Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, after the already brilliant ‘La chute de la maison Usher’, it turned out to be another mesmerizing movie from Jean Epstein. Basically, before the movies became an actual business involving budgets around 200 million dollars for each projects, there was a time when it was much more experimental and this movie was a perfect example. To be honest, I would be hard-pressed to explain what this movie was exactly about as it turned out to be even murkier than Epstein's weird Edgar Allan Poe adaptation. And, yet, the damned thing turned out to be quite powerful. This movie was also a good example of how a good soundtrack can be a great asset for a silent picture like this one. Indeed, only a few days before, I also watched ‘Hijosen no onna’ by Ozu and even though it was also a solid silent movie, the lack of soundtrack made it really difficult to me to get into the damned thing.  Well, in this case, it was the complete opposite as the soundtrack was just as intriguing as the rest of the movie was and it would be a completely different experience without it. Of course, it wasn’t the only asset as it was also visually really strong as well. I don’t know, it would be rather hard to describe in words but it seems that for most of the shots they really put some thoughts into them. Anyway, the end-result was certainly artistic and really surrealistic. I wonder if this movie might have been an influence on David Lynch’s work. Anyway, to conclude, I can imagine that this review might be too cryptic and not really helpful but I really liked the damned thing and I think it’s definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in experimental movies. 

I remember it very well, back in 2000, ‘Jackass’ was at the time a big hit on MTV but, to be honest, it seemed to be so stupid so I pretty much boycotted the damned thing. Eventually, it took me more than 20 years to finally watch this movie and you might wonder why I changed my mind. Well, the main reason why was because, back in 2022, ‘Jackass Forever’ was actually hailed as one of the best movies of the year by Indiewire, no less than that. This surprising critical praise really intrigued me and I thought I might as well check this franchise after all. Well, after all these years, I have to admit that I actually enjoyed the damned thing. Basically, it is some kind of weird and sometimes fairly extreme candid camera show but its random aspect was actually quite appealing. Eventually, the only scene which I found truly disgusting was the one during which one of the guys was peeing on some snow and then eat it up as if it was some kind of ice-cream but it was actually the only thing which I found really repulsive. Concerning the violence and hazardous stuff, I wasn’t shocked either which was a relief. Eventually, they took a bunch of grown-up dudes who followed the same mentality of a 12 year old kid fantasizing about the most weird ‘What if…’ scenarios but actually acted upon these sometimes really misguided ideas. However, while I always thought that it was about some morons actually hurting themselves just to entertain some rather sick-minded viewers, I was actually surprised by how creative they were. Anyway, to conclude, even if I still don’t think that it was really hilarious, I have to admit that the damned thing was actually quite entertaining and I think it is worth a look, at least if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Ozu and since it was on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out be some kind of vintage Japanese film noir and, for some reason, it also reminded me of ‘Mean Streets’ with these rather pathetic smalltime thugs doing seemingly nothing the whole day. I have to admit that I was actually surprised that it turned out to be a silent movie. Indeed, I have been focusing on older movies recently but, back then in the US and in Europe, they had already started to deliver movies with sound for quite a while already. Anyway, to be honest, even if the mood was pretty neat, the damned thing did feel rather messy though. Indeed, the lack of sound was actually rather disorienting and the lack of actual plot didn’t help either but it is actually quite usual with this Japanese master though. On the other hand, there was actually something quite fascinating about how the actors managed to compensate the lack of dialogues with their body language. Indeed, in contrary to most silent movies, the acting was actually fairly subtle here. Furthermore, even if Ozu never really cared much about the plot, he always managed to deliver some intriguing and complex characters and this movie was not an exception. Sure, they might all seem stereotypical, much more than in his future classics, but there was something quite genuine about the emotions displayed. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was definitely one of Ozu’s more obscure features and even if it didn’t blow me way, it was still pretty neat and it is worth a look, at least if you like the genre or if you are interested in this director’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, I don’t think that the concept was such a bad idea but it didn’t help that the Farrelly brothers already did something very similar with ‘Shallow Hal’. The only major difference between the two movies was the fact that Amy Schumer was not replaced by a gorgeous actress but kept playing ‘herself’ even if she apparently thought she looked completely different. However, even though this approach was better than the one used by the Farrelly’s, I’m afraid it did create a disconnection between the main character and the audience. It’s too bad because it could have been easily solved by showing us what she actually saw when she was passing by a mirror for example. Another issue was to make her so successful at her job. Indeed, if they would have stopped at the moment she became a great receptionist who loved her job and who was deeply appreciated by her colleagues, it would have been more than enough and certainly more believable. Still, Amy Schumer was a perfect choice to play this character and I thought she gave a solid performance here. On top of that, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be actually quite inspirational. Sure, it does help if you have a fair amount of hygiene and do some basic maintenance, but, at the end of the day, there is nothing more cool and sexy than someone accepting themselves for who they are and showing tons of self-confidence in the process. In my opinion, this idea was actually perfectly displayed in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws,  it turned out to be a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre and don’t hate Amy Schumer. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Sharon Stone, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I thought it was not bad at all after all. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for romantic-comedies and, for once, they went for a gimmick which wasn’t really lame. Sure, the idea of showing the life of the main character only one day a year when it was her birthday was maybe nothing groundbreaking but I thought it was effective enough. Indeed, this way, they actually gave us a fairly believable slice-of-life approach instead of the terribly convoluted plots that you very often get with the genre. Furthermore, I don’t remember when it was the last time I saw Sharon Stone playing the lead (I hope it wasn’t ‘Basic Instinct 2’…) but I thought she was fine here. Concerning Tony Goldwyn, he is usually a rather bland actor but he wasn’t bad either. Above all, he had some very nice chemistry with Stone. However, the best scenes were probably with Ellen Burstyn though, even if Burstyn wasn’t given much to do after all. Eventually, one thing that bothered me was the fact that the main character didn’t have an average job but something terribly artistic and, even if she did seem to struggle for a while, she did become super successful after all but I’m afraid that’s not how it really works in life. Another thing that did bother me even more were these talking heads between each scenes. Seriously, who came up with such was useless idea which had basically zero impact on the movie as a whole? Anyway, to conclude, even if it was obviously not a masterpiece, it turned out to be a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but, since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I have to admit that the title did sound pretty cool, I’m afraid it was the only interesting thing about this flick though. Indeed, unfortunately, as expected, it turned out to be another dreadful direct-to-VOD hack job from Bruce Willis. I mean, sure, it was maybe not the worse of the bunch I have seen so far but it was still a seriously half-baked thriller, that’s for sure. In fact, the worst scenes were probably the ones involving Bruce Willis and Megan Fox. Indeed, these scenes were just so cringe-inducing to behold and you might wonder what was the point of his character at all. Seriously, you could easily remove him and the story would work just the same. Willis basically had only a few scenes which were apparently shot during a single day of work and, yet, the guy was still displayed prominently on all the promotional material but it’s the usual swindle with these features, I’m afraid. Concerning Megan Fox, well, even though she dreads in her interviews the fact that she had been pigeonholed as a sex symbol through her whole career, after watching her in something so worthless when she was obviously displayed as a sex object at least in her first scene, it is actually rather hard to take her seriously. Concerning Emile Hirsh, sure, he was maybe not as bad as Bruce Willis was but he was still hardly convincing with his pathetic mustache and it’s just sad when you think that he was at some point such a promising actor, especially after the critical success of ‘Into the Wild’ almost 20 years ago. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was just so lame and you should definitely avoid it. 

Since this movie has a rather lame reputation, I had some low expectations but, since it was starring Laurence Olivier, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I had pretty much zero knowledge about Neil Diamond before watching this flick but it seemed that it was another rather misguided vanity project involving a music artist trying to get involved in the movie business such as ‘Glitter’, ‘Crossroads’, ‘Burlesque’, ‘Cool as Ice’, ‘From Justin to Kelly’, ‘Under the Cherry Moon’,… Well, it turned out to be a weird movie, that’s for sure. First of all, I have to admit that I haven't seen the original version from 1927 but this movie really had nothing to do with jazz so, if you are not aware that it was a remake, well, the title will be rather bewildering (it was definitely to me). Then, within 5 mins, you get to see Neil Diamond performing on stage with some blackface make-up which was obviously rather cringe-inducing to behold. Furthermore, and I have to admit that it was a detail which did elude me while I was watching the damned thing, as pointed by Roger Ebert, Neil Diamond was at 40 years old actually way too old to play this character. To make things worse, Diamond was actually pretty weak but, even one of the best actors ever like Olivier also did deliver a rather poor performance here as well. And yet, somehow, I don’t think the damned thing was a total disaster though. Indeed, I think it was refreshing to see an emerging music talent not struggling with substance abuse or fame but with the fact that he had a whole life, a life filled with religious traditions, already planned for him. The fact that Neil Diamond was himself Jewish and was coming from a similar background as his character was probably the only thing that did really work in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was probably too generous with my rating here, the damned thing was pretty weak and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I have to admit that I didn’t know much about Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle’s work so I was quite glad to discover his work after all these years. Well, this was the 3rd short I saw with this guy and, even though I enjoyed more ‘The Garage’, it was pretty good as well though. The most interesting thing about this short, at least for me, was the fact that that, this time, Buster Keaton was not involved so Arbuckle really had to carry the whole thing on his shoulders. Sure, Mabel Normand, one of his frequent co-starts at the time, was also there to assist him but I think it was pretty obvious that he was the main draw here. Anyway, there is no doubt that the guy was really charismatic and his comedic timing was pretty much perfect. Concerning the movie itself, at least, there was more or less a plot this time around. Still, to be honest, it was narratively not really impressive but, except for Charles Chaplin’s groundbreaking work, that’s something that could be said about most silent comedies, I’m afraid. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a solid vintage silent comedy though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To honest, even though I always had a weak spot for Bruce Willis, since his recent movies have been mostly awful to watch, I wasn’t expecting much from this one either but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, even if it didn't really work after all, I still think it was at least better than all these terrible direct-to-VOD flicks Willis had done at the end of his career. Indeed, I was surprised by the potential of this concept and I actually believe that the damned thing could have been really good. Hell, even its sheer randomness didn't bother me, in the contrary. Unfortunately, it was just sad how the makers pretty much ruined the whole thing from the very start though. Indeed, it seems pretty obvious that they were inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s work but emulating his style is obviously easier said than done, as it was displayed in this flick. Indeed, the directing was completely flat and lifeless, the dialogues were really weak (this voice-over was such an annoying gimmick as well) and the acting from everyone involved was borderline laughable. It’s too bad because it was really neat to see Bruce Willis playing again the lead for once (he always plays a minor role in all these lame direct-to-VOD features) and it seemed to be some perfect material for him. Unfortunately, his performance was rather pathetic after all and, even though at the time, I would have said that he was probably sleepwalking and was there only to get his paycheck, you might wonder if the guy was at the time not already struggling with aphasia, a terrible neurotic disorder which was the reason why he had to retire 5 years later. Anyway, to conclude, even I still think it did have some potential, the end-result was just too weak and you should probably avoid the damned thing.