Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since this movie was Lars von Trier’s directing debut, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, as usual with this director, it wasn’t really an easy watch but, at least, there was some kind of a plot. Still, the plot was obviously hardly the biggest concern of von Trier who delivered one of the most surrealist thrillers I have ever seen. Back then, the Danish master had a very specific visual style consisting of combining black with one single colour (in this case, yellow) which increased the already surreal aspect of this movie. Still, to be be honest, some scenes were slightly too dark for me and I did struggle sometimes to see what the hell was going on. However, in my opinion, the weakest thing from Lars von Trier’s work has always been his lack of ability to provide some really compelling characters though. Of course, you could argue that, at this point in his career, he couldn’t get the best actors available but I don’t think this cast of unknown actors (at least, unknown to me) was bad at all. Eventually, it will be actually one of the most difficult thing to swallow about von Trier’s through his whole career, the disdain he always displays towards his characters. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t completely blown away by the damned thing, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Lars von Trier’s work. 

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a decent college comedy but, even if Richard Linklater probably managed to deliver one of the best movies I have seen in this genre, he didn’t bring anything new to the formula. Indeed, even if I was definitely entertained through the whole thing, it didn’t really go much beyond that, I’m afraid. Another issue was that, even though the characters were realistic and believable (except maybe for Jay who was seriously over-the-top), they were not really fascinating but, in fact, it actually made sense to me. Indeed, even though the American people has always displayed some kind of obsession regarding the time they spent in college, the people going to college are in fact hardly fascinating after all. In fact, they are pretty much still the same uninteresting people they were in high-school except, now, they can do pretty much whatever they want so they get shit-faced all the time. Furthermore, as pointed out in ‘Neighbors 2’, these movies are very often terribly misogynistic and this movie was not an exception. Seriously, the mud fight scene was just cringe-inducing to behold. Still, it was another solid directing effort from Linklater who managed to provide a realistic view on this ‘lifestyle’ and I have to admit that the damned thing was quite fun. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch 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 Dwayne Johnson, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I think that the concept actually had some potential, the end-result was actually pretty disappointing, I’m afraid. Indeed, it could have been a neat dark comedy about a slightly psychotic CIA agent taking some reckless risks while on the job and who happens to have some massive trauma’s from his high school time. Unfortunately, even though Johnson can be pretty good in comedies, for some reasons, they turned his character into some annoying moron obsessing about unicorns which was definitely a mistake. Concerning Kevin Hart, even though he was fairly funny and he managed to make the most of it, he was still stuck with a rather thankless generic character. I mean, the guy had a decent job, no health issues, a gorgeous wife and a very nice house and, yet, he was still in a typical and rather boring middle-life crisis. Concerning the story itself, the way they hook up at the beginning was rather weak and the whole spy plot was just terribly basic and tedious. And, yet, I think if they had focused more on the complex psychology of Bob Stone A.K.A. Robbie Weirdicht instead of constantly making fun of him, it could have actually worked. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, I didn’t care much for the damned thing and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but since my wife is a big fan of the ‘Rocky’ franchise, I thought I might as well rewatch it with her. As far I’m concerned, I have to admit that I actually really liked ‘Creed’ but this sequel, even though it was a decent watch, to be honest, wasn’t really much more than that. Eventually, I’m afraid this spin-off franchise has already reached pretty much its full potential. I mean, it did make sense that Adonis Creed would be fighting against Ivan Drago’s son this time around and the concept was indeed pretty neat. However, I don’t think the makers really made much an effort as they basically followed the usual Rocky template (the main character (almost) loses a boxing match, he goes back to training and he finally wins the final game against all odds). To make things worse, the whole Drago family (Ivan, Viktor and even Ludmilla in a welcome surprising cameo) was barely developed at all which felt like a missed opportunity, especially with Florian Munteanu. Indeed, the 2^nd time around, I was actually fairly impressive with what Munteanu managed to do a lot only with his eyes to communicate but, unfortunately, there was not much the guy could do with the 2 lines of dialogue he was eventually provided. Eventually, I wonder what Ryan Coogler what would have done with this sequel but, even though he did envision a Creed trilogy, he had to drop out at some point because he was busy directing ‘Black Panther’. At least, Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone both gave some solid performances. Anyway, to conclusion, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that the damned thing was still quite entertaining and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Emma Stone, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, there is no doubt that Billie Jean King was a fascinating woman, a real trailblazer, and Emma Stone gave here another strong performance (she still looked 10 times better than King even after they tried to tone down her natural beauty though). Unfortunately, pretty much anything else in this movie felt terribly flat and predictable. Seriously, pretty much every turn of events and the consequences they might have could be easily anticipated at least 30 mins in advance. Another major failure of this movie was that the makers never managed to show the importance of the match between King and Riggs had at the time. Indeed, to be honest, I thought it was rather weird that it was considered such a big achievement for the n.1 female tennis player to be able to beat a 55 year old retired tennis champion. I mean, if nowadays Serena Williams would play against a male player 25 years older than her, I’m pretty sure she would crush him. However, back then, for the women’s liberation movement, this game was actually huge and, in my opinion, this movie never really managed to show its impact. It didn’t help that the makers wasted too much time on Bobby Riggs’s private life and it was also a mistake to focus also on King’s discovery that she was a lesbian. In fact, she already knew years before and the movie was already dealing with women’s rights and to add gay’s rights to the mix as well was just too much to handle. Anyway, to conclude, even if it turned out to be rather half-baked, it was still an interesting movie and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.