Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, even though the concept might sound lame, they actually made the most of it. In fact, it’s rather incredible that the real Stangle brothers were paid a seven figure amount for the rights to make a movie about their story after they (really) put such an ad on Craigslist. That was pretty much the only thing that wasn’t made up in this movie but it didn’t matter. Indeed, the idea that Mike and Dave were supposed to find some nice girls to make up for all the mess they have done and eventually end up with some completely wild chicks was actually pretty cool. The cast was also rather spot-on. Indeed, even if I had some doubts about Anna Kendrick at first, she was really game and she was actually quite convincing after all. Concerning the supporting cast, well, none of the other characters were really interesting or entertaining (cousin Terry was especially pretty pathetic) but it wasn’t a big deal. However, it’s too bad that they basically split the two couples as soon as they arrived in Hawai but a bigger issue was that the plot was just so damned generic. Indeed, as expected, they ruined the wedding, the damned thing got cancelled but these misfits still managed to have the future couple change their mind once again so it all ended well for everyone after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing amazing, it still turned out to be a decent raunchy comedy after all 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 available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I’m not surprised that it turned out to be a flop at the box-office. In fact, there is a fair chance that the two movies directed by McG, which were massively trashed when they were released, might be actually better than this borefest. It’s rather funny that some critics took the defence of this movie by claiming that it did work because they took this (rather outdated) concept with a supposedly feminist approach. However, this thin layer of feminism was certainly not enough to cover the fact that the whole thing was just so generic and, above all, so tedious. You might wonder what a solid action director could have done with this material as Elizabeth Banks, with her sophomore directing effort, obviously had no clue how to make the action scenes exciting or least a little bit more entertaining. Even more problematic was that the ‘funny’ scenes were not much better either. Concerning the trio of girls involved, I understand and appreciate that they tried to not present them as some sex objects, however, none of them was convincing whatsoever. Sure, Kristen Stewart was the only one who managed to give her character an interesting personality but she was physically not convincing and I never felt I was watching a highly trained spy. Naomi Scott was really lovely but she was stuck playing a completely ridiculous character who, somehow, tagged along because that’s obviously what these professionals always do, take a completely random girl and involve her in a dangerous spy special ops. Concerning Ella Balinska, she was supposed to be the tough one of the bunch but, again, she was never really convincing either. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was not much better than a group of girls playing ‘pretend', it was seriously weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I can’t say I was really dying to see the infamous Snyder cut but I have to admit that I was curious about the end-result. To be honest, I didn’t remember much about the Whedon cut but, after reading the review I wrote at the time, I apparently didn’t hate the damned thing though. Basically, it was a rather misguided version of a movie which was never going to be amazing anyway. Well, in spite of what all the DC fanatics who were very vocal about getting this new version might argue, all in all, it was still not a really strong story though. It didn’t help that the storyline was just so similar to the one displayed in ‘Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame’. Indeed, on one hand, Thanos was gathering the Infinity stones and, on the other hand, Steppenwolf/Darkseid were gathering the Mother Boxes. On one hand, you had also Thanos who wanted to destroy a good chunk of the human population and, on the other hand, you had Steppenwolf/Darkseid who wanted pretty much the same thing. However, I have to admit that this movie was supposed to come out before the Marvel juggernaut though. The funny thing was that the Whedon cut was the shortest DCEU movie and this new version turned out to be the longest super-hero movie ever made so far, no less than that. Seriously, 4 freaking hours?!? On the other hand, there is no doubt that, this time around, the characters were much more fleshed out, especially Victor Stone/Cyborg. Furthermore, the tone was darker and much more consistent with the previous movies in this franchise and, this way, it also gave the whole thing a much more epic feeling, something that was probably missing with the theatrical version. Anyway, to conclude, even if I don’t think I really needed this new version, it was still a decent watch 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 I have a weak spot for Catherine Zeta-Jones, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I was actually surprised by how disappointing the damned thing actually turned out to be. It’s too bad because it really had some potential and it could have been some really neat female version of ‘Scarface’. Unfortunately, pretty much nothing worked in this movie, I’m afraid. Of course, you might wonder if casting a Welsh actress to play the most notorious female Colombian drug trafficker was a good idea but I think that Zeta-Jones was not so bad at all. In my opinion, she was the least problematic aspect of this movie. Above all, the whole thing was so poorly written. For example, the first scene (which was probably fictional) was actually pretty good but, then, they made this massive jump and Blanco was suddenly living in New York, married with 3 kids but what happened to her in the mean time? Instead, you get some lame voice-over from a random DEA agent, pretty much the most over-used gimmick in such drug related drama’s. Seriously, it felt as if the guy was reading the bullet points from her Wikipedia page. So, she was married 3 times, she had 4 boys, they sure managed to pass through all this information but all these characters and the relationship they had with Blanco were just barely developed whatsoever. Seriously, the whole thing was just so clunky but since it was a production from the Lifetime channel, I should have expected it though. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of some really strong material, it turned out to be just terribly disappointing and you should probably avoid the damned thing. 

To be honest, I have never been a fan of Formula 1 but since Michael Schumacher was such a legend, I was quite eager to check this new documentary on Netflix. Indeed, when I was growing up in the 90’s, Schumacher was the rising star in this sport facing such legends like Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna and he would then rule this sport for more than a decade. Well, it turned out that his career was actually quite fascinating, especially the first 9 years, until he started to win all these championships with Ferrari. Basically, he did pretty much the same thing Michael Jordan did with the Chicago Bulls, he turned a really moribund team into one of the greatest dynasties in the history of Formula 1. Of course, you could argue that they were not really critical but it is something rather expected with this genre and it didn’t really bother me. What was more bewildering was how they handled his tragic ski accident which occurred already 8 years ago. Indeed, back in 94, he did win his first championship but it was also the year during which Senna ended up in a coma and died after crashing during the San Marino Grand Prix. Eventually, almost 20 years later, after surviving countless Formula 1 races driving faster than 200 kph, Schumacher also ended up in a coma but not on the racetrack but while doing some seemingly safe skiing. However, even though the whole thing was constructed in a way that could make you believe that Schumacher did die just like his role-model Senna, he actually didn’t.  In fact, while they were shooting this documentary, interviewing his wife among other things, the guy was actually back home but you never get to see him (which was understandable) and you never get a clear idea about his current condition (which was strange). Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still an interesting documentary about a fascinating sports legend and it is definitely worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since it was starring Robert De Niro, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, even if it was maybe not the worst movie I have seen starring the legendary actor, it was still not far from it though. Basically, it was your typical cheap direct-to-DVD thriller, John Cusack’s speciality for about a decade, but you might wonder why De Niro would bother with this kind of movies at this stage in his career. Anyway, even if it wasn’t really a long movie, it still felt like it was lasting forever which is never a good sign. Concerning the cast, Robert De Niro was actually not bad but he basically showed up for only a few scenes. At least, De Niro seemed to have some fun but, on the other hand, Cusack seemed to be completely bored out of his mind and displayed the same conviction and commitment that you might expect from someone working at your local McDonald’s. Concerning Rebecca Da Costa, I have to admit that she was quite attractive and I can imagine that she hoped to get her big breakthrough by working with such big names. However, her character was constantly described and handled as a hooker and, while she did her best to convince the viewers that there was actually much more going on with this character, I was never convinced, or worse, I never really cared. Eventually, it’s basically the kind of movies which didn’t display a single original idea. Seriously, somehow, they even managed to squeeze in an ending directly lifted from ‘Seven’. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was really generic and terribly weak and there is no reason whatsoever why you should waste your time with it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by [Link removed - login to see], I was quite eager to check it out. What made this movie even more interesting was the fact that, for the first time in his impressive career, Koreeda was working outside of Japan in another language than Japanese and, on top of that, he had a top cast at his disposal (Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke, Ludivine Sagnier). Unfortunately, even if it turned out to be a decent watch, it wasn’t much more than that, I'm afraid, and it is easily the least interesting movie I have seen so far from the Japanese master. First of all, the story was not bad but it wasn’t nothing really original and, to make things worse, there was just too much extra stuff going on. Just take Fabienne for example. Her ex-husband showed up suddenly for a single day but there was also her help/assistant who left after working for her for decades and also a guy cooking some Italian food and apparently also sleeping in her bed. Well, all these 3 men were just barely developed and you might wonder if it wouldn’t have worked better without them. In a similar fashion, Ethan Hawke was completely wasted playing some actor with some apparently alcoholic issues (another completely unnecessary and half-baked idea) who never gets involved because everyone speaks with French and he speaks only English. However, there is no denying that it was really cool to have Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, two titans of the French cinema, facing each other and they were both at the top of their game. Seriously, they were both quite fascinating to behold and the damned thing could have been actually quite amazing if it would have been more focused on them by removing most of the other characters. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was rather half-baked, I still think it is worth a look, just to see Deneuve and Binoche working so well together. 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it was definitely a weird movie, that’s for sure. Indeed, there was no real introduction and it apparently took place in some unnamed South American country (probably Columbia). Eventually, the whole thing felt like entering some strange parallel sometimes even nightmarish world but, in fact, some similar events actually do take place somewhere in our world right now. Indeed, it might all seem crazy and unbelievable but it is actually closer to reality than you might think. For starters, the guy who played the drill sergeant became an actual FARC soldier when he was only 11 years old and he remained in the FARC for more than a decade. In a similar fashion, at the beginning of the 2000’s, Ingrid Betancourt, a politician running for the Colombian presidency, was kidnapped and was rescued more than 6 years later. Seriously, can you imagine what ‘Doctora’ in this movie was going through and imagine this ordeal going for a such long period of time? However, even though they sometime focused on the US hostage, they mostly focused on this group of teenagers and their completely weird way of life. You can only imagine how terrible and/or hopeless their life must have been before joining the ranks of the rebels because there must be some reason why they have been sent away to become children soldiers. However, you’ll be never sure how they did end up there, in fact, you don’t even get to know their real name as most of their personality has been stripped out by a completely dehumanizing system. Still, it seems rather unlikely that these young kids would be left alone with a hostage without any adult supervision. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was pretty weird but quite intriguing nonetheless and it is definitely worth a look.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Robert Rodriguez and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I knew next to nothing about Billie Eilish before watching this movie but it turned out to be a pretty neat way to get acquainted with this new emerging massive pop star. However, to be honest, even though she definitely can sing and has a nice voice, you have to really dig her way of whispering her songs though and I think it is definitely an acquired taste. I was also intrigued by her rather unflattering outfit (it was really something else than Beyoncé who had a dozen of sexy outfits in ‘Homecoming’) but, apparently, it is on purpose, among other things, to avoid being sexualized which is actually recommendable. Indeed, most of the young female pop singers always focus on giving a sexy image so she should be actually praised for this choice. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, it turned out to be typical a ‘lockdown’ concert with no audience involved but even though the venue (the Hollywood Bowl) was impressive, the presentation was still pretty dry though. Concerning the animated character, she actually looked really neat (I’m not so sure about the fact that she wore a rather skimpy outfit and looked actually thinner than Eilish though) but, except for roaming around in her car to some, I suppose, famous LA landmarks, she didn’t do anything interesting whatsoever so she seemed to be a rather missed opportunity after all. Anyway, to conclude, it was a decent watch and a nice way to discover this artist but I think this concert movie will be enjoyable above all for the die-hard fans of Billie Eilish’s work.