Reviews by johanlefourbe

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 this case, the main reason I wanted to check it out was because John Malkovich was involved but the rest of the cast was also pretty neat (Vera Farmiga, Thomas Kretschmann, Daniel Brühl, Thekla Reuten). Eventually, I must admit that it was dealing with a very interesting piece of history. Indeed, while watching this flick, I came to realize that I have barely seen any movies dealing with the Soviet Union during WWII and only therefore I thought it was quite neat to see this. Unfortunately,  the story was still rather weak though. At least, all the actors involved did provide some solid performances but I wish the story had been more compelling. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.

To be honest, since it is a rather obscure feature, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Bille August’s work, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, Bille August is one of the very few directors who managed to win 2 Golden Palms at the Cannes Film festival (‘Pelle erobreren’ and ‘Den goda viljan’, in fact, I’m amazed I have still not managed to watch any of them after all these years). Unfortunately,  I must say that even though all his following movies (at least, the ones I have seen so far)  were usually quite interesting, none of them managed to actually reach that level again. This movie, for example, is a perfect example and it had such a potential to be great as it was dealing with a very interesting subject. Unfortunately, even though Nelson Mandela was one of the most fascinating historical figures that ever lived, this was not a great movie, I’m afraid. Above all, I thought that the story was rather weak and not really fascinating whatsoever. Still, there was a very good performance given by Dennis Haysbert though and the whole thing is still worth a look.

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. To be honest, I had some rather low expectations with this movie and I thought it would be just terrible but, to be honest, it was actually not bad at all. First of  all, I always had a weak spot for Steve Coogan and I thought he was again pretty good in this movie. Unfortunately, even though the story was not bad, it was not great either. Basically, it was one of those quirky indie comedies and even though they try convince you that it is all smart, clever, whatever, in fact, it never really reached its full potential. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I though it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially  if you enjoyed Steve Coogan's previous efforts.

To be honest, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Well, even though I didn't have some really high expectations,  this movie still managed to be disappointing. In fact, above all, I thought it was a rather weird movie. Indeed, basically, it deals with some hot girls who ended up getting involved in some lesbian love affair. But the weirdness didn't stop here, those girls were also some kind of super spys and top criminals. Eventually, the whole thing was a real mess and it felt also really exploitative concerning the whole lesbian thing. For the charming Sara Foster, it was already the second flop she made back in 2004 (she was also in the really lame 'The Big Bounce') and, even though her career just started at the time, it never really recovered from this double-blow. For the other girls involved (Jordana Brewster, Meagan Good, Devon Aoki), it didn't have such a negative impact but it was certainly a low point in their respective careers. Anyway, to conclude, at the end of the day, I don't think it is a really bad movie but I still don't think it is really worth a look.

Hilary Swank has one very particular career. Indeed, she was nominated twice for the Academy award for the Best Actress in a Leading Role and won it twice so you might think that she should be one of the best actresses of her generation but, unfortunately, pretty much everything else she did in her career was either not interesting or barely got noticed. This movie is a fine example. Indeed, according to IMDb, it is in fact her 3rd best movie behind, of course, 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Million Dollar Baby' so I had some rather high expectations but, to be honest, even though it was a decent watch, I can't say I was really blown away by the whole thing after all. I mean , I have to admit it, in this genre, it might one of the best movies I have seen, I'll give you that. But, unfortunately, there were still the annoying clichés inherent to this kind of movies: they hate the teacher, she has an alternative way to teach, they eventually love her, one colleague hates her,.... But, at the end of the day, I still I think it was quite touching and the whole thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

What the hell happened with Neil Marshall?!? At some point, especially after 'The Descent' was released, he was hailed as the next best thing coming from England but, by now, it has been more than 5 years since he has released a new directing effort. Anyway, after his directing debut 'Dog soldier', which was not bad, and 'The Descent', which was quite good, I was getting quite interested in Neil Marshall's work but, to be honest, I thought that his 3rd movie was rather disappointing. Indeed, in my opinion, at the end of the day, the story and the action scenes were in fact rather boring. But, I have to admit that, there were actually a few good points. For example, the beginning was quite nice and Rhona Mitra was a really good choice for the lead. On top of that, the whole thing was seriously violent ! Indeed, I don't know how many people in how many different ways got killed in close-up. There were even a dead rabbit and a dead cow.... To conclude, it was nothing great or original but, in spite of its flaws, I think it is still worth a look, especially if you enjoyed Marshall's previous efforts or if you like the genre.