Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Todd Haynes and since there was such a strong cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. The fact that it had received some very good reviews made the damned thing even more attractive to me. To be honest, I have to admit that I had no idea what it was actually about before watching this movie and it took me a while to figure out what the hell was going on but it made the whole thing even more rewarding. Eventually, I was actually floored by the damned thing. I have noticed that it was described as a camp comedy by some reviewers but, even though I understand what they meant, that’s not how I experienced it, at least, not most of it. In fact, it did impact me on a very personal level, much more than I expected. Indeed, I’m currently in the middle of an ugly divorce, I was married for 20 years and it was apparently a very abusive relationship. When we met, she was 34 years old, married with 2 children, I was 23 years old and I recognized so many things in Gracie’s behavior and Joe’s behavior, it was actually quite heartbreaking. I can’t imagine going through this if I would have been 10 years younger. As a result, even though, like everyone else, I was impressed by Julianne Moore’s and Natalie Portman’s performances, I was also really impressed by Charles Melton. Indeed, with barely any dialogues, he played such a stunted man, he was quite pitch-perfect. I think it’s the first time that I really understood the extent of the damages, for a teenaged boy, to have a sexual relationship with a much older woman. In this case, it was even worse since he was only 12 years old. After all this, I have to admit that I had some trouble to focus on Natalie Portman’s fine work because, sure, this couple or whole family was pretty messed up, but this actress definitely had some major issues as well. As a result, this movie was probably the worst advertisement I have ever seen regarding the acting profession. Of course, you might argue that Elizabeth was a bad example but, as displayed by the such great actors like Daniel Day-Lewis or Joaquin Phoenix, it can’t be really healthy to dive into such traumatized and messed up characters time and time again. Anyway, to conclude, it was just a fascinating drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, during the first hour, I was actually slightly worried. Indeed, after watching so many movies and TV-shows, usually in the super-hero genre, dealing with some multiverses, I wasn’t exactly thrilled by this indie feature tackling a similar concept. Sure, compared to the Marvel productions, the Daniels had to work with a seemingly microscopic budget and the movie was full of cute and/or weird little ideas. However, eventually, it still seemed to be yet another movie about some evil guy coming from some other multiverse threatening all living things which was pretty much exactly the same thing I already saw time and time again in other recent super-hero features. Fortunately, during the second half, it finally became obvious that it was actually something entirely different after all. Indeed, at some point, it became obvious that playing with multiverses was not actually the endgame after all, it was just a cool messy playground but, what this movie had and all the other multiverse-related productions missed (except for the Spider-Man animated features), was a really strong emotional core. Even though the bad guy was called Jobu Tupaki, it was actually Joy all along, the main’s character daughter, something everyone else in the movie seemed to forget, except Evelyn herself. As a result, it went beyond the usual fight between Good and Evil but it turned out to be actually a deep and profound reflection on how messy, chaotic and unpredictable life can be and about all the relationships we have along the way. Eventually, we make a 1000 of decisions on a daily basis and all these decisions seem and are meaningless on some level and, yet, each decision shapes who we are on the long term. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing really deserves its stellar reputation 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 it seemed to have a decent reputation (it is included in the ‘The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made’ list selected by the New York Times, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I have never read Alexandre Dumas’s famous book. However, I did watch Kevin Reynold’s adaptation but it was years ago and, to be honest, I didn’t remember much about it. Anyway, it is definitely a classic tale and, from all the numerous adaptations that had been delivered so far, it is usually considered as the best one. Well, to be honest, I still had some mixed feelings about the damned thing though. I completely forgot that Napoleon’s return from exile and finale demise had something to do with Edmond Dantes’s tragic story but, all in all, it felt rather convoluted. Still, it does deserve its classic tale status though and, from the moment Dantes started to dig this tunnel, a task which took him a whopping 10 years, I have to admit that the damned thing did become quite entertaining after all. Concerning Robert Donat, I have noticed that the guy was praised for his work in this movie but it actually took me a while to warm up to his performance. Indeed, I thought he was terribly stiff when his character was still a naïve young man. However, it was pretty neat how he played the character differently when he became the Count of Monte Cristo. Sure, he was the good guy and everything ended up well for him and the people he loved but there was something slightly psychotic and sinister about his demeanor and it was all thanks to Donat’s subtle performance. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really impress me, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, ever since this movie was announced, there was some pretty good buzz about it and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I actually never heard of Leonard Bernstein before watching this movie but the guy was definitely fascinating. Furthermore, Bradley Cooper was quite spellbinding to behold here and the guy probably delivered here the best performance of his career. Unfortunately, even though the material was interesting, the movie itself was never really fascinating though. Indeed, even though it might have seemed to be a good idea to focus on his relationship with his wife, a relationship which did last 30 years, I think it was a mistake after all. I mean, there was nothing really wrong with either of them but, above all, the trajectory that their relationship took turned out to be rather underwhelming. Basically, they both completely fell in love with each other, she proclaimed she loved him as he was which was intriguing. However, fairly soon, he completely neglected her, she resented him for it but, of course, they patched things up before she died of cancer. Well, there was nothing really wrong with all that but it was never really thrilling though. At some point, when they just met, Cooper seemed to be hinting that he would go for a much wilder approach but it didn’t last very long. Eventually, the end-result was a rather generic biopic focusing on the (after all very basic) love life of an amazing artist instead of focusing on his amazing artistic achievements. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Bradley Cooper’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it did win the César of the Best movie of the year, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be some kind of French version of ‘Training Day’, except that everything that happened during this first work day didn’t seem to be so far-fetched after all (ok, except maybe for this lion cub lost in a French ghetto…). Eventually, it was probably one of the greatest assets in this movie, this realistic approach and the fact that the makers always remained neutral. Indeed, depending on where you stand, you might think Chris is awful but, most of the time, he did seem to be a decent cop delivering a solid job (he still did some sketchy stuff though). What stroke me was the fact that, even though all these different groups (the parents, the children, the cops, the mayor, the drug dealers,…) all did scream and fight with each other, they were actually all completely powerless to improve their own situation and/or the situation of anyone else in this environment. Eventually, they were all functioning on a survival mode looking only for their own best interest. Concerning the actors involved, they did deliver some solid performances but, to be honest, they were all lacking some charisma though but that’s usually the issue when you go for some super realistic characters. Furthermore, even if I really did appreciate their approach, the content was nothing really groundbreaking after all. However, it all changed with the chaotic, even anarchist, final act. Indeed, at this point, the whole thing took a drastic left turn but the end-result was quite spellbinding to behold. Eventually, outside of France, a lot of people are wondering why the French youth goes on a regular basis on such rampage, burning cars and what not, and I think this movie finally gave a pretty good idea about what the background and context could be behind such events. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a really solid and realistic drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for [Link removed - login to see], I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be another riff on the ‘Groundhog Day’ concept and, this time, they mixed it up with a typical high-school drama which wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. The issue with these movies is that they all follow the same template though. Indeed, the main character get stuck in a time-loop until they change something which was fine with ‘Groundhog Day’ but it makes all these similar movies terribly predictable. In this case, another issue was that it took too long to start the time-loop. Indeed, it was only after 30 mins that it finally started which was obviously too long for a movie lasting around 90 mins. It didn’t help either that it was obvious for pretty much everyone who watched this movie when Samantha went to this party what she was supposed to do and, yet, it took her forever to figure it out. Finally, even though Zoey Deutch was so lovely as usual, her character was barely interesting and the other characters were in fact even worse. At least, I have to admit that I didn’t expect it to end up this way though. Indeed, the whole concept consists in the main character redeeming him/herself in some way or another. However, in this case, she actually had to sacrifice herself which was at least a different approach. Eventually, even if I didn’t care much for most of it, I have to admit that there was an interesting vibe which was amplified by the way it all ended. Anyway, to conclude, my rating was probably too generous here but I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Claude Chabrol and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. At the time, Chabrol was going through a string of failures and this movie was apparently a big flop at the box-office as well which almost completely derailed Chabrol’s career. It’s interesting because something similar happened with Charles Chaplin who also tried more than a decade before to make a movie about the same story (‘Monsieur Verdoux’) but it was also a huge failure at the time. Anyway, it’s definitely a fascinating story but, in this case, I’m afraid Chabrol’s directing felt terribly flat. To make things worse, I thought it was pretty messy. I mean, there was no real introduction to Henri-Desiré Landru and, out of the blue, he got some letters from the post office and started his killing spree. Finally, the tone was also really uneven. It’s interesting that these legendary directors decided both to make a dark satire but I really doubt that it was the best approach with this material. Indeed, while watching this movie, Landru did remind me of Ted Bundy in the sense that both men were some charismatic seducers but also some hustlers, some pathological liars and they both proclaimed their innocence until their very end. I mean, can you imagine making a dark satirical comedy about Bundy? At least, the cast was pretty cool and you had many lovely ladies involved such as Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux and Stéphane Audran but it’s a pity that they were all given so little to do. On the other, it had been a while since I saw Charles Denner in a movie and he was pretty much pitch-perfect here. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Claude Chabrol’s work.