Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but I kept hearing about Charlie Chan, I thought I might as well check one of the movies starring this character. Back then, they made a whopping 47 installments and it was in fact the 11^th movie starring this character. However, for the completists, I'm afraid the first 2 installments are lost. Anyway, it’s too bad the video I saw on YouTube was of very poor quality but, beside this, I have to admit that I was actually surprised by how entertaining the damned thing turned out to be. Indeed, the directing was rather average but there was something nicely pulpy about the story. Concerning Charlie Chan, he turned out to be some kind of Asian version of Hercule Poirot but the guy was definitely entertaining and Warner Oland, who played the character in 16 movies in total, was pretty good, even if he was actually Swedish and not Asian at all. Eventually, the only thing that really bothered me was the sometimes awful racist stereotypes they displayed, especially with Snowshoes. It was just weird and even nauseating to see all these White characters being played straight and, suddenly, this Black character being played as a completely dim-witted and slightly hysterical coward just to have a good laugh. Seriously, it was awful and it did actually ruin the damned thing for me. It’s as if, because the only smart and interesting character was Asian, they had to make sure that the most stupid character was not White, to make sure the White audience was not offended. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I really loved ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’, of course, I was eager to see the other shorts delivered recently by Wes Anderson for Netflix. Indeed, 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). Even if I have never been a fan of Roald Dahl’s books film adaptations, I really did love ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ which is, as far as I’m concerned, Anderson’s best movie so far. Well, the famous writer and the indie film director seemed to be once again a match made in heaven even if, in this case, this short was the weakest one of the bunch though. Visually, it was once again quite reminiscent to ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ which was pretty cool. Concerning the tone, it was much darker than the other shorts, even downright sinister, but it wasn’t an issue. What bothered me more was the fact that the story was not really amazing and the approach was, this time, slightly chaotic. For example, a rat was at first not displayed at all, then displayed as a puppet, then played by Rupert Friend himself which was maybe original but, as far as I was concerned, the end-result was just too messy for my taste. At least, the whole thing was certainly a nice one-man-show from Ralph Fiennes, even if the guy was already playing Roald Dahl but it was apparently something Wes Anderson was keen on, that the actors involved play several characters. Anyway, to conclude, it was still pretty good though, I really enjoyed all these shorts and they are all definitely worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Wes Anderson or Roald Dahl.

I have to admit that I never cared at all for the Spy Kids franchise but since this new installment was still directed by Robert Rodriguez and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I wish that the very first ‘Spy Kids’ had turned out to be a huge box-office flop when it was released because Rodriguez would have hopefully dropped the concept right away back then. Seriously, the guy has spent pretty much half of his career making such kids flicks which are just terrible and this new installment was not an exception, I’m afraid. The only interesting idea was the fact that spies have to lie all the time, that’s basically part of the job, but, in this case, how do you raise some children by telling them to be honest and to always tell the truth? I actually liked this paradox but, unfortunately, it was only quickly mentioned by one of the characters at some point but they really did nothing with that after all. The other thing that I enjoyed was that Gina Rodriguez not only did look lovely but she was pretty badass and she also managed to be a convincing mother at the same time. Unfortunately, all the other characters involved were just so underwhelming. I mean, Zachary Levi was not awful but he did really nothing interesting with his character at all. Even more problematic was the fact that, once again, they picked up some of the worst children actors I have seen. Seriously, they were both rather cringe-inducing to behold and it is in fact very often the case in Rodriguez’s kid flicks. Seriously, I’m rather flabbergasted that some critics actually praised these kids for their work on this movie. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was a big waste of time and you should probably avoid it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a really solid reputation (it was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was rather difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, by then, it was already the 3d version of this story that I saw, after the 1957 version and the 2018 version (I still have to watch the 1976 version at some point but it seems to be the weakest of the bunch though). However, in this case, it seems rather unfair since this movie was actually the very first one. Anyway, even though it is undoubtedly a popular story, I’m still not sure about it though. Indeed, even though she was definitely a cute girl, they never displayed that Esther Blodgett had such impressive acting skills, she didn’t have any training and it didn’t seem that she had to work really hard to become a huge star. Basically, she bumped into Norman Maine at some point, the guy fell in love with her on the spot and he then launched her career. Nothing wrong with that but, in my opinion, it did rather diminish her achievements. On the other hand, Norman Maine was a strong character, probably more interesting than Esther/Vicky and I understand that some might think he actually stole the show after all. Still, Janet Gaynor was pretty good and, with Fredric March, they had some solid chemistry together. Anyway, to conclude, even if it might not be a masterpiece, it is still a classic tale, there is a good reason why they keep remaking it again and again and this first version 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 very well received and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it was not bad with a couple of interesting ideas but, to be honest, it wasn’t really much more than that though. Concerning the animation, I have to admit that it did look pretty good but I didn’t care much about this futuristic medieval world. It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that it wasn’t really interesting, at least, not to me. Concerning the story itself, I guess it was entertaining enough but it was still nothing really dazzling. Indeed, at the end of the day, it was still fairly generic and predictable. Furthermore, even though Nimona herself was fairly entertaining, the rest of the movie did suffer from some severe ADHD syndrome. Eventually, the only element that did trigger me was when they finally revealed Nimona’s origins. Basically, 1000 years back then when Gloreth supposedly saved this kingdom from a huge monster, in fact, this monster was actually Nimona and, in fact, she wasn’t a monster at all. However, during the 1000 years that followed, it became a completely different story/legend. In my opinion, it was the most intriguing thing in this movie and I think there was an interesting parallel with Christendom. Indeed, 2000 years after Christendom started, some people are still convinced that all events linked to the Christendom, especially the ones told in the Bible, are exactly what happened but, as it was displayed in this movie, it is probable that it wasn’t the case. It was also a nice touch that Ballister Boldheart and Ambrosius Goldenloin were a gay couple and, hopefully in the future, we won't have to mention anymore when the main couple will be gay instead of being straight. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really impress after all, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is 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 it was starring Mila Kunis, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the concept might have seemed to be too lame and/or idiotic for my taste and, yet, it could have worked though. Indeed, Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon were both pretty good and they had a nice chemistry together. Unfortunately, pretty much nothing else did work in this movie, I’m afraid. Indeed, all the other characters were barely entertaining but, above all, they never really nailed the tone. Indeed, if they would have gone for either a dark comedy or something really daft, I think it could have been pretty neat after all. Unfortunately, they went for some weird mix of standard comedy with standard action stuff and this mix was just misguided and, above all, barely entertaining. I understand that, since it was a movie dealing with spies, some people had to get killed, sometimes even by their own hand, but it was just weird how unfazed the characters seemed to react to this experience. Basically, how can you make something funny about a job which implies that people (innocent or not) will violently die in the process? I’m not saying it’s impossible but it’s definitely a challenge and, in this area, this movie failed miserably. Concerning the rest of the cast, I think I read somewhere that Sam Heughan was a possible candidate to play James Bond at some point but it is now clear that this guy definitely wouldn’t have what it takes to play this iconic character. The fact that this movie was too long probably didn’t help either. Seriously, there is no way that this concept or this specific movie needed almost 2 hrs of running time. Anyway, to conclude, I really didn’t care much about the damned thing after all and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Edward Zwick and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. As far as I was concerned, the most shocking thing was the fact that so many people assumed that the most logical thing in this case would be that Cameron Todd Willingham did kill his own kids. I mean, sure, he was a drunk, he did beat up his wife on a regular basis and he was a downright unpopular guy but to think that he would choose to burn alive his own little babies, it was such a huge f*cking stretch. Seriously, in my opinion, it didn’t make any sense at all, and, yet, almost everybody involved in this case came somehow to this conclusion which was really flabbergasting. They would argue that he was a sick man for doing such a heinous act but I think it was actually his community which was really sick-minded if they were convinced that a man would do such a thing instead of believing that it was actually simply a terrible accident. Concerning the death penalty, of course, I’m against it. Seriously, it doesn’t make any sense to kill someone because you blame them because they killed someone themselves. On top of that, this movie also displayed that, on a regular basis, innocent people are actually executed which would be another good reason to abolish the damned thing. To be honest, I have to admit that I wasn’t familiar with this case and I was expecting that Todd would make it eventually as it is what usually happens in this genre. Well, it was obviously not the case here but I’m afraid it made more sense this way. Finally, this movie was another proof how messed up the US justice system is in general. Basically, if you are poor and the prosecution thinks you are guilty, well, you are pretty much screwed, even if there is no actual real evidence against you. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing groundbreaking, it was still a decent drama though and I think it is worth a look. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it is included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I’m not familiar with Marlene Dietrich's work, in fact, I’m pretty sure it was the first movie I saw for which she played the lead. Well, within a few mins, I understood right away why she was one of the biggest movie stars at the time as she was just quite mesmerizing to behold. To be honest, the beginning was rather clunky though but, from the moment Lady Barker AKA Angel met Anthony Halton, the damned thing really started to take off though. Indeed, the cool thing was that, even though Dietrich was obviously the main draw here, the two other actors involved, Melvyn Douglas and Herbert Marshall, were both quite charismatic as well. I also loved the way Anthony Halton handled meeting Angel again. Indeed, even though I was expecting that he would expose her on the spot, he never lost his composure and his cool and just played along as if he had never seen her before which displayed how awesome the guy actually was. But her husband was also a swell guy too so the end-result was a really solid love triangle. Still, even though the characters involved were intriguing, the concept was still too thin, I’m afraid. The fact that Lady Barker’s intentions remained rather murky through the whole duration probably didn’t help either. Still, even if it was missing something to become really remarkable, I really enjoyed it and, in my opinion, it is actually much more enjoyable than the countless screwball comedies they used to make back in the 30’s but I guess it is a matter of taste. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.