Reviews by johanlefourbe

Obviously, you might wonder why I ended up watching this flick. The main reason why I actually wanted to check the damned thing was because Nick, my step-son, is a brony. The bronies is basically the fandom around the animated series ‘My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic’. I know, it sounds pretty weird that a male adult like Nick might be fascinated by a show which has been conceived for little girls but I have met some of his friends and it is a sweet, kind and actually really creative community. Seriously, as a parent, I’m actually glad he didn’t spend all his week-ends getting sh*t-faced like most of the guys of his age. Anyway, after all these years, I thought I should finally check what was so fascinating about it for my step-son. Well, to be honest, the first 15 mins were rather disorienting. Indeed, I had no idea what was ‘Equestria’ and who all these characters were so it was definitely a movie made for the fans of the TV-show. Fortunately, fairly soon, they went on a fairly generic quest and it didn’t really matter if you were a fan or not to follow what was going on but that was also an issue, I’m afraid. Indeed, this story was just too generic. Furthermore, even though Liev Schreiber had obviously some fun with The Storm King, this character turned out to be such a cheap-*ss copy of Hades from ‘Hercules’. At least, Tempest Shadow was a pretty cool pony, even though I have to admit that I didn’t recognize Emily Blunt’s voice at all. So, do I now understand why so many adults would love so much this cartoon? To be honest, not really. However, it’s no coincidence that its subtitle is ‘Friendship Is Magic’ as the main character is actually the Princess of Friendship and friendship and harmonious relationships are actually a major focus which was definitely intriguing. Anyway, to conclude, I’m not sure if I should recommend this movie but, if someone dear to you is a brony, it is definitely worth a look though. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a solid cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, for a directorial debut, the damned thing was certainly ambitious, that’s for sure. Indeed, Juel Taylor mixed up so many genres such as the Hood movies, Blaxploitation, Body Snatchers and, obviously, cloning but even some comedy. To be honest, it is actually surprising that it worked at all with such disparate genres involved. Of course, you might argue that the damned thing was really far-fetched and it was, obviously, but it was actually still pointing out how Black people are actually living in the ghettos in the USA. Indeed, it is a know fact that there is a liquor store at pretty much every corner in such neighborhoods and there is also the widespread theory that the US government actually did somehow facilitate the crack pandemic. As a result, you could say that there have been some actual attempts to keep the Black community down, maybe it was not as outrageous as it was displayed in this movie, but still. So, it was actually quite thought-provoking but, to be honest, there were also plenty of plot-holes though. For example, how Fontaine’s clone could remember being shot at when he wakes up? Furthermore, the more I think about it, the more I was bothered by Teyonah Parris’s character, Yo-Yo. Not that Parris did anything wrong, she was actually fine but it was rather annoying that a beautiful woman, at least just as smart or even smarter than Fontaine and Slick Charles, should have such a degrading profession. Sure, there might be nothing glorious about being a pimp or a drug dealer but being a prostitute is really so much more demeaning and I think it’s a pity that the only woman involved should automatically play arguably the worst job in the world just to fit some stereotype. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t a completely home-run, it was still a really original and even entertaining feature and I think it’s definitely worth a look. 

To be honest, 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, even though the screenlife genre (all the events are supposed to be shown on a computer, tablet or smartphone screen) might seem terribly gimmicky, they certainly made the most of it here though and, as a result, it is usually considered as the best movie ever made in this genre. Basically , the poor guy was going through the worst nightmare you can have if you are raising some teenagers and the way it was displayed was pretty much pitch-perfect, I’m afraid. Sure, you can blame the guy for not being more aware about his daughter’s life but I think it's unfair. Indeed, I raised 3 of those, at some point when they reach around 15 years ago, you have to start to let them go and, to be honest, most of the time, you simply don’t know what they are doing. Sure, it might sound irresponsible and/or frightening but it just how it works. Anyway, the damned thing was really well made, just chilling to behold and John Cho delivered a solid and convincing performance. Unfortunately, they got stuck at some point narratively speaking which was too bad. Indeed, after building up an intriguing mystery around this disappearance, it seemed that they couldn’t really figure out how to go from there and, as a result, they went for some really far-fetched twist involving the detective actually working on this case. On top of that, sure, it was nice that this father got reunited with his lost daughter, it was definitely an uplifting ending but, to be honest, it felt rather unlikely with everything that happened before. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t a complete success, it was still a really solid thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Wes Anderson and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, if you are a fan of Wes Anderson’s work, it will be quite a year to remember as the indie master will release no less than 5 movies (1 full-length feature and 4 shorts). To be honest, I have to admit that I have never been a fan of Roald Dahl’s books film adaptations. However, I really did love ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ which is, as far as I’m concerned, Anderson’s best movie so far and, well, the famous writer and the indie film director seemed to be once again a match made in heaven. Indeed, as usual with this director, the whole thing was a visual treat but, above all, it was such a fun tale and, combined with Anderson’s quirky directing style, it was just a marvel to behold. The fact it was a short feature was also perfect because I do believe that this way of telling a story for at least 90 mins could have been rather exhausting and/or annoying after a while. The only thing missing, at least, if you would compare it to his most recent directorial efforts, is that he didn’t get a huge cast to play each character by some famous actor but, instead, he chose to have only a handful of actors playing several characters but I thought it was rather distracting. Fortunately, it wasn't a big deal though and, now, I can’t wait to see the other 3 shorts that Anderson has cooked up for Netflix. Anyway, to conclude, I really enjoyed the damned thing and I think it’s definitely worth a look, especially a fan of Wes Anderson or a fan of Roald Dahl. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick, in fact, I was planning to watch ‘Pépé le Moko’ on Netflix but it was apparently removed maybe a week before, so I decided to watch instead this movie also released in 1937. Well, I must admit that I was actually really positively surprised by the first act. Indeed, the intro was not bad but, above all, as soon as Wally Cook got to Warsaw, this movie became actually quite hilarious. It’s too bad that it didn’t last for long though. Indeed, from the moment Carole Lombart got introduced, it became so much less interesting. I know, Lombart was apparently a major screw-ball comedy legend and, in fact, I’m not blaming her. Before she came around, I just loved the interaction between Cook and the inhabitants of this fictional little city though but it was obviously not what this movie was about and I’m afraid I just didn’t care much about this flimsy concept. Basically, the idea was that everybody was supposed to think that this woman was terminally ill but I thought it was rather odd and/or annoying that nobody would notice or mention that she actually looked fine. Sure, you could argue that screwball comedies always had some far-fetched even borderline idiotic storylines, that it is inherent to the genre, but, as far as I was concerned, it was just too paper thin in this case. The fact that Wally Cook and Hazel Flagg both started to act hysterically from the moment they met each other, again something which was supposed to be hilarious, was also hardly entertaining. It’s too bad because the first 15 mins were actually really fun. Anyway, to conclude, even though I’m not really a fan of the genre, I have to admit that it was still a decent vintage screwball comedy and it is worth a look. 

Even though this movie was a huge flop when it was released, at least with the audience, since it was directed by [Link removed - login to see] and since it was available on Disney+, I still wanted to check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was a rather difficult to judge the damned thing after all. Sure, it was another completely useless live-action remake from Disney, there was also the issue that I have seen already so many versions of this story and the fact they did nothing really interesting with it this time around certainly didn’t help. Basically, the first act was so faithful to the classic animated Disney feature and, while it was pretty to look at, it felt rather pointless. In the second act, they finally tried to give their own spin on this timeless tale by focusing on Peter Pan and Captain Hook’s relationship in the past which wasn’t necessarily a bad idea but it was also never really dazzling, I’m afraid. Finally, another thing that really bothered me was the fact that, even though Alexander Molony did look fine, he was by far the most underwhelming Peter Pan I have ever seen. So, indeed, the damned thing was pretty weak and even seriously tedious to be behold and, yet, I still don’t think it deserved so much hatred though. Indeed, visually, it was fine, Jude Law was pretty good as Captain Hook and it was probably the best depiction of Tiger Lily I have seen so far. A funny fact, while watching this movie, I was thinking that the girl playing Wendy really looked like a younger version of Milla Jovovich and it’s only after the movie was over that I discovered that she was actually Milla Jovovich’s own daughter. Anyway, to conclude, even if I didn’t care much about this movie, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in David Lowery’s work.

Since I have always been a huge fan of Pixar, I was quite eager to check this movie, even if it eventually didn’t make much waves when it was released. Well, it is rather sad that the previous Pixar productions (‘Soul’, ‘Luca’, ‘Turning Red’) were all released directly to Disney+ when this movie was actually first released in the movie theaters when, in fact, it turned out to be one of the least interesting original movies they have delivered in many years. I mean, it’s not that it was awful but, eventually, it was not really entertaining, I’m afraid. As already pointed out by many, the animation was amazing though, I especially loved how the characters were designed but, at this point, I wouldn’t expect less from Pixar. I also enjoyed the theme song. Unfortunately, the whole concept of telling a story around the elements was hardly interesting but, even more problematic, the seemingly impossible love story between Ember and Wade was just so generic and predictable. At least, I did appreciate the fact that they were really sensitive with the casting to make sure that the different elemental groups didn’t become some caricatures of the usual ethnical groups. However, even though they tried really hard to show that Ember was going through some major internal conflicts, they never really nailed it this time though. It didn’t help that they delivered such fascinating complex characters in the past with ‘Up’, ‘Inside Out’ or ‘Turning Red’ just to name a few. Finally, why did Ember and Wade fall in love for each other? That’s where the movie should have delivered something deep and profound. Unfortunately, the end-result was maybe cute but it was not much better than your average romantic-comedy. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of it flaws, even a minor effort from Pixar is still worth a look though, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Mark Wahlberg and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, Wahlberg has never been shy about his religious background (it even made him regretting to star in ‘Boogie Night’, arguably the best movie of his whole career) so I guess it was just a matter of time before he would show up in such a faith-based feature. Well, there is no doubt that the story of Stuart Long was incredible and quite inspiring, even if you are an atheist like me. It’s too bad that the movie itself turned out to be so disjointed, especially during the first hour. Indeed, there was so much going on during his life and it seems that they tried to cram too much information. Basically, his brother died when he was a kid, his father left him and his mom and he became a boxer and that was just the first 15 mins. Well, all these events seemed to be super important in his life but none of them was properly developed.  Of course, in spite of all the mind-blowing twists in his life, the main event was obviously his decision to become a Catholic priest and, well, I have to admit that I felt bad for his girlfriend. I mean, he went through this whole journey, to become a better man, to become closer to her and her faith to eventually dump her after all? That was rather hard to swallow. And yet, after all what he went through, the guy became so wise but he always kept his rather unformal way of speaking and this mix was just a great way to reach out and spread his message of love and forgiveness to the church goers, that’s for sure. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is actually worth a look, at least if you like the genre.