather average stuff but I guess it should be rather enjoyable for its target audience. To conclude, I’m not really sure I should recommend this movie but if you have some young kids to entertain, it might be worth a look for them. 

What happened to the Farrelly Brothers? Following their success with ‘Dumb & Dumber’, they became pretty much the kings of the Raunchy comedy but it has been a while since they got a real hit. Anyway, it is not with such an underwhelming remake that they will make a come-back anytime soon, that’s for sure. I mean, I do believe that Ben Stiller is a decent actor and sometimes he can be really hilarious. For this movie,  he did his usual awkward unlucky guy which was but a little bit overdone by now. Anyway, even though there were some bits here and there which were fairly amusing,  most of it  was rather tedious, I’m afraid, and even pretty lame at some points. The most difficult thing to swallow was the really sudden change of behavior displayed by Malin Akerman. I mean, I’ll give you that, she is a pretty girl but she wasn’t really convincing here and, as a result, the whole premise pretty much fell apart. Anyway, to conclude, even though I didn’t care much for the whole thing, I still think it was a decent watch and if you are fan of the Farelly brothers, I guess it is worth a look.

It is a rather obscure flick so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from it but since there was a really solid cast, I was really eager to check it out. Indeed, I think that both Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix are some of the most interesting actors at work nowadays and the fact they were both involved in this feature made me really curious about the damned thing. On top of that, the rest of the cast was also quite interesting (Jennifer Connelly, Mira Sorvino, Elle Fanning).  Eventually,  all the actors delivered some solid performance and the directing was efficient but, unfortunately, the story was decent enough but nothing really amazing, I’m afraid. The point is that the characters and their emotions felt really genuine, especially thanks to the actors involved but the whole thing never really managed to convince me that it was such a  fascinating tale. Basically, at the end of the days, sure, it was a tragic tale, absolutely, but I don’t know, it felt too generic and pedestrian to really impress me. Anyway, all in all, I thought I was a decent drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

It is a rather obscure flick so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from it but since I have a weak spot for Robin Williams , I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I must admit that I was at first really surprised by the damned thing. Indeed, for most of the movie, I thought it was actually quite spellbinding to behold. Indeed, the performances were really good, especially from Robin Williams who gave here one of his best performances and the story was really impressive (It was in fact based on some true events, apparently). Unfortunately, I thought that this interesting material was rather poorly handled,  the whole thing felt terribly gimmicky and I personally think that the twist didn't work out at all. Indeed, during the beginning of the movie, Pete Logand was played by Rory Culkin but, suddenly, you realize that the boy never existed and was invented by Toni Collette’s character. Sure, you can argue that you actually get to see who Robin Williams was thinking to have on the other line but it just didn’t work for me as this trick was just seriously misguiding in my opinion. Indeed, it’s just too easy to show someone on the screen, then remove him completely and finally claim that the whole thing was so clever in fooling the viewer when, in fact, it was just really weak and lazy. It's too bad because it really had some potential but, in spite of these flaws, I still think it is definitely worth a look though.

Nowadays, the raunchy comedies are really popular, they make a lof of money at the box-office and you could say that this movie somehow started this trend. In fact, it was even the highest grossing R rated comedy released so far. Anyway, even though I really loved the concept of 'wedding crashing', I thought that the whole thing was really misguiding. Indeed, even though it was supposed to be about some guy crashing some weddings, in fact, they really spent maybe 15 minutes actually doing that and the rest of the movie was just some average and rather predictable romantic comedy. It’s just too bad because those first 15 minutes were just awesome. Indeed, Vince Vaughn (who used to be really funny back in those days) and Owen Wilson were pitch perfect and they were quite hilarious. Unfortunately, from the moment those guys get hooked up with Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher, it all goes down from here and, instead of a wild raunchy comedy as it was sold, it became something entirely different and rather disappointing. To conclude, even though the whole thing really some some potential and could have been really awesome, it was still fairly entertaining and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

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. Anyway, even though I had no idea what to expect from this flick, since I have a weak spot for Elijah Wood, I thought I might as well check it out. Indeed, I have noticed that ever since 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy (which was amazing and a deserved success), I haven't seen much of Elijah Wood and it was really nice to see him again. I have to admit that it was also quite refreshing to see Chris Klein finally trying something else than his usual underwhelming comedies. Still, even though it was a decent watch, the end result was rather mixed. Basically. the story was not bad but it was not really amazing and the directing was rather weak as well. To conclude, I think it really had some potential but, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look. 

[Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]3 years after ‘Highlander II: The Quickening’ which was a massive critical failure and is still considered as one of the worst sequels ever made even 25 years later, they decided to give it a another try with this franchise. Well, obviously, it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid and, to enjoy this, it all depends where you stand concerning the Highlander legacy. Indeed, if you are a fan, it is pretty much a must see but , otherwise, it will probably bore you to death. Basically, the whole idea was to move forward with this mythology, completely ignoring ‘Highlander II: The Quickening’. The funny thing is that, even though it was supposed to be an improvement on the previous installment, it didn’t really work after all. Indeed, it was still pretty much a flop and the ratings for this movie were pretty much just as underwhelming as the previous installment. 6 years later, they would come up with another sequel this time starring both Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod and Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod which all sounded pretty cool but it was yet all rather disappointing again. Anyway, to conclude, this installment might have been an improvement on the second one but it was still a rather lame movie and I’m sure I can recommend it.