Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Russell Crowe, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I was surprised by how little I actually cared about this movie after all.  While watching the damned thing, I was thinking that it was some kind of mix of ‘Gladiator’ with ‘Falling Down’. Basically, it felt as if Maximus actually didn’t die, went to live in the suburbs, got divorced, became seriously depressed and even became pissed off at the whole world in the process. Sure, if you put it like this, it actually might sound more intriguing than it actually was but, eventually, the end-result was just nasty, unpleasant and even rather depressing to behold. I mean, I don’t blame Russell Crowe, it was actually pretty ballsy from him to play such a psychopath for once. Unfortunately, his character was not developed whatsoever. Seriously, they gave us an intro during which he killed someone who might have been his ex-wife and her lover but, that’s it, there was afterwards no more background information provided at all. Even more problematic was the fact that this character was just so one-note. At least, Caren Pistorius, who has always been an interesting actress above all because she is charismatic without looking like a top-model, was a perfect choice to play the main character. I also liked the fact that, during the 1^st confrontation with Russell Crowe’s character, she did act like a really disrespectful b*tch but, unfortunately, the makers really did nothing with this. To make things worse, her character was barely more developed than the crazy guy chasing her. Basically, she was a complete random innocent victim who was chased by some random psycho in the most random way possible which was hardly entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.

If you are interested in film story, this movie is pretty much a must-see. Indeed, it’s usually considered as the very first animated feature and I have to admit that I was actually quite impressed by the damned thing. Sure, it might seem rather rudimentary with its black background and these simple stick figures drawn with some white lines but, in fact, I thought the animation was actually quite sophisticated, especially since it was such a precursor in this genre. The other really interesting aspect with this movie was how wild it was from a narrative point of view. Indeed, even though some viewers pointed out that there was some kind of plot, Émile Cohl, who probably made the whole thing himself on his own, certainly didn’t stick it to it. Instead, it goes from one random thing to another random thing every few seconds and the end-result was quite spellbinding to behold. Eventually, even though a running time of less than 2 mins might seem to be super short, it was actually perfect for this material and I don’t think it would really work if you would extend it. Anyway, it is really neat that, back in those days, they could come up with something so experimental and the damned thing is therefore definitely worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by David Lean and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. While watching this movie, it’s hard to imagine that David Lean would deliver ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’, his first great epic, only 3 years later, and, to be honest, I’m rather surprised that this movie turned out to be a box-office success when it was released in Great Britain. It’s not that it was bad, in fact, it was pretty neat to see such a great master like David Lean doing a comedy for the first time in his career, it’s just that I was never really impressed or dazzled by this movie. The main issue I had was that the whole thing felt rather disjointed. Indeed, who was actually the main character? The other thing that bothered me was the fact that they pushed their portrait of William Mossop too far my making him such a bumbling idiot. Sure, it was supposed to be funny, I get that, but, as far as I was concerned, it was rather odd that a bright and beautiful woman like Maggie Hobson would be interested in a guy who was almost retarded. At least, there is no doubt that I was once again seriously impressed by Charles Laughton who has definitely become one of my favorite actors, no less than that. Indeed, there was absolutely no redeeming qualities regarding this character and there was nothing really interesting about this guy either and, yet, Laughton managed to make him quite entertaining to behold, it was just quite masterful. Anyway, to conclude, even if I didn’t really care about this flick, I have to admit that it was still a decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Lean’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award and it was apparently a big box-office success when it was released), I thought I might as well check it out. On top of that, when I was studying English in College, I read ‘Waverley’, another book written by Walter Scott but, to be honest, it was probably the most tedious book I had to read at the time. Still, I was always intrigued by this other story which was probably the most famous book written by Scott. Well, unfortunately, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing after all. It’s funny that this movie is described as an epic swashbuckling action flick when, in fact, most of the movie was about the characters having some rather tedious conversations. The fact that I saw it on the BBC without subtitles probably didn’t help though. Sure, I have to admit that there we some action scenes and I guess they were fairly impressive for a movie which was produced at the beginning of the 50’s. However, the most intriguing thing was the love triangle involving Ivanhoe, Rowena and Rebecca. Indeed, Joan Fontaine and Elizabeth Taylor were both super charismatic back in those days but, even though it made more sense that Ivanhoe would choose Rowena, Rebecca, a Jewish girl, was actually much more mysterious and interesting. So, it was a rather intriguing situation but you might wonder why it was introduced in the first place since they didn’t do anything really interesting with it. The fact that Ivanhoe was such a perfect righteous boring hero was also a major issue. Anyway, to conclude, even though the damned thing didn’t really impress me, I have to admit that it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Elizabeth Banks, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I have never watched the TV-show ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ but I did watch ‘Choudenshi Bioman’ even though, to be honest, it was never one of my favorite children TV-series when I was a kid. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be actually much more watchable than I expected, at least, during the first 30 mins. Indeed, they gave not one but two really unexpected and insane car crashes and the whole ‘Breakfast Club’ vibe was actually pretty neat. Unfortunately, this positive first impression didn’t last for very long, I’m afraid. The main issue was that it took them no less than 90 mins to finally become some freaking Power Rangers. Indeed, not only this movie lasting 2 hours was just way too long but, above all, it took them forever to finally get their damned suit on. Sure, I understand that it was an origin story, that they wanted to properly introduce this group of characters but, while the intention was fine, this approach just seriously backfired. The funny thing was that you don’t learn so much after all about them, instead, you see them getting involved over and over again in one of the most pathetic trainings I have ever seen. Eventually, it was pretty obvious that this movie was supposed to be the start of a new franchise (they even teased the upcoming addition of a Green Ranger) but I’m afraid this movie was not successful enough since no sequel was released afterwards. Anyway, to conclude, even though the beginning was promising, it turned out to pretty weak after all and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Jean-Luc Godard and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Even if it might not be one of the most famous movies directed by Godard, it did actually win the Golden Lion for the Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Well, once again, it turned out to be another seriously challenging movie from the French master. Fortunately, since it was the 3^rd movie I saw from this guy in a rather short period of time, it didn’t bother me so much this time and, in fact, I think I finally figured out what he was trying to do. Basically, you could compare it to the painting Art for example. Indeed, for centuries, they tried to deliver the most photo-realistic paintings possible but, at some point, they took their distance from this approach and the artists started to create some more and more abstract work. Well, it seems that Godard didn’t want to wait for so long and started, way before everyone else, to deliver some really abstract movies. However, in spite of what the French director might have thought, I’m not sure if movies can really work if you strip down so much of the narrative tissue. Anyway, the most striking thing with this movie was probably its sexuality though. Indeed, in spite of his reputation of being high-brow and hyper intellectual, I have noticed that Godard always have/had some very cute women and even young girls in his movies but, in this case, he pushed it even further though. Indeed, Maruschka Detmers, who was only slightly older than 20 years old and in her very first role, was displayed prominently naked (at least, Jacques Bonnaffé who played her romantic partner was very often naked as well) but I have to admit that she was not only quite gorgeous but also seriously charismatic. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have to admit that I didn’t really care much about the damned thing, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Jean-Luc Godard’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Jean Renoir and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it’s only afterwards that I discovered that it was only Renoir’s 2^nd directorial effort. Back then, he was still making some silent movies and it was something quite ambitious for someone who just started to direct. Still, to be honest, I have to admit that I really struggled to care about the damned thing though and the main issue I had was that the damned thing was just so long. Seriously, there is no way that this story required almost 3 hrs of running time and I wonder if the book written by Emile Zola worked better. At least, there is no denying that Nana was indeed quite a character. Indeed, even though she was quite vulgar, not really gorgeous and had no real talent, yet, I could see why all these men would be attracted to her. Eventually, it was an interesting balancing act from Catherine Hessling who must have had a lot of fun with this character. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I really cared about this character and the fact that the other characters were even less interesting probably didn’t help. That’s another thing that bothered me, the fact that the whole thing felt rather misogynistic. Indeed, if you would believe this movie, all this men were actually innocent as they were all under the spell of this evil devious woman. I wonder how this movie would have been received if it was released nowadays following the #Metoo movement. Anyway, to conclude, even if I think it was a minor effort from the French master, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jean Renoir’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by the Dardenne Brothers, I was really eager to check it out. Well, it was probably one of the strongest stories they came up with in a very long time. Unfortunately, even though the brothers usually have a steady hand, in this case, it felt rather disjointed, I’m afraid, and, right from the disorienting first scene, you might wonder if their approach was really the best way to handle this material. Indeed, even though the main character was quite fascinating, the lack of background around him was rather frustrating. The fact that the only Muslim adult he ever spoke to was this radical imam was also rather bewildering. Eventually, you might wonder why this young teenager would believe every single word this man would tell him and would doubt what everybody else would say. Of course, that’s how religious fundamentalism works but you never get a glimpse on how this poor guy actually got sucked into this. It was also intriguing how much effort the Belgian authorities seemed to take for such a troubled young man (apparently, they give a specific case worker for each of them which actually sounds too good to be true) but this aspect was also barely developed after all. Eventually, as far as I was concerned, the most surprising and interesting aspect of this movie was the blossoming relationship between Ahmed and Louise. Unfortunately, it came really late so it didn’t get much attention but I think it could or should have been the main focus in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have to admit that it was a minor effort from the Belgian masters, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Dardenne Brothers’s work.