Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Noomi Rapace and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though Rapace did have her international breakthrough at the beginning of the 2010’s, I’m afraid it didn’t last for long and, nowadays, she is stuck playing in such underwhelming direct-to-streaming features. This movie was a perfect example. Sure, I have to admit that it wasn’t the worst of the bunch but, at the end of the day, it was still totally forgettable. I mean, I do have a weak spot for post-apocalyptic movies and it was an interesting choice that they didn’t give any details about this conflict, how it started, what were the ideologies involved,… Still, beside this cloud of mystery, they didn’t really do anything interesting with the genre though. Eventually, the only thing which really worked was, as usual, Noomi Rapace. Indeed, no matter the material, she is always so intense and this movie was no exception. In this case, even though her character was barely developed, she was always convincing and compelling to behold. I have also noticed that, since I saw her in the Millenium franchise all these years ago, it was the first time that she was playing again in a Swedish movie so it was actually pretty cool to hear her speak Swedish again after all these years. Unfortunately, I didn’t care at all for the other actors involved but it was mostly due to the fact that all their respective characters were uninteresting and seriously half-baked. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch but really only thanks to Noomi Rapace and, if you are not a fan of her work, you should probably skip this movie. 

Since I kept hearing some interesting things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out and I’m actually surprised that it took me so long to finally watch the damned thing. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, to be honest, I didn’t expect it to look so old and so cheap and I don’t mean it as a compliment. Still, it was definitely a strange and intriguing documentary, no doubt about it. In fact, I was myself a hardcore gamer but not with these classic arcade games but with the next generation with the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Master System and Sega Mega Drive so I did have a connection with the subject matter. Especially in this case, I mean, I think I must have played Donkey Kong a couple of times back in the days but the damned thing was so difficult. At least, I would have to agree, I think retro gaming is actually more fun than modern gaming which somehow doesn’t work really well with my brain (in real life, I have no sense of orientation whatsoever and it turned out to be a major issue while playing video games in 3D environments). Still, I can’t imagine myself being so obsessed by one specific game after all these years. Anyway, while watching this movie, you obviously end up rooting for Steve Wiebe. Indeed, he was a nice guy, he was really dedicated to his craft and he seemed to be respectful to everyone around him. I did sense that they toned down the impact his passion/obsession actually had on his family though. Against him, well, you had Billy Mitchell who was (and still is?) this massive legend in retro gaming but, the more you watch the movie, the more you wonder if his reputation might have been more based on the persona he had created than his actual gaming skills. I mean, you do see him talking a lot but you actually never see him gaming at all through the whole duration which was rather suspicious. As a matter of fact, in the 2010’s, many of his more recent records were disputed as he was accused of cheating. Seriously, grown-up men playing for hours on some ancient arcade games, neglecting their loved ones in the process while maybe only 100’s of fanatics actually really care? Anyway, to conclude, it was a pretty cool documentary and it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, the only thing that did work was that it was fairly short. Sure, the animation was maybe not awful but it was some of the cheapest CGI animation I have seen in quite some time. Above all, the story was just so derivative and boring. Basically, it felt like a rip-off of ‘Ice Age’ (already not really the most expensive and/or ambitious CGI animated feature ever produced) with a dash of ‘Happy Feet’ regarding the ecological message. To make things worse, some of it didn’t make sense. The thing that annoyed me the most was the fact that Ozi was basically raised in captivity, she then spent maybe 5 mins in the jungle but, when she was in captivity again, suddenly, she couldn’t stand it anymore? It was also terribly lazy how all these animals could talk with each other, no matter if they were some completely different breeds and, yet, with humans around, they would suddenly sound like some actual animals again. However, the worst idea they had was to tell the story of a talking orangutan who became an influencer. Somehow, someone thought it would be a great idea to tell a story taking place in the nature and add some technology angle to the mix because, let’s face it, all kids are nowadays addicted to their smartphones and tablets. Well, it was a terrible idea, that’s for sure. It was also rather infuriating that, according to the makers, a major influencer could have such a massive impact on how we (so poorly) handle our natural resources. Anway, to conclude, the damned thing was really lame, you should probably avoid it and watch something else instead with your kids.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Brad Pitt and since it was available on Amazon Prime, I thought I might as well check it out. He actually made this movie after his breakthrough in ‘Thelma & Louise’ but it would be pretty much his last really obscure movie. In fact, it did feel like the garbage that Pitt used to make at the beginning of his career. Anyway, right from the start, with its very lame introduction, the damned thing was pretty much doomed to fail. Basically, it was about some middle-aged housewife going through some kind of middle-life crisis who was fantasizing about her high-school boyfriend. Usually, middle-life crisis stories focus on men so it was at least refreshing that it was dealing with a woman for once. However, the quirky cheeky tone was just completely wrong. I mean, at the end of the day, there is absolutely nothing funny about a woman (or a man) contemplating adultery while they are actually in a perfectly happy marriage so making a comedy about this topic would probably never work and it certainly didn’t here. The bottom line was that Kathy and Peter were both terribly boring which was something Peter did accept while Kathy went on this cringe-inducing wild goose chase. They kept saying that they loved each other but the lack of communication between them was rather alarming and not a good omen for the future of their marriage. Coming back on Brad Pitt, even though his character was around 25 years old, the guy was actually already in his 30’s so he was definitely a late bloomer, that’s for sure (to put it in perspective, at the same age, Timothée Chalamet already had 3 Academy Award nominations). Sure, the guy was gorgeous but it was pretty much the only thing he had to offer at the time but, on the other hand, he wasn’t really helped by the material he was provided. Anyway, to conclude, my rating was actually rather generous here, the damned thing was really weak and you should probably avoid it. 

I was looking for a movie to watch in the movie theater with my new girlfriend but there was nothing really romantic so I thought we might check this one together. I have to admit it, I actually thought it was a remake of ‘Ah-ga-ssi’ (The Handmaiden), a movie I really loved but it was a while since I saw it. So, I was slightly confused when I didn’t recognize the plot but, obviously, the two movies were not linked at all after all. Anyway, my girlfriend and I had a very good time and I think I couldn’t have picked up a better movie for our first movie date. Sure, it was nothing deep but it turned out to be quite fun and entertaining, probably more than another average rom-com. As a matter of fact, it is even probably the best movie I have seen so far directed by Paul Feig (I’m not a huge fan of ‘Bridesmaids’ but maybe I should rewatch it after all these years). Basically, they managed to mix several genres like steamy triller and dark comedy and this mix worked actually pretty well. It was also pretty cool to see a movie focusing on 2 strong female characters facing some over-the-top toxic masculinity. Concerning the actors involved, Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried were both pretty good even if it was rather tricky for Seyfried to really sell her character. Indeed, her character changed so much after the revealing twist and it was rather hard to swallow that it was actually the very same woman. For Brandon Sklenar’s character, it wasn’t such an issue and it was in fact pretty neat to see that such seemingly charming rich pretty boys can actually turn out to be some major a**holes. Eventually, from this trio, Sydney Sweeney was the only one who really managed to make her character compelling but above all, consistent through the whole duration. Eventually, she was the only one who really felt like an actual human-being instead of a caricature from some cheap potboiler novel. Eventually, it is rather disappointing that such bright and complex women would fall so hard and seemingly easily for this guy but I guess, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a story to tell then. I’m also not sure that the whole story did make sense though because Nina’s plan was so far-fetched and Andrew’s intentions were rather murky. Even so, the damned thing became so wild during the final act, it was actually quite entertaining to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was definitely not a masterpiece, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. During the last 15 years, Shia LaBeouf has been threatened to get cancelled so many times by now.  And yet, it’s quite interesting to me that even if he is not super productive, he keeps showing up in movies and most of them are actually intriguing. This movie is a perfect example. Indeed, I really loved the title and even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought I was not bad at all after all. Usually, I don’t like much road trips because I believe it is a really lazy writing gimmick but, for once, it actually did work here. Indeed, I believe that it was never really about the journey made by these characters but about having them hanging out together and I really liked this approach. Furthermore, you can say whatever about Shia LaBeouf but the guy is actually quite charismatic and he is always pretty good playing such unhinged lost wounded souls. Zack Gottsagen was also pretty good and they had  some solid chemistry together. The only thing that didn’t really work for me was the romance at the end involving Tyler and Eleanor. Indeed, it was rather predictable and, as far as I was concerned, above all rather unnecessary. Sure, Dakota Johnson was charming as usual and she was not bad but, in my opinion, this movie was really about Zak and Tyler and they actually struggled to include her so they pretty much forced this romance to happen. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really amazing, it turned out to be a decent watch after all and I think it is worth a look if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but the topic did sound interesting and there was such a cool cast involved so I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it turned out to be a decent watch, something completely different than what Jeff Nichols had done so far but, to be honest, it was still missing something to become great though. At the end, you get to see some actual pictures from the book that inspired Nichols to make this movie and, right away, I understood why it became a love project for him (apparently, he had been talking about making it for about 20 years). Indeed, there was something quite fascinating about these pictures but, even though Nichols did manage to visually emulate the time period and the look and feel of this motorcycle club, I’m afraid the damned thing never became as fascinating as these pictures were. I think the issue was that they never managed to make up their mind if the movie should have been about Benny or about Kathy or about Johnny. I mean, the three characters were all really interesting and the respective actors all delivered some solid performances (Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy) but I think it would have been more effective and/or more satisfying to focus on only one of them. In fact, they were not even the only one, there was a whole bunch of interesting characters involved but I think they struggled to properly flesh them all out. Hell, Michael Shannon, an awesome actor who worked on all the movies directed by Jeff Nichols, was rather wasted with only 2 monologues to give. I still enjoyed the damned thing though. Indeed, it was neat to dive into this sub-culture which, at first, had nothing to do with criminality and was all about giving these lost souls a sense of purpose and community. I was also intrigued by the gay undertones which was something completely unexplored but it was definitely there. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jeff Nichols’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was included in the list ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I’m not yet really familiar with Victor Sjöström’s work but I certainly loved ‘He Who Gets Slapped’ and even more ‘Körkarlen’ so I had some rather high expectations for this one as well since it seemed to have also a strong reputation. Well, to be honest, I wasn’t really impressed after all. I mean, some of the shots were pretty neat, especially this white horse going wild in the sky and all these scenes with this mighty wind blowing so hard were pretty neat (it must have been hell to shoot the damned thing though). Unfortunately, as far as I was concerned, the story was just too slight though. Basically, it was about some boring young woman who was rejected by her jealous sister-in-law and who then ended up being harassed by 3 worthless guys but none of this was really entertaining or interesting to behold. Sure, I get that I shouldn’t take the whole thing so literally and that Sjöström was going for some kind of allegory/metaphor about the wind but I just didn’t connect with what the hell he was going for (I’m probably too dumb for such surreal movies). The fact that none of the characters involved was really intriguing didn’t help either. Concerning the actors involved, Lilian Gish was already a legend back then and I have to admit that she was really charismatic, even if her character was the typical defenseless young girl that you got to see in countless melodramas from the time period. She apparently picked up Lars Hanson but, even though Larson was not bad at first when Lige was pretty much a goof, his character changed way too much through the duration so, at some point, I had no idea what I should think about his character after all. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Almost 20 years ago, Kristen Stewart became a teen idol with ‘Twilight’. After that, she slowly built a solid career mostly with indie features. Now, after 10 long years, she came up with her directorial debut which was definitely a labor of love. Well, in spite of its beautiful and intriguing title and poster, it turned out to be actually a pretty basic story about abuse and trauma. However, with her first directorial effort, Stewart was certainly not trying to deliver another generic drama, that’s for sure. Indeed, right from the start, the editing, the framing, the coloring, the sound, well pretty much everything was anything but straightforward and it was all handled with a very artistic approach. It was a bold move from her, considering her lack of experience, and it was maybe a bit too much artsy-fartsy. Eventually, I do believe it is an acquired taste as it might be alienating for some viewers but it did work for me though. There is also the fact that the book it was adapted from was deemed ‘unfilmable’ so, from this perspective, her surreal approach might have had then some merit but since I haven’t read the damned thing, I’m not sure about that. At least, there is no doubt that, with Imogen Poots, Stewart really struck gold though. I wonder how she chose her because Poots, just like Stewart, has always been an intriguing actress but I have never seen her delivering such a fearless and heartbreaking performance before. Eventually, she basically carried the whole thing on her shoulders and she was always quite spellbinding to behold. Even if you might have never been through such traumatic experiences, you could feel her pain and how difficult, even impossible, it was for her to move forward with her life, to genuinely connect with other people and to experience love in general. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not really groundbreaking, it was still a really solid drama and a fine first directorial effort for Kristen Stewart and it is definitely worth a look.