Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I really didn't like 'Zoolander' at all so I didn't expect much from this sequel but since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, pretty much as I expected, it turned out to be seriously lame and I'm not surprised at all that it was such a commercial and critical flop when it was released. I have to admit that the opening scene with Justin Bieber actually had some potential but it all went downhill from this point. Seriously, pretty much nothing worked. Of course, you could argue that I never thought that Derek Zoolander was actually a funny character, even in the previous installment, but the whole thing was just boring and usually rather cringe-inducing to behold. Apparently, the whole point was to show how Derek Zoolander and Hansel could fit in our modern world but they kept adding layers upon layers of idiotic sub-plots which of course didn't work at all. Something else proving how stupid and misguided the whole thing was the fact that, even though it was dealing with the fashion world, it was actually taking place in Rome and not in Milan. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was just terrible, I hope the whole world has now figured out how lame this character was from the very beginning and, hopefully, they will never try to give us a trilogy with this moronic and tedious character. 

I already saw this movie but, since it has such a strong reputation (it is included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die' list, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, to be honest, I was surprised by how little I remembered it and, in fact, it turned out to be also much more random than I remembered. Seriously, if it would have been slightly more focused on this really entertaining tale of Tampopo and the make over of her noodle shop, it would have been amazing but I'm afraid I didn't care much about all these really random scenes constantly popping up without a warning. Still, there is no doubt that it is definitely a weird and original movie and I really enjoyed it. Basically, most of the movie was about the quest of creating a great noodle restaurant and it is considered as a tribute to the classic Westerns for some obvious reasons. But, as I mentioned already, this movie went way beyond that and it kept throwing some really random scenes but still always linked to food. For example, one particular scene involved a man and woman endlessly swapping an egg yolk from each other mouths and, to be honest, it was easily one of the most disgusting scenes I have ever seen (for some reason, it didn't bother me that much the second time around though). Still, it was a really fun and unique movie, the food looked amazing, it made me so hungry and I wish I could go to Japan just to taste some of these dishes. Anyway, to conclude, even though I'm not sure if I would consider this movie a masterpiece, it was still pretty neat and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see something completely different coming from Japan.

Even though I usually don't like at all comedies dealing with moronic characters, I have to admit that I do have a weak spot for 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'. Since this movie had turned out to be surprisingly successful, it was pretty obvious that they would come up with a sequel but I didn't think it was such a good idea. Indeed, the original concept was actually pretty thin already and I don't think that there was enough room to expand it even more. Unfortunately, I was right and this sequel turned out to be pretty lame. Basically, the main issue was that, beside the fact that Bill and Ted were starting to be more annoying than actually entertaining, was the fact that the makers really had no idea what to do with them. As a result, the whole thing just felt random as it included some evil robots, some good robots, some martians, Death, the Devil, God, Heaven,... For example, at some point, the main characters play some game with Death and actually win which was predictable but still pretty neat but, then, they kept playing some other games ruining the effect of this joke. To make things worse, Death would then follow them until the end of the movie for no good reason whatsoever only because it was supposedly funny. Anyway, to conclude, I really didn't like this movie and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Since it was the last movie directed by Ron Howard that I hadn't seen so far, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it took me many years to finally get my hands on this film and I wish I could say it was worth the wait but, unfortunately, it turned out to be seriously underwhelming, I'm afraid. I mean, the concept had some potential but Ron Howard completely messed up the tone as, as usual, he tried to make a light comedy when this material requested some really dark humor. I have to admit that it was pretty neat that Howard was working with Henri Winkler, his co-star from 'Happy Days', but his character was just really boring and a total drag. To make things worse, most of the jokes were really weak. Basically, the only thing that really worked was Michael Keston in his first starring role. Indeed, he managed to be really entertaining when his character could have been really cringe-inducing. Unfortunately, his solid performance was not enough and pretty much everything else was just rather lame. Anyway, even though the whole thing had some potential, it was just a rather weak comedy and I don't think it is really worth a look.

I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Well, I really enjoyed the damned thing. Indeed, for this movie, Won Kar-Wai mixed one of his usual doomed love stories with a film noir and this mix was quite spellbinding to behold. The material was actually pretty dark and gloomy but it was not as messed up as 'Do lok tin si' which was much harder to swallow. To be honest, as usual with this director, nothing much really happened through the whole thing  and most of the duration was about a gay couple arguing all the time so it can be challenging. Still, I really had a weak spot for this couple thanks to some really solid performances from Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung. It was also pretty neat that Kar-Wai would for the first time shot his movie outside of Hong-Kong. Later on, he would also make 'My Blueberry Nights' in the USA with an all-star cast but, unfortunately, it would turn out to be his weakest movie so far. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, I really have a weak spot for this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Wong Kar-Wai's work.

I was recently catching up on Hayao Miyazaki's work and one of my colleagues suggested me to also watch this Ghibli production even if Miyazaki wasn't involved in this project. Well, I have to admit that I really enjoyed it a lot, in fact, I thought it was actually better than many movies directed by Miyazaki. Of course, it had the advantage that it was released only a couple of years ago so the animation was just gorgeous but I wouldn't expect less from  a Ghibli production. Then, after watching 'Mimi wo sumaseba' and 'Majo no takkyûbin' which both featured some really interesting main female characters, this movie delivered an even more complex and fascinating character with Anna. Indeed, the teenage anxiety, especially among girls, has always been a Ghibli speciality but it had never been done so well before. Concerning the story, I have to admit that it was nothing really groundbreaking and it was probably one of their most predictable efforts but, as a result, it was also more much focused. Indeed, even though I have a huge respect for Miyazaki's work, many of his movies don't really have a traditional structure and, in spite of this interesting approach, it is actually often alienating, at least for me. Coming back to our main festure, even though it was borderline cheesy, I was still somehow touched by this tale. Anyway, to conclude, I really liked the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since this movie has a really solid reputation, I was really eager to check it out. Well, even though I really liked it, to be honest, I wasn't completely sold though. First of all, the whole point was obviously to see two huge acting icons, Joan Crawford and Better Davis, playing some sisters and the fact that they apparently hated each other in real life made the whole thing even more spellbinding to watch. However, even though Davis took some major risks and gave an outstanding performance, Crawford played the whole thing way too safe constantly trying to protect her glamorous reputation. Indeed, she tried to play the whole thing as some innocent victim but it didn't work as it made her character rather flat and boring and she was as a result completely upstaged by Davis. If both women would have been on the same level, playing some demented old movie stars who have hated each other since childhood, pretty much matching the actual hatred the actresses had for each other, then, the whole thing would have been really awesome. On top of that, another issue was that most of the movie was about the two sisters living together in the same house but it actually didn't make much sense that Jane would actually take care of her sister after all what happened between them. The twist at the end also had very little impact and only proved again that Crawford had chosen the wrong approach all along. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a solid psychological thriller with a very strong performance by Bette Davis and it is definitely worth a look.

Since I'm a big fan  of Tom Hardy, I was really eager to check out this movie, especially since the material sounded pretty awesome. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more than that, to be honest. I mean, it was really neat to see Hardy playing a set of twins and he delivered here another fine performance(s) but, unfortunately, the movie didn't have much else to offer, I'm afraid. Sure, the directing was decent enough and it was visually convincing but, in spite of this strong material, I didn't care much about the story after all. The first mistake was to have Frances, Reginald Kray's wife, telling this tale. I mean, I won't blame Emily Browning who was not bad but her character was just boring and rather thankless. I mean, she obviously knew what she got into when she got involved with Reggie but she still spent most of the movie complaining about his lifestyle so she wasn't really the most interesting narrator. But, to be honest, it wasn't really much better with the Kray brothers. Indeed, right from the start, Reggie was introduced as the usual handsome charismatic leader and Ronnie as the usual unpredictable psychopath (they also spent way too much time on the fact that he was gay when, in reality, it was something he was actually trying to hide at the time) but, even though you spend more than 2 hours with them, you don't get to learn really anything else about them. Anyway, to conclude, even though it turned out to be slightly disappointing, it was still an interesting story and Tom Hardy was just awesome so I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since this movie has a really solid reputation, I was really eager to check it out. Well, I wasn't disappointed and, after each movie I watch from this director, I understand more and more why Zhang Yimou was considered as one of the greatest directors in the 90's. Indeed, it was such a fascinating tale which was, at the same time, actually pretty simple and yet it was still told on a epic scale and this combination was quite amazing. Basically, it was the story of an average  family trying to simply live but you had to witness them experiencing the impact of some major events on their lives through decades of Chinese history as a background. You could argue that it did feel like a Communist propaganda film at times, especially in the beginning, when the main character found salvation only when he became poor after losing all his fortune. As far as I was concerned, I actually did like how it showed that wealth is not important after all. Anyway, if you would think that this movie was too sympathetic to the Communist ideology, you would be mistaken as this movie has always been banned in China. Indeed, even though  they displayed some positive aspects about the Chinese revolution, it was still far from being a perfect situation and, above all, you could feel the constant fear of the main characters of being imprisoned or even executed for just saying something wrong. Concerning Gong Li, she gave another really strong performance and it is a shame that all the movies she made in the US and outside China afterwards turned out to be rather disappointing. Anyway, to conclude, it was a strong drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.