Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wonder how I actually ended up watching this movie. My guess is that I heard about what is about and since it sounded quite intriguing, I became quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I wasn’t disappointed, it is definitely one of those underrated/unknown jewels and I really loved the damned thing. I have to admit it, before watching this flick, I had actually never heard of Petey Green before and, apparently, this movie was not really accurate but, I didn’t care much, the guy was pretty cool, above all thanks to a really good performance by Don Cheadle who is definitely one of the most underrated actors at work nowadays. In this movie, Cheadle was working with Chiwetel Ejiofor, another criminally underrated actor, and they had some great chemistry together. Above all, I thought it was just a really interesting and entertaining story. Concerning Kasi Lemmons, I still have to watch her directing debut, ‘Eve’s Bayou’, which was very well received (according to Roger Ebert, it was even the best movie released in 1997, no less than that). Anyway, to conclude, even though it is a rather obscure feature, I thought it was a really good biopic and  it is definitely worth a look.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. I have to admit it, I hoped they would manage to bring back somehow the Major since she is so emblematic to this franchise. Unfortunately, this time around, they focused on Batou who was maybe a pretty cool character but he was never as awesome as the Major was. Still, it was rather a ballsy move from the makers to pretty much get rid off of their famous character like this. Anyway, even though I really missed the Major, I still really liked this movie. Above all, the whole thing was again visually really awesome and only for this, it is worth watching this movie. However, as usual with 'Ghost in the Shell', the story was just so confusing. In fact, after rewatching it for a 2nd time, I was amazed by how little I actually remembered. In fact, even after a 2nd time around, I'm still not sure if I understood half of the movie but the whole thing was still rather fascinating. Anyway,  to conclude, it is a rather tough watch and an acquired taste but I still think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Japanese animation.

To be honest, I have actually no idea why exactly but, for some reasons, I was really eager to watch this flick and it took me many years to finally see the damned thing. I guess, I wanted to check it out mostly because it was directed by Terry Jones, one of the guys involved in the Monty Python. The fact that Tim Robbins was playing the lead definitely made the whole thing even more interesting (by the way, what happened to this guy? I mean, seriously, when was the last time he showed up in something really amazing?). Anyway, even though this movie turned out to be a decent watch, I thought it was actually rather underwhelming after all. I mean, I really loved the concept, it was a great idea but, unfortunately, I thought it was rather poorly developed. On top of that , the directing was just not great at all and the whole thing was just rather slow. Anyway, to conclude, I didn't hate it like Roger Ebert did so I can't say it was great but I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are a fan of the Monty Python’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Kate Beckinsale, I thought I might as well give it at try. Eventually, I have to admit that I was at first actually rather positively surprised. Indeed, the beginning was not bad all and the end result was watchable but, at the end of the day, there was absolutely nothing original in this movie. I guess, the thing that annoyed me the most was how lazy the whole thing was. Seriously, after watching so many similar movies through the years,  it is just rather difficult for me to get entertained by such a generic slasher flick like this one. Indeed, they should really offer something new otherwise the whole thing is just rather pointless, in my opinion.  Concerning Kate Beckinsale , it was a typical effort for her and I’m afraid she never managed to become something else than a pretty face. As usual with this kind of flicks, they came  up eventually with a seemingly even more underwhelming sequel, as always released directly to DVD and starring no one from the original cast. To conclude, even though I have seen worse, it is a just a really average flick and I don’think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. I mean, seriously, what could be more underwhelming than a movie starring Ashton Kutcher, except maybe a movie starring both Ashton Kutcher and James Van Der Beek? At least, I hadve to admit it,  it was kind of sweet to see Ashton Kutcher trying to do something completely different but, a part from that, there was absolutely nothing original in this movie. At the end of the day, you wonder who, among all these young at least at the time promising actors (James Van Der Beek, Rachael Leigh Cook, Ashton Kutcher, Usher), thought that to show up in a Western was actually a good move for their career. Indeed, in the last 30 years, only a handful of movies in this genre have been successfully critically and even less have been succesful at the box-office. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though I have seen worse, the whole thing was still really boring and I thought it was completely generic and forgettable. To conclude, it was a really average flick, I cannot really recommend it and you should probably avoid it.

Since I keep hearing many good things about this flick, I was really curious to check it out. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed and I was seriously blown away by the whole thing. Indeed, the whole thing was just spellbinding to watch and it is definitely one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Basically, it is a really amazing movie describing the harsh realities in America involving the life in the ghetto and what is at stake for the boys who get a shot at becoming a professional sportsman. At first, it seemed to be pretty straightforward and predictable but, then, what makes this movie really work is that the director followed these boys for 5 years and, as a result, you get really close to them and it became some kind of social drama of epic proportions.  Somehow, this movie reminded me of ‘Boyhood’ which was a fictional feature directed by Richard Linklater which was also shot over 12 years following a boy from age 6 until he reached 18 years old. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, it is a great movie, a real classic and definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.