Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it is included in the ‘The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made’ list selected by the New York Times, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, after watching a few rather underwhelming movies released in 1940, it was really neat to finally watch something really enjoyable. Indeed, the introduction was just amazing, arguably one of the best intro ever put on the silver screen, and from this point on, I was basically hooked. However, to be honest, everything happening afterwards turned out out to be fairly generic and predictable after all. Indeed, it seems that this movie never managed to top its amazing opening scene but, fortunately, the damned thing still worked fine though. First of all, William Wyler was such a fine director and, even if the story was rather pedestrian after all, it was rather impressive how much he managed to get from it. In fact, he was even praised by Bette Davis who was usually rather dismissive towards her directors. Concerning Bette Davis, I have to admit that I discovered her work only recently but, once again, she was quite fascinating to behold. The funny thing is that she actually plays always pretty much the same character and usually the same way in all her movies and, yet, she is always interesting to behold. Concerning the rest of the cast, James Stephenson was also really solid and I was grateful that his lawyer character didn’t fall in love with his client which is too often the case in this genre. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not a masterpiece, it was still a really solid film noir 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 seemed to have a decent reputation and since I always had a weak spot for the Who, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that I actually had a hard time to really care about the damned thing after all. Indeed, it was such a mess and, in fact, as far as I was concerned, it was actually borderline unwatchable. Unfortunately, when such famous bands or singers indulge themselves in making music pictures like this one, the end-result is usually quite pretentious and this movie was not an exception, I’m afraid. I was also disappointed by the fact that, even though I was expecting at least some kick-ass soundtrack by the legendary British band, except for a couple of classic songs like ‘Pinball Wizard’, the music didn’t really impress me after all. At least, there were some nice cameos by Tina Turner (before she made her come-back in the 80’s), Elton John and Eric Clapton (I have to admit that I didn’t recognize him right away). Furthermore, as pointed out by other critics such as Roger Ebert, you can't deny the fact that this project did give Ken Russell a good excuse to go really wild which he obviously did. It was also the first movie I saw starring Ann-Margret and I have to admit that she was definitely charismatic. Eventually, I can understand why she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance, even if she was slightly too hysterical for my taste but, with a supercharged movie like this one, it’s not like she had so many choices. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t work for me, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the Who.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Val Kilmer, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I noticed that this movie had a solid reputation on IMDb and I would have to agree on this. Indeed, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was still a grim realistic and convincing jail drama. The first thing that they did right was the introduction. Indeed, I don’t think it’s was unjust that Wade had to go to prison for what he did and his sentence actually seemed to be fair. I mean, the guy meant well and wanted to protect his family but he could have just as well let the guy go and call the cops. Basically, he was just an average guy who made a terrible decision and everything happening to him afterwards actually made sense. Indeed, somehow, he got entangled into the prison gangs system against his will which was obviously sad but also quite believable. Unfortunately, the whole thing got slightly derailed from the moment he got involved in some kind of Fight Club. Sure, I can imagine that some disillusioned and/or sadistic prison guards would let the inmate fight with each other but the way it was presented in this movie seemed to be too far-fetched. The fact that it led to a really unlikely happy-ending probably didn’t help. Still, most of it worked really well and I can’t remember the last time I saw Val Kilmer delivering such a solid performance in a movie which was actually watchable. On the other hand, even if he was never one of the worst actors I knew, I was never really impressed by Stephen Dorff but I have to admit that he was actually fine here and he probably delivered the best performance of his career. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not the best movie in this genre, it was still pretty good and I think 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 there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I have a weak spot for the genre but there is no denying that the damned thing was extremely derivative. Indeed, I have seen during the last 10 years already so many SF flicks dealing with a bunch of astronauts looking for a new planet because we pretty much destroyed our own planet and, to be honest, this movie didn’t have new interesting things to offer about the genre. On top of that, there were also some plot holes, For example, before Colin Farrel’s character decided to join in, how all these kids/teenagers were going to handle themselves without any kind of supervision? Still, I thought it was an intriguing setup and, with a better script and a better director, it could have been actually a fascinating philosophical science-fiction feature. Unfortunately, the approach was pretty weak after all. Indeed, the whole plan to subdue these group of teenagers with some drugs was flawed from the start. I mean, you can’t have them being super smart and also willing to go through this really hazardous adventure with a rather bleak outcome for them and also ask them to be completely docile, even apathetic, at the same time. Eventually, I think it’s rather sad and frustrating that the conclusion was that, if you leave teenagers unsupervised, they will act like some wild animals and have some constant random sex with each other. Concerning Lily-Rose Depp, like her parents (Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis), she is really charismatic but it was the only thing she had to offer so she didn’t really impress me. Sure, you could say that none of the characters involved was really properly developed but, in her case, Sela was still extremely flat, even if she was actually supposed to be a main character. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have to admit that I was probably too generous with my rating here, I thought it was still a decent watch though but it is probably worth a look only if you really like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it is included in the ‘The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made’ list selected by the New York Times, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the damned thing definitely had some potential. Indeed, it was much more intriguing than the quaint movies from the 40’s I have seen recently, I really liked the social angle and the first act and the third act worked fine. Unfortunately, they took a rather weird left turn during the mid-section though. Indeed, even though the movie seemed to be about the struggles of some coal miners in England, for some reason, they instead seemingly dropped them and focused on Davey Fenwick going to university and ending up in some weird and above all really underwhelming love triangle. Seriously, even though I have to admit that Jenny did look lovely, it was so obvious that she was a terrible match for Davey and the fact that he didn’t pick up on that before dropping out of college, getting married with her, basically giving up all his dreams in the process, well, it made the guy look so naïve. Sure, you could argue that it made the character flawed and therefore more interesting but, as far as I was concerned, I thought he was actually rather pathetic. But, above all, what the hell did it have to do with these coal miners? It’s too bad because the rest of the movie was actually pretty good as it was a really solid and convincing vintage depiction of social struggle in the UK. 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 sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, I thought it was still a decent rehab drama, even it was nothing really ground-breaking. Indeed, Aaron Taylor-Johnson was as usual quite charismatic and I think he did a pretty good job at the beginning of the movie showing how his character was going into a very destructive path. The directing was also solid, even though Sam Taylor-Johnson did drop her interesting artistic touches that she did add at the beginning rather quickly so the rest of the movie did feel rather conventional after all.  Eventually, beside the fact that it seemed way too easy for this guy with seemingly no funds to get into this rather fancy rehab program, the only thing that really bothered me was the fact that, while the beginning of this journey was dark and chaotic as it should be, the final act went on just too smoothly. Indeed, as pointed out several times during this movie, when an addict goes to rehab the first time, they almost never succeed to stay sober. On top of that, in this case, the main character was not only a major junkie but he also really loved to get high, even completely messed up, so it was a huge stretch to see him managing to kick the habit like that after his first attempt. Unsurprisingly, even though the book it was based on was supposed to be a true story, it turned out to be largely fictional after all (apparently, a huge controversy at the time) but, if you watch this movie, it was actually hardly surprising. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that I was maybe too generous with my rating here but I thought it was a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Gael Garcia Bernal, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I didn’t know much about Pablo Neruda so I figured this movie would be a nice way to get acquainted with the famous poet. Well, even though Pablo Larraín definitely took an unconventional approach to the biopic genre, to be honest, I have to admit that I really had a hard time to care about the end-result though. Basically, even though this movie seemed to be about the few years after WWII during which Neruda had to hide in Chile before going in exile in Europe , it wasn't at all the main focus of this movie after all, in fact, even Neruda himself was not the focus here. In this case, you might then expect that the main character would be Óscar Peluchonneau, a cop who was chasing Neruda at the time, especially since the voice-over by Gael García Bernal was pretty much constant through the whole thing, but it was still not the case either. So, after reading all this, you might rightfully wonder what this movie was all about then and that’s probably exactly the reason why I didn’t feel much connection with it. Basically, they went for some poetic approach and, while I appreciate their commitment to deliver something different, as far as I was concerned, I thought it was rather alienating. At the end of the day, if you don’t mind that all the characters basically speak in riddles through the whole thing, you will probably enjoy this movie more than I did. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are eager to see something slightly more artistic and original than your usual biopic.