Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I'm usually not a huge fan of romantic costume dramas but I was actually surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this one. Indeed, it must be one of the gloomiest doomed love stories I have ever seen and, as a result, it was much more entertaining than most of the other movies in this genre. Basically, it is one of the most famous love stories but what made it so interesting was that the two main characters, Heathcliff and Cathy, never could make up their mind if they should passionately love or hate each other and, eventually, they basically destroyed one another and also the people that happened to be around. On top of that, the cast was really strong, especially Laurence Olivier who was at the top of his game back then. There were still a couple of things that slightly bothered me like the fact that Cathy's brother provided a very convenient villain or how easily Heathcliff went to America and came back as a rich man. Anyway, to conclude, I wonder if this movie was a good adaptation and I might read the famous book it was based on at some point but I really enjoyed this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the  genre. 

In 2018, Netflix pulled off with this movie the biggest marketing stunt of the year. Indeed, during the Super Bowl, they finally released the first trailer but, above all, they announced that the movie would be directly available after the game which was something obviously never done before. Seriously, it was a genius move because it turned a rather weak feature into one of the most talked about movies over the year. Unfortunately, the day after this marketing stunt, pretty much everyone was universally complaining how lame this flick actually was and, indeed, it turned out to be pretty weak. I mean, they had the best cast ever seen in a Cloverfield feature (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki) and the concept actually had some potential if it would have been properly developed. Basically, even though it could have been a thought provoking SF flick, it was just very lazily written giving us a succession of rather generic supposedly scary scenes. Some of them were not bad (like the one when they discover Elizabeth Debicki's character) but there was not one moment when any of the character said and did anything remotely interesting regarding the events they had to face. It was also really weak to add some crazy conspiracy theorist predicting exactly what would happen later on. At least, with 'Cloverfield'  and '10 Cloverfield Lane', they left the viewers in the dark which was much more effective. Finally, it was pretty obvious that the whole thing didn't have anything to do with this franchise as they just added some rather random scenes to tie it up with the other installments. Anyway, to conclude, from a marketing point of view, this feature was quite impressive but the movie itself was  actually pretty weak and I don't think it is actually really worth a look. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of such classic screwball comedies. Indeed, even though some of them are still really popular, in my opinion, they usually didn't grow old very well. However, this movie was actually an exception and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Obviously, it had all the trademarks of the genre but, even though it might seem really frivolous like the other movies in the genre, I thought it was actually quite sharp and so much satiric. Indeed, in such movies, we are supposed to care about the so-called difficult life of the Rich or Aristocrats but, here, they were all portrayed are completely hysterical and seriously dim-witted and the homeless seemed to be much more sensible. I also liked the idea that if we stopped complaining about our little problems and simply gave the people in need a chance, they would actually grab it with both hands. To be honest, I think it would have better worked if Godfrey didn't come from the same social class as his 'masters' and I didn't care much for the ending which was some typical screwball silly nonsense. Still, to conclude, I really enjoyed this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was on TV, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, at first , it seemed to be another rather lame comedy starring Vince Vaughn. Indeed, he was playing his usual character who has become more annoying than actually entertaining after all these years. Furthermore, even though Chris Pratt was pretty good and much funnier than Vince Vaughan,  I really hate it in US comedies when they try to convince the viewers that to have some children is just terrible and that it would mean the end of your life. The way the main character would first meet his kids without telling them his identity was also a terrible idea and such a poor way to handle this material. And, yet, from the moment he met the whole gang, I have to admit that the damned thing actually slowly won me over. Indeed, there was actually something touching about them, about the way they decided to create this community sharing the same desire to find their genetically roots. It was so well done that I came to the conclusion that to give your sperm might be actually something beautiful. Of course, it was still nothing really amazing and the whole plan about the main character trying to pay his debts was just a poor way to create a bogus conflict. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that it turned out to be better than I expected and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Emily Blunt, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, I did see 'Cible émouvante', the French movie it was based on, ages ago and even though it was nothing amazing, I thought it was miles better than this British version. It's too bad because they had such a strong cast but the whole thing just bored me very fast. The best part was when it was starting with only Bill Nighy who was just spot on even though the guy can't hold a gun properly because he apparently suffers of Dupuytren's contracture, which means he can't straighten the ring and little fingers on each hand. Concerning Emily Blunt, even though she was just as lovely as usual, she tried to be whimsical but it didn't really work and her character turned out to be more annoying than actually entertaining. On top of that, these 2 characters didn't have any chemistry whatsoever. Concerning Rupert Grint, his character was even less interesting as he played some kind of stoned spineless version of Ron Weasley. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing was rather harmless, it didn't really work for me and I don't think it is really worth a look. 

Since I always had a weak spot for Steven Soderbergh's work and since this movie was dealing with an interesting subject, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, even though I did like this movie, as usual with Soderbergh's recent movies, it was still rather half-baked, I'm afraid. I would blame this on Soderbergh's usual rushed production process as this movie was released less than a year after 'Logan Lucky', his previous directing effort. Basically, this time, he tried to mix a really interesting insurance scam with a rather boring stalking thriller. Seriously, everything involving this stalker was just rather tedious but, also, it didn't make much sense. Indeed, if I understood it correctly, the guy killed and took over the identity of another man called Georges Shaw but who was Shaw? He couldn't have been someone already working at this mental hospital because his co-workers would have noticed that someone else completely different was showing up for work but why then bother killing him and taking his identity? In this case, how did he manage to get a job there just when the main character would haven been interned? In my opinion, they should have removed this part of the plot and focus more on the unstable state of mind of the main character. It would have worked so much better in combination with this frighteningly realistic insurance scam which displayed how completely rotten the health system has become in the US. Furthermore, I have to praise Claire Foy who delivered such a strong performance. Indeed, she was quite fascinating to be behold and she displayed something so completely different than what she delivered in 'The Crown' and I will definitely check her future work. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of it flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look even if, as usual with Soderbergh, it could have been so much better.

Even though this movie seemed to be pretty lame, for some reasons, I was still eager to check it out. Well, even though I had some rather low expectations, the damned thing turned out to be even worse than I expected. Indeed, Catherine Hardwicke had been heavily and, in my opinion, unfairly criticised for 'Twilight' when, in fact, it became the highest grossing movie ever directed by a woman (at least, at the time). Well, this follow-up turned out to be so much worse. Seriously, it was supposed to be a really misguided mix of the classic Red Riding Hood with some werewolves and pretty much nothing worked. At least, the lovely Amanda Seyfried was a good choice to play the lead but that would probably be the only positive thing I could think of. I mean, once again, Hardwicke gave us another seriously ugly CGI werewolf and even this village looked terribly fake. Then, as I mentioned before, the whole concept was just misguided and, above all, terribly boring. To make things worse, Hardwicke gave us another terribly tedious love triangle involving 3 teenagers. Basically, it seems that she took the worst elements of 'Twilight' and mashed them up with this classic tale which was barely recognisable. Anyway, to conclude, I think I have been rather generous with my rating, the whole thing was just seriously weak and I don't think it is worth a look at all.

Eventually, this movie will be mostly remembered for winning the Best Picture Academy Award at the expense of 'Citizen Kane' but I was still eager to check it out to see if it was actually any good. Well, while the reputation of 'Citizen Kane' has only increased through the years and it is usually considered by most as one of the greatest movies ever made, this movie on the other hand didn't grow old very well, I'm afraid. I can imagine that it had been a big commercial and critical success at the time when it was released but, nowadays, it seems terribly cheesy, at least, that's what I felt like watching the damned thing. I mean, I have to admit that it was well made with some solid performances so it turned out to be OK but not much more than that. Sure, it was dealing with some nice and decent people but, as far as I'm concerned, I would rather have instead the complexity displayed in 'Citizen Kane'. At least, it was very neat to see the lovely Maureen O'Hara who must have been one of the most gorgeous actress ever. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie has a decent reputation, I actually struggled to get into the damned thing but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

This movie didn't get much love when it was released, in fact, according to the IMDB ratings, it is apparently Clint Eastwood's weakest directing effort so far. Since I always been a big fan of his work, I was still eager to check it out though. Well, after 'American Sniper' and 'Sully', Eastwood decided for the 3rd time in a row to tell another true tale about some other American heroes but, unfortunately, it turned out to be so terribly weak and not much better than the garbage you can see on the Lifetime channel. I mean, the first scenes dealing with the main characters when they were kids were not bad but they still didn't reach the level of something like 'Stand by Me'. Then, the actual guys who were involved during these events actually played themselves which wasn't a bad idea and I don't think they did such a terribly bad job but the whole thing started to become rather abysmal at this point. Basically, they gave us a whole bunch of meaningless scenes with no entertaining or informative value and it seems, since the tragic event in the train would last only 15 mins, that they had to fill in the running time with something. The worst part was definitely when these guys went backpacking in Europe. Seriously, it felt like watching 'The Real World' from MTV or some other crappy reality TV program. At least, the scenes in the train did work but everything else was just so tedious and rather poorly put together. To conclude, even if I'm not sure if it is really Clint Eastwood's worst movie, it is certainly one of his weakest and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Even though this movie didn't get much love when it was released, since I have always been a huge fan of Roman Polanski's work, I was still really eager to check it out. Unfortunately, even though it was a decent watch, I still turned out to be one of the weaker efforts from the Polish master, I'm afraid. Polanski has very often made such minimalist pictures in the past and this movie was basically focusing on only 2 characters which wasn't a bad idea but, even though the first 20 minutes were intriguing, very soon, I started to loose interest in the whole thing. Eventually,  I won't blame Emmanuelle Seigner and Eva Green would did what they could but the material was just rather weak. The biggest issue was that it didn't make much sense that Delphine wouldn't drop Elle after she displayed such an annoying invasive stalking behavior. It was just so obvious and happened way too soon after they barely met each other. Especially in the case of such a famous writer, to late someone invade her life like this so easily was just rather unbelievable. On top of that, Elle was such a fake character, in every possible way, and it made her even more annoying. I have to admit that I didn't see the twist ending coming but it felt rather lazy (on top of that, how did she get to the country house by car on her own with a broken leg?). Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, if only to see Eva Green for once showing up in a French movie.