To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it turned out to be one of the most bewildering documentaries I have ever seen. I have to admit that I didn’t know anything about this movie or its topic before watching it and, at first, I was wondering if it might be all fake. Obviously, it wasn’t and I can imagine how shocking it must have been for the audience who first saw it back in the 50’s. Of course, as a Westerner, our first reaction would be to reject the whole thing as some kind of hysterical nonsense during which they even killed a dog, drunk his blood and ate the poor animal. However, most religious rituals are actually fairly ridiculous, even Christian rituals. Indeed, eating the sacramental bread as if it was the body of Christ and drinking wine as if it was his blood is also pretty weird when you think about it. Furthermore, in the Old Testament, it was fairly common to sacrifice animals to atone for your misdeeds. While watching this movie, I was thinking that, in any religion, whatever if it was the Hauka or some more established religion, the rituals pretty much boil down to a group of grown-ups playing dress-up. Of course, from the outside, it might all seem either ridiculous or hysterical but, on the other sense, how are we supposed to make any sense from this life we were given (completely randomly if you don’t believe in God)? The whole point of any ritual ceremony, and it includes the Hauka, is to have this moment you share with your community and, intrinsically, it is actually not a bad thing, in the contrary. In this specific case, it was dealing with some immigrants coming from small villages mostly from Niger, suddenly living in a big chaotic city like Accra who had to cope somehow with this new life with some dead-end jobs with very little future prospects. However, the more I thought about it, the more I believed that the explanation might be even more complex than that after all. In spite of what was said in this documentary, there was already a ‘possession cult’ tradition in Niger and this Hauka movement originated from that so it seemed it might be linked to something quite profound for this folk and completely alien to us Westerners. Still, there was something so strange about all these men supposedly in trance mimicking British colonial occupiers performing the same elaborate military ceremonies. I wish it would have been longer and that they gave us more background on this Hauka thing and on these men involved in this movement but the damned thing was so unsettling but also quite fascinating to behold, that’s for sure.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I’m usually not a huge fan of such vintage Westerns but I have to admit that this one was actually pretty good. On the other hand, with someone like John Ford at the helm, I guessed it was to be expected. Sure, like many other Westerns of the time period, it did romanticize this part of the American mythology but, as far as I was concerned, it turned out to be actually fairly subtle, at least, more than usually with this genre. Indeed, when these Mormon settlers finally encountered some Indians (which was obviously bound to happen at some point), I was worried that the Native Americans would be portrayed as some mindless savages but, fortunately, it wasn’t the case at all. Indeed, they were actually handled as equals which was surprising. Of course, this vision of Cowboys and Indians living in peace and harmony was too good to be true as the Indians were never handled as equals and were massively slaughtered. But, still, I preferred this rose-coloured take than having them portrayed as the usual hysterical bloodthirsty killers. I also liked the fact that the Wagon Master was not some tough gunslinger but a seasoned thoughtful man who would rather not engage in some hazardous gunfight with a gang making him stand-out from the usual main characters in such Westerns. Of course, this conflict was still concluded with some big shootout but I’m afraid there was no other way to resolve their predicament with the Cleggs. Concerning the rest of the movie, to be honest, I still think it was too generic and too predictable to become truly remarkable. The characters were also all barely developed and, even though Joanne Dru was really lovely, she was barely given anything to do at all. Still, I have to admit that the directing was really solid here and I especially loved this big horse chase with the Indians going after Travis Blue which was quite thrilling. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be one of John Ford’s most famous movies, I fully understand why it was one of his personal favorites and I actually really enjoyed it. 

Since I have always been a big fan of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s work, of course, I was really eager to check his last directorial effort. On top of that, this time, he was working with Tom Cruise, a huge star who had been working mostly on big action blockbusters for a while now. Unfortunately for Iñárritu and Cruise, it seemed that their ambitious movie would become a huge flop and, well, it was hardly surprising. Indeed, it was such a dark comedy with some fairly complex meta elements, there was no way that the mainstream audience would embrace it. The reactions had been rather lukewarm at best but I actually enjoyed the damned thing. In my opinion, Iñárritu and Cruise managed to do here something that ‘Don't Look Up’ tried but ultimately failed to do a couple of years ago. Not everything did work though. The first thing that really bothered me was the fact that, even though this movie was dealing with decadence and excess, yet, they used up such a huge budget (+$150 millions) which was just bewildering. Just for comparison, ‘Birdman’, another post-modern dark satire (Iñárritu should really drop this genre now) also by the same director did cost 10 times less and was therefore a hit. The whole meta aspect was also rather half-baked. It didn’t help that Iñárritu already did something fairly similar with ‘Birdman’ (which was just amazing) but, in this case, it took me a while to really warm up for this gimmicky device. Eventually, I did understand that it allowed us to take even more distance from Digger Rockwell who was played by Curtis Markson who was played by Tom Cruise. It was quite some impressive acting from Cruise but, ultimately we never got the opportunity to connect with Curtis Markson. For some reason, there was also a sub-plot about Curtis Markson’s daughter who was missing during his rehearsal but it was barely developed at all. There were also too many amazing actors who ended up doing pretty much nothing (Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma D'Arcy). It was actually pretty impressive though how Jesse Plemons, who also had maybe 2-3 scenes only, still managed to steal the show. And yet, I really enjoyed the damned thing though. I was basically sold when Digger Rockwell made his speech to the European Parliament. Indeed, what the guy said was basically exactly what I think about our current capitalist way of life. Basically, I was completely in the same wavelength of this movie so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ultimately, it could be seen as a horror movie, as a prophetic prescient tale but, even as a comedy, it was probably the most depressing one ever made (the ending was pretty bleak and chilling). No wonder it didn’t find an audience. So, I did like it, I thought it was really bold but it was obvious that Iñárritu should drop his post-modern shtick and, for Cruise, I’m afraid he will now return to make blockbusters even when he is 80 years old which is too bad because he was actually really good here. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was directed by Scott Cooper and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I’m afraid it turned out to be Cooper’s most disappointing movie so far after all. I do think it definitely had some potential but, unfortunately, this movie never managed to grab me. It’s difficult to exactly point out what went wrong here. Indeed, the dark and bleak mood was actually pretty good and there was something intriguing about this mythological Indian creature. I did like the fact that they didn’t explain much about this legend, this way, it remained pretty mysterious. However, it was rather weird that even though it was based on an Algonquian legend (which was an Indian tribe located in the Northeast, mostly in Canada), this movie was actually taking place in Oregon which is like at the complete side of the USA. However, a bigger issue was the characters were so poorly fleshed out, especially this sister and brother. It was actually quite incredible how much Jesse Plemons managed to do with such a half-baked character. I mean, everything he said or did was actually pretty boring or not interesting at all but Plemons was still completely convincing, even while the wildest things were going on. I wish I could say the same about Keri Russell. Sure, she is still really lovely but I think she is actually a rather boring actress (I have to admit that I have never seen any of her TV-shows like ‘The Diplomat’, ‘The Americans’ or ‘Felicity’). Here, the best she could do was looking constipated through the whole duration. On the other hand, they were both not really helped by how poorly developed their characters were. I mean, they started to talk about the various tragedies that took place in their family but, then, this aspect was completely gone after a while. Seriously, it was never explained why Julia actually came back to live with her brother. This aspect should have been completely dropped or properly developed. It was like the drug pandemic going on in the region, it was not a bad idea either but it was not developed at all. Anyway, my rating might be harsh here but I just didn’t connect with this movie at all. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was starring Gene Hackman and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Apparently, at the beginning of the 80’s, there was some kind of sub action genre involving the rescue of US soldiers held in Vietnam after the war was over. Well, even though this movie might be the best one in this obscure genre, to be honest, I really struggled to take the whole concept really seriously. I mean, if it would have been some black op organized by the US government to save these men, it would have been more plausible and therefore more interesting. However, in this case, it was a civilian initiative set up by some retired Colonel bankrolled by the rich father of another soldier also missing in action but it was just too ridiculous for me. As a result, they also spent a good chunk of the running time during some boot camp taking place in Texas in a mock up of the POWs camp in Laos but I didn’t see how watching these guys training for this mission was supposed to be so interesting or entertaining. It was like the recruitment of this team. The most interesting thing for me with this movie was the timeline. Indeed, it was made 10 years after the end of the Vietnam war and it was dealing with some soldiers who were getting back there 10 years later as well. I mean, was it really a thing back in the 80’s that there were still some US POWs held captive after all this time? And how did these veterans did feel about going back there after such a long time to save one of their buddies? Unfortunately, there was really none of that in this movie after all. They did give us some glimpse of Fred Ward’s character suffering some PTSD but it was barely developed and he was reduced to be another lethal killing machine like the rest of his squad. From the moment they finally got in Thailand to start their mission, it never became more convincing. Seriously, they even ended up being helped by some deposed drug baron who would join their mission with his two daughters. Why on Earth did they take part in this mission? What was their motivation? Again, it didn’t make sense like most of this movie. At the end of the day, it was just a typical silly action flick from the 80’s and I might have enjoyed it more when I was 12 years old but I’m not 12 years old anymore and it just didn’t care at all about the damned thing. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was starring Naomi Watts, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I always had a weak spot for such minimalistic movies involving only 1 or 2 characters, especially when they are dealing with such survivalist tales. However, in this case, with so few characters involved and so little actually going on, the end-result did feel a little bit dry after all though. In fact, even though Pam Bales was described as a ‘climber’, there was actually no climbing but only some hiking. Sure, it was some high-level hiking and the weather conditions were quite extreme but it was definitely a different vibe than seeing someone climbing some impossible mountains. And yet, there was something intriguing about this tale. Indeed, when I got to see this mysterious man at the top of this mountain, in the middle of some storm, in cross-legged position, wearing only some shorts and some sneakers, it was quite a powerful image. Unfortunately, they wasted too much of the (rather short) running time with such stupid questions like ‘What was he actually doing up there?’. The fact that Pam Bales’s own personal tragedy was revealed much later on was also a mistake and I think it would have worked better if it would have been laid out from the very beginning. I get that, by keeping her background mysterious, they tried to compensate the paper-thin premise but, once again, this approach didn’t really work in my opinion. With ‘John’, it really worked really well to reveal as less as possible, the way he just took off with his car at the end of their ordeal was so unexpected but really neat and I would have actually even removed the scene at the end when they get reunited. Eventually, they focused too much on the survival aspect which was well done but ultimately too generic and predictable instead of focusing on how 2 seemingly seriously depressed people might handle such a hazardous situation. Why do we or should we keep going on no matter how dramatic the circumstances are? It would have been actually pretty interesting to dig further into that but this movie only barely flirted with such ideas and focused instead on this one-woman-show from Naomi Watts and she was actually pretty good but, ultimately, the end-result did feel rather forgettable after all. Anyway, it was still a decent watch though.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it did sound like an interesting story and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Wel, making a movie about Ted Kaczynski AKA the Unabomber did sound like a great idea so the damned thing definitely really had some potential, it’s just too bad that the end-result didn’t end up to be so great after all. The first mistake they made was that the running time (barely 100 mins) was just too short to satisfyingly cover this story. I mean, the time period going from his time in Harvard at the end of the 50’s to his arrest in the mid-90’s was quite extensive so something more epic like ‘Zodiac’ which lasted 1 hour longer would have been probably more appropriate. Another mistake they made was to put so much focus on Henry Murray’s psychological experiment on Kaczynski. Indeed, they basically argued that it might have had a decisive impact on the young man but it was never convincing. Eventually, it seemed to be more like an excuse to show Kaczynski was a precocious young man in Harvard who didn’t fit in but the connection with his future terrorist activities was just too fine after all. The only interesting thing happening between Murray and Kaczynski was Murray diagnosing him of schizophrenia which seemed to be fairly accurate following what was displayed in this movie. However, in real life, even though it made sense following his actions, this diagnosis would be disputed by some after all. The reality was that Kaczynski was actually a brilliant man, even more intelligent than your average super-smart serial killer but, somehow, at some point, his intelligence (and his alleged mental issues) made him turned against humanity or, at the very least, our capitalist way of life which was something super interesting but so poorly developed in this movie. Concerning the FBI investigation taking place in the 90’s, well, I’m afraid it was also rather half-baked. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for Shailene Woodley but she wasn’t given much to do here and, to be honest, she wasn’t really impressive. Obviously, the way she chased on her own Kaczynski never happened and it was pretty obvious that he had been reported by his brother at some point. In this case, it would been more interesting to focus to what had been done by the FBI during the previous 20 years following the first bombing. At least, Jacob Tremblay gave here a really strong performance but he was probably the only thing that really worked in this movie after all. Anyway, because the topic was so fascinating, I still think it was worth a look though. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, at least, the title did sound really cool. Well, first of all, Matthew McConaughey was still such a charismatic actor, he was basically born to play such characters and I didn’t realize that it was actually his first role in 6 long years. I also liked the vibe and the soundtrack was just really neat. At first, I was wondering where it was all going and, to honest, this tight-knit community in Oklahoma might seem to be too good to be true but it was nice to spend some time with these colorful characters living a seemingly more laid-back style than we do. Unfortunately, they actually killed off Amziah King way too early with a cruel heart attack after all his hives were stolen and, unfortunately, the movie never really recovered from this tragedy. I mean, there is a reason why Vito Corleone died at the end of ‘The Godfather’ and not in the middle of the movie. Anyway, after his death, the movie then focused on his former foster daughter played by Angelina LookingGlass but, in spite of her efforts, she never really managed to carry the whole thing on her own. To be fair, she wasn’t helped by the fact that she was stuck in some really generic revenge thriller. Indeed, before that, it was so sweet to see Amziah and Kateri rekindling their relationship and seeing him passing the torch regarding his passion for beekeeping. Following her becoming some kind of gangster cooking up some plan to avenge her former foster father was rather tedious. It’s too bad because, before that, it was still not really fascinating but it was definitely intriguing and I liked the fact that there was no actual plot but a succession of cute episodes involving Amziah, Kateri, and his folks. However, they seriously drifted away from this gentle vibe especially when, after deciding to not poison the beloved dog of her nemesis, Kateri eventually decided it would be a better plan to poison his very ill wife instead. The fact that Kateri, as a character, was never fully developed like Amziah King was right from the first scene probably didn’t really help. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was quite eager to check it out. I also loved the title which sounded so poetic and, to be honest, it was slightly disappointing that it was after all referring to some disease the main character caught after some scouting camp. In fact, it was my girlfriend who came up with this movie on DVD and I thought she was interested in Louis Malle’s work like I was but, in fact, she had bought it because there was a very cool soundtrack with Charlie Parker (she is herself a professional jazz musician). Anyway, we both didn’t know what this movie was about and we both were not aware of its controversial reputation. As a result, we were both rather shocked by the incest between Laurent and his sexy Italian mother which actually happened rather randomly towards the end after some heavy drinking. It was the tricky thing, sure, it was obviously a coming-of-age tale and a very good one but I thought we were dropped a little bit in the middle of it without much context. For example, I wasn’t familiar with Lea Massari at all, I did notice that she had a rather heavy accent but it was only halfway through that I finally figured out that she was actually Italian. Even more later on, we found out that she was only 16 years old when she met her husband and something never told in the movie which I found later on was the fact that he was actually 15 years older than her. This information was actually quite crucial as it meant that, mentally and emotionally, she started to be closer to her boys than her husband, explaining a good deal her relationship with her children. Anyway, the movie was above all about Laurent who was one of the best depictions of adolescence I have ever seen. It also helped that Benoît Ferreux, in his first movie, was the same age as his character was and not 10 years older like you very often get with US movies dealing with teenagers. Everything what he was going through was so relatable and it reminded me a lot of who I was back then. Eventually, this movie perfectly displayed this complex confused time in your life when you stop being a little boy and start to become a grown-up. Anyway, to conclude, even though I’m not sure if everything worked in this movie, it was definitely an intriguing watch, no doubt about it. 

To be honest, even though I’m a huge fan of ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Toy Story 2’(I actually saw both of them in the movie theatre when they were released), I was not really dying to see again another sequel but, since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, I have to admit that I was actually pleasantly surprised. Maybe because I had some rather low expectations but I thought it was actually pretty good. In fact, I enjoyed it more than ‘Toy Story 3’, I never understood why it was so popular but I have to admit that I barely remember it though (same thing with ‘Toy Story 4’, I have seen it only once and I forgot most about it). Anyway, to introduce tech devices and to show the impact it has on small children, in fact, on everyone, was a genius move and a great way to keep the franchise connected to what’s going on nowadays. They developed some interesting ideas about the fact that very young children don’t really need such devices but, eventually, it’s just really convenient for the parents to keep their children busy and quiet. I’m glad my own children are all (young) adults so I won’t have to struggle with this ‘screen time’ thing. On the other hand, isn’t it what our parents did when they would put us in front of the TV when we were kids? I know I loved to spend hours in front of the TV watching the latest cartoons. Anyway, it was also a nice touch that Jessie became this time the main character. In fact, even though Woody was displayed everywhere on the promotional material, he was actually barely involved at all after all but I think it was a good idea to have the franchise evolved beyond Woody and Buzz who were always the main focus here. I also loved the intro with this cargo container stranded with all these Buzzes going wild for some commando mission on this deserted island. Unfortunately, they never really figured out what to do with them and they never did really fit with the rest of the movie so this sub-plot did feel rather half-baked after all. The way Lily the Lilypad first acted fairly evil and then started to worry about Bonnie after all was also not really convincing (they had already used the same narrative device with Anxiety in ‘Inside Out 2’). The way she dumped herself in some donation box which just happened to be conveniently there was also rather weak. Anyway, even though I’m still not sure if I needed yet another sequel to this beloved franchise, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch after all.