Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but I was really eager to check  it out, above all because there was a stellar cast involved. Eventually, even though it was not bad at all, to be honest,  it turned out to be a rather boring costume drama, even if it came from Ivory-Merchant, pretty much the all-star team in the genre. Obviously, the costumes and settings were all beautiful but I really had a hard time to care about this story. Furthermore, even though there was a really neat cast (Uma Thurman, Kate Beckinsale, Anjelica Huston, Nick Nolte), why on Earth didn’t they get an Italian actor to play this Italian character ?!? It was seriously distracting and I think it was a rather poor choice. A part from that, all the actors delivered a decent job, the whole thing looked quite gorgeous but, unfortunately, I always find it difficult to care for the supposedly fascinating romantic intrigues of the aristocracy. To conclude, even though it didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in James Ivory's work.

[Link removed - login to see]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. In fact, the main reason I saw the damned thing was because Amanda Seyfried was involved but, eventually, she only had a rather small part. Anyway, something rather weird actually happened with this movie. Indeed, from the start, it all seemed rather hopeless and he whole thing was indeed pretty weak and but then, completely against my expectations, the end actually saved this movie from being a total disaster. It was really surprising since I don’t usually care at all for the usual twist endings at the end of your average thriller but this one actually worked for me. However, even if the ending turned out to be decent, the movie itself was still pretty damned average and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

Since I have always been interested in Spike Lee’s work, I was really eager to check out this movie and it took me many years to finally get my hands on the damned thing. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be a huge disappointment and while everyone seems to believe that the guy has lost his touch many years ago, it was the first time I started to believe that they could be actually right. I mean, sure, the directing was decent and there was a nice cast involved but the concept was so misguided, it was seriously rather cringe-inducing to behold. Indeed, the story was just really preposterous, combining some financial scandal drama/thriller with a comedy/drama about a guy having sex with some lesbians to make them pregnant... I mean, seriously?!? For all these years, Spike Lee has been fighting for the rights of African-Americans in order for them to be fairly represented in the entertainment business and, here, he came up with something borderline homophobic. To conclude, it was a rather weird movie and definitely not in a good way so I cannot possibly recommend it, even if you are like me interested in Spike Lee’s work.

After hearing so many bad things about ‘Twilight’, obviously, I had some really low expectations towards the damned thing but, surprisingly, I thought it was actually not bad at all. Sure, it was still nothing really amazing but I honestly think it was a decent watch. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about this sequel. Indeed, while the first installment did develop some neat ideas, this sequel was just boring and not interesting at all. I mean, I still didn’t hate the damned thing and I don't think it is as bad as many people say but I can't say I enjoyed it either. The main issue, in m opinion, is that there was seriously nothing much going on during the whole thing. Indeed, I think that the relationship between Bella and Edward was, at first, rather interesting but, from this movie, they decided to focus on this romantic triangle involving Jacob as well which was just a terrible idea. The main problem with this idea is not only it was rather tedious but, above all, it goes on and on, and ends up eventually nowhere. To conclude, even though it is not as bad as everyone seems to think, it is still pretty damned average and not really worth a look.

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick and the main reason I wanted to check it out was because there were a couple of decent actors involved. Apparently, it is some kind of Australian cult-classic and it made a clean sweep with the Australian Film Institute awards (the local Oscars) in 2004 winning in all 13 film categories. Well, I have to admit it, I was so surprised by this flick. Indeed, who would have thought that Sam Worthington could act so well ?!? While watching this flick, he was actually reminding me of Russell Crowe, another Australian actor who can display, at the same time, some masculinity and some sensitivity as well. Concerning Abbie Cornish who played the main character here, she was also quite impressive. Eventually, there was not much going on story-wise but of course, it was not the point here. In my opinion, it was more about the mood which was just mesmerizing thanks to some really solid directing. To conclude, even though it is a rather obscure feature, I was really impressed by the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I don’t know if you have noticed but I tend to be rather random with my movies and I very often end up watching some really obscure features just because there was 1 or 2 interesting actors involved. This movie was a perfect example and the main reason I watched it was because the lovely Emmy Rossum was involved. By the way, what happened to her? Indeed, after showing up 2004 in both ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, she was supposed to become the next best thing but, in the following 5 years, she did only ‘Poseidon’ and ‘Dragonball Evolution’ which were both some massive critical flops and her career never seemed to really recover. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I can't say I was blown away by the whole thing. I mean, it was a decent watch and the cast and especially Jason Isaacs was not bad at all but the movie took really forever to take off. I have to admit it that Sofia Milos looked really gorgeous in this movie though and I might end up watching ‘CSI: Miami’ just for her. Anyway to conclude, it was not bad at all and if you like romantic comedies, you may end up enjoying it even more than I did.

Even though I should re-watch ‘Halloween’ at some point, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly blown away by the whole thing. I mean, I respect this movie for the impact it had on the horror genre and I thought it was decent but, in my opinion, it didn't grow old very well. With this in mind, I wasn't expecting much from this 6th sequel and there were basically two things that appeal to me about this feature. First of all, I liked the idea that Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) would have a new confrontation against Michael Myers once again 20 years later, even though it would be rather improbable when you think about it. The second thing which I found intriguing was that the cast was actually pretty interesting for a horror film like this one (Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams, LL Cool J, Janet Leigh, Joseph Gordon-Levitt). However, the whole thing was still rather disappointing. I mean, the story was really standard and it was neither really scary or entertaining, in my opinion. Eventually, 4 years later, they would make one final installment, also starring Jamie Lee Curtis, but it seemed to be even worse. Anyway, to conclude, I was rather bored by the whole thing and I don't think it is really worth a look, expect maybe if you are die-hard fan of this franchise.

I don’t know if you have noticed but I tend to be rather random with my movies and I very often end up watching some really obscure features just because there was 1 or 2 interesting actors involved. This movie was a perfect example and I was rather curious to watch it only because Tobey Maguire and Benicio del Toro were involved. Unfortunately, the end-result turned out to be rather disappointing. I mean, I don’t think we should blame either Maguire or Del Toro, they both tried very hard, but the material was just really weak and there was no way they could save this movie. Seriously, the directing was borderline amateurish, the story was just average and even the characters were not interesting whatsoever. Coming back to Tobey Maguire, the very same year, he would have his breakthrough with ‘The Ice Storm’ but we don’t hear much from him anymore which is too bad because I always thought he was a decent actor. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I think I have been rather generous with my rating here, the whole thing was pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Simon Pegg, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, the first issue I had with this movie is that Thandie Newton was in fact completely miscast in my opinion. I mean, it is not that she was bad but, in fact, she is so gorgeous that I had a hard time to believe that anyone, especially someone looking like Simon Pegg, would actually drop her on the altar.  I mean, right away, that was something really difficult to admit. Still, I really like Simon Pegg and, as usual, he was quite funny here but, without him, I’m not sure I would have cared at all for this rather pedestrian story. It is interesting to note that this movie was actually David Schwimmer’s directing debut. Eventually, a few years later, he would release a follow-up called ‘Trust’ which was something completely different, a really strong and rather heartbreaking drama. Anyway, to conclude,  in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent comedy and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.