Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I really loved ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’, of course, I was eager to see the other shorts delivered recently by Wes Anderson for Netflix. Indeed, if you are a fan of Wes Anderson’s work, it will be quite a year to remember as the indie master will release no less than 5 movies (1 full-length feature and 4 shorts). Anyway, it was once again quite a delight, that’s for sure. Even if I have never been a fan of Roald Dahl’s books film adaptations, I really did love ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ which is, as far as I’m concerned, Anderson’s best movie so far. Well, the famous writer and the indie film director seemed to be once again a match made in heaven. Indeed, it was visually quite reminiscent to ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ but it wasn’t an issue, in the contrary. The tone was also once again quite marvelous. The only thing which did differentiate this movie from the other short from Wes Anderson was that all the actors were playing only one character this time around (they were only 5 characters involved though) which was the only artistical choice I didn’t really care for in ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ (it wasn’t a big deal though). However, even though it was definitely quite fun and entertaining, the story was slightly too basic though and the fact that the outcome was so predictable probably didn’t help. Anyway, I can’t wait to see the other 2 shorts that Anderson has cooked up for Netflix. To conclude, I really enjoyed the damned thing and I think it’s definitely worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Wes Anderson or Roald Dahl.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a really solid reputation (it was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, even though this movie is considered as one of the best screwball comedies ever made, I have to admit that I had a really hard time to care about the damned thing after all. In fact, I think it probably have to do with some technical issues I had with the video I saw on YouTube. Indeed, visually, the quality was fine but, unfortunately, the sound was out of synch. Indeed, this movie became famous because it was mostly improvised and timing is crucial in comedy. In this case, since all the sound was out of synch, the timing was basically ruined and, as a result, it had a huge impact on my appreciation of the whole movie. It’s too bad because I always had a weak spot for Cary Grant and this was some perfect material for him. I have to admit that I wasn’t really familiar with Irene Dunne before watching this movie (she reminded me of some of kind of vintage version of Greta Gerwig) but she was pretty good here and she definitely had some decent chemistry with Cary Grant (they would eventually make 2 more movies together). Eventually, I should re-watch this movie under better conditions but, to be honest, I have some doubts that it will really dazzle me though. Indeed, I have been focusing lately on such vintage screwball comedies and I’m just not a fan of the genre. As usual, the plot was just so paper-thin here and, even though Grant and Dunne were both pretty good, their respective characters were hardly interesting after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work for me for various reasons, it is still a classic 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 it was starring Jennifer Lopez and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I really loved the concept and the damned thing definitely had the potential to be really badass. Unfortunately, even though it was easily one of the most interesting movies starring Lopez in years, it still turned out to be a rather average B action flick after all, I’m afraid. Above all, I thought the damned thing was rather poorly written. I mean, it seemed to be a no-brainer that they should focus on the relationship between this mother and her child who had never met each before but, instead, they gave us 2 bad guys and, obviously, neither of them was properly developed (seriously, I think that Gael Garcia Bernal had maybe 10 mins of screen time). The fact that Lucy Paez was rather annoying probably didn’t help either but I have to admit that she wasn’t helped by the poor script she was provided. At least, Jennifer Lopez was really convincing and she probably delivered here one of her best performances (sure, it doesn’t mean much since her track-record was/is pretty weak). Concerning the directing and the action scenes, [Link removed - login to see] did a decent job, even if it never really stood out from the multitude of similar movies you can find nowadays on Netflix. And, yet, I always had a weak spot for such movies dealing with a lethal female killer and, in this case, there was plenty of room to develop some complex psychological portraits of this parent and also of her child but it wasn’t meant to be and they went instead for some generic and only mildly entertaining action scenes. 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. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Denzel Washington and starring Michael B. Jordan, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it’s only after watching the damned thing that I noticed that it had received some rather poor reviews and, unfortunately, I would have to agree with the critics on this one. Indeed, in my opinion, the main issue was with the story which was just too dry and too flat. I mean, basically, a journalist and a soldier falls in love, even though his job is keeping them apart for most of the duration. And, then, the guy dies and she has to raise their kid on her own. Unfortunately, while there was nothing intrinsically bad about all this, Washington never managed to make it fascinating or even remotely interesting. I’m not blaming Michael B. Jordan or Chanté Adams though as they were both really charismatic and they had a nice chemistry together. Unfortunately, even though their respective characters both seemed to be some nice people, to be honest, they were not really interesting after all. And it was the same thing with their story, eventually, even if what happened to them was certainly tragic, it did miss some dramatic curve, I’m afraid. The random chronology certainly didn’t help either. And, yet, I still think it was nice to spend some time with some actually decent people for once. I have to admit that the fact that I myself fell in love recently with a beautiful black woman probably made me appreciate this movie probably more than it actually deserved. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was maybe too generous with my rating here but I still think it is worth a look though, at least, if you like the genre. 

Last week, I saw ‘Searching’, I thought it was pretty good and, since this sequel was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out as well. Well, just like with ‘Searching’, even though the whole screenlife thingy (all the events are supposed to be shown on a computer, tablet or smartphone screen) might seem terribly gimmicky, I thought it was once again actually quite entertaining. This time around, they swapped the characters so the parent was missing and the teenager was searching for her mother. Sure, it might seem too easy but I thought it worked fine though. Especially the first scenes showing the tension between this single-mother and her teenaged girl were quite pitch-perfect and it did help that Storm Reid gave a solid performance here. I have to admit that it was slightly bothered by the fact that it was once again dealing with a young girl mourning her dead father as it was exactly the same set-up in the previous movie. However, obviously, it wasn’t the case at all here since the supposedly dead father suddenly showed up in the final act which was, I have to admit it, pretty awesome. It’s too bad they didn’t give enough time for the main character to actual process this as they kept rushing from one plot twist to another. In fact, to be honest, I’m not sure that the story really made sense after all, for example, what was the deal with Kevin after all? Seriously, it felt like they couldn’t make up their minds if he should be a good guy or a bad guy after all. And yet, even if the damned thing barely made sense after all, it was still definitely entertaining though. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, this movie was not a priority but there was not much else to see this month in the movie theaters. In fact, when I saw the trailer (which gave way too many spoilers), I knew already that this movie would be a flop at the box-office. And, yet, I seemed that the critics were fairly positive mostly because the movie did cost around 80 millions dollars but it did look 3 times more expensive so I thought I might as well check it out after all. Eventually, I have to admit that I was really impressed by the world building displayed. Indeed, I have always been a big fan of science-fiction and, in this case, it was so immersive, it was some of the best world building I have seen in many years. Furthermore, even if his character turned out to be rather poorly developed,  John David Washington is such a fine and charismatic lead actor. Finally, I also loved that the secret ultimate weapon turned out to be a small child with some super-powers which was an obvious nod to ‘Akira’. So, some elements were really neat in this movie but, unfortunately, it’s too bad that the story turned to be half-baked and only half-interesting. For example, how come Maya didn’t know that Joshua was undercover? If she didn’t, it did mean that their whole relationship was based on a lie, didn’t it? Even more problematic, how on Earth was Maya also Nirmata AKA The Creator without Joshua ever noticing it? Furthermore, the damned thing was at least 30 mins too long. Sure, I have to admit that the fact that I was exhausted when I watched it probably didn’t help but, still, with such a generic tale, it could have been easily shorter. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Olivia Munn and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I do believe that the concept really had some potential. Sure, it was nothing really original but it definitely could have been entertaining. Unfortunately, the damned thing turned out to be so weak after all. First of al, after 20 years in the business, was it really the best cast Josh Duhamel could get for his directorial debut? Didn’t he have so more interesting famous buddies that he could call for a favor? Indeed, all the guys involved in these group of friends were some 3rd rate actors, I had even never seen some of them before and I have been watching movies for 30 years. Anyway, they were all seriously underwhelming. At least, Olivia Munn and Josh Duhamel made a nice couple but she wasn’t involved in these buddy games so, well, she was basically wasted here since she had nothing to do (the fact that the guy dumped her at the end was also quite ridiculous, as if he couldn’t have both…). Concerning the story itself, it seemed pretty simple, just let these guys loose and have them taking part in some wild games, and, yet, the end-result was just rather lame. Same thing with the jokes, I have to admit that a couple of them were funny, but I’m being really literal here. Indeed, only 2 of them were neat, the rest was just rather pathetic. Concerning the directing by Duhamel, I guess he thought it was a smart move to go for a comedy since it wouldn’t need some major directing skills but I’m afraid, even in this area, the whole thing was disappointing and looked like a very cheap and clunky R rated comedy. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating might have been too generous here, the damned thing was really weak and you should probably avoid it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it is included in the ‘The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made’ list selected by the New York Times, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it was basically one of these typical screwball comedies they used to make back in the 30’s and, to be honest, I’m not very fond of the genre but I have to admit  that I actually enjoyed this one though. In fact, it turned out to be even more hysterical than usual but it was actually quite entertaining to see these characters constantly shouting at each other. The week before, I actually saw Carole Lombard playing a similar role in ‘Nothing Scared’ but I thought that Jean Arthur was actually better in this movie. Indeed, it was rather impressive how Arthur managed to be really lovely and, yet, she was still convincing playing an average woman. I also appreciated the fact that her character, while not being really bright, never became annoying so her performance was actually much more complex than it might seem and I understand why Arthur had such a stellar reputation at the time. It’s too bad that I didn’t care much about the romance involving her character and John Ball Jr. played by Ray Milland. Still, some of the other actors involved were also really fun to behold as well, especially Edward Arnold and Luis Alberni. Unfortunately, even though I’m well aware it is inherent to the genre, the plot was just too random, from the beginning until the end. Anyway, to conclude, even if I don’t think it was amazing, it was still a really solid vintage comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.