Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since I still have a weak spot for Val Kilmer, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, Val Kilmer used to be a rather interesting actor and I still think he had some potential but nowadays, he is mostly involved in some garbage and this movie is a perfect example. Indeed, Kilmer was the main reason why I would even think about watching something like this and, eventually, even if it wasn't some total garbage, it was not far from it, I'm afraid. Indeed, there were in fact a few good ideas here and there but, at the end of the day, the directing and acting were just so weak, it was just very painful to watch. At least, the idea of locking some people up in a steam room for hours and see how they melt down (physically and psychologically) was intriguing but it was just poorly developed, I'm afraid. Anyway, to conclude, I think I'm being really generous with my rating here, it is just some basic direct-to-DVD stuff and the whole thing is not really worth a look, even if you have a weak spot for Val Kilmer like I do.

To be honest, it is a rather obscure feature so I wasn't really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since it was starring Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, first of all, I thought it was just really neat to see Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan working together. Concerning Pierce Brosnan, I always had a weak spot for this actor and pretty much like another James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, I have the feeling that the guy tends to be underrated but if you give him such interesting material like this one, he will clearly displays some interesting acting chops. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I really enjoyed the beginning and I must admit that I was pretty entertained by the whole thing but then, towards the end, the story started to really drag and I kind of lost interest in this story eventually. Basically, it is all about the hunting of this man and it slowly became more redundant than actually engrossing after a while. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing after all, it was still a decent watch and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since this movie is quite a classic, obviously, I was really eager to check it out and I had some rather high expectations. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for Yul Brynner and even more for Steve McQueen. James Coburn and Charles Bronson were also some fine actors so with such a cast, I really had to see this flick at some point. Eventually, it was pretty good but I still think the original directed by Akira Kurosawa (the amazing 'Seven samurai') was actually better. It didn’t help that I saw 'Seven samurai' before so the whole thing didn’t feel really ‘fresh’. Still, it was definitely entertaining and it was above all rather fun to see Steve McQueen, originally just a supporting part, trying to upstage Yul Brynner who was at the time a bigger star. Anyway, in 2016, Antoine Fuqua  would come back with a remake and even though the cast sounds pretty bad-ass (Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ethan Hawke, Cam Gigandet, Peter Sarsgaard), I can’t help thinking that the whole thing is rather misguided but we’ll see. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it is still a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I have always been a fan of Louis Malle, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. One of Louis Malle's most heralded movies must be 'Au revoir les enfants' but even though  it is a great flick, I actually preferred this other movie he made also about WWII. Basically, it is another classic French movie but, in my opinion, it was actually much more original and quite spellbinding to behold. Indeed, like the Vietnam war for American directors, the WWII has always been an endless source of inspiration for the French directors. So, by now, I have seen my share of French movies dealing with the subject and it is very rare to see a director trying a really different approach about this material but it was definitely the case here. Indeed, instead of telling the usual story of a heroic resistance fighter, they decided this time to focus on a rather despicable young man who was pretty much anything but a hero. As a result, you  get a rather dark tale which was just quite fascinating. To conclude, I really loved this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, I remember it very well when I first saw this movie. Indeed, I actually had the pleasure to  see it in the movie theater when it was released and, back then, I have to admit that I was seriously blown away by the whole thing. Indeed, I thought it was such a great movie. Seriously, it is not very often that you come across a movie like this which really deserved all the praises it received. Eventually, what I enjoyed the most was the tone. Basically, even though there was a lot of bleakness in this story, it was often quite hilarious as well and the balance between bliss and despair was rather pitch perfect. The other thing I loved about this movie is that all the characters were quite fascinating to behold. The only exception was maybe the character played Annette Bening who was slightly too hysterical for my taste and I guess she could have been more developed but it was fortunately not a major issue. Concerning Sam Mendes, in my opinion, he delivered here one of the very best directing debuts which was quite awesome but it had its downside as well since, like Orson Welles with ‘Citizen Kane’, he might never be able to reach such heights in his career ever again. Unfortunately, almost 20 years later after this movie was released, Kevin Spacey would be hit by some sexual misconduct allegations which tarnished his career for good and it's such a pity that this movie's legacy will be forever tainted by Spacey's own personal downfall. Anyway, to conclude, it is still after all these years one of my favorite movies, it is a great classic and it is definitely worth a look.