Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much from the damned thing but, since I have a weak spot for Lieke van Lexmond, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, it turned out to be another lame Dutch romantic-comedies from Johan Nijenhuis and I really struggled to care about the damned thing. Basically, ever since ‘Love Actually’ ever came out, the Dutch film industry has kept releasing some cheap knock-offs like this year but it has been 20 years since the classic British rom-com was released, it would be nice if they would finally move on at some point. Above all, it is such a lazy way to write romantic-comedies. Indeed, as a result, you get a whole bunch of half-baked sub-plots instead of one solid plot. In this case, it was actually too bad because most of the characters were actually not so bad at all as there was something genuine about them and I wouldn’t have mind spending a whole movie focusing on one of these stories. Furthermore, I have to admit that the cast was surprisingly solid and the different struggles they faced linking to having a baby were all actually fairly interesting and/or entertaining. However, since we kept jumping from one character to the other, none of these stories was developed properly and, therefore, they were all underwhelming. Finally, just like in ‘Rokjesdag’, it was just ridiculous that Johan Nijenhuis tried to convince us that a gorgeous woman like Lieke van Lexmond would even struggle to find a guy to start a family. On top of that, the poster for this movie didn’t portray at all what the main character actually felt about getting pregnant. Anyway, to conclude, it was pretty weak and I don’t think it is worth a look, except maybe 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 Kenji Mizoguchi and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Actually, last week, I already saw ‘Genroku chûshingura’ from the same director and it’s interesting how both movies were so vastly different from each other. Indeed, while ‘Genroku chûshingura’ was a massive samurai epic lasting almost 4 hrs and involved dozens of different characters, this one was a rather minimalistic romantic drama lasting barely 90 mins with only 3 characters. The common thread between the 2 movies, in my opinion, was how the Japanese people seem or seemed to be stifled by ancient traditions and rules. On the other hand, you could argue that there is something beautiful or admirable about sacrificing yourself which is basically what the 3 main characters did here but, eventually, they all ended up feeling rather miserable after all. In fact, I thought that Shizu was more attractive than Oyu but I guess Shinnosuke saw something in Oyu that eluded me. To be honest, the reason why he was so obsessing about her was never really clear though. It was also interesting that, even though Shizu married Shinnosuke for her sister’s sake, Oyu really thought that her marriage was actually genuine. In the meantime, Shinnosuke was basically played by both women but he eventually didn’t get any of them after all. Still, even if it was well made and intriguing enough, at the end of the day, it was pretty much a vintage Japanese soap but, to be honest, not really much more than that though. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and 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 have a weak spot for Elizabeth Banks and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing after all. Basically, they went for the evil kid horror trope which is a genre I never really cared for and the fact that they didn’t add anything interesting to the genre probably didn’t help. After a while, it became evident that they actually flipped here Superman’s origin story by showing what would happen if a kid would grow up with super powers but would use these powers with some bad intentions. Of course, it was an intriguing concept but, in my opinion, it was actually rather poorly developed here. Indeed, the main reason why Superman became a good guy was possibly because Jor-El was a good man but above all because he was raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent who were some nice and decent folks who really loved him. But, here, you were provided no reason whatsoever why Brandon was acting this way, except that it was apparently supposed to be ‘cool’ to see a kid with super powers randomly killing people. At least, Elizabeth Banks was not bad though and her character was the only interesting thing in this movie. Indeed, until the very end, you really felt that this woman really loved the boy, in spite of everything, and this relationship and her feelings were the only slightly complex elements in this movie. However, it was all ruined at the end when she finally tried to stab him. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have to admit that the concept did have some potential, it turned out to be pretty weak after all and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

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. As very often, I actually had no idea what this movie was about before watching it and, to be honest, right from the start, I was just so annoyed by the whole concept. It reminded me of this phase that you go through when you are a kid when you wonder how your parents would react if you would disappear. Well, that’s exactly what the main character did, he disappeared for months and remained hidden in the attic above their garage so he could spy on this family during the whole time. I mean, it’s one thing to decide to become homeless (one of my uncles was actually more or less homeless for a while) but this guy went even further as he basically remained cooked up in this attic for hours, sometimes even days. Of course, this whole endeavor was completely insane but also so selfish and it was probably one of the most misanthropic characters I have ever seen (Through the whole duration, he basically had only some limit contacts with 2 kids with down syndrome, that’s it). The fact that the main character was not likeable at all or even slightly interesting certainly didn’t help either. Eventually, what was his deal exactly? The makers never got really deep into that, even if they did try some philosophical shenanigans at some point but, to be honest, it was rather pathetic. Concerning Bryan Cranston, I certainly could see the appeal for him. Indeed, he basically carried the whole thing, there was very little dialogue and, instead, most of the duration was filled with his voice-over telling us the thoughts of his character. Concerning Jennifer Garner, her character was actually more challenging since you never heard what she was thinking but, unfortunately, she was once again reduced to be another (albeit very) gorgeous MILF but not really much more than that. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that my rating might be harsh here but there was just something with this concept that really rubbed me the wrong way and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

To be honest, I didn’t have some huge expectations concerning this movie but I still ended  up watching it in the movie theater. The main issue is that these live-action remakes of the Disney classic animated features is such an obvious cash-grab from the entertainment juggernaut, as a result, it is really difficult to care for them and this one was not an exception. The first thing that always annoys me was that most of these classic animated features were fairly short and, with these new versions, they feel compelled to extend the running time (in this case, it was barely 2 hrs but it didn’t bother me, in the contrary) but these extra scenes are never interesting or entertaining enough. The other failure with this movie was that they tried to convince the viewers that Rachel Zegler was actually more beautiful than Gal Gadot. I mean, sure, I have to admit that Zegler is quite cute but Gadot is probably one of the most beautiful women in the world. Of course, at some point, they pointed out that Snow White’s beauty was also from the inside and not only the outside but, if I would chose, I would go for the Evil Queen any day of the week. Furthermore, the way they tried to make Snow White an independent woman who didn’t need a prince to rescue her was an honorable attempt but what’s the point of adapting a classic fairy tale if you will it give such a modern spin? Is it then worth it remaking it if the core is actually really outdated? Eventually, the only update that really worked for me was the way they handled Dopey. Indeed, even if the character might have seemed harmless when you watched the animated feature as a child, this character was actually deeply offensive and I did appreciate how they try to rehabilitate him somehow. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating might have been generous here but I don’t think this remake was the worst one delivered by Disney and I guess it might be worth a look if you really like the genre. 

The main reason why I wanted to check this movie was because it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list but I discovered afterwards that it was apparently removed recently from the prestigious movie list. Well, it doesn’t really matter since it is definitely a classic worth a look anyway. In fact, I might or should have watched it much sooner but, because of its huge running time, I kept postponing it for a while. Indeed, the version I saw was 210 mins long so it’s not a movie you can watch just like that, it will take not only a lot of your time but also a lot of your attention and focus. Eventually, did it really need to last so long? To be honest, I’m not really sure. I mean, the damned thing was really good, no doubt about it, and it’s always interesting when a director of Mizoguchi’s caliber decide to increase the running time to such extent. It does also automatically gives the whole thing some epic dimensions and you also get lost in this world when you spend so much time in it. And, yet, 95% of it was about a bunch of dudes sitting on their knees and having some conversations, not really much more than that after all. For example, if you would expect some badass action scene during which the famous 47 ronins would finally attack and kill Kira Yoshinaka, well, you will be rather disappointed since all this actually happened off-screen. What was so interesting with this movie, at least to me, was how they displayed the samurai as strong and proud but also how they became stifled by all their rules and protocols. As explained at the beginning of the movie, at the time, they were going through decades of peace and, since there was no fighting left, all they had left was these rules and protocols which, at the same time, gave sense to their lives but also actually ruined it for them. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was a rather challenging movie, it was really intriguing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but, since it was available on Disney+ and since it was on my queue apparently for ages (I have seriously no idea why), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a rather unpleasant viewing but probably not for the reason you might expect. Basically, two months ago, I took a very risky trip to Africa on my own to meet someone I barely knew. My parents freaked out really bad and tried to convince me for weeks not to go. Eventually, I still did go and it went well but the whole thing was just so stressful, I might actually never travel again, like ever, just to avoid all this hassle. With this in mind, this movie basically confronted me with what could have actually happened during my trip and, well, it was not fun, I can guarantee you that. Concerning the movie itself, well, even without my personal connection with the material, it was still really lame though. I mean, I have nothing against Amy Schumer, she can be actually pretty funny but she basically plays the same character in all her movies and her shtick is getting old by now. For Goldie Hawn, it was even sadder since it was the first movie she made in 15 years and you wish she would have come out of het self-imposed retirement for something more worthwhile than this. Concerning the relationship between the two characters, it was actually nothing really extreme but the end-result was definitely boring and really uninteresting. Eventually, the only thing which was mildly amusing was to see Ike Barinholtz’s character stalking this US government agent and their banter was not bad. Unfortunately, pretty much everything else was just either lame or not entertaining whatsoever. To conclude, for the reason I mentioned earlier, I probably shouldn’t have watched this movie but it’s definitely not worth it anyway and you should probably avoid it as well. 

Wow… Was it already 10 years since they released another installment? Did anyone really care anymore about this franchise at this point? To be honest, since this movie had been really poorly received, I had some rather low expectations but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, was it really an improvement on the already abysmal 3rd installment? Well, not really, I’m afraid. As far as I was concerned, the first disappointing thing about this movie was the lackluster cast. Indeed, this time, they gave us Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, the guy from ‘Bad Boys’ playing Antonio Bandera’s son (seriously…) and some random Asian chick with a bunch of tattoos. Sure, Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais were not some bad additions but this movie was definitely missing some badass star power since there was no Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson or Wesley Snipes involved. To make things worse, Sylvester Stallone, basically the face and heart of this franchise, was gone for maybe 90% of the duration. I didn’t know that before watching this movie but Stallone had apparently taking a backseat with this movie which was even supposed to be the last time he would be playing Barney Ross. In this case, please, just stop with this franchise then… Concerning the rest of the movie, the intro involving Stallone, Statham and Fox was obviously supposed to be humorous but it was in fact rather pathetic. After that, it never got better. Seriously, even the action scenes were rather underwhelming. Anyway, since this movie was a big flop, it might be the end of this franchise after all. To conclude, even if I have seen worse, the damned thing was really weak and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but, since I had it apparently for years in my queue, I thought I might as well check it out after all. First of all, I actually completely forgot that I already saw years ago ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning’ (I really didn’t like at all so it might explain why I didn’t remember it) and it seems rather weird that they would come up with another prequel for this franchise. Well, to my surprise, I have to admit that this movie was actually not bad after all, especially after so many underwhelming sequels and prequel in this franchise. Indeed, this time, they finally took their distance from the original classic and, instead of basically giving the same story over and over again, they finally went for something completely different which I did appreciate. I also did like that the fact that they kept it ambiguous which of these 3 guys would eventually become Leatherface. It did seem more logical that it would be Bud, as he seemed to look more like the Leatherface from the original classic movie but this choice was also too obvious. Some might think that the mild-mannered Jackson was a poor choice but it didn’t bother me that he turned out to be him after all. Indeed, up until 18 years old, in spite of his f*ck- up family and in spite of spending 10 years in one of the most messed psychiatric institutions you can imagine, the guy was still more or less normal but, then, when he got shot and disfigured in the process by Hartman, something snapped in his mind and the guy was then lost forever which made sense to me. Anyway, to conclude, sure, it was still not a masterpiece whatsoever but most of it worked surprisingly well and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre.