Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. Anyway, I remember it very well when it came out. Indeed, back then, it was  a big scandal which was quite understandable since it was dealing with some very kinky scenes. For example, to get you in the right mood, the whole thing started with 3 different sex scenes. Now, that's what I call an introduction ! Maybe you might think that I am some major pervert but, in my opinion,  this story was just really fascinating. Indeed, for once, it wasn’t dealing with your usual boring perfect heroes, it was this time focusing on some really twisted minds with some rather sick obsessions. On top of that, the directing was really solid and the cast was also really strong. I was above all impressed by Deborah Kara Unger who got her breakthrough with this movie and I thought she was quite mesmerizing in this flick. To conclude, I think this movie is seriously underrated, in my opinion it is actually one of the best movies coming from this director and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Cronenberg's work.

I have a rather peculiar relationship with Terrence Malick. Indeed, I think the guy and his work is really fascinating but, sometimes, I actually have a really hard time with his movies. Anyway, by now, Malick has directed only 6 movies in almost 40 years and, so far, this movie is his least appreciated one (In fact, everything he made after ‘The Tree of Life’ didn’t get much love either). Anyway, even though this movie wasn’t really well received, it is actually my favorite one. I don’t know, the first time I watched it, I was completely overwhelmed by its beauty and grace. In my opinion, it is the movie with the best poetic feeling ever put on the silver screen. Basically, watching this movie was like watching a poem but not with words but with images and sound. I think the whole thing was really incredible and it’s too bad none of the other movies directed by Terrence Malick managed to impress me as much as this one (‘The Thin Red Line’ was very close though). The weird thing was that the second time I watched it, I wasn’t really impressed and it is as if, the first time around, I was touched by something magical but, the second time around, the magic was gone (The same thing actually occurred with ‘The Thin Red Line’. I loved it the 1st time around but by the 2nd watch, I had a hard time to get into it). Anyway, to conclude, in my opinion, Terrence Malick is one of the most difficult director at work nowadays, his work is definitely an acquired taste, but, in my opinion, it is his best movie so far and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this director’s work.

I remember it very well, I actually saw this movie in the movie theater when it was released. The weird thing is that, even though I really loved the it, I couldn’t helping dozing off a couple of times while watching this. I guess I must have been really tired of maybe just too relaxed. Anyway, it was the first movie directed by James Gray and it is actually his best one, even 20 years later. Basically, it is a great crime movie about the Russian maffia in America (I make it sound like "Eastern Promises" but the plot is completely different). It is about a hit-man coming back to his childhood neighborhood to complete a job and it is just very intense movie with some great performances provided given by Edward Furlong and Tim Roth. This movie started my fascination for James Gray’s work and, by now, I have seen all his movies (except for ‘The Immigrant’) but, I have to admit it, even though the guy was supposed to reach the same level obtained by Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson or Darren Aronofosky,  I’m afraid he never really managed to fulfill his great potential. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved this flick, I think it is a fascinating crime drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.