Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was leaving Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out after all. I have to admit it, even though Kelly Reichardt seems to have a decent reputation, it was only the 2^nd movie that she has directed that I have seen so far. However, after watching this movie, I started to see that she indeed has a lot of potential. To be honest, the damned thing was still not really great though. Indeed, I’m not a huge fan of this approach of combining 3 little stories instead of focusing on only 1 because, most of the time, you actually end up with some rather half-baked little tales instead of a fully fleshed one and it was definitely the case here. Still, there is no doubt that Reichardt made most of this material though. Indeed, I just loved the soft slow vibe and there was something really genuine about all these characters. My favorite part was the final one as the weird complex dynamic between the character played beautifully by Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart was quite fascinating. The first part worked as well not because the story it was dealing with was so amazing (it was maybe sad but nothing really mesmerizing) but because of Laura Dern managed to do so much with it. The middle part was, as far as I was concerned, the least rewarding. Indeed, it seems that there was too much going on and, yet, at the same time, it boiled down to be only about an entitled ice queen bitch trying to swindle some vintage stones from some poor old dude. Michelle Williams was actually fine and delivered another solid performance here but the fact that her character reminded me so much of my ex-wife probably didn’t help. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Kelly Reichardt’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since I always had a weak spot for Yes and since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that, in the progressive rock genre, I always preferred Pink Floyd which was and still is one of my favorite bands. Still, Yes is definitely a pretty good band though and it was pretty cool to see them perform. Concerning the movie itself, the sound was not great though and they really did nothing interesting visually speaking. At least, the band members were shot properly so you could clearly see what they were doing. My uncle who is a real fan told me that Steve Howe was actually a really great guitarist and I could clearly see that thanks to this movie. It was rather funny to see him changing guitar for basically every song but the guy definitely knew what he was doing, that’s for sure. Rick Wakeman at the keyboard was also really good, even if he did look rather ridiculous with his cape. Another cool thing was the fact that this concert was shot around the time they released the ‘Close to the Edge’ LP so they were basically at the peak of their popularity at the time. I don’t have this album in my collection (as I told you before, I’m more a Pink Floyd fan) but I remembered listening to my father’s LP which was basically how I discovered this band pretty much 30 years ago. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not one of the greatest film concerts I have seen, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like Yes. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I always have been a huge fan of ‘Woodstock’, the festival itself but also the documentary. Well, a movie about a similar music festival taking place in Rotterdam only a year after Woodstock took place did sound really awesome. Unfortunately, to be honest, I thought the damned thing turned out to be slightly disappointing after all. I mean, there were some really cool groups involved such as Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane or Santana and it was interesting to discover a whole bunch of bands that I had never heard before. However, except for Santana who gave here a really good performance, none of the other acts really blew me away, even the more famous ones. Even more problematic was the fact that the whole thing was rather poorly put together. I didn’t mind much that each band was displayed playing only one song, they could have give them more time though, but I was more bothered by the fact that they didn’t follow the original line up. As a result, the movie started with Santana and ended with Santana as well which was just weird. Another thing that really annoyed me even more was how they filmed the damned thing. Seriously, there were so many annoying close-ups of the performers and, to make things worse, these shots were close that you couldn’t even see the whole face of the performers. Regarding the rest of the documentary, there were a few interviews with some of the artists but the content of these conversations was usually rather pathetic. There were also some scenes focusing on the festival attendees but these scenes were all quite forgettable. 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 this music era. 

The main reason why I ended up watching this flick was because I’m staying with my uncle and aunt for a while right now and my uncle wanted to watch a Western. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it seemed to have a decent reputation and since it was available on Netflix, I thought we might as well check it out. Well, even though it might seem to be a gimmick to have all or most of the characters played by some black actors, it turned out to be apparently quite accurate since 25% of all cowboys were actually black (I have to admit that I didn’t know this fact before watching this movie). Another thing that I enjoyed was the really nice soundtrack. Indeed, I’m a huge reggae fan and the way they mixed a Western with this music genre was actually pretty awesome. Finally, they had a nice cast involved (Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, LaKeith Stanfield, Regina King, Danielle Deadwyler, Delroy Lindo, Damon Wayans Jr.) and they all delivered some solid performances. Concerning the story, it was pretty generic but it was entertaining enough and, even though the ending was not really surprising, it worked actually fairly well. Eventually, the only thing that did bother me was the fact that the damned thing was sometimes just too slow. Indeed, it lasted almost 150 mins and, for such a basic story, there was really no need to stretch it like this for so long (the fact that I was so tired when I watched this movie probably didn’t help either). Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see an original Western. 

To be honest, I wasn’t actually planning to see this movie on Disney+ but my youngest daughter was quite eager to watch it in the movie theater. Apparently, it turned out to be a huge success at the box-office and I have to admit that it turned out to be one of the better Pixar sequels. Indeed, the idea of focusing on Riley when she became a teenager was pretty much a no-brainer and a genius move and, during this process, Riley became one of the best Pixar characters. I have to admit that I don’t remember much how she was in the previous movie, I think the focus was mostly on what was going in her head at the time, but here, she became a fully-fledged character and there was something so genuine and relatable about her. Furthermore, the new emotions completely made sense, especially Anxiety which was just so pitch-perfect. Seriously, I had some serious déjà-vu regarding my own teenage years during which anxiety definitely played a major role. I also had a weak spot for Ennui, probably because I’m French, but this character didn’t have much to do, I’m afraid. Embarrassment was pretty neat as well. It's only afterwards that I discovered that Envy was actually voiced by the great Ayo Edebiri but, to be honest, from these 4 new emotions, Envy was the least interesting though. So, it was definitely a decent sequel but, to be honest, it was still missing something to be truly amazing though. The main issue I had was that the plot followed too closely what already happened in the first movie. Indeed, somehow, Joy got kicked out of the HQ and, somehow, she had to find her way back through Riley’s mind. I mean, this concept was perfectly fine the first time around but to give us exactly the same thing for this sequel was just downright lazy. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t become another Pixar masterpiece, it was still pretty good though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Russell Crowe (he even directed the damned thing) and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect it to be so lame after all. I understand Crowe has now entered a phase in his career during which he just wants to do whatever he wants and doesn’t give a sh*t anymore about what everybody else might be thinking, good for him, but, seriously, what was the point in making this movie? It couldn’t be the money since he probably didn’t get much to do it and basically no one saw it when it was released but it couldn’t have been the abysmal story or concept either (was there an actual concept involved here actually?). Anyway, I always had a weak spot for movies dealing with poker and, with such a title, you might have expected to see plenty of playing action but you will be really disappointing since they only played for a short while after all. I guess the basic idea was to show that the main character was going through life as if it was some kind of poker game but I can’t say the end-result was deep whatsoever. Concerning the characters, none of them was interesting but the fact that they were not developed at all probably didn’t help either. Sure, Elsa Pataky is still really lovely but what was the point of her character who showed up for 10 mins to deal some cards and then completely disappeared afterwards? Eventually, even though ‘The Water Diviner’ was not a bad directorial debut, this sophomore effort was just abysmal and it seems that Crowe should just stick to acting. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was actually a waste of time and you should probably avoid it. 

The main reason why I wanted to watch this flick was because ‘Fury Road’ was  such a huge commercial and critical success. However, for some reason, it seems that I forgot that I was actually never a huge fan of ‘Fury Road’ in the first place (I even saw the damned thing a 2^nd time in case I might have missed something the first time around. My conclusion was that I did not). Well, I’m not surprised that this sequel didn’t turn out to be such a huge box-office success after all. It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that it is really an acquired taste and it seems that ‘Fury Road’ was just a struck of luck back then. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I have to admit that Furiosa was definitely a badass character and it was pretty cool to make a movie about her origins. However, the main issue was probably the fact that the damned thing was too long. Indeed, it was 30 mins longer than ‘Fury Road’ and such action movies should never last more than 2 hrs. In this case, it took maybe 1 hour before Anya Taylor-Joy finally showed up. By the way, she is definitely one of the most fascinating actresses at work nowadays and she delivered another strong performance here. The funny thing is that I was convinced that she was much smaller than Charlize Theron but, in fact, they are both about the same size. Anyway, there is something really statuesque about Theron and, in spite of Taylor-Joy’s impressive talent, I’m afraid she doesn’t have the same physical presence though. Concerning the action scenes, well, George Miller is pretty much the all-time master in this genre and I guessed they worked fine but I can’t say I was really blown away though. Anyway, to conclude, even if I’m still not a huge fan, I have to admit it was still a decent action flick 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 directed by George Miller, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be a very classic tale but the fact that the story was fairly derivative was not a problem at all. Indeed, it was actually pretty neat to see Miller giving his own twist on this old genre and the damned thing was visually really nice as well. Furthermore, Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba were some perfect choices to play their respective characters and they had an interesting chemistry together, up until a certain point though. Indeed, as far as I was concerned, I think it was a huge mistake that, I think right before the 3^rd act, Alithea suddenly professed her love for the Djinn and, apparently, he did share the same feelings. Seriously, it came out of nowhere and, while these 2 characters definitely had an interesting connection, it seemed to be obvious that it was an intellectual connection and not a romantic one. Unfortunately, I’m afraid this approach actually pretty much derailed the whole thing and I wish they just left these characters alone in this hotel room in Istanbul debating the meaning of life and what was the basis of a great story. Indeed, I really liked the idea of this scholar specialized in narrative study who would meet an ancient Djinn who would tell her the most incredible stories that she had ever heard. Eventually, without making a single wish, by telling his tales, he would already give her the greatest gift she could ever wish for. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in George Miller’s work. 

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. To be honest, even though I’m well aware of who David Bowie was, I’m not really familiar with his work and I don’t even have one single CD from this artist. In fact, even after watching this movie, I still don’t think I will rush to buy one of his albums and that’s probably the issue I still have with Bowie. Sure, as I expected, the guy was really fascinating, this movie clearly displayed that he was a real artist but, unfortunately, I’m afraid I still don’t care about his music though (I think I will still buy his Best-Of at some point just to make sure though). Anyway, it was still really cool to get to know this incredible rock star who had such an impressive career. Concerning the movie itself, I understand that they wanted to go for something else than a traditional documentary going through his whole career stating the major facts along the way and the end-result was indeed pretty neat. It was above all really interesting to hear Bowie sharing his thoughts. However, this approach also had its downside though. Indeed, the end-result was basically more than 2 hrs of chaotic and random images being thrown at you pretty much non-stop and it was sometimes more exhausting than entertaining or interesting to behold. For example, not so long ago I did re-watch ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’, a fascinating and really weird movie starring Bowie, and I have noticed that through this whole documentary, they kept showing bits and scenes from this movie while it almost always had nothing to do with what they were talking about at that specific point. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it was still a really solid documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Bowie’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by François Ozon and since it was available on Disney+, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I really enjoyed the damned thing and it might even be my favorite movie directed by Ozon so far, no less than that (I actually gave ‘Sous le sable’ a higher rating but I saw it ages ago and I actually barely remember it). Indeed, it was such a pitch-perfect romance with two charismatic boys who had such great chemistry together. I just loved the fact that they were acting like regular guys, like I was around that age when I was living in France, and the fact that they loved each other didn’t matter at all. The two actors (Félix Lefebvre and Benjamin Voisin) were both also really strong. Eventually, the only thing that prevented this movie from being really great was the mixed chronology which was, as usual , such a misguided gimmick. Indeed, not only it really spoiled what happened to David way too early but it also created some completely unnecessary suspense regarding what might have happened to Alex. Basically, during the whole duration, you wonder what was all this fuss about but, in fact, you found out that it was no big deal whatsoever as he was caught by the police for some very minor charges. At some point, Kate made a very interesting remark, about the fact that Alex didn’t really love David for who he was but for what he actually represented to him. I don’t think it was necessarily true but it was an interesting idea and I wish they went deeper into this instead of all this useless judicial shenanigans. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t flawless, I really enjoyed the damned thing though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in François Ozon’s work.