Reviews by johanlefourbe

Even though it has been ages since I last saw this movie, I remember it as if I saw it just a couple of days ago. Indeed, I was completely blown away by the whole thing and it became instantly one of my all-time favorites. To be honest, I have never understood why this movie never received more credit and it is, in my opinion, one of the least appreciated movie directed by Louis Malle. It seems that many people didn't care for the sex scenes because they were considered over-the-top and borderline ridiculous but I don't think the great qualities of this movie had anything to do with those infamous sex scenes. No, in my opinion, what made this movie so great to me was this fascinating story. Indeed, there was a great cast with Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche who delivered some really good performances and they were just mesmerizing to behold. On top of that, the suspense at the end was huge. Finally, this movie shows that love would make you do the craziest things. To conclude, I do believe this movie is seriously underrated, it is a great dark story about the obsession involved in any great love story and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Louis Malle's work. 

I remember exactly the first time I saw this movie. Back then, I was on holiday in Baltimore, my host family went to see this flick and they brought me with them. At that time, I had no idea what it was about and I was completely unaware about the whole hype surrounding this feature. To be honest, I had never seen anything like this before but, even though my host family didn't it like at all (I think there were expecting something more conventional), I thought it was a really engrossing experience. In my opinion, the biggest difference with the other found-footage features I have seen afterwards is that you don't actually see or hear anything really preposterous which made the whole thing even more unsettling. The other thing I enjoyed is that even though the 3 actors were amateurs, a typical trademark with this genre, they were actually really convincing and believable so I really cared for their predicament. I have re-watched it a couple of times through the years, I still think it held up pretty good and it is by far my favorite movie in this genre. Since then, this directing style has been copied to death because it is really cheap so you don't need many people to show up to make some money. To be honest, since I really liked this flick, I always had a weak spot for this genre but I have to admit that it is getting tiresome by now as there is unfortunately no more creativity involved. To conclude, even though this movie doesn't have a really good rep nowadays, I actually like it a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre like I do.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect before watching this flick but I was eventully pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Indeed, this is another underrated movie about politics, a subject which I always find really spellbinding. Furthermore, it is, I believe, one of the last great movies starring Robert de Niro and Dustin Hoffman as they both didn't do many great movies after that. Basically, in my opinion, it is a really funny and actually rather sharp satire with some very nice dark humor but still, it manages to never get too presposerous and, as a result, you still care about the story and the characters involved. Eventually, it is probably my favorite movie directed by Barry Levinson, a guy responsible for such (supposedly) classics like ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’ and above all ‘Rain Man’, also starring Dustin Hoffman. Unfortunately, this flick didn’t get much love when it was released, I think it is actually terribly underrated and I will definitely re-watch it at some point when I get the opportunity. To conclude, I thought the whole thing was just fascinating to watch, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to watch another great movie starring De Niro and Hoffman.

I already saw this movie, I even saw it in the movie theater when it came out, I was just 13 or 14 years old and it was the first time I almost cried at the end of any movie. I mean, I was a wreck at the end and it was the very first time I was so emotional after watching a movie. It was a very intense experience and therefore this movie became one of the major milestones in my movie watching. Well, somehow, it took me about 30 years to finally this movie again and, fortunately, I still think it is an amazing movie. Indeed, even though it might be surprising but, even though it is not really one of his most highly regarded features, it is, and by far, my all-time favorite movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Furthermore, in my opinion, Kevin Costner delivered here the best performance of his career, bringing a nice combo of coolness and melancholy to his character and he had a great chemistry with this young boy. But, in spite of how cool Butch might seem, he was also a criminal with some demons and Costner was amazing bringing this complex duality to the screen. I also believe that this movie actually gave such deep thoughts about the meaning of life and how you should treat one and another. However, even though the damned thing once again floored me, I have to admit that it wasn’t as flawless as I remembered though. The first issue was that it was too long. I mean, it was basically a movie about a man and a boy just driving around and having some casual conversations, the end-results was amazing but also something seemingly fairly simple which didn't need to last almost 150 mins. The other issue was that Laura Dern's character just didn't work. Indeed, it felt as if they felt compelled to add a strong female character in the mix but it backfired and Dern spent most of the duration making some weird faces. Anyway, to conclude, I still think it is great though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwood’s work.

I remember it very well, back then, in 2005, when ‘Crash’ won the oscar for the best picture it was a big scandal. Everyone thought that ‘Brokeback Mountain’ was pretty much a shoe-in to win whereas some loved ‘Crash’ and some hated it. Personally, I neither really loved it or hated it and I thought it was a decent movie but it was definitely not great and it had some huge flaws. Anyway, after that, Paul Haggis directed this movie and very few people actually noticed it when it was released. I think it’s a shame because it is actually a very good flick. Indeed, first of all, there was some terrific casting with Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron on top of their game and the story was rather fascinating. I would go as far as saying that it is the best movie about the Irak war that I have seen so far. Indeed, in my opinion, it is quite a spellbinding thriller which gives some interesting insights about post-traumatic syndrom following a war or any military duties. To conclude, even though it is pretty much forgotten nowadays, it is actually a very good flick and 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 and I should definitely check it out again when I have the opportunity. I have noticed that it didn't get much love when it was released but I think it's a shame as I really liked it a lot. If I'm not mistaken, I think it was made just before the Monicagate (maybe I'm wrong!) so it was actually extremely sharp. Anyway, I think it is a very interesting movie about politics (a topic I find riveting) and the cast was very good as well. Indeed, John Travolta gave here one of his best performances and he managed to create a a multifaceted character who was obviously charismatic and likeable but also a terrible womanizer and therefore a little bit a loser. And yet, the guy was not a total idiot so it was quite a complex character. To play the wife, they chose Emma Thompson and she was also a great casting choice and, with Travolta, they made a really strong duo. To conclude, I thought it was a really solid political drama, probably one of the best in this genre, and it is definitely worth a look.

Even though it is not really one of the most highly regarded movies directed by Roman Polanski, it is actually my favorite one, as a matter of fact, it is one of my all time favorite movies. I mean, I have seen it when I was between 14 or 16 years old and it just blew me away. At the time, I had no idea you could make a love story which could be so twisted with such tormented characters. Eventually, it was one of those few movies that really changed my point of view about films in the sense that, after watching this movie, I understood that characters don't necessarily need to be good or evil, human characters are flawed and usually pretty messed up (though not always as messed up as in this movie, at least, I hope so...). Basically, the whole thing was just really fascinating to me. It is also rather interesting to point out that Polanski used his very own wife in the very 'demanding' female part. I really wonder what was going on in his mind but, considering his work and his rather chaotic past, it shouldn't be really pretty. Anyway, it is basically a love story full of destruction and sick obsessions. What is not to like ? Personally, I do think it is an amazing movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested Polanski's movies.

This was the last movie directed by Stanley Kubrick and, eventually, not everyone was sold when it was released. Indeed, many people thought it was in fact one of his least successful features but I personally think it was actually another great movie from the best director that ever lived. It is such a shame that it took him 12 years to finally make another movie and it is even worse that nothing more will come out from this genius. Anyway, I remember it very well, when it came out, there was a huge buzz about the damned thing and I had the honor, the privilege and the pleasure to behold this masterpiece in the movie theater. As usual, you had the incredible Kubrick directing, completely flawless with his usual obsessive attention to the details. On the other hand, you had this fascinating story which was almost a captivating Hollywood thriller. I say "almost" because at the end, there was no big chase, rooftop final battle or a big twist explaining everything that happened before. There was actually no real answer and I think that's the reason why many people got frustrated by  the damned thing, this fact  that they are so used to that everything is supposed to be solved at the end (at least, that's what the average viewer expects). Anyway, to conclude, I think it was just brilliant and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Stanley Kubrick's work.