Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I really loved 'Parasite', I was really eager to check Bong Joon Ho's next directorial effort, especially since it seemed to be quite ambitious. Well, there was definitely some good stuff but, like many other lesser efforts from this director such as 'Okja', it was just too random for my taste. I mean, I have to admit that the randomness in his work is actually what makes it really stands out from the rest and it was downright amazing in 'Parasite' or 'Memories or Murder'. However, in this case, I just wish he did tone down a bit though. Anyway, it did expect to see some solid science-fiction and to see Robert Pattinson playing several versions of the same character (which he did really well) but it didn't expect me to turn out to be such a virulent anti-Trump satire. Seriously, I think it was just so surreal to see the guy on a daily basis delivering the most insane speeches and that a movie like this one was released during the same time period. Mark Ruffalo was also pitch-perfect and pretty much stole the show every time he was on the screen. Beside this satire, well, the rest of the movie was just too random for my taste though. For example, Pattinson was also pretty good playing the different Mickeys but his characters were just not consistent enough. I mean, in all variations, Mickey was pretty much a loser and it was the reason why the character was interesting to me. But towards the end, he/they became some kind of hero somehow which wasn't really satisfying. The way he scored a gorgeous girl without any effort whatsoever was also rather head-scratching. They also went for some happy ending which didn't seem earned, there was also some gangster chasing the main character, some kind of resistance movement and also some weird but apparently smart local creatures but all this stuff was either too much and/or not properly developed. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn't another home-run for the Corean director, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is definitely worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have never been interested in bodybuilding but I have always been fascinated by movies and it was actually really cool to see Arnold Schwarzenegger before he became one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Indeed, it is a known fact Schwarzenegger, before he got into the movie business, became that one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time and I have to admit that the guy was pretty impressive. Of course, his body seemed pretty much perfect, I mean, if you are into this sport, and he was clearly from another level than his contestants. However, what was even more impressive was his huge personality and charisma, something none of these other guys really had. Eventually, you wish that this documentary would have been directed by a really good director who could have gone deeper into this. I mean, the determination displayed by Schwarzenegger was at the same time inspiring, intoxicating but also scary at the same time. I mean, the whole story about him dumping his father’s funeral was apparently vastly exaggerated but you can sense that Schwarzenegger was ready to go pretty far to reach success (which he obviously did after all). And, yet, behind his poker face, the guy was always relaxed and polite with everyone, while still playing some mind-games with his competitors who were all shitting their pants in the mean-time. Eventually, I was amazed by how complex Schwarzenegger turned out to be and, even though he was always criticized for this thick accent, he actually spoke English very well. To be honest, every time they drifted to talk about some other bodybuilders, it didn’t work so well though. The soundtrack was also rather lame. Anyway, to conclude, even though half of it was a rather lame or, at best, hardly interesting look on bodybuilding, it was however a fascinating look on how it all started for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but the subject matter did sound interesting and since it was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well check it out. Even though most politicians might be worthless, I always found politics quite fascinating and I actually remember well this really messed up elections back in 2000 and the actual outcome. However, I didn’t remember that it was the Democrats who chased this recount so hard, even though it did make sense. Anyway, it was quite fascinating to behold the whole process in such (seemingly) accurate details. To be honest, it is still difficult to see Kevin Spacey and separate him from all the sexual misconduct allegations against him and the fact that his character was rather smug probably didn’t help, I’m afraid. Still, damned, 10 years before his career met this tragic ending, the guy was really good though. Concerning the whole process, the movie was obviously leaning towards the Democrats but I didn’t necessarily agree. Sure, if they kept counting and recounting these ballots, maybe Al Gore would have come on top (it’s not even sure though) but constantly postponing the results was not a good thing for the Democracy in the USA. Eventually, Al Gore made the right call to give it up at some point, it was the most honorable thing to do, for him and for his country. The crazy thing, for an outsider like myself, was that the Democrats and the Republicans (I’m not talking about Donald Trump… This guy is a completely different kind of ball game…) are actually so similar in their politics, it’s actually hardly democratic to be able to choose only between 2 parties which are actually so similar. So, it is actually rather priceless to see Ron Klain fighting tooth and nail to get an actual fair result when, at the end of the day, I don’t think it really mattered that much with such, in my opinion, rather ‘fake’ democracy. Another priceless thing was that, back then, many people myself included thought that George W. Bush was the worst president the US ever had but, after Donald Trump (that the guy managed to be elected twice is just mind-blowing), he seemed to be a rather decent fellow after all. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be super interesting and I think 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 there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was actually a decent watch. The main reason why I got into this movie was because it really mirrored my own first marriage. Indeed, like the couple displayed in this movie, my marriage did last 20 years, it was a really toxic relationship and the divorce (which is still ongoing almost 2 years later) was a big mess as well so I could understand what these characters were going through. In general, I really have a hard time to care about people like Grace who refuses to let go a busted relationship like this one but, like my ex-wife, some people can’t think rationally after such a break-up and start to act, well, really weird. At least, she did seem to slowly recover afterwards which was rather hopeful (To be honest, I’m not so optimistic about my ex-wife though…). What was well done was that, even though Grace was portrayed as quite a basket case, it was also well displayed that Edward, with his withdrawn attitude, actually enabled her and her toxic behavior. Annette Bening also delivered another strong performance as Grace had to be attractive and smart but also rather unhinged and, yet, she had to make sure she didn’t completely alienate the audience with a character who was, as far as I was concerned, very often downright unlikeable. Bill Nighy was also fine but his character was just really decent and, therefore, not really interesting. Concerning Josh O'Connor, it was interesting to see this man who wanted to be supportive of both his parents but the movie didn’t focus enough on him so his character felt rather half-baked after all. Anyway, to conclude, I really had a personal connection with the material, I think it was well handled 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 it seemed to have a strong reputation and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. During the last months, I have been focusing on movies from the 20’s but, to be honest, many of them were really obscure and, above all, not really good at all. Well, this movie was the very last one in this cycle and, fortunately, it turned out to be really amazing. I have to admit that the first 20 mins were actually rather disjointed and I did struggle to get a good grip on the damned thing at first. However, this seemingly convoluted structure might have enhanced the weird nature of this rather fascinating picture. Anyway, it will be a good excuse to revisit it in a few years. It might be also one of the most virulent anti-alcohol films I have seen but this movie went so much deeper than that though. Indeed, by now I have seen my share of tragic melodramas that they used to make back in those days but there was something really different about this one. Sure, the tone was pretty dark which was pretty neat but it went beyond that. There was something really poetic about this movie as well and the ending was pretty much pitch-perfect. It was visually also striking and, in this area, it was much more satisfying that most of the other movies I have seen from this time period. Concerning the acting, Victor Sjöström, who also directed the damned thing, really stood out playing David Holm, a rather wretched man but the arc of his story in this movie was just so spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, this movie really deserves its stellar reputation, it is a great classic 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 Bob Dylan has always been huge on my father side, including my father but also most of his siblings, so I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I did end up with some mixed feelings about the damned thing. I noticed that some critics were dismissive towards this movie because it was too much a generic biopic, an issue they already had with ‘Walk The Line’, also made by James Mangold exactly 20 years ago, but this aspect didn’t bother me though. Indeed, Bob Dylan was/still is one of the most fascinating musicians ever so it was cool to spend some time discovering the beginning of his career. What bothered me more was the fact that, even though Dylan was probably a genius, it doesn’t mean that his life was really fascinating (it wasn’t, as far as I was concerned). To make things worse, it seemed that the guy was a major douchebag who treated pretty much everyone around him as some disposable garbage. The fact that it was true or not doesn’t really matter, as a result, Dylan, as a person, was actually not really interesting after all. Still, his music, especially at the beginning of his career, was just mind-blowing and I shared the awe-inspired look that all the other characters had when he first played his mythical songs. Furthermore, even though Timothée Chalamet was probably not as good as he was in ‘Call Me by Your Name’, he still delivered a solid performance though. Above all, it was pretty impressive how he actually sang all these songs himself instead of going for some playback which would have been the safer option. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t blow me away, I still think it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Bob Dylan.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Sharon Stone, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have always been a huge fan of such adventure films and I have to admit that a part of me really wanted to like this movie, even if it was obviously a really cheap knock-off of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, arguably the best movie in this genre. Unfortunately, most of it didn’t work though. To start with, they went for such a messy introduction starting right away with some torture scene with no introduction whatsoever. Then, they switched directly to Allan Quatermain and Jesse Huston apparently going to the same city, however, you had to guess it, because themselves and what the hell they were actually doing was not introduced either. Seriously, it was pretty relentless, they kept jumping from one thing to another pretty much non-stop during the first 30 mins. However, even though it was pretty chaotic and borderline impossible to follow, I was actually more or less enjoying what was going on or maybe my love for the genre allowed me to give the makers some slack, at least, for a while. And, then, at some point, they finally settled down and the damned thing became easier to follow. Unfortunately, it didn’t become better with a slower tempo, I’m afraid. Indeed, the dialogues, full of supposedly clever one-liners, were just pathetic. At least, Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone were quite charismatic but there was not much they could do with such poorly developed characters. I mean, at some point, Jesse confessed to Quatermain that she was in love with him but you had no clue where these feelings actually came from. Anyway, to conclude, even though I love the genre, this movie was just too weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look after all.

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. I already saw the remake with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis at some point but, to be honest, it was a while back and I don’t remember much about it. Well, this 1st version is usually considered as one of the better Disney live-features (before they became this massive entertainment juggernaut including Marvel and Star Wars among many things) but it doesn’t mean much. On top of that, I have never been a huge fan of the body swap genre, even if this movie is usually considered as one of the best in this genre. Eventually, what bothered me the most was how outdated the damned thing was nowadays. Indeed, Mrs Andrews AKA the Mother was basically a housewife stuck at home and her life was limited to doing endless chores, especially for her husband which was, in my opinion, really demeaning. The most annoying thing was that the way her life was depicted in this movie was supposed to be funny but I thought it was actually rather cringe-inducing. On the other hand, Annabel was such a pitch-perfect teenager portrayal though, probably one of the best I have ever seen, which was even more impressive coming from a film which was made around 50 years ago. The fact that Jodie Foster was really 13 years old when she shot this movie instead of a few years older which is very often the case in the genre also helped but the main reason was that Jodie Foster, before she became one of the best actresses of her generation, was actually a really talented child actress. Anyway, to conclude, even though I actually had a hard time to care about the damned thing, I have to admit that it was not bad though and it is worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre.