Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, sometimes, I tend to watch some really obscure features and I wonder how or why I actually ended up watching this flick. Basically, it is one of those old horror movies with Christopher Lee and, as a bonus, there was also Donald Sutherland in one of his very first roles. On top of that, it was also some anthology of small horror stories and, usually, I’m not a huge fan of this genre because you usually ended with several half-baked small tales instead of a fully fledged one but it actually worked fairly well here. Sure, none of these tales was really amazing but I thought that they were all entertaining enough and I was never bored during the whole duration. To be honest, I'm not a huge expert on this genre but I found it was not bad at all and I thought it was funny and scary at the same time. Of course, it wasn’t really hilarious or completely frightening but I thought it worked pretty well. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing,  I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this 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. Anyway, the main reason I wanted to check it out is because Billy Bob Thornton was involved. Indeed, I really like this actor and in this movie, he has some pretty  good moments but this movie didn’t have much else to offer, I’m afraid. Indeed, even though it wasn’t completely lame, the story was really nothing great at all and I found it quite unbelievable that a girl like Amanda (played by the lovely Jacinda Barrett) would fall in love so easily with Roger (played by the really uncharismatic Jon Heder). To conclude, even though I have seen worse, it was a really rather average flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre. 

Since it is a rather obscure feature, I wasn’ t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since I have weak spot for James McAvoy and Romola Garai,  I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, I thought the whole thing was actually very good as it was just very well acted and well written. Finally, there was a realistic movie about people with a handicap ... Indeed, for example, I always had a hard time with 'Rain man'. I mean sure, this classic might be mostly entertaining, I’ll give you that, but, in my opinion, it gives also a rather unrealistic view on someone who has to live with a handicap. Here, they didn’t sugarcoat the whole thing so it became pretty bleak but since the characters were quite charismatic, it was still really entertaining to watch. The weird thing about this flick  is that it was the 3^rd movie directed by Damien O'Donnell (after ‘East Is East’ and ‘Heartlands’) and even though he delivered by far his best movie so far, he never actually directed another movie again which is too bad. Anyway, to conclude, it is sometimes funny and sometimes heartbreaking, I really liked the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, even though it didn’t really get much love when it was released, I have to admit it, I thought it was actually not bad at all. I mean, sure, as it was pointed out by many people, it's a little bit like 'Jaws' but instead of sharks, you have some lions but I thought it was actually fairly entertaining. Indeed, even though the whole thing was not really original and rather predictable, it was still in fact well made and Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer both delivered some decent performances here. There is also the issue that it was supposedly based on some real events but so many elements were made up (for example, the character played by Douglas has never actually existed), that the tale did lose some of its impact. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is definitely worth a look though, especially if you like the genre. 

At some point the lovely Joan Chen decided to direct as well and this was in fact her second directing effort. On paper, it did sound great to make a romantic feature starring Richard Gere and Winona Ryder so I was quite eager to check it out but I was eventually amazed about how underwhelming the whole thing was in fact. Indeed, I thought that Richard Gere and Winona Ryder made a good combination but, to be honest, I thought that their characters were just terribly irritating. On top of that, Richard Gere was just playing pretty bad in this movie. I mean, by now, I have seen more than 30 movies starring this guy and even though he did impress me a couple of times, his acting skills are usually rather disappointing and this movie is a perfect example. A part from that, the story was not really well written either. It's a pity though because the whole thing definitely had some potential. Anyway, it turned out to be a critical and commercial flop and Joan Chen would never direct another movie after this one. To conclude, it is basically an average flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have weak spot for this director and since there was a pretty good cast involved, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, I didn’t even know it before watching the damned thing but, apparently, it was another seriously obscure feature and I was in fact the second listal member who actually rated it (in fact, 5 years later, still nobody else has rated it). Anyway, first of all, I just think that politics is really fascinating and I love movies dealing with this subject. With this in mind, I’m really surprised that  this movie didn’t get any recognition at all because, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it dealt fairly with this subject and I just really enjoyed the damned thing. Basically, it all started as a comedy and slowly became a thriller and I thought that this transition, even though it was rather risky, worked actually pretty well here. To conclude, even though it is quite obscure and completely forgotten nowadays, I thought it was a very nice and entertaining movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Sidney Lumet’s work, I was quite eager to check it out. After directing such great movies like ‘Before the Devil Knows You're Dead’, ‘Dog Day Afternoon’, ‘Serpico’ and ‘12 Angry Men’, you might wonder why the guy was never been really considered as one of the greatest masters and the reason why was probably that fact he spent half of his career making such rather dubious or even really lame pictures like this one. I mean, I think the whole thing must have had some potential. At least, since it was a remake from a movie directed by John Cassavetes, it must have been a decent story. I don’t know, even though there was nothing really wrong with this movie, eventually, I thought  it was just plain boring. I guess  Sharon Stone could be blamed here. Indeed, I keep watching movies with this actress and most of them are just very average and she most of the time provides a less than convincing performance. This flick was a good example. Anyway, to conclude, I have not seen the original version but I'm pretty sure this remake was completely unnecessary and it is not worth a look.