Reviews by johanlefourbe

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. 

Since I kept hearing some good things about this flick, I thought I should give it a shot. Eventually, I thought it was a decent watch but I have to say that this is not a movie for the impatient viewers. Indeed, the story takes a while to take off but I thought it was definitely worth it. It was above all thanks to the directing which was pretty good and the mood was very well set. Even though she never really had a major breakthrough on the silver screen, I thought that this time Calista Flockhart gave a very convincing performance. So, it is a rather slow horror flick but the conclusion was quite awesome and was totally satisfying. Eventually, a few years later, Jaume Balagueró would make ‘[Rec]’, easily one of the  best found-footage flicks ever made and it was a downright international hit. However, even though I really enjoyed ‘[Rec]’, I think it’s too bad that Balagueró spent the following 10 years only making sequels for this franchise. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it is actually nothing really revolutionary, it remains a very well made and entertaining horror flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Between this movie and ‘Chasing Liberty’, I’m not sure which one was actually worse. Above all, what is really amazing, is how they did come up with the idea to release two movies during the same year which were both based on such a lame concept? Anyway, obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but I thought was really weak and completely underwhelming. I mean, the actors involved did what they could with this rather abysmal material but the story was just rather inane. Above all, I thought that the end was just rather worthless. Concerning Katie Holmes, only a few years later, she would get hitched with Tom Cruise and it would have an even more disastrous impact on her career than this lame movie had. Eventually, the saddest thing was that this movie would be the last directing effort delivered by Forest Whitaker. Indeed, 10 years before, he made ‘[Link removed - login to see]’, and even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still promising, especially since it was his directing debut. However, this movie was a major step-back and you might wonder if he will even consider directing another movie in the future. To conclude, I thought it was really weak, I can't recommend this flick and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Not so long ago, I saw ‘August’, Anthony Hopkins’s directing debut, and it was based on the very same story, except that Hopkins moved the setting to North Wales at the beginning of the 20th century and changed all the names. Eventually, I was able to figure out who was who but I just couldn't see what it was actually all about and what they actually wanted to achieve here. Indeed, I might sound stupid but I think it is one of the most confusing stories I have ever seen. Anyway, since  it was Louis Malle's last movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I did like it but it is definitely not for everybody. Basically, there was literally no set or decor and the only focus was on the actors and their performances. Fortunately, all the actors were very good and gave some very good performances. Eventually, I believe that this original approach helped me to appreciate more this rather convoluted story as I didn’t care much for the traditional version delivered by Hopkins. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not an easy watch, I thought it was quite intriguing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Louis Malle’s work.

Since I kept hearing some really great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out and I had some rather high expectations. Eventually,  the whole thing turned out  be even better than I expected which is something that very rarely happens. Obviously, it was highly controversial in France where it was banned for many years which is not surprising since this movie was shot only 3 years after the actual independence of Algeria. This civil war lasted almost a decade and was very traumatizing for France so, to get such a bleak realistic depiction of this war so soon after this conflict was ended was probably too hard to swallow for the French audience. Anyway, first of all, as a history lesson, it is pretty amazing and, in my opinion, it should be actually compulsory viewings for all teenagers. On top of that, it is not only an incredibly valuable historical feature. Indeed, as a movie, it was just fascinating to behold and I would go as far saying that it was one of the most spellbinding thrillers I have ever seen. To conclude, I think it is a great achievement and it is easily one of the best movies ever made. 

To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this flick and the main reason I wanted to check it out was because I have a weak spot for Sigourney Weaver and Greg Kinnear. Eventually, the story was rather generic and predictable but, fortunately, the actors involved were all pretty good. Above all, the most refreshing thing about his movie was definitely the fact that the 2 main characters were played by some ‘normal’ looking women (Amy Poehler and Tina Fey). Indeed, in most movies, you always get some impossible gorgeous looking bimbo's/super top models to play the love interest or any kind of female character. For example, the other day, I saw ‘This Means War’ and the makers tried to make us believe that someone like Reese Witherspoon would need a dating site to find a guy which was rather pathetic. Anyway, even if the cast was pretty neat, I‘m afraid I didn't really care much for the story or the characters involved. To conclude, in my opinion, those fine actresses actually deserved a better story but, still, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.