Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though it is a rather obscure feature, since I always had a weak spot for Michael Cimino’s work, I was quite eager to check it out. Obviously, ever since  the massive debacle with ‘Heaven's Gate’,  Cimino always had a rather abysmal reputation but I still think he is a very interesting director so I always wanted to see this movie. Eventually, I have to admit that it was nothing really amazing but, in my opinion, the directing was solid and there were some beautiful shots at the beginning. Above all,  it was really neat to see Anthony Hopkins just a year before he became famous with ‘The Silence of Lambs’ and Mickey Rourke when he still looked decent and I thought that they gave some very good performances. Unfortunately the story just didn’t work very well. Indeed, it was at first intriguing but, pretty soon, it became a huge mess and, as a result, the whole thing was eventually rather disappointing. To conclude, it’s too bad because the whole thing had some potential but, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in the actors involved or in this director. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it has a solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. After watching the damned thing, to be honest, since it is such a 80's classic, I was actually expecting something more from this movie. I guess I'm not a big fan of those 80's classic comedies. Indeed, I wasn’t already a huge fan of ‘Animal House’ but it was at least better than this flick. I mean, sure,  it was sometimes amusing, I’ll give you that, but most of the time I thought it was just lame and boring. Eventually, 20 years later, somehow, the nerds became some possible lead characters, thanks above all to all the successful R rated comedies delivered by Judd Apatow and it was something that this movie and its sequels never actually managed to achieve. Indeed, in spite of its catchy title, this movie actually failed to make the nerds look and sound cool. Anyway, to conclude, I didn’t like it much and I don’t think it is really worth a look  but if you are a fan of this genre, you might end up enjoying it more than I did.

Al Pacino is (or at least was) a great actor, it has always been a treat to see him in anything and he was the main reason why I wanted to watch this flick. The rest of the cast (Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, Amy Brenneman, Deborah Kara Unger) was also pretty interesting so, all in all, I thought it was a decent watch but I have to admit that the story was nothing special and it was even rather preposterous in fact, especially towards the end. To be honest, the more I think about it, the more I believe that, if I would re-watch this flick nowadays, I’m pretty sure I would actually lower my rating. Indeed, the whole thing was nothing really amazing and I think I have been terribly generous the first time around. Anyway, a year later, Al Pacino will make another movie with director Jon Avnet but, this time, it would be also starring Robert De Niro so, there was a really cool buzz before its release but, eventually, it turned out to be rather underwhelming as well. To conclude, even though it was a rather weak effort for Al Pacino, I thought it was fairly entertaining but you shouldn’t expect anything really amazing before watching it.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was realy eager to check it out again. To be honest, I'm rather surprised that this movie seems to be rather forgotten nowadays because I thought it was just quite amazing. In fact, even though it might seem surprising, it is easily my favorite movie dealing with a psychopath and it is, in my opinion, far superior to some major classics in the same genre like, for example, 'The Silence of Lambs' or 'Seven’. First of all, the whole thing looked pretty amazing and it was probably one of the most convincing depictions I have seen of this time period. As a result, Tom Tykwer displayed that he was one of the best directors at work at the time and it was absolutely his best directing effort so far. Unfortunately, everything he made afterwards never reached the same level, even 'Cloud Atlas', which was another terribly underrated movie, was really good but still not so flawless. Concerning Ben Whishaw, I had some doubts at first but he turned out to be quite impressive and I made sure to check his following projects. To conclude, I think it is a really underrated movie, it was a fascinating story which eventually became a great adaptation and it is definitely 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. At least, there was a decent cast involved (Forest Whitaker, Julia Stiles, Jeremy Renner, Peter Coyote)  and they all delivered some solid performances. Furthermore, the story was not bad and it definitely had some potential. Indeed, it was quite intriguing as long as it was focusing on the insurance investigator played by Forest Whitaker. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie didn’t completely work for me. Indeed, it managed to create a nice mysterious mood but, at some point, like any other average other thrillers, they had to come up with some kind of explanation which was rather underwhelming after all. Above all, what bothered me the most were those twists at the end which were just plain annoying. Still, 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. 

Obviously, since this movie had a really terrible reputation, I had some really low expectations but I still wanted to check it out if it was as bad as everyone seemed to think. So, I was expecting a huge piece of crap but, to be honest, eventually, I thought it was not so bad after all. I mean, of course, the story was very lame and it didn't make much sense most of the time but there were some interesting visuals and Milla Jovovich was pretty bad-ass. For director Kurt Wimmer, it was a massive step back in his career though. Indeed, even though ‘Equilibrium’ was not really a box-office success, it still managed to become a cult-classic. Well, this follow-up turned out to be a massive critical and commercial flop and the guy hasn’t release another directing effort since then. For Milla Jovovich, even though she is always pretty cool in such action flicks, the whole thing was probably too similar to the Resident Evil franchise to really stand out (the fact that she made way too many Resident Evil sequels didn’t help either). Anyway, to conclude, if you expect the worst movie in the world, you'll probably be disappointed by this movie but I definitely can't recommend it and you should probably watch something else.

Obviously, I can't say I was expecting much from this flick but I always had a weak spot for this franchise and I thought it was pretty neat to see both Adrian Paul and Christopher Lambert in the same Highlander movie. Indeed, 6 years later after the already really lame ‘Highlander: The Final Dimension’, they decided to come up with another sequel this time starring Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod and Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod which all sounded pretty cool. Unfortunately, it was yet another really disappointing installment. Basically, even though once again, the whole thing really had some potential and could or should have been pretty bad-ass, the story was just a boring mess. Indeed, even though the concept of these immortal warriors fighting each other has always been interesting, somehow, they always managed to come up with the most stupid stories ruining the whole thing. Eventually, they would release another sequel 7 years later, starring only Adrian Paul this time, and it would manage to be even more abysmal. Anyway, to conclude, I think I’m being really generous with my rating here, it is just a very average movie with a rather lame story and it is not worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of this franchise.