Reviews by johanlefourbe

I have noticed that many classic movies starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are available on YouTube and I thought it would be the opportunity to rediscover their work. This was the 4^th Laurel & Hardy short I saw and probably the last one for the time being but I have to admit that I really enjoyed the damned thing though. It’s interesting because I thought that ‘The Music Box’, which was one the first I saw during this cycle, was slightly disappointing but I guess I might have needed some time to get used again to their humor which I used to love so much when I was a kid. Anyway, this time around, Stan and Ollie were working at some sawmill, the movie was focusing on a simple routine working day and I really appreciate how straightforward this setup was. During the opening scene, I was rather floored by their ‘car radio’ which was an hilarious precursor of our modern car CD players (which, in the mean time, have also already disappeared from our cars…. Gosh, it makes me feel so old…). When they finally arrived at the sawmill, well, it was basically some non-stop slapstick gags and most of them were just so funny. The ending, during which Ollie was going through some labyrinthine conduct, was also so elaborate, much more than what they usually deliver in their movies, but the ingenuity displayed was just really neat and it was the perfect way to end a very entertaining short. Anyway, to conclude, it is basically another classic with Laurel and Hardy and, if you like their work, you should definitely check it out.

I have noticed that many classic movies starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are available on YouTube and since I loved these guys so much when I was a kid, I thought it would be the opportunity to rediscover their work. Well, from all the Laurel and Hardy shorts I have seen recently, it was the one I did enjoy the most. In fact, it was a sequel, the only one they made, following the success of ‘Them Thar Hills’, another short they had made the year before. Anyway, this time, they basically started a shop and, on opening day, they discovered that the owner of the shop next door was the same guy they argued with in ‘Them Thar Hills’. Eventually, even though they had a shop, they didn’t do much selling after all and, instead, they kept arguing with Charlie Hall’s character. There was also some random guy who kept stealing some stuff from their shop every two minutes which was also quite hilarious. Sure, the damned thing was maybe not really original but I like the fact that they started their feud with their neighbor right from the start and most of their gags were just so funny. My favorite bit was probably when Ollie came downstairs and made it seem as if something unsavory might have happened with his neighbor’s wife while it was obviously not the case. Anyway, to conclude, it is basically another classic with Laurel and Hardy and, if you like their work, you should definitely check it out.

To be honest, I had never heard of this movie, I came across it by accident on YouTube but since it seemed to have a solid reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a nice film noir, even if the story was rather flimsy and generic. Indeed, from the start, it was pretty obvious that there was something fishy about Lester Blaine and it was never really convincing that a bright woman like Myra Hudson would fall head over heels like that for a guy she basically barely knew. Fortunately, the directing by David Miller was really efficient (it would be easily one of his best movies) and, above all, there was a top-notch cast involved. Back then, Joan Crawford was at the top of her game or at least, her power. Indeed, she was the executive producer, she hired the screenwriter and the director and also cast her co-stars. Anyway, apparently, she knew what she was doing since this movie is considered by many as one of the last good movies she made and, even though I’m not really familiar with her work, I thought she was indeed really good here. Especially with her eyes, she was just so expressive. Concerning the rest of the cast, a few months ago, I saw ‘Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool’ so it was pretty cool to see a movie actually starring Gloria Grahame. Well, I have to admit that she actually impress me here and I hope I will see more of her work in the future. Concerning Jack Palance, it had been ages since I saw this guy, this movie was actually his big break in the business and he definitely turned out to be a perfect choice to play this character. I also enjoyed the ending. Indeed, somehow, Myra Hudson got cold feet which completely made sense and everything happening afterwards was actually quite nail-biting. Of course, they had to find a way to still ‘punish’ Lester and Irene, that was predictable and not really interesting, but I really liked the fact that Myra changed her mind at the last minute. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch 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 there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned to be an intriguing drama. Indeed, I thought it was interesting to see the point of view of a lawyer on this massive tragedy, Michael Keaton was a perfect choice to play the main character and he delivered here another strong performance. However, none of the other characters was developed whatsoever, even the character play by Stanley Tucci, but that wasn’t the biggest issue with this movie though. Indeed, even though the material was definitely intriguing, to be honest, they didn’t do anything really interesting with it after all. Basically, back then, Ken Feinberg was supposed to find a way to settle this tragedy, at least, on a financial level, for the US government and for the victims, and while this process might seem cruel, inhuman and insensitive, it was also crucial for the US economy and the US in general in order to not literally collapse. Well, even though I thought Feinberg had some solid rational arguments, I was not one of the victim though and, for them, his terms were unacceptable. And, yet, just a few days before the deadline, the guy still managed to get around 95% of the victims to sign this deal but that was actually what went wrong with this movie. Indeed, in my opinion, instead of actually displaying how he actually did it, they spent too much time showing that they didn’t agree with what he proposed on and on again. Eventually, they argued that, by talking with some of them (they were around 7000 estimated victims), he managed to turn this thing around but it was not really convincing. First of all, he might have talked to 100 of them at best and, eventually, they all accepted the settlement he proposed, albeit a different version of it but still. Eventually, the whole thing felt too much like a tribute to the awful pain and sorrow suffered by these victims and to the tremendous work accomplished by Feinberg and his team when it should have been more about the actual process of getting to them accept such a financial settlement in such dreadful circumstances. 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 directed by Atom Egoyan, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, even though Egoyan was arguably one of the most interesting directors in the 90’s, to be honest, his most recent movies turned out to be all seriously disappointing. Well, at least, this movie did have a solid IMDb rating (it still got some rather weak reviews though) so I was hopeful. Eventually, the damned thing was not bad at all after all. Basically, it turned out to be some kind of Nazi hunting thriller combined with a geriatric version of ‘Memento’ and, while it might sound preposterous (it actually was), I think Egoyan actually made the most of it. Indeed, it wasn't really realistic to have a 90 year old guy chasing some Nazis while he was forgetting most of the time where he was and what he was actually doing but they actually handled this material very seriously and I really liked this approach. On top of that, the late Christopher Plummer was a fine choice to play the main character and the guy was pretty much pitch-perfect here. Concerning the ending, it was quite shocking and pretty awesome but, to be honest, it didn’t make much sense. Indeed, in fact pretty much like with ‘Memento’, the way Zev would forget things seemed to be really convenient as he would always manage to remember his wife Ruth, his friend Max but not his hidden identity. The whole dementia thing also added an extra layer as the world, pretty much like Zev, is slowly forgetting what happened back then. Eventually, it was such an interesting thought, after all these years, should we actually keep chasing these pathetic old guys? Apparently, Egoyan obviously made up his mind and, according to him, they should be executed in front of their children and grand-children and I’m not sure if I completely agreed with this but the debate on this subject was quite intriguing. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not a masterpiece, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Atom Egoyan’s work. 

Since I didn’t like ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ at all, I had some really low expectations regarding this sequel but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. The first funny thing with this movie was that at least 50% of the trailer didn’t end up in the actual movie which did piss off a lot of eager viewers (I don’t watch most trailers so it didn’t bother me). Anyway, as mentioned before, I thought ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ was pretty lame but, to be honest, I saw it years ago, I have to admit I didn’t remember much about it and I’m not sure how this 2^nd sequel did fit in in this franchise. If I understand correctly, it all started in the present with Katie and Kristi (Katie was the girl in the very first ‘Paranormal Activity’, I’m pretty sure I recognized her) and, then suddenly, we went back to the 80’s when Katie and Kristi were some little girls? To be honest, I’m not sure if it all made sense narratively speaking but, anyway, somehow, I thought the damned thing was not bad at all after all even if, by now, the whole concept was certainly becoming redundant. I don't know, it probably had to do with the fact that I had such low expectations and also with the fact I hadn’t seen a movie from this franchise for more than 5 years. Anyway, I thought the damned thing was quite effective and I was actually on the edge of my seat through the whole duration. To conclude, even though I had lost hope with this franchise a long time ago, I have to admit that this 3^rd instalment turned out to be actually quite entertaining and I think it is worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre. 

I have to admit I had never heard of this movie but since it seems to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, I made a mistake, I didn’t know this movie was originally in black-and-white and I saw instead a colorized version on YouTube. Unfortunately, the colorization was just awful, especially at the beginning, so you should definitely check the original black-and-white version instead. Concerning the movie itself, it was pretty good but, to be honest, it was so distracting how similar ‘Titanic’ was similar to this movie. Eventually, I have to admit I have never been a huge fan of this massive classic but, at least, I always thought that it was an accurate depiction of this tragedy. Well, suddenly, I discovered that, 40 years before, there was already a super accurate movie about these events, with a fraction of the same budget and with no CGI available. Sure, James Cameron did admit that this movie was an ‘inspiration’ but I think it went much further than that though. Indeed, there were at least 5 or 6 ‘iconic’ scenes from Cameron’s classic which were clearly lifted from this movie and, as far as I’m concerned, his movie was basically a remake to which he added a rather cheesy and unnecessary love story. In this case, they went for a much more documentary-like approach with no main characters or bad guys involved and this approach was so much more satisfying. Still, even though I did appreciate the work done, I’m still not sure if it is such a fascinating story though. Anyway, to conclude, I’m rather amazed that this movie doesn’t get more credit, it is rightfully considered the best movie about the Titanic tragedy and it is definitely worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by David O. Russell, I was really eager to check it out. I have noticed that this movie didn’t get much love when it was released and, well, to be honest, I would have to agree with the critics on this one. I mean, it’s not that it was bad, it was probably Russell’s most ambitious project so far, the whole thing was visually pretty neat and there was an impressive cast involved. I guess the main issue was with the writing. Indeed, the beginning scenes were definitely promising but it seems that Russel kept indulging himself with some narrative digressions which constantly dragged down the whole thing. Sure, I get that it was convoluted on purpose but I’m afraid this approach did backfire after all. I mean, you had many WWI veterans struggling to fit in the US society, several romances, a couple of murders and a fascist plot to overthrow the US government. And I shouldn’t forget that, in the middle of all this, the trio of main characters did get indeed to Amsterdam at some point but, in my opinion, it had not enough impact on the story and I think it could have been actually easily removed. Anyway, it was a lot to digest, some of it was fairly interesting but, to be honest, none of it was really dazzling, I’m afraid. In fact, even the star-studded cast started to bother me at some point. Indeed, instead of focusing on the main characters, every 5 minutes, you had a famous actor showing up to play a very minor character for maybe 5 mins and then disappear completely which was just so distracting. As a result, it is rather tricky to judge the acting since everyone involved was given too little to do, except maybe Christian Bale who had fun with his character but he also had slightly more running time than everyone else. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing never really worked, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in David O. Russell’s work.