Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Julianne Moore, I was quite eager to check it out.  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. To be honest, I find it rather difficult to judge this flick. Basically, it is a rather strange movie... I mean, the whole thing looked really good, the performances were decent as well but I just couldn't get involved in the damned thing. Usually, I don't have a problem with this but, in this case, basically, ALL the characters were at best boring but most of the time actually rather despicable which made it really hard to care for this movie. To conclude, even though the whole thing was not a total failure, I’m still not sure if I should recommend it and you should watch it at your own risk.

Obviously, I had some very low expectations before watching this movie and, if I recall it correctly, I ended up watching it with my step-daughter. Anyway, the whole thing turned out to be a very average flick. The main issue I had while watching this was how generic the whole thing was. I mean, seriously, this story has been done already 1000 times before and, in my opinion, they didn't add anything new to this old formula. Concerning the leads, Samaire Armstrong and Kevin Zegers, you might wonder how they ended up playing the main characters since neither of them really managed to become a major player, especially Samaire Armstrong. I don’t know, I have noticed that some viewers praised their performances and even though I have to admit that they had some pretty good chemistry, I can’t say that they really blew me away though. Basically, it was always obvious that the guy was actually pretending to be a girl and vice versa, you never actually really got the feeling that they had actually swapped bodies. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was pretty weak but I have to admit that it might be actually enjoyable for its target audience but I would definitely not recommend it anyway.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while ago and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. I guess that many viewers must have thought, when they heard that it would be an adaptation of a Science-Fiction book from Philip K. Dick, that they would get something more similar to 'Blade Runner' and they must have been sorely disappointed but that's in fact something that made this movie even more interesting to me, the fact that it displayed a future really similar to our world. Anyway, even though this movie seems to be rather forgotten nowadays, I  thought it was actually rather awesome and the story was just quite fascinating, at least, for me. Furthermore, I just loved the animation which was just so original and so amazing to look at. The concept was just very original and it was a perfect fit for this story. Indeed, even though it could have been a lame gimmick, I thought it was a great way to convey the general confused state of mind of a drug addict. Sure, the pacing was rather sluggish, many scenes were rather random and I didn't care much for some of the sub-plots, especially this twist at the end that Winona Ryder's character was also a cover agent. Still, most of it work really well for me and it think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, before watching this flick, I had some rather low expectations about the damned thing. Indeed, even though I thought that Zorro was pretty awesome when I was kid, by that time, I didn’t care much for this character anymore. Eventually, in spite my low expectations, I have to admit it, I actually liked the damned thing. Indeed, there were some nice action scenes, some pretty good performances and the story was quite entertaining. Of course, the fact that Anthony Hopkins was involved didn't hurt at all but I must admit that Antonio Banderas was actually pretty good in the title role. Basically, it is a really straightforward adventure flick and even though it didn't offer anything really original, it was actually very well made and just fun to watch. Also, I thought that the whole thing was really faithful to the spirit of Zorro (at least, the idea that I had in mind after watching the TV-show when I was a kid). The only thing missing was Sergeant Garcia (who won't show up either in the sequel) but it wasn't a deal breaker. To conclude, even though it is definitely not a masterpiece, it remains an enjoyable and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

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.