Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by D.W. Griffith, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that it’s only afterwards that it discovered that it was actually one of Griffith’s last movies but, even though it was a decent watch, I’m afraid it was a rather minor effort for this master after all. I mean, the topic was super interesting and it was a pretty neat idea to make a biopic about Abraham Lincoln’s whole life, going from his birth to his untimely death by the hand of John Wilkes Booth. However, for some reason, they took less than 90 mins which seemed way too short to cover such a complex and eventful life. It is even more bewildering when you think that Griffith did deliver before some silent epics which lasted more than 3 hrs. Anyway, the whole thing felt really episodic, dashing through some bullet points covering more or less the highlights of Lincoln’s life. As a result, it was also narratively rather clunky. For example, at some point, you see him mourning Ann Rutledge who was apparently the love of his life but then, during the very next scene, he was at some ball trying to woo Mary Todd. At least, even though he played an extremely romanticized version of the famous American president, Walter Huston was actually pretty good here. There were also a couple of battle scenes which were actually quite impressive, especially if you think about the fact that this movie was made more than 90 years ago. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was not bad though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in D.W. Griffith’s work. 

To be honest, I didn’t have some huge expectations for this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, with a murder right from the start and such a title, I pretty much knew right from the start what it was going to be. Indeed, it was basically one of these dreadful vigilante features. Obviously, the fact that I never cared about the genre probably didn’t help but, even if it was technically rather well made, the damned thing just never really worked, at least, not for me. First of all, Kiefer Sutherland’s character was such a cartoon figure. Indeed, he did have a rather fancy, seemingly expensive, lawyer who managed to get him out of jail for some technicality but he also looked like some white trash guy who was going in and out of jail so it seems unlikely that a guy like him would manage to have such a competent defense. What also bothered me was the total lack of psychology in the characters involved. I mean, the most interesting character was probably the one played by Ed Harris who pointed out to his wife that she was actually lying to him (there was also the fact that she was gone for hours almost on a daily basis during her basic ‘vigilante’ training). As usual, Harris was pretty good even though he was given a really thankless role but, above all, they absolutely did nothing with what he and this family in general was going through. The basic idea is that it was supposed to be impressive, even maybe inspiring, that this average woman decided to cook up a plan to kill the man who raped and killed her daughter, nothing else really seemed to matter and how much you might enjoy this movie will depend on how much you share this point of view (I obviously don’t). Anyway, to conclude, as far as I was concerned, the damned thing was a waste of time and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I always had a weak spot for movies dealing with con artists and I can understand why Waltz could be attracted by this story and especially this character. I also liked how they displayed how really shallow this diplomatic world actually is. Basically, you just need a good story, a lot of confidence and being articulate enough and these guys will then believe pretty much anything. However, even though Mott was an interesting guy, Waltz pretty much refused to go too deep into his character and his background and focused only on his delusional schemes and I think this approach did backfire. Indeed, after all, it was never really clear how this scheme exactly worked or what Mott was really after. Another interesting point was that, even though it was obvious that Waltz had a lot of fun with Ulrich Mott, the real MVP here turned out to be Vanessa Redgrave after all. Indeed, Redgrave’s character turned out to be very well developed, so complex and actually quite fascinating to behold. Indeed, she wasn’t just some poor old lady who was getting swindled. In fact, she pretty much already knew from the start who was she was dealing with or, if she didn’t know, she was at least curious about what her relationship with this man could lead to. Hell, she was even coaching him at some point. Sure, she understood fairly quickly that he was actually a big fat liar but, with him, life was at least a little bit more fun. Eventually, the main mistake made by Mott was that he never took her seriously enough and lied to her like he did to everybody else which was not only heartbreaking for her but also unacceptable. Of course, there was also the issue that the guy, like so many other delusional narcissists, did seem to loose his grip on reality after telling so many lies to so many people. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by King Vidor and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it must be one of the most obscure movies I have seen so far (only around 100 people have seen it on IMDb) and, to be honest, I thought it was rather difficult to judge the damned thing. Indeed, for starters, the version I saw on YouTube was pretty bad, especially during the night scenes which were barely watchable. On top of that, the only version available, as far as I know, is missing at least 20 mins, probably even more. However, even if it would have been complete, I’m not sure if the whole thing would then completely make sense though. I mean, you had the main character whose mother was (apparently?) a prostitute but she wasn’t actually his mother and, at some point, he got married but his wife never met or even knew who is mother was all this time? Basically, it turned out to be a rather cheesy old fashioned melodrama and you have to really dig the genre. At least, there was a very spectacular train crash occurring half way through which was something terribly ambitious for a movie made more than 100 years ago. The funny thing is that, even though this scene was definitely really cool, in my opinion, it didn’t really have much added value narratively speaking and I think it could have been removed without impacting the story at all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was really obscure, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in King Vidor’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Daniel Radcliffe, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have noticed that this movie had been poorly received and, indeed, I would have to agree, it is definitely the weakest movie I have seen so far starring Radcliffe. As usual, I didn’t know anything about this flick before watching it and, during the first minutes, I was thinking ‘God, I hope it won’t be taking place the whole time in this plane because it looks so unconvincing…’. Unfortunately, it was in fact the whole point of the movie, to follow this man spending a few hours in this plane but it was such a terrible idea which was, on top of that, so poorly executed. Eventually, it seems that the makers had watched ‘Locke’ and thought they could pull the same trick with a plane. Well, this movie clearly displayed that the gimmick used in ‘Locke’ was not as easy as it might seem. First of all, you never had the feeling that Radcliffe was really in this plane flying above the ground. The fact that it was during a cloudy night which means that you didn’t see anything didn’t help either. Another issue is that, either something goes terribly wrong with the concerned plan or, if nothing really happens, which was the case here, a plane fight is actually terribly uneventful and boring. What also never worked in this movie was that it didn’t make sense that the main character would have some phones conversation with various people literally every 2 mins, especially with his wife. On top of that, most of these conversations were not convincing whatsoever. Finally, they didn’t even really commit to their concept as they added some flashbacks and the (really lame) conclusion was also taking place on the ground. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was really generous with my rating here, I guess I gave it a few extra points because I felt sorry for Radcliffe but the damned thing was really pathetic and you should definitely avoid it.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it had been fairly well received and since it was starring Hayley Atwell, I thought I might as well check it out. By the way, what the hell happened to Atwell? She used to have such voluptuous curves but it seems that she went through some kind of diet or something which is a pity, even if she is still quite charismatic though. Anyway, she eventually had a small and rather thankless part in this movie which was even more disappointing. Concerning the movie itself, sure, it turned out to be a decent watch but,  to be honest, it wasn’t really much more than that. Basically, like all the other movies delivered by Gurinder Chadha, it was based on something real, the culture clash in the UK which is always interesting, at least, to me. However, she always approaches this subject with some stereotypes and clichés and this movie was not different, I’m afraid. The fact that I know every little about Bruce Springsteen and his work probably didn’t help either. On the other hand, this movie perfectly captured this moment in life when you are around 15-16 years old and you discover some major music artist who will have such an impact on your life that his/her music will become pretty much the soundtrack of your whole life. Another thing that did work was Viveik Kalra who gave here a pretty much pitch-perfect performance. Indeed, you can clearly see the before and after Springsteen and the actor was completely convincing during both phases. Unfortunately, it was the only character which was properly developed. Indeed, all the other characters, except the father who was terribly one-note though, had basically just one or two scenes during which they had to work really hard to give their respective characters some kind of identity. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was not bad at all though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Ozu and since it was on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Not so long ago, I saw also ‘Tôkyô no kôrasu’ from the same director but, to be honest, it was actually rather disappointing. Fortunately, this movie turned out to be much more satisfying. To be honest, the beginning was rather messy though. Indeed, I don’t really understand why they started to show these police officers in their precinct. Then, they suddenly switched to a rather unclear robbery. Fortunately, after that, the movie finally did settle with a basic structure which was, at least, easier to follow. Indeed, you then had two parts. During the first part, you basically followed the main character running around in the streets trying to escape from the police and I think there was some surrealist quality about this 1^st half. Indeed, they gave at the time no intertitles and it was visually pretty neat as well which I didn’t expect from such a vintage Ozu feature. The second part was also quite interesting because it completely flipped your expectations concerning this man but also concerning the guy chasing him. In this case, this humanistic approach was much more some classic Ozu but he was definitely the master in this genre, giving time and time such seemingly simple and yet complex human characters and this movie was no exception. Eventually, I have to admit that the whole thing was nothing really mind-blowing though, the material was indeed a little bit slight and it is no wonder that the running time was around 60 mins. Anyway, to conclude, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in [Link removed - login to see]’s work.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, even though I obviously heard about Brian Wilson, his huge talent and his tragic life, I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of the Beach Boys so it was pretty cool to see a movie focusing on him. However, even though the approach to go back-and-forth between two parts of his life was not bad, I’m afraid it never really worked though. I enjoyed above all Paul Dano’s performance who was a perfect choice but I have to admit that John Cusack was not bad at all though (in fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw Cusack in a decent movie like this one). Unfortunately, their performance didn't really match and it felt as if I was watching 2 interesting but unrelated movies at the same time. I mean, there is no way that Paul Dano’s autistic nerd genius would somehow become 20 years later John Cusack’s attractive and charismatic weirdo. The fact that Cusack ended up in a relationship with Elizabeth Banks made this issue even more obvious. Sure, they actually had a pretty good chemistry but is there any chance that Paul Dano’s character would eventually end up with such a gorgeous woman? It seemed really unlikely. Eventually, I wish that Dano would have played the character during both time periods (he was actually already around 10 years older than the character he played) but the other way around could have worked as well with Cusack. However, it could have been more problematic to have Cusack playing someone who was 30 years younger than he actually was while the rest of the cast was actually much closer to the age of their respective characters. Anyway, to conclude, even if this approach didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Brian Wilson’s life and legacy.