Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Sandra Bullock and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. When it was released, Netflix made a big fuss that it had been watched by millions of viewers within a few days and, while it was indeed miles better than ‘Bright’, it was still nothing really amazing though. Sure, it was a fairly entertaining post-apocalyptic thriller but, in my opinion, it didn’t bring anything really new or interesting to the genre. I mean, after ‘A Quiet Place’ released the same year, they came up with a similar gimmick and you might wonder what would be their next gimmick (some threat attacking us because we can smell them?). Another issue was that, even though Sandra Bullock was as usual pretty charismatic, none of the characters were properly developed, even the main character. At least, this movie definitely had some cultural impact as, at the time, it started the trend of the ‘Bird Box Challenge’ which consisted of doing some random stuff blind-folded. Seriously, I think we have reached a very low point when we start to pretend to be blind just to entertain ourselves. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it had been quite successful at the box-office, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, the story was rather generic and predictable and I have to admit that I was rather disappointed that at least 95% of the dialogues were in English but it might be accurate since English is apparently the most spoken language in Singapore. And, yet, the damned thing still slowly won me over though. Indeed, Constance Wu and Henry Golding made a cute couple and they had a nice chemistry together. Above all, the up and coming Awkwafina was just awesome, stealing the show every time she was on the screen time and I wish she would have had a bigger role. Furthermore, the conflict between what would be right for Nick Young as an individual and what would be right for his family was actually rather well handled. Still, is it something really specific to Asian cultures? I mean, I’m pretty sure that in rich European and American families, people are very often pushing their kids to marry someone with a similar social and economical background. Still, this phenomenom is probably different in Asia and, for a fluffly rom-com, it was done quite convingly. There was also the fact that a huge and strong family like the one displayed in the movie can be seriously overbearing but, in spite all that, the main character still loved his family (at least, most of its members) which was another thing well depicted in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was a solid romantic-comedy and 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 there was a nice cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. On top of that, I was really intriguing to see Guillaume Canet delivering his first English-speaking feature as a director. Well, it turned out to be a really ambitious project featuring an impressive cast (Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Matthias Schoenaerts, James Caan, Lili Taylor) and, on paper, it did sound like a pretty neat gritty 70’s crime drama. Well, unfortunately, even though the damned thing definitely had some potential, it turned out to be rather disappointing. In my opinion, it seems that even though Canet had the best intentions, the project was just too ambitious, I’m afraid. Above all, there were just too many characters involved. Seriously, what was the point to have such a neat cast if they all ended up playing some rather poorly developed characters? As a result, there were also a bunch of sub-plots which all turned out to be half-baked. Eventually, I think they should have focused more on the two brothers and drop at least half of the characters. At least, the whole thing looked really nice and there was a cool soundtrack so the mood was fine but I couldn’t help thinking that Canet spent the majority of his time and energy to make sure the whole thing looked period accurate when he should have put more attention on the story and the characters involved. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work, it was still a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, this movie did sound terrible but since I have a weak spot for Robert De Niro and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, the concept turned out to be just as lame as I expected. Sure, there were a (very) few decent jokes but pretty much nothing did work though. At least, Robert De Niro and Zac Efron were charismatic but, without them, the damned thing would have been completely unwatchable. Still, it is really sad to see De Niro pretty much pissing on his own legacy with such garbage. Sure, in the same genre, I have to admit that I did like ‘Meet the Parents’. Indeed, back then, it was surprising and pretty neat to see the veteran actor showing up in a raunchy comedy and, above all, to see him really nailing it. However, 20 years later, this gimmick has really overstayed its welcome and it has become seriously cringe-inducing to behold. The saddest thing would be that this movie wasn't even the worse thing De Niro has delivered lately. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here, the damned thing was just really lame and you should pretty much avoid it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, within the first 10 minutes, I was reminded by how difficult Antonioni’s movies can be to grasp. Was it supposed to be a thriller? I mean, with this story of a man switching his life with some dead guy who happens to be an arms dealer did sound like a thriller but it was obviously not what Antonioni wanted to achieve. Indeed, first of all, there was no music whatsoever and there was barely any tension through the whole duration. In fact, while watching this flick I was thinking that the damned thing didn’t have any pulse whatsoever and, eventually, it might be one of these movies which are more interesting to think about afterwards then to actually watch. The more I think about it, the more I think that it was actually about emptiness. Indeed, in my opinion, what defines us is who we are and what we do and, from the moment the main character stripes himself from these elements, he just became an aimless vacuum. Still, in my opinion, Antonioni didn’t really follow his own rules. Indeed, the main character did have a purpose, a goal, which was to avoid the people who were looking for him. And, of course, there was the fact that he still managed to hit on some random cute young girl just because to be completely confused is apparently an irresistible aphrodisiac. Anyway, to conclude, maybe I should check it out again in the future but even if I really struggled to get into this movie, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michelangelo Antonioni’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it had won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I was expecting the actual square to have much more impact on this story but it turned out to be actually another rather shallow and pointless piece of modern art after all. Eventually, the whole thing went just way beyond modern art and tackled so many subjects such as political correctness, marketing, social clashes, the impact of social media, how - in spite of modern technology such as smarthphones - we seem to be even more disconnected from each other than before… The makers did manage to provide some compelling arguments on each one of these subjects but, to be honest, it was probably too much to handle. As a result, it was rather difficult to get what the makers were trying to achieve but, on the other hand, it did make the whole thing completely impredictable and therefore always compelling to watch. Another thing that didn’t really work in my opinion was the fact that, even though Claes Bang was rather charismatic, his character was never really entertaining or interesting. In fact, it was even worse with the other characters who were even less developed. However, if the whole thing might seem to be a rather highbrow feature, it was actually really fun to watch. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was sometimes rather difficult to grasp, the damned thing was still so original and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Matthew McConaughey, I was quite eager to check it out. Basically, it turned out to be some kind of mix of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street', with ‘The Hoax’ and some gold digging. Well, even if this mix was pretty wild and fairly entertaining, to be honest, I can’t say I was really sold though. Eventually, after the movie was over, even if it was based on a true story, I was wondering what they actually made up. Indeed, there were just too many twists to make it really believable. Seriously, at least 5 times during the whole duration, the main character managed to get filthy rich and then to lose it all over again. As a result, even though McConaughey delivered here another solid performance, his character constantly switched between being a pathetic loser and being a visionary gambler and it was rather jarring. Eventually, I wish Michael Acosta who would have been more developed. I mean, how do you go from being an experienced geologist to become a master con artist? At what point did he decide to fool the whole world including Kenny Wells? It was a rather dubious decision from the makers since it is pretty obvious that, when the actual scandal took place, it wasn’t the work of one single man. Furthermore, it also pretty much ruined the relationship between these two men which was one of the most interesting things in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and 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 I have a weak spot for Jean-Jacques Annaud, I was quite eager to check his last directing effort. First of all, it was rather surprising that, almost 20 years after ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ had been severely criticized and eventually completely banned in China, the guy would eventually make a movie in China which was even financed by the Chinese state. Anyway, after ‘L’ours’ and ‘Two Brothers’, Annaud tried once again to deliver a drama involving some seemingly wild animals which was, at least in ‘L’ours’, such a fascinating process. Unfortunately, even if the scenes involving the wolves were indeed really neat, the rest of the movie turned out to be rather tedious, I’m afraid. I mean, somehow, they had to end up with the titular last wolf and they had to make sure that the fate of this last wolf was linked to the main character but the journey to get there was rather convoluted and hardly interesting or entertaining. On top of that, it didn’t help that the characters were not really charismatic but they were not helped with the rather lame dialogues. There was also the usual critic about the fact that our modern way of life is greatly disturbing most ecosystems but it has been done before and better than here. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here but there is always something awesome about watching Annaud messing around with such wild animals so I guess it is still worth a look but only if you really like the genre.