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. Well, it was definitely a strong true story but, to be honest, the movie itself rather bored me after all. I mean, sure, it turned out to be a decent cold war thriller but, in my opinion, I wasn’t much more than that though. The fact that Jessie Buckley, such a fascinating actress, was once again completely wasted playing the helpless wife waiting at home probably didn’t help either. I mean, it was pretty neat to see how much she was able to achieve with the material she was provided but her character was ultimately terribly dull after all, in fact, like all the other characters involved in this story. The only exception would be the character played by Rachel Brosnahan (unsurprisingly, the only fictional character in this tale) who was intriguing but even this spy was barely developed after all. Basically, even though the story was neat, it was maybe the issue, that the end-result was just too neat. You had this average guy who reluctantly became a spy and then he became really committed, so commited in fact that even became a hero seemingly preventing a worldwide nuclear conflict. However, while it might sound really inspiring when you read it like that, it was just terribly predictable and, to be honest, barely entertaining after all. Concerning Benedict Cumberbatch, I have to admit that he was perfectly cast and he did deliver a solid performance but, I'm sorry and I have noting against him, Greville Wynne was no Alan Turing. Sure, Turing was probably one of the greatest geniuses that walked the Earth so the comparison might be unfair but you get my point. 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 but probably only 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 Erich von Stroheim and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, like all the movies directed by von Stroheim, there was something terribly decadent and yet fascinating about this movie. Indeed, from a technical point of view, the damned thing was really well made, especially when you think that it came out about 100 years ago. Still, even though von Stroheim was a strong director and even though John Gilbert and Mae Murray both gave some solid performances, I still struggled to really care about this movie though. First of all, von Stroheim always had a tendency to overstretch his directorial efforts (his previous movie, the classic ‘Greed’, was supposed to be 4 hrs long for crying out loud) and this movie was not an exception, I’m afraid. I mean, it was basically some kind of vintage romantic-comedy, nothing wrong with that but it certainly didn’t require more than 2hrs of running time. Furthermore, it is always striking to me that, even though the leads did have some charisma and did have some chemistry together, I was actually wondering why they actually fell in love with each other. Especially in this case, Prince Danilo had such a predatory behavior during the 1st half, seriously, I think he did molest Sally at least twice which was, to be honest, rather distressing to behold.  Sure, this movie was made about 100 years ago but still. Then, during the 2nd half, nothing much really happened after all, the fact that we all knew all along that the characters actually belonged to each other and would eventually end up with each other obviously didn’t help. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie turned out to be a huge critical and commercial misfire, since I'm a huge fan of Joaquin Phoenix, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, maybe due to the fact that I seriously lowered down my expectations but I don't think it was so bad after all. The fact that 'Joker' didn't really blow me away in the first place also probably helped. Anyway, it turned out to be a sweet love story involving two really messed-up up individuals and I really enjoyed that Arthur Fleck finally managed to connect with someone which was actually really sweet. Furthermore, Joaquin Phoenix was again really good, I wouldn't expect less from him, Lady Gaga also delivered a solid performance and they had a nice chemistry together. However, I have to admit that the damned thing still had some issues though. First of all, the musical angle was a rather useless gimmick to add some buzz and, this way, since they hired Lady Gaga, they had seemingly a good excuse to have her delivering some songs. Furthermore, it was fine to have Joaquin Phoenix destroying a song but to have him doing it again and again was more cringe-inducing than actually entertaining. However, what really derailed the whole thing was the approach they took for the 3rd act though. Indeed, sure, Arthur Fleck had pushed back his Joker personality and you had to wait for a while to see him again but it was fair game. However, when this demented personality was finally back, they should have gone all the way. Indeed, when he escaped, the city should have gone in flame and total mayhem and they should have given us the Joker and Harley Quinn holding hands and riding into the sunset, that would have been a nice ending. However, instead, they completely backtracked, Arthur somehow cancelled and even repudiated the Joker which was weird but, above all, seriously anticlimactic and, quite frankly, rather frustrating. Anyway, to conclude, the enormous bashing against this movie turned out to be seriously exaggerated, in spite of its flaws, it was actually a decent watch and I think it is worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. It was apparently a big success when it was released and it’s because it was so successful that Dreyer would manage to make later on ‘La passion de Jeanne d'Arc’, obviously his magnum opus. Unfortunately, to be honest, I actually had a hard time to really care about the damned thing though. The fact that it took me 3 attempts to watch it until the end maybe didn’t help but, with each session, it never really interested me. Sure, it was technically well made, especially for a movie made 100 years ago, and it was a nice time-capsule showing how people lived back then in Denmark. However, I never really cared for any of the characters involved and what they were going through. I mean, the way Viktor treated his wife but also the rest of his family was of course rather deplorable but you might wonder if it was really uncommon back then (even nowadays some guys are pretty nasty with their partners). As a result, you might wonder how the audience back then thought about a movie about a man showing typical dominant, or even tyrannical, being actually corrected by the women around him. Still, this setup never really intrigued me though and, to make things worse, the way they completely infantilized Viktor to make him change his ways was, in my opinion, rather pathetic. Seriously, they even brought his childhood’s nanny who treated him again as if he was 12 years old. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work for me, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s work. 

As usual with my film club, I went to see this movie with basically no knowledge about the damned thing at all. Since my uncle chose this movie, I should have known though… I mean, he is a really sweet guy and I love him but he very often picks up some seriously heavy features and this movie was not an exception, I’m afraid. Sure, it was a black comedy but it’s not really my kind of humor and most of it was not funny at all. The first part focusing on the parents displayed, in my opinion, how painful, ugly and lonesome getting old and dying is for actually most people. The second part focusing on the son was even worse as it was basically a reminder of my own relationship with my parents. But, at least, Tom’s life seemed to be more complex, more diverse and, in his super chaotic messed up life, there was still some good stuff. He was definitely the most developed character here. However, for some reason, the 3rd part focusing on the daughter was even harder to handle though. I don’t know, maybe it was because I had already spent 2 hrs dealing with this massively dysfunctional family at that point but, to see this lost woman indulging in such destructive alcoholic behavior, something I took so much distance from myself, was for some reason almost unbearable to watch for me. And, yet, I have to admit it, the damned thing was sometimes actually really funny though. I also enjoyed the raw and sober approach without much music underlining the various emotions. Basically, it was all up to the cast and they all delivered some really solid performances. To be honest, this movie crushed me so much, I can’t say I really enjoyed it but it was definitely an emotional experience to see it. Anyway, to conclude, I’m not sure if I should recommend watching this movie but, if you think you are tough enough, you might want to check it out.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Steven Soderbergh  and since it was available on HBO Max, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, unfortunately, as usual with this director, sure, there were a couple of decent ideas but, to be honest, the end-result was rather half-baked after all. Indeed, I didn’t care much about the story and in my opinion, the characters were all rather pathetic. One example would be Tyler who had such a hopeless crush on Karen. To be honest, I didn’t even acknowledge the fact that she was much older (I guess I don’t really care about such things since my ex-wife was much older and I’m currently involved with a much younger woman) but it was so obvious that she would never be interested in him and to see him entertain this idea made him look like an idiot, to be honest. Fortunately, instead of having these old friends reuniting during this cruise and have a great time together after all these years, Soderbergh went for a really different approach which was more interesting, even if it was never really fascinating. Furthermore, once again, as usual with Soderbergh, the directing was really solid though. Indeed, for a movie with barely a plot and hardly anything going on, it was neat how much he managed to get from this material. Finally, he had such a strong cast involved (Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, Lucas Hedges, Gemma Chan), especially Streep. I have seen most of her movies so I don’t get to see her so often in something new but she once again really impressed me. I mean, the way she once again completely disappeared in this character was just uncanny and, as far as I was concerned, she remains the best actress ever. It’s too bad that the movie and/or the story was not of the level of her performance. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth  a look, especially if you are interested in Steven Soderbergh’s work. 

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, I have always had a weak spot about movies about politics which is, in my opinion, a fascinating subject, so this movie definitely had some potential. Unfortunately, it’s too bad that, even though the concept was quite interesting, I’m afraid the end-result turned out to be rather half-baked after all. Steve Carell was actually pretty good though and his character was fairly interesting but it was probably the only thing that really worked here though. Concerning the rest of the cast, Rose Byrne was a perfect example. Indeed, she was a perfect choice to play this character but she was given barely anything to do after all so, as a result, I think she was pretty much wasted here. Even more problematic was the fact that there was barely any pulse in the damned thing. Eventually, for me, the best part was this guy talking during the credits (no idea who it was) explaining that what happened in this movie could actually happen for real, technically speaking. Once again, it displayed how the elections in the US have become such a completely demented and decadent circus. In this case, they especially focused on the ridiculous amount of money that are involved but this speech at the end was actually more compelling than anything that was displayed in this movie. I mean, towards the end, they tried to pull the rug out on the viewers but I felt rather anticlimactic to me. Anyway, to conclude, even if it turned out to be rather disappointing, it was still fairly entertaining though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Russell Crowe and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to my surprise, it turned out to be much better than I expected. Sure, it was basically a B feature but the makers never pretended it was anything else and it has been a while since I have seen such a satisfying movie in this genre. Indeed, it was obvious that Russell Crowe had a lot of fun with this character and I thought he was actually pretty good here. Concerning the rest of the cast, they were all fairly unremarkable, expect maybe for the young boy but you might wonder how much acting he actually did himself after all. It was also a nice touch that the characters did speak in their own language such as Italian or Spanish and, even if they did switch to English sometimes, it did make sense in the context of the respective scenes. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, it was pretty much a fairly generic exorcism story but I thought it was fairly effective. At first, I was wondering how they would manage to fill the running time since this poor little boy was possessed so soon and, eventually, they added some rather convoluted backstory regarding this specific demon and the place where the action took place but I have to admit that it wasn’t bad. Eventually, the only thing that bothered me was probably the fact that it was slightly too long and I think they could have removed 15-20 mins but it wasn’t a big deal though. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

First of all, for some personal reasons, I have stopped watching movies for about 2 weeks, probably for the first time in 20 years. To be honest, it didn’t bother me that much though. As a result, I also wrote only 1 review during this period, so I feel kind of rusty (Yeah, I know, after such a short period of time, it does sound weird…). To make things worse, for the same personal reasons, I was seriously distracted when I watched this movie so, to be honest, you shouldn’t expect much from this review. Anyway, it’s pretty cool to keep discovering Harold Lloyd’s work after all these years and even though it might not to be one of his best movies, at least, not for me, it was still pretty good though. Indeed, even if it was still pretty random which is inherent to such vintage silent comedies, there was actually a plot. In fact, it was even shot in sequence probably because the focus was not really on the jokes (there were still plenty of them) but on the main character, Harold Lamb played of course by Harold Lloyd himself. Sure, Lloyd who was more than 30 years old was actually too old to play a young freshman in college but I think this character was a perfect fit for this comic genius. The other interesting thing about this movie was that Lloyd always wanted to shoot a movie about football/American football and the sports sequences turned out to be pretty decent after all. In fact, it was even one of the first, or even the very first sports movie ever made. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.