Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since this movie has a really good reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, I have to confess that I was actually really tired even before I started to watch the damned thing and I actually struggled not to fall asleep through most of the duration. It’s too bad because it was actually pretty good, in fact, it was easily one of the best movies I have seen so far directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and I guess I should check it again at some point in the future. Anyway, it was probably their most ambitious and most surreal picture, some kind of surreal romantic take on the PTSD syndrom. That was probably the most interesting thing about this flick the fact you can watch it as something quite literal but also as something quite metaphorical but, on both levels, it actually worked fine. Furthermore, it was visually really striking and they definitely went all the way to deliver something really original, especially for the time period. Eventually, the only critic I might have was that since the concept was pretty far-out, the characters were barely developed but maybe that’s what the material needed. Anyway, the cast involved still delivered some solid performances. To conclude, it turned out to be a really original feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie was a big critical and commercial flop when it was released, since I have a weak spot for Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if it didn’t turn out to be a complete failure, it wasn’t really far from it, I’m afraid. I mean, it might have been interesting on paper but pretty much nothing really worked with this flick. First of all, even though Lawrence and Cooper are some of the most interesting actors at work nowadays, they were actually both pretty weak here and not convincing at all. It didn’t help that their characters were never really fascinating or entertaining at all. Susanne Bier was also an interesting choice and, even though her first English speaking feature (‘Things We Lost in the Fire’) was decent enough, this time around, she never seemed to be able to properly handle this material. I mean, sure, the whole thing was pretty to look at, the time period was fairly well displayed but her directing felt completely flat. Apparently, Darren Aronofsky was attached to this project and you might wonder what he could have done with this material. On the other hand, even though this story was probably supposed to be some kind of epic doomed romantic tale, it felt rather derivative and it just never grabbed me. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, the damned thing was really weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but since I have it on Blu-ray and since I just brought a brand new awesome TV, I was quite eager to check it out again. First of all, even though I have never been a huge fan of Steven Spielberg, his movies are always a big event so I was quite intrigued by this movie, especially since it turned out to be quite successful at the box-office. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that I was actually quite positively surprised and, as far as I’m concerned, it was Spielberg’s most enjoyable movie in years. Indeed, the damned thing was visually really impressive and I wish I actually saw it in the movie theater when it was released. I was also surprised that most of the movie was actually CGI animated but, in this genre, it is easily one of the most satisfying movies I have seen so far. Furthermore, the story was quite entertaining and, while watching the damned thing, I was thinking that ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ could have been also a box-office hit if Luc Besson didn’t write such a half-baked plot. On the downside, it’s too bad the whole thing was too long though. I mean, with 140 mins, it wasn’t exactly a very long movie but they could or should have removed 30 mins and the whole thing above all lost some steam during the 3rd act. Furthermore, even though the potential was pretty much limitless with this concept, they didn’t take much risks after all and, like pretty much everything else directed by Spielberg, it was too light-hearted and sentimental for my taste. Still, there were some really cool scenes and the whole 'Shining' sequence should go down as one of the best things ever delivered by this director. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was maybe not a masterpiece, it was still a really fun and gorgeous blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Steven Spielberg’s work. 

Since I really loved ‘Nightcrawler’, I was really eager to see this new directing effort from Dan Gilroy once again starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo and the fact that it was directly available on Netflix was another reason to watch it straight away. Well, it turned to be something really ambitious, some rather weird mix of a satiric look on the Art business world with a surreal horror flick. Still, even though it was definitely some bold combination, I wasn’t completely blown away though. Indeed, I really liked to dive into this Art world which was quite fascinating and obnoxious at the same time thanks to a very strong cast but the horror stuff was never really interesting though. Basically, at best, it did feel like a ‘Twilight Zone’ episode but, at the end of the day, it was not so original after all and it was more like an average slasher flick. On top of that, it was also a distraction. Indeed, just when I was starting to learn more about the characters and their relationship with one and another, this interesting process was unfortunately abruptly interrupted by these random killings. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still enjoyed the damned thing, it was especially really neat to see Jake Gyllenhaal nailing another performance and I think it is worth a look.