Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there were a few decent actors involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it’s not surprising that the RZA would be interested in making movies as well since movies have been an obvious influence on his music. However, even though he is no doubt one of the greatest hip-hop artists that ever lived, I'm afraid he won't become a great filmmaker as well. I mean, on paper, there was nothing wrong with this last directorial effort, in fact, it definitely had some potential. It also didn't bother me that, even though it did look at first like a basic Hood movie, it was in fact some kind of political statement. No, what really bothered me was the fact that the damned thing was just so weak. At least, the RZA didn't write it himself so I can't blame him for the lame dialogues or the generic storyline. And what the hell happened with the ending? I think it meant that the whole thing didn't really happen after all or maybe it did happen only in his comic-book but, seriously, it was so just so poorly put together, it was really hard to tell. However, I can definitely blame him for the poor directing though. I mean, there were some solid actors involved but even a seasoned thespian like Ethan Hawke did struggle to make it work (Hawke was still the best of the bunch though). Maybe there were too many characters involved? With his background, it was rather surprising that The RZA didn’t manage to deliver something more compelling but I guess he should stick to music in the future. Anyway, to conclude, even if there were some good ideas, the damned thing barely work after all and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Julianne Hough and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I’m afraid it was pretty weak though. Indeed, basically, it turned out to be some kind of cheap knock-off of ‘127 Hours’ to which they added a lame psychopath. In fact, I have to admit that I do have a weak spot for such minimalistic features involving only 1 or 2 characters and, of course, I can imagine how such movies could be attractive for film makers since they must be so cheap to make. However, this movie definitely displayed what is so tricky about this genre. Basically, to make it work, you need a decent and plausible concept (which was the case here, except for the serial killer angle) but, above all, you need some strong actors who can manage to carry a whole full-length feature on their own. Unfortunately, I’m afraid Hough never had the acting chops to pull something like that. I mean, she was and still is quite gorgeous and I can imagine that she wanted to prove herself that she could pull it off but, to be honest, I never really cared much about what her character was going through because it was just not convincing enough. On the other hand, she wasn’t helped by the fact that the makers never really committed to the story by adding this generic and completely unnecessary psychopath. Who knows how it would have turned out to be without him? At least, it would have been more challenging and interesting to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, I didn’t care much for the damned thing and you should probably avoid it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, at first, the damned thing turned out to be rather abysmal. Indeed, it was basically another Dutch thriller which looked so cheap but, above all, it was just so poorly put together, I was rolling my eyes in disbelief every 2 mins. Another thing that annoyed me so much was that they constantly played some ominous music to cover the fact that they had no idea how to shoot a thriller. I’m not surprised that André van Duren spent the previous 10 years directing episodes for some Dutch TV-series. Concerning the acting, except for Bracha van Doesburgh who had some decent scenes, everybody was fairly pathetic though. And, yet, somehow, the damned thing still grabbed me though. I mean, it was still rather weak, no doubt about it, but I actually liked the concept and there were actually some pretty good ideas. For example, van Doesburgh always had a rather seemingly sweet demeanor and it was pretty cool to see her playing someone with such a double life. The relationship of her character with truth and trust was also interesting and there were many times when I was quite surprised by how she acted. Obviously, since it was just a cheap thriller, they never really went deep enough into the psychology of the characters involved and, instead, they kept throwing some curve balls and some preposterous twists. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was rather generous with my rating here but, in spite of some massive flaws, I have to admit that I was actually fairly entertained but you shouldn’t expect much before watching the damned thing though. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Tom Hanks and was directed by Marc Forster, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be actually rather disappointing after all. I have to admit that I haven’t seen the original Swedish version called ‘En man som heter Ove’, it does seem that to have a decent reputation and I hope it is better than this (yet another) seemingly useless US remake. Basically, it felt like a live-action version of ‘Up’ with Tom Hanks pretending to be a grumpy guy. That was already the first issue, the fact that Hanks seemed to be miscast. Sure, it is always interesting when an actor of this caliber is cast against type. However, I’m afraid they picked up the sweetest American actor that might ever lived and there was not one second during which he was really convincing when he was trying to be mean to all this people. Another issue was the fact that it was just too predictable. I mean, when the movie started, they gave us some warning regarding suicide and, indeed, Otto did try to kill himself a couple of times but there wasn’t a single moment during which you actually worry about what happen to him. It was partially due to the fact that you know that, at some point, the guy will finally get this act together and became BFFs with his neighbors and also to the fact that the tone was just too light-hearted. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that the damned thing was still rather harmless so I guess it might still be worth a look, above all if you like the genre, but there is no doubt that it could or should have been much better considered the people who were involved.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Ramin Bahrani and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I had never heard of Richard Davis before watching this movie but his story certainly did sound intriguing. Seriously, I thought he would be some kind of weird guy obsessing about his bulletproof vests and constantly shooting himself just to show how brilliant he was but I was surprised by how successful he actually became and his business was really thriving at some point. Eventually, you could never be really sure if everything that happened to Davis was actually accurate or if the guy was always on level but I don’t think that Bahrani was really interesting in divulging the truth about him after all. Instead, they basically went through the main events in his life which is the most basic approach that you could think of for this genre. They also kept jumping from one topic to the following one without ever spending much time on one specific event which was, to be honest, not always really satisfying. Still, the end-result was fairly interesting and entertaining though. Eventually, the most amazing scene was not even involving Richard Davis  after all. Indeed, towards the end, they reunited a police officer who was saved by a second chance vest and the guy who shot him something like 30 years later after they shot each other and the way they hugged and forgave each other was just so heartbreaking and quite inspiring. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really groundbreaking, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this topic. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I had a really hard time at the beginning. Indeed, I guess the concept did have some potential but the quirky tone and the jokes were just so derivative and borderline lame and, for a good while, I actually thought that I was going to hate the damned thing. However, fortunately, it did get better after a while, above all, from the moment the main character became a music critic. To be honest, it still did feel like a cheap British version of ‘Almost Famous’ (it reminds me that I should rewatch this classic at some point) but I have to admit that I did like how the character evolved. Above all, Beanie Feldstein was just really good and she was definitely the main (maybe even the only?) reason why I started to finally care about this movie. I think it was the first time she actually played the lead but she really nailed it. The fact that the character started to write some negative reviews to succeed was not a bad idea either. Sure, you could blame her for betraying who she actually was and what she actually felt but, at the end of the day, who really cares? It’s not like she was messing up some hart surgery, she was just writing some reviews which allowed her to get paid. However, the makers never really did commit to this and, eventually, Johanna still had to become again the nice girl that she used to be which was rather predictable and not really interesting. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since I have a weak spot for Alicia Vikander and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To honest, I have to admit that I had never heard of Justin Chon before but it definitely displayed some skills here, as a lead actor and as a director. The first thing that touched me was the relationship between Antonio and his step-daughter because I have two step kids myself and I had exactly the same attitude and state of mind with them. Indeed, I didn’t only choose their mother, I also chose them for 100% (they never called me ‘Dad’ though but that’s all good). Anyway, this movie was above all about the fact that, even though Antonio spent all his life in the US, even though he was married with an American woman, he would still be deported to South Korea, even if he didn’t know anyone there or anything about this country in general. Of course, it did seem weird and/or shocking but, apparently, that’s something that happened to quite a lot of people in the US. So, the material was really interesting, I really liked the mood and the actors were fine as well. However, it’s not that the damned thing was too depressive (it was actually pretty dark though) but I’m afraid they pushed the drama a little too far. I mean, Antonio had no money, no steady job, he was a convict, he had been dumped as a baby, physically abused by his foster parents and beaten up during this movie. And I shouldn't forget to mention as well the completely random Vietnamese woman who was dying from cancer. I could take most of it but they basically lost me during the last scene at the airport when it seemed that he would go alone, then with his family and then alone again. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look.  

To be honest, I wasn’t really dying to see another instalment from this franchise but my youngest daughter was quite eager to check it out in the movie theater and we don’t go that much to the movies together nowadays. Unfortunately, as expected, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing though. Seriously, I pretty much phased out during the last 30 mins and barely followed what was going on anymore but I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss much. At least, I have to admit that the Minions jokes were still pretty good (it actually reminds that I still haven’t watched ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ but I guess I’ll check it out at some point, even if it will probably be nothing great whatsoever). Indeed, even though some people might find them annoying, I think they are still pretty funny. However, I’m afraid that pretty much nothing else really worked in this movie and, in my opinion, the main issue was that the damned thing was just too random. Indeed, by now, so many characters are involved in this franchise (Gru, his wife, his brother, his mother, his adopted children, his new-born baby, his minions…) and, instead of having some kind of plot, they just switch every 5 mins to a different character with each their own (usually really underwhelming) sub-plot. It’s too bad because the idea of Gru going to his high-school was not really original but it had some potential. However, as mentioned before, this story was basically lost into a multitude of lame sub-plots. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have to admit that it was rather harmless, the damned thing was rather boring and I wish that they would just leave this franchise alone but as long as they keep making money, such sequels will keep on coming though. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was leaving Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out after all. I have to admit it, even though Kelly Reichardt seems to have a decent reputation, it was only the 2^nd movie that she has directed that I have seen so far. However, after watching this movie, I started to see that she indeed had a lot of potential. To be honest, the damned thing was still not really great though. Indeed, I’m not a huge fan of this approach of combining 3 little stories instead of focusing on only 1 because, most of the time, you actually end up with some rather half-baked little tales instead of a fully fleshed one. Well, it was definitely the case here but, still, there is no doubt that Reichardt made most of this material. Indeed, I just loved the soft slow vibe and there was something really genuine about all these characters. My favorite part was the final one as the weird complex dynamic between the character played beautifully by Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart was quite fascinating. The first part worked as well not because the story it was dealing with was so amazing (it was maybe sad but nothing really mesmerizing) but because of Laura Dern managed to do so much with it. The middle part was, as far as I was concerned, the least rewarding. Indeed, it seems that there was too much going on and, yet, at the same time, it boiled down to be only about an entitled ice queen bitch trying to swindle some vintage stones from some poor old dude. Michelle Williams was actually fine and delivered another solid performance here but the fact that her character reminded me so much of my ex-wife probably didn’t help. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Kelly Reichardt’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since I always had a weak spot for Yes and since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that, in the progressive rock genre, I always preferred Pink Floyd which was and still is one of my favorite bands. Still, Yes is definitely a pretty good band though and it was pretty cool to see them perform. Concerning the movie itself, the sound was not great though and they really did nothing interesting visually speaking. At least, the band members were shot properly so you could clearly see what they were doing. My uncle who is a real fan told me that Steve Howe was actually a really great guitarist and I could clearly see that thanks to this movie. It was rather funny to see him changing guitar for basically every song but the guy definitely knew what he was doing, that’s for sure. Rick Wakeman at the keyboard was also really good, even if he did look rather ridiculous with his cape. Another cool thing was the fact that this concert was shot around the time they released the ‘Close to the Edge’ LP so they were basically at the peak of their popularity at the time. I don’t have this album in my collection (as I told you before, I’m more a Pink Floyd fan) but I remembered listening to my father’s LP which was basically how I discovered this band pretty much 30 years ago. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not one of the greatest film concerts I have seen, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like Yes.