Reviews by johanlefourbe

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, I think it’s pretty awesome that, in France, someone could manage to deliver such an edgy surreal and mature animated feature. Sure, the content might be too dark for some viewers but I thought it was actually extremely refreshing. On top of that, even though some might not be impressed by the quality of the animation, I thought it was really cool that they went for some hand-drawn animation. However, what was above all enjoyable was this really surreal story. Indeed, at first, I was wondering how they would tell a whole story over a severed hand and, eventually, it wasn’t really surprising that they would go for some flashback scenes but I was amazed by how efficient it turned out to be. The interesting thing is that this surreal tale was actually taking place in a hyper realistic setting. Indeed, they didn't give us the typical glamor version of Paris but a much more realistic version with some grey landscapes, dirty metros and people being generally unfriendly with each other (the first encounter between Naoufel and Gabrielle was such a fine example and the scene was so pitch-perfect). Eventually, you don’t learn much about Naoufel which could be frustrating but I think you learned enough and this lack of information and context did make his character even more intriguing and it was pretty much the same thing with Gabrielle. Eventually, it has been a while since I have seen such a poetic movie with so many intricate layers. Anyway, to conclude, I really enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in more experimental animated features or experimental movies in general. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this sequel but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if it was not a complete disaster, it was still seriously weak though, even more than its predecessor. I have to admit that I’m not really familiar with Beatrix Potter’s books but you don’t have to be a huge fan to see how much this franchise had deviated from its original source and it was even more blatant and annoying with this sequel. Sure, you could argue that they couldn’t stay forever in this garden and that they had to expand the scope somehow. However, that’s exactly what Peter Rabbit was actually all about, at least, that’s how Potter created the whole thing. Indeed, it was dealing with a small rabbit and his every day life in some small garden, it was never supposed to be some grand adventure taking place in a city with some chases involving a whole range of motorized vehicles. In this case, what was even more annoying was the fact they were arguing that Bea, basically Beatrix Potter’s alter-ego in this alternative version of ‘Peter Rabbit’, was compromising her creation to satisfy some big corporation but that’s exactly what they actually did with this whole franchise, and even more so with this sequel! I wonder if it was supposed to be some kind of meta comment but I thought it was more cringe-inducing and shameless than actually entertaining. Furthermore, the whole gimmick around Barnabas pulling a con was just so predictable and I already knew what was going on from the moment he said he knew Peter’s father. Anyway, to conclude, I guess it was rather harmless but, even so, I didn’t care at all about the damned thing, I don’t think it is worth a look and you should probably avoid it. 

First of all, I have to admit that I haven’t seen many episodes of ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ in the 90’s but it does make sense since I was living in France at the time and, back then, we didn’t have access to MTV. Eventually, I basically saw it a couple of times when I went to the US a few summers. Anyway, even if I wasn’t really familiar with this cartoon, I always thought that these characters were entertaining and I loved the dark cynical mood (it’s strange that I really never cared about ‘South Park’ though) so I was curious to see this full-length feature. Well, somehow, it took me more than 25 years to see the damned thing but it turned out to be worth the wait. Indeed, even though, in most cases, it is actually rather misguided to expand such stories from short episodes to a much longer running time, I have to admit that it actually worked here. Indeed, even with this format, these guys were still really funny which was even more surprising since I usually find moronic characters more cringe-inducing than actually entertaining. For once, they didn’t stay at home watching some TV, instead, they went on a road-trip which was some rather lazy writing but they had to expand the scope somehow to reach almost 90 mins of running time. Furthermore, the whole thing was seriously random but it was rather expected with this material and I was once again surprised that most of the jokes were actually quite funny. The weirdest thing was probably when they met their (possible) biological fathers in the middle of a desert but the way this random encounter was handled was actually really neat. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe nothing groundbreaking, it was actually quite entertaining, much more than I anticipated, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you enjoyed the cult MTV TV-show.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it was even included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list at some point but it was removed fairly quickly afterwards). Well, I have to admit that I had no idea what this movie was about before watching the damned thing but it turned out to be so fascinating after all. Indeed, they went actually way beyond simply telling the tale of this astonishing discovery, they actually went all the way back to the foundation of the city itself. Well, while this approach might seem odd, in my opinion, it actually made sense and I think there was no other way to properly explain how all these ancient films could be found this way. The fact that the story of Dawson City was just so intriguing also helped and to see this story with no reconstruction but with some vintage pics and some ancient movies almost just as old the actual events that took place at the time was actually quite mesmerizing. It’s too bad that, on a few occasions, they did deviate too much from the main topic as they focused instead on some really random events which had, in my opinion, nothing to do with Dawson City and/or the discovery of these nitrate movies (WWI, the White Sox scandal, the deportation of Alexander Berkman,…). The other thing which was a little bit disappointing to me was the fact that, among the 100’s of movies they found out, it didn’t seem that they did find a real lost masterpiece but above all some really obscure movies. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a really mesmerizing documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are a movie buff like me. 

I wasn’t super eager to check this sequel but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I don’t remember much ‘The Hitman's Bodyguard’ but the concept definitely had some potential. Anyway, eventually, this sequel was actually not bad, even possibly an improvement on its predecessor. To be honest, there is a fair possibility that I enjoyed it more above all because I had some rather low expectations. Still, I do think that this sequel was even more daft than its predecessor already was, above all thanks to Salma Hayek. Indeed, we got a small glimpse of her character in ‘The Hitman's Bodyguard’ which was really promising so it seemed to be a no-brainer to bring her back in a greater capacity and it really paid off. Sure, the humor was probably leaning too much on the fact that she was swearing the whole time like a female version of Samuel L. Jackson but she basically played the most messed-up character of this really misguided trio and she was actually quite fun here. Concerning the other two, Samuel L. Jackson was fine and was basically born to play such characters and Ryan Reynolds’s character was even more a loser than the first time around which was actually fairly entertaining. Of course, some people might be bothered by the really ugly cheap looking CGI but what bothered me even more was the running time. Indeed, there is really no good reason why such a silly action-comedy should last almost 2 hours (The version released in the US was actually much shorter which was maybe an improvement after all). Anyway, to conclude, it’s possible that my rating was too generous here but I thought it was a decent watch and I guess it might be worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Sam Worthington, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, to be honest, the damned thing turned out to be really weak, probably even one of the weakest movies I have seen so far starring Worthington. Basically, it was one of these typical cheap Euro-thrillers and one of the most blatant knock-offs  of ‘The Bourne Identity’ I have seen so far. Sure, I have to admit that the action scenes were not bad but there was just too much non-sense involved in this story. Indeed, right from the moment that the two main characters showed up at this nightclub, the whole thing already didn’t make much sense. Indeed, why would they send a whole army to kill this girl? Why did it seem that Lucas was working on his own and not with the other killers? On top of that, if he was also sent to kill this girl, at what point did he actually change his mind? The other thing which was rather ludicrous was the fact that this super skilled assassin was a major drug addict. Seriously, there is no way someone could be shooting whatever stuff he was using during the job and then performing at such a high level within a few mins. Finally, being such a highly qualified assassin requires to be incredibly fit physically and hyper focused while such junkies are basically the complete opposite. At least, I won’t blame Worthington, I think he did what he could with this material. Concerning [Link removed - login to see], she didn’t really impress me though and she seems to be some kind of cheap version of Mila Kunis. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating was actually rather generous here, the damned thing was really lame and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Catherine Deneuve, I thought I might as well check it out. My first thought when I was starting to watch this movie was about the family reunion I have every year not in France but in the Netherlands (I’m half-French, half-Dutch). However, in spite of its (French) title, this movie was not really about the reunion itself but more about the return of Claire and the impacts her return had on her whole family. Basically, even though it was above all obvious with Claire, I think this family was rather dysfunctional. Well, I have seen plenty of US movies dealing with dysfunctional families but most of them usually go for some cheap laughs while French movies like this one feels so much more authentic. On top of that, even though there were quite a lot of characters involved, almost all of them were properly fleshed out. It was also quite interesting to witness the dynamic around Claire. Indeed,  after she throws her first tantrum after being back for only 10 mins, you would probably dismiss her as being some really crazy chick. However, fairly soon, I came to the conclusion that not everything she said was some complete non-sense but, after all these years, nobody was listening to her or was taking her seriously because of her erratic behavior which was quite tragic and actually rather unfair. Coming back on the other characters, even though Rosita had some potential, I’m afraid that Isabel Aimé González-Sola was rather miscast though. Indeed, there is no way such a loser like Romain would manage to get such a gorgeous girl. By the way, I wondered what was the added value of showing some side-boob while she got out of bed. Even more problematic was the fact that, even though Catherine Deneuve was obviously the main draw here, she was actually given too little to do after all. Finally, even though most of it worked fairly well, the ending was a mistake and actually derailed the whole thing. Indeed, it was too far-fetched that Claire had actually spent the 4 previous months with Romain and that nobody else in the family knew about it. 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 like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really eager to see this movie but since my wife is a huge fan of this franchise, we ended up watching it together. Well, even though I usually don't care about such Dutch romantic-comedies, like my wife do, I have to admit that the ‘Soof’ movies are actually some of the best movies in this genre. I was wondering how they would keep the whole thing running for a 3^rd movie and they went for the cancer gimmick which might seem lazy and derivative but I thought it was fairly effective. One thing that bothered me was how they portrayed the parents of Sundeep as some kind of evil Pakistani-Muslim couple. Sure, I understand that they needed to create some conflict somehow but this approach was rather cringe-inducing and actually fairly offensive. Eventually, they also really pushed it far with the daughter as not only she came back early from a world trip but she came back with an Indian fiancée, an upcoming marriage and she was pregnant. Anyway, it was always the issue with this franchise, while Soof has always been an interesting and entertaining main character, thanks above all to an always strong Lies Visschedijk, there was always just too many supporting characters involved. As a result, instead of developing the plot or the few characters that should be involved, it gave an excuse for the makers to never really go deep and, instead, they just jump from one character to another on a rather superficial level. For example, in a couple of scenes, it was pretty neat how much Anneke Blok managed to do as Soof’s mother and you can only imagine what she could have done with slightly more screen time. Anyway, to conclude, even if I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as my wife did, I have to admit that it was decent watch though and it is worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre.