Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I saw recently ‘Benedetta’, I was quite eager to see the only directorial effort from Paul Verhoeven that I haven’t seen so far. After almost 10 years, I just gave up waiting for the damned thing to show up on a Dutch TV-channel (for the record, I leave in the Netherlands…) and I bought instead a (probably too expensive) German DVD. Back then, even though Verhoeven made a triumphant come-back in the Netherlands with ‘Zwartboek’, it seems that he struggled afterwards to get another project started in the Netherlands. As a result, he got involved in some kind of experimental project during which the audience was somehow involved in the writing of the script. Even though they provided a making-off before the movie itself and even though I read some stuff about this project on the internet, it is still rather obscure how it was supposed to work. Coming back on the making-off, even if it was neat to see Verhoeven at work, it didn’t have much value though. Indeed, you get to see the Dutch master claiming that it was a great creative experience and, even though he did admit that it turned out to be more challenging than he expected, he never went further than this. On top of that, I have read here and there that he more or less completely changed the whole concept along the way because it didn’t work at all and, even so, I really doubt he was satisfied by the end-result. Concerning the movie itself, even though Verhoeven praised his crew and the actors during the making-off, I thought it was not much better than a really cheap Dutch made-for-TV movie. Indeed, it was visually nothing really thrilling or fancy and the acting was rather weak as well. In fact, the script was the only thing that did have some potential but, still, I didn’t care much about the choices made either by the audience or by Paul Verhoeven. In my opinion, they should have tried to keep the whole story taking place during the party at the beginning and the tone was just too light for my taste. Anyway, it is the proof that writing a movie is a really difficult task and we should probably let the professionals taking care of this in the future. To conclude, I didn’t care much for the damned thing which was pretty much a failed experiment and I think you can avoid it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Natalie Portman, I was really eager to check it out. To be honest, I think it was pretty obvious that it was only the 2^nd directorial effort of Brady Corbet. Indeed, even though there were plenty of good ideas, half of it still didn’t work, I’m afraid. Still, I can’t remember the last time that Portman delivered such an intense performance. Seriously, it felt as if her character from ’Black Swan’ actually didn’t die and became some kind of unhinged pissed-off popstar. Eventually, she was so good that you almost wish they skipped the first part and only focused on her. It’s not that the first part was bad though. Indeed, it was really dark and intriguing but, in my opinion, these 2 parts, one focusing on when Celeste was a teenager and the other focusing on her when she was grown-up, didn’t really work well together. First of all, I have nothing against Raffey Cassidy, she was not bad at all but, to be honest, she didn’t look at all like a young Natalie Portman. The fact that she also played Celeste’s daughter didn’t help either to make her casting less bewildering. On the other hand, I have to admit that I was really floored by Stacy Martin. Indeed, in contrary to Celeste who ended up being played by 2 actresses who didn’t look like each other at all, Martin had to play the same character as a teenager AND as a grown-up and it was rather amazing how convincing she was in both cases. It’s too bad they didn’t give her much to do after all. Another issue was that the pacing in the 2 parts didn’t match at all. Indeed, the first part was taking place over roughly 18 months while the second part was taking place during a single day. Of course, you could argue that it was a creative choice but, in my opinion, it made the whole thing terribly unbalanced. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Natalie Portman's work.

I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of Whitney Houston but since this documentary was directed by Kevin Macdonald, I thought might as well check it out. To be honest, it wasn’t  the strongest documentary delivered by Macdonald that I have seen so far but it was still a decent watch though. Indeed, for example, I didn’t know that Houston was coming from such a musical family. Unfortunately, the majority of the movie was focusing on some talking heads telling their relationship with Whitney Houston and what they thought about her. Sure, you can argue that it was quite impressive that almost everyone from her entourage accepted to be interviewed for this movie (with the notable exception of Robyn Crawford). However, the issue with this approach was that everything they said turned out to be a mix of factual information, gossips, rumours and some more or less far-fetched theories. One of the most interesting comments provided was that Whitney Houston probably never really knew who she was and that’s for sure that her entourage who sticked around mostly to profit from her wealth and her fame obviously didn’t really know her either and, yet, they all had something to say but the value of their comment was dubious at best. Eventually, this movie was quite the cautionary tale displaying that, even if you are gorgeous, even if you are seriously talented and even if you are mega successful, there is still no guarantee that you will be happy after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing ground-breaking, it was still an interesting documentary about one of the most successful pop-stars that ever lived and it is worth a look, at least, if you are interested in the subject matter. 

I already saw this movie but since I just bought a brand new awesome TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, unfortunately, even after rewatching the damned thing, it is still pretty much one of the most disappointing movies coming from the MCU which is such a shame. Indeed, from the 4 MCU movies released in 2021, this one seemed to be the most interesting. How awesome it would have been that Chloé Zhao, after scoring a Best Picture Academy Award, would follow this up with a massive blockbuster which would also turn out to be one of the most challenging MCU instalments ever made? So, I was really rooting for this movie but, to be honest, I'm afraid it turned out to be rather weak after all. I mean, it’s not that it was bad, far from it, in fact, it did have quite some potential but this potential was unfortunately pretty much completely untapped. Indeed, this group of characters was quite intriguing and the fact that they lived for thousands of years could have opened so many doors, especially on a metaphysical level. Sure, they did scratch this idea but it was really superficial and, eventually, they were stuck facing the usual monsters threatening our planet. On top of that, within 5 mins, I had already figured out that Arishem had some ‘secret’ agenda and it was rather disappointing that, after thousands of years, these ancient seemingly wise characters didn’t figure this out on their own at some point. Eventually, it is rather disheartening that Chloé Zhao claimed that Marvel gave her plenty of freedom but I wish they gave her instead a better story to work with. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was not a bad MCU instalment so it is still worth a look but there is no denying that it could have been so much better.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. At least, it was not worse than its predecessors. On the other hand, I have to admit that I didn’t remember much about them except that they didn’t really impress me at all. However, it was definitely not an improvement either. Indeed, if some of the jokes were actually fairly amusing, most of it was still completely forgettable. On top of that, the plot was just so generic and hardly entertaining and, after 10 mins, I lost most of the interest I might have had at the beginning. Apparently, the plot was also almost identical to the 1^st instalment which was rather lazy but, on the other hand, you could argue that all the James Bond flicks pretty much all look alike. Still, in this case, it didn’t help that the bag guy was rather lame. Jake Lacy was also hardly intimidating with his puppy eyes and he would be the last guy I would hire to play a nefarious villain. On the other hand, Olga Kurylenko was a perfect choice to play such a femme fatale. Indeed, Kurylenko was as usual quite gorgeous to look at and she did what she could with this material but it is rather sad that, exactly 10 years after getting her breakthrough with James Bond, the only gig she could get was to show up in such a lame James Bond spoof. Eventually, even though the idea of turning Mr. Bean into an incompetent spy had some potential, it’s too bad they never managed to properly develop this idea into something really entertaining after 3 instalments. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse (the Mr. Bean movies are pretty much unwatchable for example), it was still rather weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Anya Taylor-Joy and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if it turned out to be a decent watch, to be honest, it wasn’t much more than that though. Basically, the main idea was to show that Barack Obama at such a young age was already so much deeper and thoughtful than his peers but, to be honest, I never really bought it. Indeed, in my opinion, it was leaning too heavily on the mystic mythology around the former US president and to keep giving us some shots of Barry lost in his thoughts was definitely not enough. I’m not saying that the idea didn’t have some potential though. Indeed, it was quite interesting to see that, even though Obama was full of swagger and confidence during his presidency, in his younger years, the guy was actually really struggling with his identity and his fairly complex background. However, during one of the (very few) really strong scenes, it was pointed out by another completely random character that, basically, all Americans have a complex background but it would take many more years until Obama managed to grasp this concept and accept who he actually was. Furthermore, I’m not sure if it was the right move to focus on his relationship with this white girl. Obviously, why shouldn’t Barack Obama date a white girl? It was definitely not the problem and they spent quite some time to display that she was a very nice bright girl and that they were a good match. However, we all know that this relationship would eventually lead to nowhere so, after spending so much time arguing the merits of this union, they made it crumble rather unconvincingly. As a result, it made the whole thing seemed like a waste of time not only for Obama but also for the viewers. Anyway, to conclude, even though the damned thing did struggle to be more than just an infomercial, it was still not bad though and I think it is worth a look. 

Well, I’m finally done with my Tarkovsky cycle (I still have to watch ‘Offret’ and ‘Nostalghia’ because they were unfortunately not included in my Blu-ray box set). To be honest, this journey has been just as fascinating as it was frustrating and I actually ended up somehow with arguably his most challenging movie. Can you imagine this? Watching the most difficult movie from the most difficult director I know? The funny thing is that, with a running time of less than 2 hours, it was rather short, at least, for a Tarkovsky movie. Basically, the main difference with the other movies directed by the Russian master was that, even though they were all also extremely opaque and intricate, they were at least linked to some genre (WWII drama, medieval epic, Science-Fiction), even if Tarkovsky didn’t care much about the usual trademarks linked to these different genres. In this case, he went this time for something completely freewheeling and I can imagine that it can be quite fascinating and exhilarating if you manage to get into in his flow and state of mind but, to be honest, I really struggled with the damned thing. Seriously, through the whole duration, I was scratching my head wondering what the hell was happening in front of my eyes and it was only afterwards, much later on, that I finally managed to get more or less some understanding about this movie. Basically, it was about a man that you never see and sometimes hear talking reflecting on his youth and his relationship with his mother and reflecting on his present and his relationship with his ex-wife. The fact that both women were played by the same actress probably didn’t help to make the whole thing less opaque and confusing but this casting actually somehow made sense since, on a subconscious level, all our partners are somehow some kind of reflection of our mothers. I also wonder if the black-and-white scenes were dealing with his past and the color scenes were dealing with his present but it sounds way too easy and conventional for this director. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was probably one of the most difficult movies I have ever seen, it was still quite fascinating and it is definitely worth a look but only if you really like the genre though. 

To be honest, since this movie had been rather poorly received, I had some rather low expectations but since I have a weak for Reese Witherspoon and since it was directed by Atom Egoyan, I still wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, even if it was an interesting true story, the movie turned out to be seriously weak though. I have to admit that I wasn't really familiar with the West Memphis Three case before watching this movie but I think it might have been a blessing since it did help me to slightly more appreciate this movie, at least, more than it actually deserved. However, it didn't change the fact that, even though Egoyan had a rather solid track record back in the 90's, the directing was here actually seriously clunky. Indeed, even though the whole thing should have been about the investigation on both sides (how the cops tried to pin these murders on these 3 teenagers without a single shred of physical evidence and how their lawyers tried to prove that there was no merit in these accusations) which seemed to be a no-brainer to me, instead, they kept focusing on Reese Witherspoon's character who, well, pretty much did nothing through the whole thing. I mean, sure, it must have been awful for the parents of the deceased kids but if this woman didn't have anything relevant to say or do regarding this case, except being played by a A-lister, well, I wish they put their focus on something more interesting. Concerning Colin Firth's character, he did seem at first to be more promising but it didn't last long, I'm afraid. Of course, there was the fact that Firth was probably completely miscast to play an American with a southern accent but it didn't really bother me after all. What bothered me even more was the fact that, except making some moralistic statement about the death penalty, the guy didn't do much after all. Seriously, it would be fun to count how many meaningless close ups you get on these two characters. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was a strong story, this movie was just really weak and you would be wise to watch instead the many heralded documentaries about this topic. 

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.