Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I really enjoyed 'Spider-Man Homecoming', I was really eager to check Jon Watts's previous directing effort, especially since it was available on Netflix. Well, from a seriously limited concept, he managed to make the most of it and I really enjoyed the damned thing. Indeed, even though it started as some kind of black comedy, it eventually became a thriller and even though I had my doubts on how it would all end up, it actually worked fine. Concerning Kevin Bacon, he was in top shape as he delivered another solid performance. I can imagine that Marvel chose Watts to direct their reboot of Spider-Man as he did here such a fine job to direct these two small boys. Still, it must have been a huge leap to go from such a small production involving only 5 characters and barely any location to a big Marvel blockbuster but this gamble paid off handsomely since it turned out to be the best Spider-Man installment so far. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it was nothing really groundbreaking, it was a solid minimalist thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of John Wayne but since this movie was included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die' list, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I have to admit that it is a real solid Western and it definitely deserves its reputation as a major classic in this genre. First of all, even though I haven't seen many movies starring Montgomery Clift, he was a really fine actor and it was really neat to see him in his acting debut. Concerning John Wayne, in my opinion, he is usually seriously boring but this movie belongs to the few exceptions in which he played a much more complex character than usual. In fact, his character was at the same time the hero but also the villain of this tale and it made him quite spellbinding to behold. Concerning the story itself, it was a solid classic tale of cowboys moving some cattle through miles and miles and it worked fine except for the ending which was just way too cheesy for my taste. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn't completely blow me away, I still enjoyed this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Right now, I'm doing some really overdue catching up with Ingmar Bergman's work and since this movie was on the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', I was really eager to check it out. Well, as usual with Bergman, I have to admit that I did struggle to get into this movie. I mean, when I heard that it was about Bergman going for the horror genre, I expected something more conventional but it was obviously foolish of me to expect a basic horror flick from this director. And, yet, the whole thing was quite fascinating, in fact, it was even quite terrifying. Indeed, instead of going for some vampires, zombies, monsters or other serial killers, Bergman went for some psychological horror and he basically delivered in the process a major mind-f*ck. In fact, in my opinion, the end-result was some kind of mixed between Bergman and David Lynch. In fact, Lynch would release his feature length feature much later on and I wondered if he had been inspired by this movie as the line between dream and reality was constantly blurred which is a typical trademark in Lynch's work. Anyway, even though the end-result was maybe difficult to swallow, it was terribly effective and, very often, I had the feeling that I was watching a horrifying nightmare. To conclude, I think I might watch it again at some point to make up my mind about the damned thing but, in any case, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ingmar Bergman's work. 

Since I have seen pretty much all the movies directed by Steven Spielberg (Right now, I'm missing only 'Ready Player One' which I should watch in a couple of months) and since this movie was fairly well received, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, I must admit that, since it was about 'The Washington Post' during the 70's, I thought it would be about the Watergate but it was in fact about another story preceeding this other scandal and, in fact, this movie was pretty much a sequel to 'All the President's Men', especially with its end scene. Anyway, eventually, even though it didn't turn out to be anything really groundbreaking, it was still an effective historical thrillers and, at least, I thought it was better than 'Bridge of Spies' which was rather overrated in my opinion. With such historical thriller, it is always rather tricky to keep the viewers on their toes since the outcome is pretty obvious from the very start but it was still entertaining enough. As usual with this director, it was also technically a very well made movie, especially visually speaking. Concerning the actors, Tom Hanks was not bad but I was above all impressed by Meryl Street who is still one of the very best actresses at work nowadays which is so impressive considering how long she has been in this business. To be honest, like most the of other work from Spielberg, it was still slightly too upbeat for my taste and it was even borderline cheesy towards the end but it wasn't a big issue. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Steven Spielberg's work. 

A couple days ago, I saw 'Shame' and since I really liked it, I thought I might as well check the following movie directed by Ingmar Bergman since it was also available on YouTube. Well, even though this movie seems to be loved by Bergman fans, to be honest, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. Indeed, it was just so cold and cerebral and I really didn't connect at all with this movie which was rather odd because I usually have a weak spot for smart movies but, I guess, this one was just too smart for me, I'm afraid. Basically, there was no plot and, instead, Bergman focused on 4 characters but, even though they were interesting, they were never fascinating. In fact, they were seriously neurotic and even slightly pathetic. To make it even more obscure and difficult to follow, except for Anna who obviously went through some massively traumatic experience, there was no explanation provided to explain the behavior of the other 3 characters which made it rather difficult to care about who they have become and what they were going through. Instead, the movies stopped 4 times to allow the actors to actually tell what they thought about their respective characters but, in my opinion, it was a rather pretentious gimmick. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn't really work for me, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Bergman's work. 

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a really nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, eventually, I'm not surprised at all that it turned out to be a flop at the box-office. Indeed, the damned thing turned out to be a perfect example of why some sequels are just seriously misguided. In fact, the whole thing actually started as a prequel to 'Snow White and the Huntsman', but, after about 20 minutes, it suddenly became a sequel and this switch was just really awkward. In this case, why didn't they bring back Kristen Stewart to shoot at least a cameo? To make things worse, the whole thing was just really derivative with the Ice queen obviously inspired by 'Frozen' and the magic mirror who worked pretty much exactly like the ring in 'The Lord of the Rings'. At least, the whole thing looked decent enough and it is not very often that you get to see 3 amazing actresses like Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain all together in the same movie. It's just too bad they got involved in such a rather average blockbuster like this one. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was rather generous with my rating here but I guess the damned thing was still watchable though. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, like most other Netflix original films, the whole thing turned out to be half-baked, I'm afraid. It's too bad because this concept of a huge desert turned into some kind of prison definitely had some potential but there was just too many things that didn't make much sense. First of all, let's talk about the obvious, since they were in a desert, how did they get gas, water, electricity, drugs, food, weapons, ammo,...? Then, even though it seemed to make sense that some would become cannibal, why would they bother take such drastic measures since the community nearby seemed to manage to get some food fairly easily? Finally, what really ruined the whole thing for me was the ending. Indeed, after the main character lost her leg and her arm to this group of cannibals, she actually falls in love with one of them, not before she actually killed the mother of his child in front of the kid herself. I mean, seriously?!? I don't remember the last time I saw such a completely unconvincing romance. The only possible logic coming from this movie could be, that since Suki Waterhouse and Jason Momoa are both attractive, they should definitely fall for each other, even if it didn't make any sense with the history and the background of their respective characters. It's a shame because I really liked the idea of the main character losing her limbs right from the beginning but I would need more than just some hipster soundtrack to cover up all this nonsense. 

To be honest, I had never heard of this movie and I really had no idea what to expect from it. Eventually, even though I did like it, I actually had a hard time to connect with this story. Basically, the main issue I had was that it was such a generic love story. Indeed, from the moment these two young men meet each other, they went through a succession of events which was just way too predictable for my taste. The only surprising thing was that they didn't have to face some homophobia which was something you might expect in the remote countryside of England. My guess is that the director who came from Yorkshire where the movie was shot believes that the people living down there don't really care about what you do in your bedroom as long as you act normally in public. Anyway, the directing was decent enough, I really wonder what Francis Lee will do after this solid directing debut, and the actors playing this cute couple both delivered some really good performances. To conclude, even if it didn't blow me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though I have seen more than 6000 movies, I have to admit that I have seen only maybe 2 movies directed by Ingmar Bergman. The last one I saw from this director was maybe a decade ago and since this movie was on the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die' list, I was really eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, as usual with this director, I really had a hard time to connect with the damned thing. In this case, what mostly made this movie both alienating but at same time really intriguing was the total lack of context. Indeed, there was no real introduction, no explanation about when or where it was taking place or what was exactly going on which was sometimes rather frustrating, especially in my case, as I usually avoid the trailer and don't read the synopsis before watching a movie. And, yet, there was still something quite spellbinding about the damned thing. During a few scenes, the characters talked about their dreams and this lack of contect did create a dream-like vibe, or maybe I should I say a nightmarish vibe. Futhermore, the whole thing gave an interesting look on how far people would go in order they survive and it is especially neat when you think that this movie was made 50 years before 'The Walking Dead'. Concerning Max von Sydow, he was pretty good but he had a rather thankless part and, eventually, I was above all impressed by Liv Ullmann. Indeed, it was the first movie I saw with this actress, she gave a really strong performance and I will definitely try to check the other movies she made with Bergman. Anyway, to conclude, even though I wasn't completely sold, it was still a good movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ingmar Bergman's work. 

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Marisa Tomei and since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be even weaker than I expected. Indeed, not only the concept was just really weak and generic but, to make things worse, all the characters were rather annoying. Seriously, the parents, the grandparents and the children were just rather cringe-inducing to behold. I mean, if the whole thing would have been actually realistic and the fact that I'm myself a parent made it even harder to swallow. It's really one of these case when they tackled an interesting subject, something I could definitely relate to (indeed, my  parents live really far away and see my kids only a couple of times every year), but they chose a completely wrong approach. Indeed, with a slightly darker tone, it could have been interesting but, instead, they just went for the cheap laughs and jokes. At least, it became slightly better during the 3rd act but it was just too late, I'm afraid. Anyway, to conclude, I was probably generous with my rating here, it was just a really weak comedy and I  don't think it is really worth a look.