Reviews by johanlefourbe

The first thing I enjoyed about this movie was how much van Warmerdam had improved as a director. Indeed, the whole thing looked so much better than ‘Abel’ and, even if it was still nothing amazing visually speaking, it was really well made. The other thing I really enjoyed was the location chosen by van Warmerdam. Indeed, it was staking place in some kind of failed housing development and even though it was built only a few years before, it already looked like a ghost town which was just so surreal. Still, even though the beginning was therefore really promising, I have to admit that, after a while, I had a rather hard time to really connect with the damned thing. I mean, I wasn’t really bothered by the randomness of the whole thing, by now, I’m used to it with this director. Eventually, what bothered more was that, even though it was once again quite hilarious, I thought it was sometimes rather sad and even mean, especially regarding Thomas. Indeed, Thomas was a teenager whose new mysterious girlfriend gets shot by accident, whose mother refuses to eat and becomes some kind of saint and whose father started with a rather healthy libido but then cheats on his wife and finally becomes a rapist. Seriously, I do like black humor but that was a lot to handle. Still, even if it didn’t completely work me, it was still a solid absurd comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since there was an interesting cast involved, I was quite eager to check this movie. First of all, it was pretty sad to see this movie just a year after Anton Yelchin passed away, especially since he was so good in this movie.  Felicity Jones was fine as well and, together, they made one of the cutest and most convincing couples I have seen for a while. Concerning the story itself, it was nothing really original but it was still fairly interesting. Eventually, the main issue I had is that both characters were, in my opinion, rather selfish after all, especially Jacob. Indeed, it felt as if, from the moment they both had a decent career, they couldn’t make up their mind about their relationship anymore. The fact that they both hooked up with some other people didn’t help either. At least, Anna was stuck in England and there wasn’t much she could do but if Jacob was really so ‘crazy’ in love with her, I didn't get why he wouldn’t drop everything in Los Angeles to go live with her in England. Basically, even though they gave us a really cute and genuine couple, it seemed that these characters were stuck in a rather bogus situation. Still, I did like how the movie finished with a rather ambiguous ending as you couldn't know for sure if they would make it or not after all. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent romantic drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Nicolas Winding Refn is easily one of the most interesting directors at work nowadays so I was really eager to check his directing debut, especially since it has a really a solid reputation. Well, I wasn’t disappointed, that’s for sure. Eventually, the scenes I enjoyed the most was when you get to see  Frank simply hanging around with Tonny and his other acquaintances. At some point, even though Frank owns a huge sum of money to Milo and even if Radovan might have to kill him at some point,  they still had some casial chat which was just so surreal and fascinating. This movie also reminded me of the time when I was a teenager spending most of my free time getting wasted on hashish and alcohol and, even if it might seem like a big waste, I actually had a great time. However, there was also a dark side and when one of my best buddies started to become a small  time dealer and got some big debts, it even became really nasty. Seriously, his own dealer came to my appartment at some point and told me that I should pay my friend’s debt, otherwise, he would come with some guy and take all my stuff. Since it was one of my best friends, I paid his debt but my friend never paid me back and, from that point, our relationship became really sour. So, I could really identify myself with what happened in this movie. Still, from the moment Frank got involved with this drug deal, I pretty much knew everything what would happen afterwards and since it all became really predictable and rather generic, the whole thing was always watchable but it never became really amazing. Anyway, even if it was maybe not a masterpiece, it was still a really solid gritty crime thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Nicolas Winding Refn’s work. 

Since it was Alex van Warmerdam’s directing debut, I was really eager to check this flick. On top of that, it is a huge classic for the Dutch cinema so I had some rather high expectations. Well, to be honest, I had a rather hard time to get into the damned thing. As usual with this director, it was all seriously random and, at first, I didn’t care much about the characters who were rather unlikable and uninteresting. To make things worse, the whole thing looked terribly cheap and fake and I was rather annoyed by how poorly the sound was recorded. Fortunately, it did slowly grow on me and, after a while, I was finally able to have a lot of fun with this dysfunctional family. Indeed, what I love the most about Alex van Warmerdam, it’s his unique absurd sense of humor and this movie was often just so hilarious. I was also amazed by how gorgeous Annet Malherbe was back in those days. It’s such a shame that, except for its awesome humor, I’m afraid I don’t care much about what else van Warmerdam has to offer in his movies. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t turn out to be a massive masterpiece like I was hoping for, I still enjoyed it a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Richard Linklater’s work, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I don’t think it is was really a great story after all but Richard Linklater sure made the most of it and delivered something quite entertaining. His first masterstroke was to focus so much on the people living in this small town in Texas. In fact, some actual residents of Carthage who knew the real Bernie Tiede and Marjorie Nugent appeared in the film providing commentary on the events and their commentary was just pure comedic gold. And, of course, I was also really amazed by Jack Black who gave here easily his best performance so far. Indeed, Black always seemed to be a one-trick pony but, here, he completey disappeared to become Bernie Tiede and the end-result was just quite impressive. Eventually, the thing that bothered me the most was that Bernie’s motivation was never clearly explained. Indeed, the guy was apparently really popular among the old ladies so why on Earth would he choose Marjorie Nugent who was apparently terribly awful to everyone? The fact that she was the richest woman in town made it all the more suspicious. Furthermore, even though they tried to convince the viewers that Danny Buck, played by a pitch-perfect Matthew McConaughey, was really mean, manipulative and ambitious, in fact, I actually agreed with him when he said that Bernie was a liar, a coward and a backshooter. I mean, come on, the guy shot an old lady 4 times in the back, put her 9 months in a freezer and spent in the mean time 600 000 dollars of her money. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Richard Linklater’s work. 

I can’t believe it took me about 20 years to finally see another movie directed by Jacques Tati. To be honest, at the time, I actually didn’t care much for ‘Jour de fête’ but maybe it was because I had such huge expectations. Anyway, with this 2^nd attempt, even though I did like it and even though it’s supposed to be be Tati’s best directing effort, I thought it was pretty good but still nothing really mind-blowing. I mean, sure, the whole thing was really sweet and clever but it was never really interesting or seriously entertaining.  It is pretty obvious that Tati was some kind of French version of Charles Chaplin but the big difference was that Chaplin put so much poetry, drama in his stories and his characters, even if they were completely silent, were so much more developed than here.  Indeed,  Tati never really allows you to care about Hulot or the different characters involved and, as a result, I had a hard time to really care about what they were going through. Still, in contrary to ‘Jour de fête’ which I saw when I was a teenager, I was able to appreciate the tone delivered by Tati and the damned thing was also a great time capsule showing how it must have been to go on holiday in France back in the 50’s. Finally, it was pretty neat to see that this character was an obvious inspiration for Rowan Atkinson when he created his Mr. Bean. To conclude, even if it didn’t really dazzle me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.