Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really dying to see another adaptation of this classic US novel but since it had been very well received, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I still don’t think it is such a great story (I might have to read the book at some point to really judge it though) but I have to admit that Greta Gerwig definitely made the most of it though. Concerning the directing and the writing, Gerwig had been really praised for her work but, to be honest, I had some mixed feelings. I mean, on one hand, it was clearly an ambitious project but, on the other hand, what was so ambitious about adapting a classic book which had been adapted so many times before? Concerning the back-and-forth in time, it is an overused gimmick which I see way too often nowadays and, in this case, it was only mildly effective. Anyway, something neat about this story is that it always allowed the makers to assemble an all-star female cast and this version certainly didn’t disappoint on that level (Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Eliza Scanlen). To be honest, Watson’s and Scalen’s roles turned out to be rather thankless as they were not really fleshed out and it shows that this story might work better as a mini-series to have more running time to properly develop each sister. However, there is no doubt that Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh were both quite impressive. I think I had a slight preference for Pugh as she was so convincing playing the same character at two very different stages of her life. Eventually, I have to admit that these characters were actually all really neat and the relationship between these sisters was just really sweet and entertaining to behold. I wasn’t really so sure about their relationship with the male characters though. Indeed, there was not much time to explain why Meg thought that John Brooke was so amazing and the switch made by Laurie from Jo to Amy still felt rather jarring. Anyway, to conclude, even if I think it was slightly overrated, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I kept some really interesting things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, Jean Vigo is one of these mythic movie directors who managed to deliver only one masterpiece (‘L’atalante’) before dying very young. Vigo did also manage to direct a few shorts and this one is probably the most famous one. Well, to beginning with, I just loved this title. I mean, even though this movie was made 60 years before I myself went to junior high-school in France, I completely could identify myself with these kids who felt completely misunderstood by the school and by the establishment in general. In their case, it was actually much worse though since, at least, I didn’t have to sleep there. This movie also displayed the unrest and melancholy that you can experience at this age, when you start to realize that your games are becoming childish and that you discover that the grown-ups around you are not so great after all. So, the approach was definitely quite realistic and I’m pretty sure that this movie must have been a major inspiration for François Truffaut when he made ‘Les quatre cents coups’ 25 years later. However, in spite of Vigo’s realistic approach, there was also a few seriously surrealist moments, the kind of wild combination you would see only back then when they were still experimenting on how to make a movie and these few surrealist bits made the whole thing even more unique and even quite poetic. The only critic I might have was that the whole thing was pretty random and none of the characters was really developed but, since it was a rather short movie, it was understandable. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved the damned thing and I think 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 it seemed to have a decent reputation and since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I was well aware that Dalton Trumbo had been blacklisted and that he had kept working using fronts and aliases but I didn’t know the full extent of it (For example, I didn’t know he actually spent some time in jail) and only therefore, it was a really interesting movie. It was also interesting to see that Trumbo, before he was blacklisted, was probably the most in-demand writer in Hollywood at the time and the Blacklist completely derailed his career when he was basically at the top of his game, which did remind me of what happened to Muhammad Ali. And, yet, Trumbo still managed to be productive in the US. while many blacklisted directors actually moved to Europe, even if it was to mass produce some garbage, and, at some point, he more or less managed to bring down the Blacklist system in the process. So, the material was actually quite fascinating but, to be honest, I wasn’t really sure about the approach they chose. Indeed, even if most of the characters kept saying that the situation was really serious, even downright dramatic, the tone remained actually really light. Sure, it might have made the whole thing easier to swallow but I’m not sure if it was so much more entertaining this way and, above it really undermined the impact of this tale. In a similar way, even though I did like Bryan Cranston’s performance, it did turn Dalton Trumbo into some funny eccentric guy but it felt rather reductive to me. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t really a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.

I didn’t have some great expectations regarding this flick but since it was directed by Luc Besson, I was still eager to check it out. Following the debacle around ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ (a movie which wasn't so bad in my opinion), EuropaCorp, Besson’s film production, was on the verge of bankruptcy so he apparently decided to take no risk with his following directing effort. However, as a result, he did deliver something terribly derivative and, even more problematic, it turned out to be another flop at the box-office. Well, to be honest, I didn’t care much for the damned thing. First of all, following the footsteps of Anne Parillaud, Milla Jovovich, Rie Rasmussen, Louise Bourgoin, Scarlett Johansson and Cara Delevingne, Sasha Luss was the latest gorgeous lady that Besson had chosen to headline his action flick but, to be honest, even though she did look fine, her performance was rather weak though. A bigger issue was that the whole thing was just so poorly written. I mean, I actually have a weak spot for the genre, the action flicks dealing with a lethal female spy, but this movie was pretty much a really weak version of ‘Nikita’, which is still by far my favourite movie from Besson. For example, half of the time the Russian characters were speaking Russian with each other and the other half, they were suddenly speaking English with each other which shows how lazy the damned thing was. Furthermore, to make the whole thing look more complicated than it actually was, they went for a mixed-up chronology which was usually more annoying than really effective. Of course, the main character had to have some rather meaningless love affairs with not one but two other spies but, beyond the fact that Sasha Luss had very little chemistry with her co-stars, it all felt rather random and gratuitous. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have actually seen worse from Besson, the damned thing was still pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if I probably didn’t learn anything really new, it was still an intriguing documentary with a whole bunch of people much smarter than me. I have to admit that, at first, the content was fairly depressing and it slowly became even darker and, towards the end, it was pretty much the most nightmarish doomsday scenario that you could imagine. At least, I’m glad I’m part of the last generation which was born before the internet and the smartphones and, as a result, I don’t actually use any social media such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram so I didn’t really have to feel guilty while watching the damned thing. Still, as a parent, I became slightly worried for my youngest daughter though. Indeed, she is now 14 years old and pretty much spends all her free time on her smartphone so, to hear how hurtful it could be for her on so many levels was slightly distressing. It was fairly amusing to hear other parents telling that they got it under ‘control’ though. Indeed, either, they actually don’t and they are lying to themselves or they actually do and, as a result, they pretty much cut off their kids from what is actually going in their social group. Anyway, is the situation so bad after all? I mean, when I was growing up in the 80’s and the 90’s, people were complaining that we were watching too much television, then they were complaining that our video-games were just too violent,... On the other hand, in this case, the scale is actually here much bigger and the usage is also so much intense, it just never stops. Furthermore, there is also an actual conscious choice to actually manipulate the users which was never really the case with TV and video-games. Eventually, how will it all end? Difficult to say and, if you would believe some people, nobody even knows what is really actually going on anymore. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was quite fascinating to behold, maybe slightly hypocritical from Netflix who is quite notorious in the way they try to influence its users but, at least, this movie is one more reason to stay away from all this social media nonsense and I think it is definitely worth a look.

I didn’t have some really high expectations regarding this movie but since it was directed by Jeff Nichols, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, ‘Midnight Special’ had been a decent watch but, in spite some really solid reviews, it didn’t really impress me and this new directing from Nichols turned out to be slightly better but not much more than that. I mean, it was definitely an important story with a huge impact on US laws and jurisprudence but Nichols never really managed to turn it into a really fascinating movie, I’m afraid. The main issue was probably that you never really get to know Richard and Mildred Loving, even after spending 2 hours with them. Basically, they spent the whole duration claiming their love for each other which obviously nobody should have denied them but it could have been interesting if they could have displayed why they were in love or if they could have at least develop slightly more these 2 characters. Another thing that bugged me was that I kept wondering if this whole struggle had been really worth it for them. I mean, they were not some civil rights activists and, of course, if nobody would fight and sacrifice themselves, nothing would ever change in our world, but why would they stay in this place where at least half of the population really hated their guts? Maybe my personal experience is clouding my judgement though. Indeed, almost 20 years ago, I left France to leave in the Netherlands and I never really miss it. On the other hand, if someone would force me to leave the Netherlands because, for example, I don’t have a Dutch passport, it might disrupt my life in a similar way. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a well made movie with some solid performances and it think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject. 

I really had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Sally Potter and since there was a really nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Even though Potter has a solid reputation, I have to admit that I don’t have a clear view or understanding of what her work is actually about but it might have to do with the fact that it was only the 3rd movie I saw from this director. Anyway, even if this movie was barely 70 mins long, it felt more like 2 hours which wasn’t really a good omen and, to be honest, I had a rather hard time to care about the damned thing. I have to admit that the black-and-white cinematography was quite gorgeous, even if it was maybe slightly pretentious and it probably made the whole thing look more artistic than it actually was. Concerning the story, it did have some potential but, very quickly, it became a farce mixed with a soap which was hardly an entertaining mix, at least, as far as I was concerned. It’s a pity since all the characters seemed to be quite smart and articulate but they were all pretty much wasted doing some hysterical shenanigans. At least, the stellar cast (Timothy Spall, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy) didn’t disappoint and they all seemed to have a blast. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit it was still a decent watch and I think it might be worth a look but only if you really like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since it had won the César of the Best French movie of the year, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I was really impressed by the damned thing, that’s for sure. Through the years, I have seen a few US movies dealing with the AIDS pandemic but it was pretty neat to finally see a French movie on the subject. Indeed, when I was growing up in France in the 90’s, it was constantly in the media and I think my generation has been pretty much traumatized as we will forever link sex with sickness and death. This movie focused actually more on what happened before. Indeed, it took about 10 years for the French government to finally take the necessary actions but, in the meantime, 1000’s of people actually died and that’s what the people in Act Up Paris were fighting for or fighting against. At first, you might wonder why they were so passionate or so fanatic about this cause but the last act during which Sean died made it pretty clear. Indeed, behind all their witty jokes, even though most of them were quite young, they would still die fairly soon if they didn’t get the right help so they were actually more desperate than passionate. It was also quite interesting that most of the duration actually took place during their weekly meetings. You might wonder why the makers made this choice but I think it was a way to show this group all together while they were sharing not only their ideas and thoughts but also their feelings about their situation and their individual and collective struggle. The only downside was that the whole thing was a little bit messy. Indeed, while at some point they finally really focused on Nathan, it seemed that they were never really sure if he should be handled as a main character. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved the realistic approach, it was some really fascinating material and the damned thing is definitely worth a look. 

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though there were a couple of decent ideas, to be honest, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. I mean, Ray Garrison was a decent character, maybe a little too strong and indestructible, but at least the guy was really badass. However, Vin Diesel has become (or maybe has always been?) such a boring actor… Basically, it was pretty much like watching Dominic Toretto with some super-powers which might sound really neat for Diesel’s fans but, as far as I’m concerned, I would rather see him play someone completely different. To make things worse, the story was just too convoluted. Seriously, there was probably for Emil Harting some easier way to get rid of his former colleagues. On top of that, the whole thing was seriously derivative and felt like a weak mix of such movies like ‘Memento’, ‘The Matrix’ and even ‘Terminator 2’. I have to admit that it was at first amused to see Sam Heughan from ‘Outlander’ but, unfortunately, his character turned out to be rather boring. At least, even if KT was not really a fascinating character either, Eiza González was once again quite gorgeous to look at and this actress is just terribly charismatic. Wilfred Wigans played by Lamorne Morris was also a fun character so if they had focused more on his character, more on KT, had cast someone else to play the main character and basically completely rewrote the whole story, it could have had some potential. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse from Vin Diesel, the damned thing was still pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.