Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Carice van Houten, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, even though the material was super interesting, to be honest, the damned thing turned to be rather half-baked, I’m afraid. Indeed, it was quite fascinating to spend some time in a TBS facility (in the Dutch Judicial system, it is possible, when a judge is convinced that the suspect, at the time of the offence, was suffering from a defective development or pathological disturbance of the mental faculties, that the suspect get interned in a jail functioning as a psychiatric hospital instead of a regular jail). However, it was just too murky what Halina Reijn was trying to achieve with her directorial debut. On the other hand, the poster seemed to be pretty obvious, but, whatever was her point, it took just too damned long to get there. I guess that the main idea was to show that relationships, especially romantic ones, can be really complex, even really messed-up, and that love can happen in the most unlikely and unhealthy ways. The problem, mostly with Nicoline (played by Carice van Houten) was that they never displayed her in another professional context during which was she was actually fully functioning. As a result, there was no point of reference to compare with what she was going through during this movie. With Idris (played by Marwan Kenzari), it was less problematic but his mohawk was a rather heavy-handed way to show that the guy was ‘trouble’ and I wonder if his character wouldn’t have been more intriguing without it. Anyway, to conclude, it’s too bad the whole thing turned out to be rather empty and pretentious but the material was still pretty strong and, in spite of its flaws, it still think it is worth a look. 

To be honest, I have never been a huge fan of Pokémon (on the other hand, I have to admit that I was at some point pretty addicted to the videogame ‘Pokémon Emerald Version’ on the Game Boy Advance during a summer vacation) but since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I'm pretty sure it was the first movie I saw dealing with these famous creatures but I think they made here the most of this material. Indeed, they created an interesting world and all these Pokémon creatures looked really neat with some cutting-edge CGI. It was also a master move to have the most famous Pokémon voiced by Ryan Reynolds and it was pretty neat to have this character involved in a detective story. So, the basic stuff was fine but, unfortunately, the story turned out to be pretty boring though. By the way, to turn these cute Pokémon’s into some wild creatures with some gas, wasn’t it exactly the same plot used in ‘Zootopia’? Well, I already thought this storyline was hardly interesting in ‘Zootopia’ and it didn’t change this time around. On top of that, in this case, I don’t think the ending made much sense (where was the body of his father all this time?!?) or maybe I missed something but, to be honest, I don’t really care. So, even though I really liked the detective angle, I wish they came up with a more entertaining and less derivative story and I wonder if the fans thought it was really satisfying. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was not bad and it is worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Pokémon. 

I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Sean Connery, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I had never heard of the damned thing before but it turned out to be so much better than I expected. Eventually, it’s too bad I saw it on the BBC without subtitles but, even though I did struggle with the dialogues, the damned thing was still quite impressive. Indeed, even though it did start like a rather conventional POW story, eventually, it turned out to be one of the bleakest anti-army movies I have ever seen. In fact, the story was not actually dealing with some regular POW’s but with a military prison with some British soldier convicted for some minor offences such as insubordination, being drunk while on duty, going AWOL or petty theft. So, everyone involved, guards and prisoners alike, were all soldiers on the same side and, yet, the treatment displayed went way beyond only ‘punishing’ the convicted soldiers. Indeed, they had to face such sadistic treatment that all the men sharing this cell slowly became pretty much mad. Seriously, towards the end, the situation got completely out of hand and the whole thing was just a massive chaos but it was actually quite fascinating to behold. For Sean Connery, this movie was the opportunity to show that he could do something else than James Bond and while you might expect him to play your usual tough guy, his character turned out to be slightly more complex and Connery definitely delivered here one of his best performances. Anyway, to conclude, even if it is a really obscure movie, it is actually really good and it is definitely 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 I have a weak spot for Lily James, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it did sound like a really weird mash-up and I remember that there was a pretty good buzz about this movie before it got released. However, I’m not surprised that it turned out to be a flop after all. Indeed, I don’t think that zombie fans were really eager to have their beloved monsters get stuck in the middle of some stuffy vintage romantic intrigues and, the other way around, I don’t think that Jane Austen fans would be happy to have some ghoulish monsters randomly popping up in the middle of some romantic encounters involving Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. As a result, you might wonder who was supposed to be the audience for this flick. At least, it seems pretty obvious that the cast (Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcote, Suki Waterhouse, Douglas Booth, Charles Dance, Jack Huston, Lena Headey, Matt Smith) had quite some fun with this material and the whole thing looked pretty good but, to be honest, I thought it was just really boring. Basically, the only way it could have worked was if they would have gone for something completely wacky, I mean, wasn't it supposed to be the whole point from the very beginning? Unfortunately, instead, they gave us a rather weak version of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ combined with a rather weak zombie flick (the worst part was probably this rather inane sub-plot about the fact that the zombies could be somehow ‘tamed’ by eating some pig brains…) and this mix was just so tedious to behold. Anyway, to conclude, I just didn’t care for the damned thing at all and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

In fact, I actually saw first Steven Soderbergh’s version which had been a huge flop when it was released but it was ages ago and I didn’t remember much about it. Still, it was pretty neat that, after a WWII drama and a medieval epic, Tarkovsky was coming up with something completely different and again really ambitious. Anyway, as usual with this director, it turned out to be terribly challenging though but, at this point, I wouldn’t expect less from the Russian master. And, yet, even if it was pretty tough to watch, there was still something quite mesmerizing about the damned thing. In my opinion, it was some kind of reflection on the fact that we are, as a specie, terribly arrogant because we have been ruling this Earth for millenniums (we also ruined the damned thing by exploiting all its resources but that’s another story) but, in fact, we barely know ourselves after all. As a result, we would be actually rather poorly equipped if we would encounter another kind of life form in some distant future. Indeed, in the vast majority of SF films, aliens are portrayed either as some human-eating monsters or as a superior life-form who actually are very similar to us and they always fit some logical frame corresponding with how we see ourselves and how we see life in general. However, as it was displayed in this movie, we would probably encounter something completely ‘different’. In fact, the gap between what we would expect and what we would actually get would be so huge that we would probably not have the mental and psychological capabilities to handle such an encounter. At least, that’s what I got from the damned thing but maybe Tarkovsky actually meant something completely different. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, I’m sorry, but it did feel like a very long and rather ugly episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’, to be honest. Anyway, to conclude, even if I’m not sure if I really understood this flick, there was still something fascinating about it and it is definitely worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this sequel but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, pretty much like the previous sequel from this franchise, I have to admit that I was actually rather positively surprised by the damned thing. First of all, it was pretty neat to see again the charismatic Ed and Lorraine Warren, even if they were involved only at the beginning and at the very end.  Furthermore, unlike with the first instalment which turned out to be so underwhelming, once again, they didn’t focus so much on this evil doll which was a smart move. Instead, they explained that she was some kind of vessel or magnet for other spirits which was not a bad idea since it allowed the makers to unleash a whole bunch of ghosts, spirits and other demons in the Warrens' house. The downside was that it did make the whole thing seriously random. However, a bigger issue was that the whole setup didn’t make much sense whatsoever. Indeed, the Warrens had a room full of very evil and dangerous artifacts but what do they do when they go on a business trip? Well, they just leave this responsibility to an underaged baby-sitter… However, it actually got even worse. Indeed, Ed Warren actually LEFT the freaking keys to get to this room on his desk which was just completely unbelievable… Sure, I understand that they had to find a way to get Annabelle out of her closet but I wish they did find something slightly more convincing. It was also rather bewildering how much the Warrens completely downplayed what happened when they got back home. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was actually a decent horror flick though and it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but I have to admit that I was quite eager to see Felix van Groeningen’s first English-speaking directing effort. To be honest, even if it was definitely not bad at all, I still think they struggled to bring something new to the genre. Furthermore, I wish they gave more details on how Nic actually ended up in this position. Indeed, they spent the whole duration showing that his father was a rather sweet guy with a stable lifestyle and household and that he really cared for his son. The only explanation might be that he might have felt somehow as an outcast following the divorce of his parents but it was not developed enough to really explain his craving. Anyway, the main focus of this movie was above all to show the devastating impact such drug addiction might have on the relatives, even if they are loving and have all the patience in the world. Indeed, if one of your kids become such a drug addict, it must be the stuff of nightmare for any decent parent and the hopelessness and powerlessness of the father was quite heart-breaking to behold. Another thing I did appreciate with this movie was how they displayed that the path to recovery is so slow, so difficult, it might take some years, and, in many cases, many drug victims don’t actually make it or never manager to recover. It’s really something else than what you get to see, for example, in ‘Trainspotting’, when Renton shuts himself off in his room for a couple of days and comes out clean and pretty much in control. Finally, there is no denying that Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet both delivered some solid performances, especially Chalamet who was almost unrecognizable when he was under the influence. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe nothing really ground-breaking, it was still a solid drama and 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 solid cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I really liked these 2 characters who both turned out to be quite complex and fairly well developed. Of course, the fact that Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce both gave some really strong performances also helped. Eventually, I’m not surprised that Close got another nomination for an Academy Award for her brilliant work in this movie, what is more bewildering is that she still didn’t get one following such a stellar career. Unfortunately, even though it was a blast to see Pryce and Close at the top of their game, to be honest, I didn’t care much about the story though. Basically, for a good while, you wonder what’s going on with this couple. At first, you might think it had to do with the fact that Joe constantly cheated on his wife throughout their whole relationship but, as pointed out by Christian Slater’s character, there is something terribly cliché about a genius writer with an uncontrollable libido. However, instead, they went into a complete direction but this twist (she was actually the one who wrote all his books) was never really interesting and/or convincing. It probably had to do with the fact that this revelation came too late to be properly developed and the couple of flashbacks were certainly not enough. I mean, why didn’t they co-sign all the books after the 1st one became a hit? I mean, sure, with the 1st book, they were pretty desperate and that’s why they took some drastic measure but they never gave any explanation why they kept this arrangement forever. Furthermore, why did she stay with him after all these years if she resented this situation so much? Anyway, to conclude, even if the material was not great, the actors involved were quite spellbinding to behold and only therefore the damned thing is actually worth a look.