Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I heard that Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck had made an impressive comeback with this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I have to admit that I ended up with some similar feelings I had with his classic ‘Das Leben der Anderen’. Indeed, even though I mostly admired this movie, somehow, it didn’t really grab me. Still, there is no denying that it was a really ambitious project with an impressive scope. Indeed, even though they basically focused on only one character, we followed him through 30 years, experiencing many dramatic events on a historical level but also on a personal level. The point of the movie, I guess, was to show that all these events shaped the main character as an artist but, somehow, I wasn’t completely convinced. It might have to do with the fact that, for a good chunk of the running time, we didn’t see the guy painting or drawing anything, except some naked girl when he was a little boy. In fact, it was only towards the end that we finally get to see him becoming an actual artist. In fact, it does make sense, as pointed out by his teacher, that he would finally become an artist after finally being able to translate all these dramatic, even traumatic events, into Art. Still, they could have displayed him being at least a little more creative before the very end. Another issue was probably the fact that Kurt Barnert was too passive. On the other hand, I’m glad they didn’t spend too much time on Professor Carl Seeband who was such a stereotypical Evil nazi officer. It was however really refreshing that there wasn’t a climax at the end during which the bad guy was caught and all the connections between the characterers were finally neatly explained. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn't a complete home-run, it was still an epic historical movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie had been a critical and commercial flop when it was released, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. First of all, like any other kid growing up during the 80’s, I really loved ‘Ghostbusters’, however, when I did re-watch the classic installments as a grown-up, to be honest, I thought the concept didn’t grow old very well. That was the main reason why I was skeptical about this flick and not the fact that they brought up a female cast for this reboot. In fact, the idea to start fresh with some new characters was probably one of the few things that did work with this movie. Indeed, I’m afraid this flick does deserve its rather poor reputation. The main issue was that the script was rather weak. In my opinion, they spent too much time on explaining on how suddenly there were a bunch of ghosts in New York and then they spent too much time on arguing that the Ghostbusters were some fraud. Both ideas were just really tedious and the ridiculously long running time of almost 2 hours definitely didn’t help either. Concerning the jokes, it was just hit-and-miss. Most of the jokes involving Chris Hemsworth were pretty neat though but there were too many of them focusing on this character which shows how misguided the whole thing was. It was like Bill Murray’s cameo, it was fine to see him on TV debunking the Ghostbusters but to have his character showing up again later on was completely unnecessary. Anyway, to conclude, as expected, it turned out to be a rather weak reboot and it is obviously not really worth a look. 

Since this flick had a solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though this movie had been apparently a huge success in Spain when it was released, to be honest, I really struggled to get into the damned thing. First of all, in my opinion, the start was actually rather awkward. I mean, you had this woman who bought the orphanage where she lived as a young girl and she was supposed to turn it into a place to take care of disabled children. On top of that, she had adopted a boy who was also HIV positive, who had some imaginary friends and who also could see ghosts. And I forgot to mention that the house might be haunted as well. Seriously, it was just way too much for me. Fortunately, when Simón started to get involved himself and his mother into some quest game, then, I finally started to get more interested in this tale. Still, I’m not surprised that this movie was produced by Guillermo del Toro. Indeed, pretty much like the movies directed by del Toro, there was a great mood and it was visually really engaging but there was something seriously lacking in this story. I mean, there was even a massive plot-hole. Indeed, while what happened to Tomás was cleared out at some point, it was never explained what happened to the other children. I mean, they made a big fuss that these kids might have been killed and, yet, we never got to the bottom of this at all after all which was rather frustrating. Still, I have to admit that I really liked the ending though. Indeed, suddenly, it became all possible that everything actually happened in the mind of the main character after all which made the whole thing interestingly ambiguous. If they would have put more focus on this idea, that everything might be happening only in the mind of the main character, it would have been so much better in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t work for me, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Chloë Grace Moretz, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though the damned thing definitely had some potential, unfortunately, there were a couple of things that prevented this movie to really work for me, I’m afraid. The first thing that bothered me was that they pushed too much the idea of the super ‘cool’ parents. Seriously, I thought they were actually slightly annoying but, above all, not really believable. Fortunately, they didn’t put too much focus on the parents but a bigger issue, something that actually pretty much ruined the whole thing for me, was the back-and-forth chronology. Seriously, it is such an overused gimmick which shows that a writer doesn't really trust their story and therefore feels compelled to use this trick to make it more complex than it actually is. Anyway, it felt really useless in this movie. It’s too bad because Chloë Grace Moretz gave another solid performance here. Above all, I thought she had some really nice chemistry with Jamie Blackley and, together, they made not only a really cute couple but, above all, a realistic one. Indeed, for once, it was understandable why they would fall for each other (they were both some talented musicians) and even their conflict made sense (because they were both completely dedicated to their music career, they might have to live on different coasts), especially if you would compare it to the usual phony conflicts you get in this kind of movies. Seriously, without the back-and-forth chronology, it could have been actually really good. 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. 

It is another movie that I wanted to watch for so many years. Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if I had been looking for this movie for more or less 20 years. Well, I wish I could say it had been worth the wait. However, even though I did like the damned thing, to be honest, I can’t say I was really blown away though. I mean, sure, it was a solid drama showing the harsh lives of Swedish immigrants trying their luck in Denmark at the end of the 1850’s but there were a couple of things that didn’t really work for me. First of all, there was no real plot but a succession of little dramas involving the different people living in this farm. Of course, you might argue that it provided a more realistic slice of life but it did lack some dramatic punch. Another issue was that, in my opinion, there were also too many characters. As a result, except for Lasse Karlsson, none of them was really developed and, in fact, they were all reduced to a one note characteristic. For example, you had the ugly bastard son, the pretty young girl who gets pregnant, the mean foreman, the fornicating Kongstrup,… The only exception was, as mentioned before, Lasse Karlsson. Indeed, Max von Sydow, the Swedish master, gave here another strong performance. Above all, while this character might be considered weak or even pathetic, I thought he was incredibly human and believable and his flaws made him even more interesting to behold. Basically, he was not an improbable hero but an average and ordinary man who had to face  the harsh realities of his life and kept on moving forward anyway and this realistic approach was really appreciated. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really impress me, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie was really poorly received when it was released, since I have always been a fan of Jim Jarmusch, I was still eager to check it out. Well, eventually, even if it was maybe not Jarmusch’s worse movie, unfortunately, it was still his laziest effort so far. Basically, the main issue was probably that there was no pulse whatsoever. Of course, that’s something that you could argue about most of Jim Jarmusch’s movies. The issue in this case was that he tried to deliver a comedy which was barely funny after all. I mean, at some point, when Bill Murray asks Adam Driver how he knows that everything will end badly, Driver tells him he knows it because Jim gave him the full script. And that was one of the better jokes. Sure, it was cute to see RZA playing a deliver guy for ‘WU-PS’ but the whole thing didn’t fly really high, that’s for sure. Futhermore, if Jarmusch probably gathered his strongest cast so far (Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, RZA, Iggy Pop), it actually backfired. Indeed, there were basically too many characters involved and, as a result, none of them was really developed. Even worse, none of them was really interesting or entertaining. Eventually, I don’t known which one was worse, Selena Gomez, who showed up for 2 scenes for some unknown reasons (maybe to provide some misguided eye-candy?) or Tilda Swinton who played some weird Scottish samurai sword fighting funeral parlour owner (or maybe she wasn’t Scottish after all?). It’s such a shame because, a couple of years ago, Jarmusch managed to do something really neat with the vampire genre with ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’. However, this time, he tried to tackle the current zombie craze but, unfortunately, he did absolutely nothing interesting with an already completely overdone genre. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have always supported Jim Jarmusch, I don’t think there is any reason why you should check this movie, even if you really like the genre. 

I already saw this movie but, the first time, it was on the BBC so I was quite eager to watch it again but with some subtitles this time around. Well, I’m really glad I did because I enjoyed it even more. I guess the first time I watched it, I focused too much on the story which is, to be honest, really far-fetched and even rather ridiculous. However, this time around, I focused more on its weird dark and nightmarish mood and I was actually really swept away by the damned thing. The most interesting thing with this movie is how John Frankenheimer managed to mix a realistic approach with a totally far-fetched story. Indeed, the hypnotism and brainwashing thing was quite preposterous and, on paper, there is no way this story should have worked. However, the fact that it was taking place in a realistic world created this constant mix of realism and surrealism. One of the most striking scenes was probably the ‘meet cute’ involving Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh. Indeed, even though Bennett Marco was at his lowest and looked like a total wreck, Eugenie Rose Chaney still really flirted hard on him. To make this moment even more surreal, they had the weirdest conversation ever. Was Marco dreaming or hallucinating? Was Eugenie actually another spy? Those were really the best moments, when Marco seemed really vulnerable and when the viewers are not really sure what the hell is actually going on. To make the whole thing even more far-out, you had some anti-McCarthyism, the Communist Dr. Yen Lo who kept making jokes, Eleanor Shaw Iselin who might have had some incestuous feelings for her son and who happened to be a spy as well,… Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a really weird but still fascinating thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.