Reviews by johanlefourbe

Obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be indeed pretty lame and completely misguided. First of all, who was actually the target audience for this movie? I mean, I actually watched the cartoon when I was a kid back in the 90's but it was hardly one of the most popular cartoons back then. Furthermore, the whole thing was apparently aimed towards the young girls but they obviously had never heard of this old TV show. To make it more modern, they added a social media angle which was just so annoying as you would get some YouTube videos popping randomly with absolutely no link with what was going on. Furthermore, the way the characters used social media themselves made the whole thing look like a very fake reality-TV show. Finally, what was the point with this robot? Seriously, I thought it would add something to their performance but it didn't have any impact after all. At least, some of the songs were not bad but it was obviously not enough to make this movie mildly entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was a big waste of time and it is not worth a look whatsoever. 

When I heard that my uncle wanted to watch a movie about the tragedy in Utøya, I thought he meant the movie '22 July' directed by Paul Greengrass also coming out this year. Anyway, it doesn't really matter since it was such a powerful movie and easily one of the best I have seen this year. In my opinion, the greatest success of this movie was to show not only that the guy shot more than 170 people but, above all, the impact on the 300 remaining survivors who will be psychologically traumatised maybe forever. Indeed, for more than an hour, they have nowhere to hide, they have no idea about what is really going on, who is attacking them and why, and if someone will finally show up to stop this nightmare. In the mean time, the shooting keeps going on and they do see other survivors running around scared shitless and they do hear other people screaming so it was a real nightmare and that's why the one-take gimmick really worked. Indeed, this way, there was no break to allow the viewers to breath for a moment and, this way, not only you're on the first line but you get eventually completely sucked in this tragedy. To be honest, I do think that the main character was slightly too heroic for my taste and I would have rather had an average teenager but I do understand that they needed someone  who was brave enough to do something otherwise the whole thing would have been about someone hiding behind a tree. Concerning the one-take approach, it did work but, at the end of the day, nothing much really happened and, in the same genre, I preferred 'Victoria' which was just quite mind blowing. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was just really heartbreaking and terrifying at the same time but I think it is definitely worth a look.

Since I kept hearing some interesting things about this movie , I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, it wasn't an easy watch, in fact, it was sometimes downright unpleasant to behold but, even so, I still think it was pretty good though. Basically, I think it could be described as some kind of trash poetry. I mean, following his acclaimed screenplay for 'Kids' (a film I actually saw when it was released and actually didn't like at all but I guess I should re-watch it at some point), Harmony Korine chose for his directing debut to not use a plot at all and, instead, he gave us a collection of completely random scenes almost never linked together involving a bunch of some white trash. Eventually, did I really care about these characters? Were they really interesting, even with such a stylised directing? To be honest, I wasn't completely convinced and, on top of that, the whole thing did feel sometimes rather pretentious with its soundtrack and voice-over and I'm not so sure if I understood what the guy was getting at but, somehow, I have to admit that it still worked. Anyway, to conclude, it is definitely an acquired taste but I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since Nick, my step-son, was really eager to check this flick, we went to see it in the movie theater when it was released. To be honest, I have to admit that it did turn out to be slightly better than I expected. Indeed, what bother me the most with the previous installment was that it was just too similar to the first 'Jurassic Park' and this sequel was at least slightly more original. Still, even though the makers might claim that it was something completely new, I still had a feeling of 'déjà vu' as they used many ideas and elements of 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' which is still by far the weakest installment in this franchise (I might check it out again at some point though). Anyway, I still have to admit that the whole thing was really spectacular and the impressive evolution in CGI technology allowed the makers to provide even more awesome dinosaurs than ever before. Concerning Chris Pratt, the guy was once again really entertaining and, this time around, they tried to develop Bryce Dallas Howard's character which wasn't a bad idea but I can't remember that she was such a fan of the dinosaurs in the previous installment. To be honest, all the other characters were barelly developed and rather boring. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent blockbuster 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 I always had a weak spot for the late Anton Yelchin, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I was amazed by how disappointing the damned thing actually turned out to be, especially since it has such a solid rating on IMDb (no less than 6.9). Indeed, even though Anton Yelchin did what he could, his character was just rather boring and the other characters were even more tedious to behold. At least, I have to admit that Addison Timlin was pretty cute but I couldn't care less about their boring romance. Basically, it was the biggest issue with the whole thing, the fact that everything was just so boring. I mean, there was really nothing about his gift that was either entertaining or original and the way the main character spent at least half of the movie explaining in voice-over his powers and what was going on was just so lame and lazy. Anyway, to conclude, even though I didn't really have some really high expectations, it has been a while since I have seen such a disappointing movie and I don't think it is really worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Simon Pegg, I though I might as well check it out. Well, even though it didn't turn out to be anything really amazing, I thought it was actually a decent watch. Basically, the only real issue with this movie was that the way the 2 main characters met each other was just too convoluted in spite of some strong efforts from Simon Pegg and Lake Bell. Eventually, I wish they simply met on a typical blind date but it seems that you can't have nowadays a romantic-comedy without getting served a rather far-fetched concept. Still, Pegg and Bell were both actually pretty good and they had some very nice chemistry together so, thanks for them, the whole thing still actually worked. Concerning Lake Bell, you might wonder why they would cast an American actress to play a British character but I thought she was actually quite convincing, even though I'm not an expert on English accents. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent romantic-comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was Robert Zemeckis's directing debut, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, the damned thing definitely had some potential. Indeed, even though I have never been a huge fan of the Beatles, it was a great idea to focus on their 1st TV broadcast concert in the US as it was a major event in Pop culture history. Unfortunately, the concept had also some serious limitations. Indeed, the biggest issue was to make these hysterical fans interesting and Zemeckis never managed to make them really entertaining. Basically, they gave some rather tedious jokes at their expense and it made the whole experience seem rather ridiculous. The best example would be the scene when Nancy Allen's character ends up in the Beatles's hotel room which was rather creepy and cringe-inducing to behold. I think it would have worked better if one of these kids would have been a more sensible bemused bystander going along to witness this whole circus. Instead, they went for some rather hostile Italian American who turned out to be even more annoying and moronic than the Beatles hardcore fan. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Robert Zemickis's work. 

Since it was the last movie starring James Dean that I hadn't seen so far, I was really eager to see this flick. Well, even though it turned out to be pretty good, I can't say it really blew me away though. I mean, there was some very good stuff and it could have been a great movie but it didn't completely worked in my opinion. First of all, this movie will be forever remembered for Dean's performance and while he was indeed very good, his character was actually the 3rd wheel in this romance. Indeed, the movie was in fact about Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson's love story and family life and, in spite of Dean's effort to steal the show, his complex character didn't have much impact after all. Concerning the main story, I was also bothered by the fact that Leslie had such an impact on her husband but it didn't work the way around, he didn't seem to have such an impact on her which was a failed opportunity. Furthermore, in the 3rd act, all the children had a specific sub-plot which was just too much, especially with Dennis Hopper's character who not only refused to take over the ranch but also got married with some Mexican girl. As a result, they tried to handle too many topics and they should have removed some elements to remain better focused. And, yet, in spite of its flaws, it was still a solid epic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the damned thing and it is probably one of the best movies I have seen dealing with (American) football, especially in college. Basically, the whole thing was rather well done providing a nice balance. Indeed, they displayed how thrilling this game can be and how it can open some new doors to its best players but also how shady the stuff going on in this environment can be and also the tremendous pressure these young men have to face. Eventually, the only thing preventing  this movie from becoming really awesome was the fact that there were too many characters involved with their own sub-plot. It is actually a typical gimmick used in the sport genre but even though it does work, it is also rather lazy and you always end up with some barely developed characters. In this case, the best example would be James Caan who didn't have much to do, except giving some speech from time to time usually to his players, even though the guy actually received top-billing for this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a really solid sport flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.