Reviews by johanlefourbe

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. To be honest, I had never heard of Vita Sackville-West before watching this movie and, even though I did study English in College, I actually never read a book written by Virginia Woolf which is, I have to admit it, pretty shameful. At least, it did see ‘Orlando’, Sally Potter’s adaptation not so long ago which was definitely helpful. Still, their relationship was really intriguing so the damned thing definitely had some potential. On top of that, I thought that Gemma Arterton and Elizabeth Debicki were both pretty good. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was that Arterton’s best performance but, on the other hand, it was probably due to the fact that she never had the opportunity to play such an interesting character before. Concerning Debicki, she is really an interesting actress but, to honest, after watching her in ‘The Crown’, I kept getting flashes of Princess Diana while watching this movie (probably not her fault though). And, yet, even if the material was really solid, the damned thing still didn’t really work though and I think it mostly had to do with the directing. Basically, these 2 women were lovers for apparently 10 years but it was definitely not how their relationship was handled in this movie. Instead, even though Vita Sackville-West spent so much time to woo Virginia Woolf, even though they seemed seriously in love with each other, Vita started to ghost Virginia which was obviously not what happened at the time and she suddenly showed up with some other random girl. The issue with this approach was it came really out-of-the-blue and, above all, it really shortchanged their relationship and these two extraordinary women. Indeed, I’m pretty sure that they didn’t pursue a classic lesbian love affair which explained why they were lovers for a decade and why they remained friends for many years afterwards. 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 this subject. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Juliette Binoche and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Back in the 90’s, Binoche turned down some major Hollywood blockbusters like ‘Jurassic Park’ but, recently, you get to see her popping up in some US productions from time to time but, to be honest, she does make some rather bewildering choices (the ‘Ghost in the Shell’ live-action remake? Seriously?). Well, you might wonder why she bothered to show up for this flick as well. Sure, it was dealing with an important subject but the damned thing had seriously no pulse whatsoever. The fact that it was almost 2 hrs long probably didn’t help. Eventually, it seems that Juliette Binoche really wanted to get the opportunity to drive one of these huge US trucks and, at least, she did look the part but, to be honest, she wasn’t really convincing though. The fact that her character was from Canada but her brother was from the US was a completely unnecessary convoluted piece of information which was obviously added there probably because she couldn’t master a perfect US accent. I mean, on one hand, they mentioned that they got separated at some point but then, 5 mins later, they would talk about how he was protecting her through seemingly most of her childhood. I also thought it was rather lazy and poorly written. Obviously, Dennis turned out to be involved in this trafficking business after all but it did create some plot-holes like, for example, why did he get beat up in jail? The fact that the little girl did end up with the main character was also quite ridiculous since they were both involved in a murder case. I shouldn’t forget to mention that Morgan Freeman was also involved but, even though he wasn’t bad, it was pretty obvious that he got involved mostly for an easy paycheck (they even moved the shot from New Mexico to Mississippi where he actually lives). Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t the worse movie I have seen lately, the damned thing was still pretty weak and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I was definitely intrigued to see how would they manage to fill in 110 mins of running time when the whole plot was actually pretty much displayed and even spoiled on the poster. On the other hand, I always had a weak spot for such minimalist features with only 1 or 2 characters involved. On top of that, they mixed it up with the survival genre and some climbing as well so it definitely had some potential, even if the concept might seem terribly limited. And, indeed, even though I was well aware that it was a fiction, that it was fake, I was actually terrified through most of the duration, especially during the first 30 mins. Seriously, right from the moment they started to climb this freaking rusty ladder, I had some really sweaty hands and it never stopped through the whole duration so the damned thing was effective, that’s for sure. Concerning the two actresses involved, well, their performances were not awful but I can’t say I was really impressed either. However, I think the biggest issue was with the running time though. Indeed, with such a slim concept, 90 mins would been have more than enough. They could have skipped the intro which was just too generic with the boyfriend/husband dying during some climbing incident and the gimmick of the 2nd character being actually dead for a while was definitely not really that clever (seriously, they did exactly the same thing with ‘Adrift’, another survival thriller). I was actually slightly disappointing that she had to use the same smartphone drop to survive this ordeal, something she already tried when her friend was still alive and I wish they came up with something new. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that the damned thing was actually entertaining and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Jean Renoir and since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I thought it was actually pretty cool to see the very first movie adaptation of a book dealing with commissaire Maigret, probably the most famous French police detective ever. The fact that it was directed by one of the best French directors was also quite promising and, indeed, this movie is considered as the very first French film noir, no less than that. Unfortunately, to be honest, I actually had a rather hard time to get into this movie after all. Sure, the fact that the copy I saw on YouTube was of very poor quality with sometimes some barely audible dialogues probably didn’t help but I still think it was a rather minor effort from Renoir. Concerning the characters, Maigret was actually played by Pierre Renoir, Jean Renoir’s own brother, and the guy was pretty good, even if his character not very developed. However, the most intriguing character turned out to be Else Andersen. It was pretty neat that Winna Winifried was actually Danish like her character was supposed to be and rather bewildering that she was apparently only 18 years old at the time but she certainly brought something weird and unhinged to her character. It’s too bad that the other characters didn’t get the same curtesy but, with less than 80 mins of running time, it was to be expected. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really dazzle me, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Jean Renoir’s work.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, after the already brilliant ‘La chute de la maison Usher’, it turned out to be another mesmerizing movie from Jean Epstein. Basically, before the movies became an actual business involving budgets around 200 million dollars for each projects, there was a time when it was much more experimental and this movie was a perfect example. To be honest, I would be hard-pressed to explain what this movie was exactly about as it turned out to be even murkier than Epstein's weird Edgar Allan Poe adaptation. And, yet, the damned thing turned out to be quite powerful. This movie was also a good example of how a good soundtrack can be a great asset for a silent picture like this one. Indeed, only a few days before, I also watched ‘Hijosen no onna’ by Ozu and even though it was also a solid silent movie, the lack of soundtrack made it really difficult to me to get into the damned thing.  Well, in this case, it was the complete opposite as the soundtrack was just as intriguing as the rest of the movie was and it would be a completely different experience without it. Of course, it wasn’t the only asset as it was also visually really strong as well. I don’t know, it would be rather hard to describe in words but it seems that for most of the shots they really put some thoughts into them. Anyway, the end-result was certainly artistic and really surrealistic. I wonder if this movie might have been an influence on David Lynch’s work. Anyway, to conclude, I can imagine that this review might be too cryptic and not really helpful but I really liked the damned thing and I think it’s definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in experimental movies. 

I remember it very well, back in 2000, ‘Jackass’ was at the time a big hit on MTV but, to be honest, it seemed to be so stupid so I pretty much boycotted the damned thing. Eventually, it took me more than 20 years to finally watch this movie and you might wonder why I changed my mind. Well, the main reason why was because, back in 2022, ‘Jackass Forever’ was actually hailed as one of the best movies of the year by Indiewire, no less than that. This surprising critical praise really intrigued me and I thought I might as well check this franchise after all. Well, after all these years, I have to admit that I actually enjoyed the damned thing. Basically, it is some kind of weird and sometimes fairly extreme candid camera show but its random aspect was actually quite appealing. Eventually, the only scene which I found truly disgusting was the one during which one of the guys was peeing on some snow and then eat it up as if it was some kind of ice-cream but it was actually the only thing which I found really repulsive. Concerning the violence and hazardous stuff, I wasn’t shocked either which was a relief. Eventually, they took a bunch of grown-up dudes who followed the same mentality of a 12 year old kid fantasizing about the most weird ‘What if…’ scenarios but actually acted upon these sometimes really misguided ideas. However, while I always thought that it was about some morons actually hurting themselves just to entertain some rather sick-minded viewers, I was actually surprised by how creative they were. Anyway, to conclude, even if I still don’t think that it was really hilarious, I have to admit that the damned thing was actually quite entertaining and I think it is worth a look, at least if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Ozu and since it was on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out be some kind of vintage Japanese film noir and, for some reason, it also reminded me of ‘Mean Streets’ with these rather pathetic smalltime thugs doing seemingly nothing the whole day. I have to admit that I was actually surprised that it turned out to be a silent movie. Indeed, I have been focusing on older movies recently but, back then in the US and in Europe, they had already started to deliver movies with sound for quite a while already. Anyway, to be honest, even if the mood was pretty neat, the damned thing did feel rather messy though. Indeed, the lack of sound was actually rather disorienting and the lack of actual plot didn’t help either but it is actually quite usual with this Japanese master though. On the other hand, there was actually something quite fascinating about how the actors managed to compensate the lack of dialogues with their body language. Indeed, in contrary to most silent movies, the acting was actually fairly subtle here. Furthermore, even if Ozu never really cared much about the plot, he always managed to deliver some intriguing and complex characters and this movie was not an exception. Sure, they might all seem stereotypical, much more than in his future classics, but there was something quite genuine about the emotions displayed. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was definitely one of Ozu’s more obscure features and even if it didn’t blow me way, it was still pretty neat and it is worth a look, at least if you like the genre or if you are interested in this director’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, I don’t think that the concept was such a bad idea but it didn’t help that the Farrelly brothers already did something very similar with ‘Shallow Hal’. The only major difference between the two movies was the fact that Amy Schumer was not replaced by a gorgeous actress but kept playing ‘herself’ even if she apparently thought she looked completely different. However, even though this approach was better than the one used by the Farrelly’s, I’m afraid it did create a disconnection between the main character and the audience. It’s too bad because it could have been easily solved by showing us what she actually saw when she was passing by a mirror for example. Another issue was to make her so successful at her job. Indeed, if they would have stopped at the moment she became a great receptionist who loved her job and who was deeply appreciated by her colleagues, it would have been more than enough and certainly more believable. Still, Amy Schumer was a perfect choice to play this character and I thought she gave a solid performance here. On top of that, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be actually quite inspirational. Sure, it does help if you have a fair amount of hygiene and do some basic maintenance, but, at the end of the day, there is nothing more cool and sexy than someone accepting themselves for who they are and showing tons of self-confidence in the process. In my opinion, this idea was actually perfectly displayed in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws,  it turned out to be a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre and don’t hate Amy Schumer.