Reviews by johanlefourbe

When I heard that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were making a movie about how Michael Jordan and Nike went into business 40 years ago, right away, I was interested and I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, I grew up in the 90’s when the NBA was becoming super popular, not only in the US but also in the rest of the world and, like so many other kids, I was fascinated by these US athletes. Obviously, at the time, Jordan was already the GOAT. The funny thing is that, were I lived in France, we never saw an actual NBA game on TV. Another obsession that we had at the time were sneakers and Nike was at the top. As a matter of fact, 40 years later, I still wear every day some Nike Air Max (no Air Jordan, sorry) so I’m a big fan, that’s for sure. So, obviously, watching a movie combining all these elements was such a treat. I think there was also a nice parallel with Affleck’s and Damon’s careers who came out of nowhere and won an Academy Award for their first big movie, ‘Good Will Hunting’. Sure, after all these years, knowing everything Jordan would achieve and how Nike would eventually dominate the market, it seemed like a no-brainer to sign Michael Jordan but, at the time, Sonny Vacaro was pretty much the only one who really saw it. Indeed, Jordan was certainly really talented but he was still pretty much kid who still had to play a NBA game, the Bulls were one of the weakest teams in the NBA and Nike was struggling in the basketball business and mostly known for selling running shoes. This movie was also a nice tribute to Jordan’s mother who was so instrumental in his career, in this business with Nike but also on what for man he actually became. Concerning the fact that, even though this movie was about Michael Jordan, we actually never see him facing the camera or even talking (according to Ben Affleck, nobody could play Michael Jordan convincingly) but, even though I understand this choice, the end-result was rather jarring though. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really groundbreaking, it was still a very nice feelgood feature and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject matter. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Naomi Harris and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Fortunately, it’s only afterwards that I discovered that Deon Taylor also directed ‘Traffik’ and ‘Fatale’. Well, even though this other directorial effort was nothing really groundbreaking, it was at least miles better than these 2 really abysmal movies. Indeed, the whole concept was pretty generic and predictable but I think the approach was efficient enough. Above all, Naomie Harris was pretty much pitch perfect. Indeed, she was as usual really charismatic but she never glamorized her character who felt quite realistic and convincing and it was pretty impressive how much she managed to elevate this rather basic material. It was even more obvious when she was paired with Tyrese Gibson who was, unfortunately, constantly rather weak. Seriously, it felt as if he didn’t even try and sleepwalked through the whole duration. I have to admit that Mike Colter was interesting playing some major drug lord but his character was unfortunately underdeveloped and reduced to a brainless brute. Concerning Frank Grillo, well, he has spent half of his career playing such characters and he was not bad but not much more than that though. At the end of the day, except for Harris, the rest of the cast turned out to be rather underwhelming. Concerning the movie itself, the vibe was not bad and, in spite being another tale about corrupt cops, there was some potential but it should have been even more darker and grittier to really impress me. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Juliette Binoche, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be about catfishing but, instead of focusing on the victim, they focused here on the perpetrator which was quite interesting. At first, you might wonder why a charismatic woman like Binoche would ever need to pretend to be someone else to seduce a man but it was very well explained by the fact that many (probably most) people committing catfishing are very often seriously mentally disturbed. It also reminded me when I was really active on a dating app and how vulnerable you actually are to all kinds of predators, especially if you become some impassioned like Claire and Alex. By the way, it should have been a major red flag for Alex that he actually never saw Clara, except on pictures and videos. I mean, it’s like a basic rule that, when you meet someone online and when you start to feel a connection, you have to make a videocall as soon as possible to make sure that the person is actually not fake. I actually got burned myself, not by a catfish but by some major scam artist, and, after watching this movie, I came to the conclusion that meeting people this way can be just so messed up and I wonder if I will ever manage to trust anyone like this ever again. Coming back on the movie itself, Juliette Binoche was once again quite impressive. I mean, it was such a dark character making such misguided, even reprehensible, choices and, yet, thanks to Binoche, I never really hated her because she always seemed intriguing and yet still relatable at the same time. Concerning the rest of the movie, unfortunately, there were just too many twists, I’m afraid. Sure, it helped to explain some of her decisions and erratic behavior but it made the whole thing also too far-fetched. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Juliette Binoche’s work. 

More than 30 years ago, my best buddies were all obsessed with Stephen King’s novels and they would read all of them one after the other. Back then, I was pretty snobbish and I just didn’t care for this hype. However, I have to admit that there was one of these books that really me blew away which was ‘The Long Walk’. I was hoping that Frank Darabont would direct this adaptation since he owned the rights at some point which would have been really awesome but, unfortunately, the guy waited for too long and the rights relapsed. Eventually, after all these years, Francis Lawrence was the one to direct this adaptation which was decidedly less exciting than an adaptation by Darabont but I still wanted to check it out though. Well, I don’t know why exactly but there is something about this story and, once again, 30 years later, I was once again completely hooked. Indeed, as far as I’m concerned, it is one of the most fascinating stories ever written by Stephen King and, even though Lawrence didn’t do anything fancy with it, his directing was lean and therefore really efficient. For me, this movie is all about the characters, the depth they get, and the bond they create during this completely insane and actually meaningless game. I think it also resonates with the current situation in the US where Trump keeps taking such radical messed-up decisions so they keep getting closer to such dystopian nightmares. And, to be honest, the situation in Europe is actually hardly much better. Coming back on the movie itself, the cast was really solid as well, especially Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson who, within minutes, managed to convey such a connection which only got deeper by the minute. Their connection was even more heartbreaking because, even in the best case scenario, one will have to watch the other die in front of him. Eventually, the only thing that didn’t really work for me was the lack of spectators. Sure, they argued that the Major didn’t want them but, since it was such a major event followed by the whole nation, in my opinion, it didn’t make sense that not more people would try to have a peak, even if it wasn’t allowed. Anyway, to conclude, it’s such a fascinating story, this adaptation was solid and I think it’s definitely worth a look.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it seemed to have a decent reputation and since it was available on Amazon Prime, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I wasn’t really impressed by the damned thing after all. Basically, they took the infinite time loop concept which can be entertaining and basically added 2 new features but, as far as I was concerned, it wasn’t as clever as the makers probably thought it was. The first thing they did was to start right in the middle of the time loop instead of the very beginning. As a result, the main character was actually already aware of what was going on which wasn’t a bad approach but, except skipping the usual exposition scenes, I don’t think this choice really had so much added value after all. The 2nd thing was that, instead of having 1 character stuck in this loop, they had 2 characters which clearly gave a new interesting dynamic to this concept. So, there was some potential but, at the end of the day, it was always only mildly entertaining but never really much more than that. I think the main issue was with the main character played by Andy Samberg. Indeed, even though the character played by Cristin Milioti was also a mess, at least, I could sense some depth within her and, eventually, Sarah was much more intriguing than Nyles. Indeed, Nyles was such a pathetic loser. Sure, I get it was done on purpose but I never really rooted for this guy because his conclusion was, since everyday will repeat itself, he might as well spend his days drinking beer. Seriously? Sure, his situation was messed-up but you could do so many more things with your time like reading a book, watch a movie, learn to play some music (like in ‘Groundhog Day’), learn a foreign language,… Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn’t really work for me, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

If you thought that making a cheap horror flick was the easiest way to start a directing career, making a cheap mockumentary like this one might be another option. Indeed, the upside from making a mockumentary is that it doesn't actually need look good to feel genuine. I also loved the fact that this porn director drew the same sunglasses that Bob Ferguson was wearing in 'One Battle After Another, a movie Anderson made almost 40 years later. Still, to be honest, the damned thing was pretty pathetic though and it's quite amazing that, 10 years later, Anderson would manage to make the amazing 'Boogie Nights' from the same material. Eventually, I did give this movie some extra points though because Paul Thomas Anderson was only 18 years old when I made this flick which is just quite mind-blowing. 

Since this movie had been a massive critical and commercial failure, I wasn’t expecting much from it but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. After rebooting the ‘Halloween’ franchise with mixed results (the 1rst installment was pretty good but the 2 following sequels didn’t work so well), instead of finally doing something original, David Gordon Green decided to tackle as well this other massive horror classic. Unfortunately, I would have to agree that the end-result was pretty lame. For starters, why did they start the movie in Haiti if it then afterwards had no impact whatsoever on the story? Then, for some reason, they had decided to have 2 girls which was also a mistake since it deluded the whole thing into 2 half-baked storylines instead of focusing on only one. However, after a very clunky beginning, it was actually pretty neat that Ellen Burstyn was brought into the mix, 50 years after Friedkin’s classic (she was apparently offered a lot of money to show up in this movie). Indeed, from the moment she was involved, the whole thing automatically looked more interesting and entertaining. However, for some incomprehensible reason, they had her being blinded by one of the possessed girls within the next 10 mins, meaning that she was pretty much eliminated right from the start. Seriously, she was by far their biggest asset and they basically got rid of her right away which was such a bewildering and obviously misguided choice. After that, the actual exorcism turned out to be some kind of Avengers-like team up with various religious beliefs represented which was as ridiculous as it might sound. Following the failure of this movie, the planned sequels were cancelled and it seems that Mike Flanagan will next come up with his own version. Anyway, to conclude, David Gordon Green should definitely find some other gimmick, the damned thing was a waste of time and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Teresa Palmer, I thought I might as well check it out. I actually forgot that it was also David F. Sandberg’s directorial debut. Like many others, he started with a cheap horror flick which made a lot of money at the box office and it launched his career. Well, I understand why it did well at the box office because it turned out to be a very well made horror movie after all. Indeed, it was fairly simple but quite effective to have this dark silhouette showing up when it was dark and suddenly disappearing when the light was on again. The cast including Teresa Palmer and Maria Bello was also quite solid and the characters, while still fairly underdeveloped, were not bad. Eventually, the only issue was that it seemed that they couldn’t make up their mind if the origins of this threat should have been even more abstract or then fully explained. As a result, they somewhat explained where Diana was coming from but, after all, they never told the whole story about what was the deal with her and what exactly happened to her. Eventually , this approach turned out to be rather frustrating and, in my opinion,  it would have been more satisfying if they took a really abstract approach and kept her as a really ominous and mysterious being. As displayed in this movie and many classics in this genre, the less you show or explain, the more creepy it becomes automatically. Another thing was that the link with depression which was apparently central when they started this project did disappear in the background with this rather half-baked paranormal stuff. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was a solid horror flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick, in fact, even though it did receive some solid reviews, I almost skipped it. However, after I saw ‘One Battle After Another’ this weekend, I became instantly so fascinated by Teyana Taylor and I had to watch this movie with her breakthrough performance, especially since it was leaving Netflix the very same day. Well, she didn’t disappoint me, that’s for sure. Indeed, she was again so charismatic but, above all, so convincing. For this movie, she had to portray the same woman over 10 years and, while you can argue that the character might have been similar to her at the beginning of the movie, she really evolved through everything that happened to her resulting in a very strong and genuine performance. A.V. Rockwell should also be praised and it was very bold for her directorial debut to make a film taking place in New York during such a specific time period (from the mid 90’s to the mid 00’s). Of course, since I didn’t live in New York at the time, I can’t testify for sure that she did a great job but it did look and sound really convincing and it is obvious that she really made an effort. Concerning the story, well, even though I didn’t learn anything really new, it was still fairly heartbreaking and it displayed that, if you are born on the wrong side of the tracks, it’s probable that you won’t never get a really fair shot in life, in spite of all your efforts. I have to admit that it didn’t expect the twist ending and it’s interesting that my first reaction was to think that she was some kind of psycho child kidnapper. Of course, it wasn’t the case and, within a few mins, I understood that she didn’t ‘steal’ this kid from anyone. Indeed, at the time, nobody cared for him at all and she decided to make sure he was okay, even if she barely could take care of herself in the first place which was such a noble gesture. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was missing something to really become a masterpiece, it was still a really solid directorial debut and it is definitely worth a look.