Reviews by johanlefourbe

I can’t say I was really dying to see another installment for this franchise but, on the other hand, I have to admit that I was still curious about it though. Well, to be honest, the end-result turned out to be even more underwhelming than the already poorly received previous sequels (I’m really surprised that Indiewire gave it such a high rating but it was an exception though). Seriously, the damned thing was just so sluggish and mostly rather boring to watch. At least, after a rather lame intro, the whole gaming angle was actually pretty cool though. On top of that, Keanu Reeves gave her his best performance for this franchise and I really loved the idea that Neo became some kind of depressed middle-aged guy. Unfortunately, pretty much from the moment Thomas Anderson AKA Neo took the red pill again, everything happening afterwards turned out to be so dull after all. I mean, the focus on the relationship between Neo and Trinity was not bad and I have to admit that the meta aspect of this sequel was also fairly entertaining but everything else was just either pretentious, convoluted or simply plain boring and usually a combination of these 3 things at the same time. Furthermore, to be honest, I have to admit I never really cared about the story with this franchise,  even with the legendary first installment, but, at least, they always came up with some impressive badass action scenes. Well, even in this area, this movie was actually a disappointment and I would be rather hard-pressed to recall one single action scene and I saw the damned thing only yesterday. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating might be too generous here, I guess it is still worth a look though but probably only if you really like the genre. 

Since this movie was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, I was quite eager to check it out. On top of that, it did sound like a very interesting story. Well, it’s too bad this movie will be mostly remembered because Will Smith did slap Chris Rock during the Academy Award ceremony because this movie was actually not bad at all. Indeed, to call it one of the best movies of the year was a little bit too much as far as I was concerned but I have to admit that it was still a nice crowd-pleaser though. I always had a weak spot for tennis and I was well aware of most of the Williams tennis career and I heard about their father but I didn’t know exactly how it all went down at the time. For example, I didn’t know that they actually came from Compton. Anyway, I’m not surprised that Will Smith did win the Academy Award for Best Actor since he played here probably his most complex character. To be honest, since it was an authorized biography approved by the Williams sisters themselves, they didn’t get really deep into this strange man after all and you keep wondering if he did all this to please his oversized ego or because he genuinely really cared for these girls. Instead, they mostly focused on how inspiring it all was but I have to admit that they actually really succeeded in this area though. Indeed, it was just amazing to see how, from one of the most rough neighborhoods in the US, with his seemingly shabby trainings, the guy managed to train these 2 amazing women who both became the n.1 in this sport (and possibly one of them, the actual GOAT of this damned sport). Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t really a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it did win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I wonder what someone strongly against abortion would think about this movie. I mean, was it all Anne’s fault, what happened to her? After all, we are all wired to be sexual beings, that’s what nature or God made us for, so why should she be mercilessly punished for doing something that it’s so natural. And, of course, there was also the fact that, even if you want to forbid abortion, people will still get it done anyway and, because it is forbidden, they will risk their lives in the process time and time again making this decision just really ineffective. Concerning the movie itself, it was interesting how basically all these women seemed to live in fear. Indeed, there was the fear of the men around them, the fear of their own sexuality and the fear of the fact that, if they make one single mistake, it could completely ruin their lives. I was also sad to see how lonely the main character was while facing her despair, even if it did make sense. Indeed, to be sexually active was taboo at the time, to get pregnant was even worse and to get an abortion was not only illegal but considered as an abomination by most so no wonder that she didn’t dare to confess this dark secret to anyone. At least, she didn't end up with some butcher which was a relief, even though this woman was obviously not a doctor and was therefore not qualified at all to perform such a potentially life-threatening procedure. To be honest, even though the directing was solid and Anamaria Vartolomei gave a strong performance (I also did appreciate the fact that she was actually the age of her character and not 10 years older) , the whole thing still felt a little bit slight though. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn't really a masterpiece after all, it was still a solid watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

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. Well, even thought the material was definitely interesting, to be honest, I really had a hard time to care about the fluffy approach they took. Indeed, as far I was concerned, it seemed a rather odd choice to tell the fight for Women’s rights so lightly just to make sure this movie would be a crowd-pleaser (it did flop anyway because it was released just 10 days before the first Covid lockdown in the UK). Especially since things didn’t really change that much after all for women, the biggest difference nowadays is that we pretend to be equal but it is definitely not the case though. I have to admit that they were some moments when they were actually getting at something, for example, when Sally and her mother each other addressed their respective behaviors. Indeed, going to college and becoming an activist while seemingly neglecting your child might not seem such a great idea after all but doing nothing at all and accepting things as they are was obviously not much better. Unfortunately, instead of going deeper into this interesting problematic, it was however completely deluded by telling this story through as many angles as you could possibly imagine. As a result, the whole thing felt rather disjointed. For example, at some point, you would to get to see these activists disparaging this contest as being degrading to all women and, in the very next scene, they would then try to argue how meaningful it actually was for some of these girls. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating might have been too generous here but the damned thing was rather harmless and I guess it might still be worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Julian Schnabel, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, even though I do have two Velvet Underground CDs, I have to admit that I don’t know much about Lou Reed after all so it was pretty cool to see him in a concert like this one. Apparently, when it was released, the ‘Berlin’ album had been a huge flop but I thought it did sound pretty good (some of these song did become some Reed’s classics). Indeed, there were around 20 people on stage so, even if the venue did seem to be rather small, the whole thing was actually quite ambitious. I was also rather impressed by the complex compositions and the really full sound they delivered. Eventually, even if Lou Reed was never really commercially successful, he was actually a great musician and its influence was huge (I guess a little bit like Iggy Pop and it is no wonder that both men did work with David Bowie at some point). Concerning the movie itself, well, it was a fairly decent concert film but, to be honest, it wasn’t really much more than that and, as result, it is probably the least remarkable movie delivered by Julian Schnabel so far. They even did include some bits and scenes played by Emmanuelle Seigner but I would be rather hard-pressed to tell what it was all about and I failed to see what was exactly the added value. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that I still didn’t become a huge fan of Lou Reed’s work but it was still a solid concert movie and it is worth a look, especially if you are into this kind of music. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I don’t really understand Matthew Vaughn’s obsession with this franchise as it was already the 3^rd movie he made for it. I mean, sure, I will have to admit it, ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ was a decent watch (I should rewatch it though since I don’t remember much about it) but, even 10 years ago when it was released, I had some serious doubt regarding its franchise potential. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, this time, they went for a prequel which turned out to be the most underwhelming of the bunch. Sure, there was a really neat cast involved (Ralph Fiennes, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Alexandra Maria Lara, Harris Dickinson, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Daniel Brühl, Tom Hollander, Aaron Taylor-Johnson), it was apparently surprisingly accurate from a historical point of view and it was visually pretty neat but, still, most of it was actually pretty boring though. Of course, there was once again the fact that 130 mins was just too long for a spy action flick like this one but, above all, for some reason, they completely dropped the goofy tone which was the most (and possibly the only?) interesting trademark in this franchise. The end-result was therefore watchable but still rather dull and above all completely unremarkable. Since nobody seemed to care for this movie, Vaughn finally dropped this franchise after almost a decade and went on to direct ‘Argylle’, also linked to the spy genre, but it turned out to be an even bigger flop. Anyway, to conclude, even tough I think I might have been too generous with my rating here, I guess it might still be worth a look though but probably only if you really like the genre.