Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Brad Pitt, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, to be honest, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. The biggest issue, in my opinion, is that it wasn't really a great story to start with. They did try to cover this fact with a rather pretentious voice-over, obviously, to make it sound more clever than it actually was but they didn't fool me. I mean, I do like a smart satirical black comedy but I wonder if it might not have better worked with a more straightforward approach. I also didn't really get how they handled the main character. I mean, one minute, they portrayed him as a very efficient and successful career soldier but, then, the minute after, they would make him look like a complete idiot. It didn't help either that half of the actors were playing it straight while the other half was going for something much more caricatural, especially Brad Pitt who gave here probably one of his most over-the-top performances ever. Anyway, to  conclude, it wasn't really bad but it wasn't good either and it is fairly possible that my rating was actually rather generous for this movie. 

Even though this movie didn't get much love when it was released, since I have a weak spot for Ken Loach's work, I was still eager to check it out. Well, first of all, I already enjoyed the directing and it was pretty neat that Loach went for a periode piece this time around. Indeed, he really managed to give a good feeling for this time and place and the characters were interesting enough, even though they were all rather stereotypical. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the story itself, I'm afraid. Indeed, even though it was apparently based on a true story, it still felt like a vintage Irish version of 'Footloose' and 'Footloose' wasn't already a masterpiece in my book. I don't know, if they did add some nuances, maybe, it could have worked better but, the way it was told, it seemed rather silly that they would make such a fuss about a rather innocent country hall like this one, even if it was apparently what happened at the time. To be honest, even though they criticized the propaganda at the time backing the church, in fact, Loach's movie also felt like some leftist proganda and it didn't help that Jimmy Gralton was so righteous and seemingly perfect. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ken Loach's work. 

In a couple of weeks, I'm supposed to go to see 'Justice League' and I was really eager to watch before this first installment involving the most famous female super-hero. I was actually planning to see the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released but, for some reason, Nick, my stepson, decided that we should watch instead 'The Mummy'... Anyway, even though everybody seemed to have lost faith in the DCCEU, at last, they finally delivered something really good. In fact, even though 'Marvel' is completely ruling the market, somehow, they took way too long to deliver a movie with a woman playing the lead character. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, well, even though Gal Gadot was trashed by the fans when she was chosen, eventually, she was really impressive. Indeed, of course, she was quite gorgeous but she was really convincing during the fighting scenes and, above all, she managed to deliver such a charismatic and still relatable woman. The issue with this character, in fact, with almost all the female character coming from a comic-book, is that she could have been reduced to some bimbo which was definitely not the case here. Eventually, I really think it was the right thing to hire a woman to direct this movie and Patty Jenkins did a fine job here showing how women can be just as strong and tough as men and yet still retain their feminity. Chris Pine should also get some credit as, even though his character was rather thankless, he made the most of it and he had some great chemistry with Gal Gadot. So, most of the movie did work fine but, to be honest, I still didn't care much for the story though. Sure, it was entertaining enough but, above all, the message was pretty murky. I mean, it seems that Wonder Woman wants to stop this war in particular and all the wars in general but she is also one of the greatest warriors ever and she kills so many people during her mission without even blinking an eye. As a result, as long as the movie was focusing on her struggle to fit in our world, it was pretty much pitch-perfect, but as soon as she started to fight, even though it looked really badass, it became another bombastic super-hero flick like so many others I have seen before. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think it is rather overrated, it was still a really solid blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but since I just bought a brand new TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember well the first time around I saw it though. Indeed, back then, since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, of course, I was really eager to watch the damned thing. And, indeed, it turned out to be easily the best movie with Thor as a lead character (and still is, even after ‘Love and Thunder’ was released) but, to be honest, it wasn't such a difficult goal to achieve, especially after 'Thor: The Dark World' which might be so far the weakest movie coming from the MCU. But was it really a great movie? I'm not so sure. I mean, it was really neat that Thor and the Hulk had to be some gladiators on some weird alien planet but the whole plot involving Thor's sister taking over Asgard was just so generic and redundant. Seriously, wasn't it what Loki was already trying to do in the 2 previous movies? At least, the always dependable Cate Blanchett delivered another solid performance. On top of that, it was really awesome that Marvel gave Taika Waititi so much freedom as he went really wild on the dialogues and on the tone which was just so wacky. The other thing they really nailed was to allow Bruce Banner to be the Hulk for much longer than usual because it is always rather frustrating to have to wait for the big green guy to finally show up. I have to admit it though, after rewatching it, it is actually still pretty good though. Anyway, to conclude, it won't be my favorite movie from the MCU but the damned thing was still seriously fun and entertaining and it is definitely worth a look.

To be honest, I was pretty sure what to expect from this movie and the only reason I watched it was because I have a weak spot for Sylvia Hoeks. Well, even though the concept was actually pretty cool and definitely had some potential, the whole thing still turned out to be rather lame, I'm afraid. I mean, the basic idea with this kind of comedies is to have the characters swearing and being gross all the time and, while it can be fun for 5 minutes, it becomes rather cringe-inducing fairly quickly. It didn't help that they stole so many ideas from other movies. For example, the awful jokes about mentally impaired people has been used so many times by the Farrelly brothers and the scene in the DVD shop when the main character reads a list of porn movies in front of an old lady and her grand-daughter while talking to someone else on the phone was shamelessly lifted from 'Clerks', one of my favorite movies. Eventually, the only thing that really worked for me was the lovely Sylvia Hoeks. Indeed, even though she had a rather thankless part, she was just pitch-perfect and mesmerising to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I still didn't care much for the damned thing and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure. Indeed, I really loved the damned thing and it was pretty much one of the best love stories I have ever seen. First of all, the whole thing looked gorgeous and I wonder if Todd Haynes had been inspired by Edward Hopper's paintings since this movie reminded me of his work. Anyway, even though I admired the (few) movies I had seen so far directed by Haynes, it was the first time that he impressed me so much. Above all, I enjoyed even more the 2 main characters who were completely developed and so fascinating to behold. And, of course, it was just amazing to see Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mars, easily some of the best actresses around, working together and they both delivered some of their best performances I have seen so far. Eventually, the only thing that slightly didn't work for me was the family drama in Carol's life. I mean, sure, I understand that it was a struggle to be gay at the time but it was something that I already knew and, above all, it was something that had already been covered by so many other movies, even by Todd Haynes himself in 'Far From Heaven'. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a fascinating love story and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since this movie has a rather lame reputation, I wasn't expecting much but since there was a pretty cool cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it was indeed pretty lame. Basically, it was one of these thrillers trying to convince the viewers that everything displayed could be possible with a lot of useless fancy visual gimmicks but it was utterly unconvincing and boring. Furthermore, like his brother Chris in 'Blackhat', Liam Hemsworth was such a poor choice to play a nerd. He wasn't helped by the fact that his character was just rather poorly written. Indeed, it could have been interesting if they wrote the main character as a greedy ambitious douchebag ready to do anything to reach success but, by choosing to show him so innocent, this character became terribly bland and spineless. To make things worse, the ending was just so ridiculous. I mean, the guy had pretty much nothing, yet,  somehow, he managed to start up his own company with a fancy  office in Brooklyn but there is no way any bank would support his project if he had no money or any other assets. Anyway, to conclude, pretty much nothing worked in this movie, it was another missed opportunity for Liam Hemsworth to launch his career as a leading man and the damned thing is really not worth  a look.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Sandra Bullock, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, it turned out to be rather lame, I'm afraid. I mean, right from the weak beginning scene introducing Sandra Bullock's character, I was already pretty much done with the damned thing. Sure, I have to admit it, there were a few good jokes here and there but most of it was actually pretty much cringe-inducing to behold. The fact that I have been watching lately 'The Wire', easily the most realistic cop TV-show ever produced, probably didn't help. I mean, I understand that it was supposed to be a comedy and that Melissa McCarthy's character was supposed to be funny, but it was utterly unbelievable that they would tolerate a cop displaying such an awful behavior towards her colleagues, her superiors and other law inforcement departments. In spite what the makers tried to make the viewers believe, it didn't seem efficient at all but, above all, it was just not funny. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be another lame comedy, I really didn't care for the damned thing at all and I don't think it is worth a look.

To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this movie. In fact, I wasn't something that I was really eager to see and the only reason I ended up watching the damned thing was because it was included in one of the DVD boxes I bought at some point. Anyway, first of all, it was really neat that such a fine character actress like Illeana Douglas was playing the lead for once but it's too bad the only shot she ever got was to play in a movie that nobody really cared about when it was released and it is nowadays obviously completely forgotten. As far I was concerned, to be honest, even though Douglas did deliver a decent performance, I still really struggled to care about this movie. I mean, it's not that it was really bad, it's just that it was mostly boring or, at least, not interesting enough. To make things worse, like many other indie productions, in order to cover up the general weakness of this project, they added many quirky characters involved in the life of this singer-songwriter but none of them was really interesting or entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, it didn't really work for me and I don't think it is really worth a look.