Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was really eager to check it out again. I have to admit that I still have to check most of Robert Altman’s older movies but from all the movies I have seen directed by this master so far, it remains by far my favourite one. It seems to be a little bit forgotten nowadays but I think it’s a shame because it is actually quite a spellbinding thriller. Eventually, since it was a big critical success at the time, it launched a new successful phase for this director, a phase which lasted until the end of his career. To be honest, after re-watching the damned thing, even if I still liked it, I have to admit that I was slightly less impressed than 20 years ago. I mean, the story was still terribly entertaining, I loved the directing but, eventually, I had a hard time to care about the characters this time around. I mean, the characters were entertaining enough but, eventually, not really interesting after all and actually barely defined. The best example would be June Gudmundsdottir, played by the lovely Greta Scacchi. Indeed, why would this intriguing woman would fall for such a weasel? Eventually, in my opinion, her behaviour seemed to be more plot-driven than actually really organic. Anyway, to conclude, I still think it is underrated gem and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Robert Altman’s work.

It has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should really re-watch it at some point. On the other hand, I’m not sure if the whole thing would have the same impact if I knew what was going to happen. Anyway, I remember very well the first time I saw the damned thing. Indeed, somehow, I really didn’t know at all what it was about, I certainly didn’t know anything about the infamous twist occurring  halfway through and I really didn’t see it coming at all. I remember it as if it was yesterday, I was with my one of my best buddies (who actually sadly passed away in 2016) and when the whole thing took place, we looked at each other completely flabbergasted (WTF?!?!) about what we just saw. It’s rather funny because I actually never really liked the usual twists in most of the thrillers but this one was, for me, completely unexpected.  Basically, it is really weird movie which cannot be classified and it is is Neil Jordan's best movie so far. Indeed, the story was just really fascinating and so unexpected. The less you know about it, the more you will enjoy it. To conclude, I think it is one of the most fascinating thrillers ever made and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick but I remember it so well. Indeed, I was so blown away by the whole thing and it became right away one of my all-time favorite movies. Back then, Harvey Keitel and Abel Ferrara were probably at the best of their career. I remember when I watched it (I was like 16 years old), I think I never saw anything similar before. Indeed, the tone was so dark, immoral, it displayed absolutely no mercy towards its main character and,  yet, it was just so fascinating to behold. After being completely blown away by this movie, I became a huge fan of Abel Ferrara’s work and I tried to watch all his movies but, unfortunately, everything he made after ‘The Funeral’ became increasingly obscure and usually rather underwhelming. Anyway, eventually, 17 years later, Werner Herzorg came up with the bizarre idea of remaking this movie and, even though it was maybe not as awesome as Ferrara’s version, it was still a really good movie and easily the best thing starring Nicolas Cage during the last 10 years. To conclude, even though it is an acquired taste, I think it is a fascinating bleak picture and I think it is definitely worth a look, at least if you don't mind a depressing movie.

[Link removed - login to see]Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry, Hilary Swank, David Arquette, Ben Affleck, Alexis Arquette, Seth Green, Ricki Lake). Anyway, the whole thing turned to be really lame... I don’t know, apparently,  Joss Whedon claimed that they completely ruined his vision and 5 years later, he would launch another version as a TV show which would turn out to quite successful. To be honest, I never really understood the appeal of this TV show but this early version was deservedly a commercial and critical failure.  Anyway, I thought it was just a terrible movie. Even the great Donald Sutherland couldn't save this mess. On the positive side, you could see Ben Affleck in a (very) small part and there was even Hilary Swank but she is far from her Academy award winning parts... To conclude, I didn’t care for this movie at all, it was completely underwhelming and it is definitely not worth a look. 

Nowadays, Disney is pretty much ruling the box-office with their live-action fairy tales, Pixar, Marvel and soon Star Wars but some of their other features, especially their live action features like this one, usually used to tank pretty bad at the box-office. With this in mind, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Charlize Theron, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I really like Charlize Theron but this was some pretty average stuff. Apparently, it was a remake of a very old movie from the end of the 40’s but, in fact, I thought the whole thing was actually a massive King-Kong rip-off. I’ll give you that, it is rather well done, with some decent special effects but I thought it was all terribly generic. Basically, it has already been done before and they didn't add anything new to the formula so I thought it was pretty boring. Concerning Charlize Theron, she made this movie at the beginning of her career and I guess we shouldn’t blame her as we all have to start somewhere but I would be really surprised if she would do something similar again later on during her career.  To conclude, it is an average Disney feature but I have to admit that it might be enjoyable for the kids between 9 and 12 years old.

To be honest, I had seriously no idea what to expect from this movie but since it was on TV and since I have a weak spot for Sophie Marceau, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be much worse than I expected. Seriously, it was so bad... I mean, like any other big French stars , Sophie Marceau wish at some point to launch a career in the US but she couldn’t possibly pick up a worse movie for that. Where should I start ? The story was just so lame, Sophie Marceau looked gorgeous as usual but she couldn't act at all and finally, who came up with the idea that David Spade could play a romantic lead?!? The very same year, Marceau would also show up in ‘The World Is Not Enough’, a much wiser career choice, but she would never show up again in another US production again. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it is probably one of the worst romantic-comedies I have ever seen and I have seen quite a few. To conclude, I thought it was really bad and I think you should just avoid it, even if you have a weak spot for Sophie Marceau. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by John Landis and since there was a solid cast involved, I was quite eager to see this movie. Eventually, I thought that the whole thing really had some potential and I really enjoyed how it all started. However, unfortunately, the story just went wild with lots of cameos (apparently, no less than 17 directors made an appearance in the film) and I eventually pretty much lost interest after the first 30 minutes. Basically, they created a nice mood but I was amazed about poorly developed it was and  the end-result was just a mess. It's too bad because Jeff Goldblum was pretty awesome here and Michelle Pfeiffer was, as usual, really charming. It was in fact the first movie she made after her breakthrough with ‘Scarface’ and it wouldn’t take her much longer to reach the A-list. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, unfortunately, they apparently decided to make some kind of hysterical goofy comedy and this choice was just terribly underwhelming. To conclude, even though the whole thing didn’t really work, I still think it is worth a look but don’t expect anything really amazing. 

Between this movie and ‘First Daughter’, 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 rather  underwhelming. At least, I have to admit that the leads were fairly likable but it was just a lame story. I mean, I have to confess it,  I have actually a weak spot for romantic-comedies but this one was not really good at all. In fact, when you think about it for 1 second, the whole thing is basically a remake of 'Roman holiday' which was indeed a good movie but even this classic didn't really blow me away to be honest. And even though Mandy Moore is quite charming, you can't possibly expect her to be able to replace Audrey Hepburn.  To conclude, at the end of the day. I think it was slightly better than ‘First Daughter’, but only very slightly, it was  still an average flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I think I have never seen before such a flawed classic. I mean, I know it is a huge classic and Audrey Hepburn was obviously quite charming in this flick but I seriously don’t understand how someone might consider this movie a masterpiece with the awful character played by the Mickey Rooney. Seriously, this character was so awful, he seriously ruined the whole thing for me. Coming to our main feature, it is a rather fluffy comedy which would be forever remembered for Holly Golightly, probably the most iconic character played by Audrey Hepburn. In fact, Marilyn Monroe was Truman Capote’s first choice to play the lead but she turned it down. Eventually, Hepburn herself thought she was miscast but it became ultimately one of her most popular roles. Apparently, the story written by Capote was slightly darker with the main character even flirting with bisexuality but it was all removed and the end-result was something rather clean and boring. Anyway, to conclude, I think the whole thing did have some potential but, by adding one of the most offending characters I have ever seen in a movie, they really lost me, but I guess since it is still such a classic, it is still worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Audrey Hepburn.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was not bad at all and fairly entertaining to watch. Above all, I really enjoyed the mood of this movie and the acting and directing were decent as well. Furthermore, we don't hear much from Ryan Philippe nowadays but I thought he was not bad at all here. On top of that, I always had a weak spot for Sarah Polley, she  remains one of the most underrated actress around but it’s too bad she often shows up in such obscure features. Eventually, even though the whole thing was not bad, at the end of the day, the story could have been better though and I wasn't crazy about the twist(s) at the end. That’s a common issue with this kind of thrillers, they create a nice mood but, from the moment that they try to explain what the hell was going on, then, they usually fall apart. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought that there were many things to enjoy about this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.