Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Marlon Brando, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I’m rather surprised that this movie was at the time nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. It’s not that the story didn’t have some potential. Back in those days, more than 10.000 US soldiers did indeed married a Japanese woman but it was something more or less prohibited or at least discouraged by the US army which was quite intriguing. Unfortunately, they actually messed up the tone. Indeed, even if it should have been a tragic romantic drama, it was fairly often rather frivolous. Even more problematic was how they portrayed the Japanese people though. First, you had the fact that the only Japanese male character was played by Ricardo Montalban, the famous Mexican actor. At least, the Japanese female characters were played by some actual Japanese actresses but what the makers did with these women was rather appalling. Indeed, it turned the whole thing into some kind of male fantasy in which the Japanese women were reduced to some obedient submissive servant with no personality whatsoever. At least, Lloyd  Gruver could have seduced Hana-Ogi but, instead, he kept stalking her and after a single conversation, she was just head over heels in love with him for no real reason. At least, I did like the (probably unintentional) parallel between this movie and Brando’s own career. Indeed, from the 60’s onwards, he constantly defied expectations, making some rather bewildering choices, instead of doing what was expected of him, even if he basically torpedoed his career in the process. Anyway, to conclude, I think this movie didn’t grow old well at all and you should probably avoid it, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of Marlon Brando.

A couple of days ago, I saw ‘Ivan Groznyy’ so I was quite eager to see this sequel especially since it also had such a stellar reputation. Even though it was shot just after the 1^st installment, this movie was eventually released more than 10 years later because Stalin apparently hated the damned thing. It would be released only after his death (by then Sergei Eisenstein had long passed away as well). Basically, even though Stalin was positive about Eisenstein’s first movie, he didn’t care for this sequel because its portrayal of Ivan was too negative but, to be honest, I didn’t see much difference with the previous movie. In fact, I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed by the damned thing. It’s not that it was bad though, not at all. Indeed, once again, it was visually quite impressive and Ivan was once again a really interesting character. However, I was expecting more evolution from happened in the previous movie, above all, I thought that Ivan would evolve but, as far as I was concerned, it was all pretty much the same. Indeed, the Tsar had to face the Boyars who were once again complaining about him and plotting to get rid of him but, just like in the previous movie, nothing much happened after all. On the other hand, I have to admit that I really enjoyed how Ivan completely flipped around the plot to assassinate him. It was also really neat to see Eisenstein experimenting with color and one can only imagine what he could have done if he didn’t die fairly young and if he wouldn’t have been crippled by the Soviet regime for most of his career. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it is still a classic and pretty much a must-see for any decent movie buff. 

Since this movie has a strong reputation (it is included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have been rediscovering Sergei Eisenstein’s recently. I did watch ‘Bronenosets Potyomkin’ but, to be honest, it was years ago and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Well, among Eisenstein’s prestigious track-record, this movie and its follow-up are considered as some of the best movies ever made and I could see right away why. Indeed, even if this movie was backed by Stalin himself, it clearly stood out from the propaganda movies made by Eisenstein during the 20’s. Above all, the damned thing was visually so impressive (it did help that the copy I saw on YouTube was pristine). On top of that, the performances were pretty good, especially by Nikolay Cherkasov who was just so strong here. Seriously, it is hard to believe that it was the same actor who played the Czar Ivan IV at the beginning and at the end of this movie. However, even if the scale was epic thanks to its visuals and the strong performances, to be honest, in my opinion, nothing much really happened after all. Basically, most of the duration was about the boyars either complaining or plotting against the Czar but, right from the start, Ivan was well aware of the fact that the boyars were against him but I don’t get why he didn’t do anything to get rid of them or, at least, diminish their influence since they were clearly his biggest enemies. Still, this movie did provide a very interesting balance showing at the same time that Ivan was a charismatic leader and visionary who set the foundations for modern Russia but also a paranoid delusional megalomaniac. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it is still a major classic and it is pretty much a must-see for any decent movie buff. 

It seemed to be a really obscure flick but since it was directed by Lasse Hallström and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, following the intro with some really lame cabaret, I was actually quite worried. Fortunately, it turned out to be a decent watch after all. Indeed, after this awful intro, it became some kind of Swedish version of ‘Jules et Jim’. Sure, the whole thing was much lighter than François Truffaut’s classic but I really enjoyed this awesome trio. The fact that Pica Green was really lovely definitely didn’t hurt but Brasse Brännström and Magnus Härenstam were also really charismatic. Eventually, not only these characters were quite entertaining, above all, they were really convincing and relatable. Regarding the directing, I really enjoyed what they did with these characters but not everything worked so well, I’m afraid. For example, the back-and-forth between the past (around ’66), the present (around ’83) and the future (around 2003) was just so awkward and inefficient. The fact that they didn’t make any effort to make  the characters look any younger in the flashback scenes probably didn’t help. Fortunately, they didn’t spend so much time om their past. However, and that was definitely the biggest issue with this movie, instead of developing them as individual or as a group, the characters kept struggling with some writer’s block for some new cabaret show. Seriously, they pretty much wasted half of the running time on this and it seemed that, after managing to create some intriguing characters, they apparently had no clue what to do with them which was just too bad. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was not bad at all and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in discovering Lasse Hallström’s earlier work. 

Since I have always been a big of fan of Alejandro González Iñárritu, of course, I was really eager to check his last directing effort. On top of that, it was the first time he was making another movie in Mexico in more than 20 years. Well, even though the guy had pretty much a flawless track-record so far, I’m afraid this movie turned out to be his first misfire. It’s not that it was bad, basically, it was some kind of supercharged Felliniesque jigsaw puzzle and, if you are into this kind of movies, you might end up really enjoying it. On top of that, it’s not surprising that Iñárritu has won 2 Academy Award for the Best Director as the directing was here really strong and the damned thing was visually pretty neat. However, as far as I was concerned, it turned out to be a long indulgent and rather pretentious ego trip. I mean, there were some bits and scenes which did work fine. For example, it has been a while since I have seen such a sweet and convincing middle-aged couple and some scenes seemed to have been plucked right out of my own dreams. Unfortunately, there were also many scenes for which I didn't care much for or even at all. For example, all the scenes involving this CGI baby were just rather cringe-inducing but, above all, this movie never really worked as a whole. It didn’t help that, in spite of the rather extensive running time, you learn really nothing about the characters, even the main character. Basically, the guy was a rather pretentious film director (I wonder why he kept saying that he was a ‘journalist’) going through a middle-life crisis and feeling a lot of self-pity. With such a gorgeous wife, some really bright kids and a seemingly really cool job, you might wonder why the guy kept whining all the time. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie never really worked, at least, not for me, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s work. 

To be honest, I have never been a huge fan of ‘Top Gun’ but since this sequel had been a massive commercial and critical success, I was quite eager to check it out before the end of this year. Well, I have to admit that I actually ended up with some mixed feelings about the damned thing. Maybe it was due to the fact that my expectations were too high after hearing so many great things about this movie or it was because I saw it at home and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had managed to see it in the movie theater. Still, there is no denying that it was a really satisfying sequel and even an improvement on its predecessor. Indeed, the damned thing was just so spectacular, you have to appreciate all the efforts they took to avoid green screens and to make it look as real as possible. As a result, the action scenes were just visceral and quite thrilling to behold. It was also pretty neat how they tried to emulate Tony Scott’s directing style, especially with the intro. However, what made this movie really stand out from its predecessor was the emotional baggage involved. Indeed, Maverick did grow older, by the time this 2^nd movie was taking place, the guy should have retired or at least been promoted but he basically spent his whole career burning bridges which was maybe cute when he was younger but not so much nowadays. On top of that, he was still struggling with what happened to Goose so many years ago and the scene with Val Kilmer, himself a cancer survivor, was quite heartbreaking. Basically, Maverick was this time much more vulnerable which made him a much more interesting character. And, yet, in my opinion, the whole thing was still too much over-the-top for my taste and half of the plot was still rather preposterous. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, I have to admit that it was still seriously entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.