Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, the whole thing was rather disjointed but it make sense since the production on this movie was rather chaotic. Indeed, if you think that this movie was rather dark and seedy, the play it was based on was so much worse involving a brothel instead of a casino and such fun things like nymphomania and drug addiction. As a result, it took more than a decade to adapt it and, after so many rewriting attempts, the end-result was slightly bewildering. Indeed, there was no real plot and too many characters involved which was probably not such a great idea since the damned thing lasted less than 100 mins. As a result, it was never really clear what the hell was going on with most of the characters. The best example would be the character played by the lovely Gene Tierney. Indeed, because of all the censorship going through all the script revisions, there wasn’t much left to characterize this woman so they never properly explained what was going on with her and what she was exactly doing in this casino. However, the other characters were probably even less developed than she was. And, yet, Josef von Sternberg who was working here on his final movie (he did work on some other movies such as ‘Macao’ in 1952 and ‘Jet Pilot’ in 1957 but he always managed to get fired) did create such a spellbinding mood. In fact, even though this movie was supposed to be about Shanghai, you actually almost never leaves this casino but it didn’t matter as, like all the players coming there, once you enter, you actually never ever want to leave this place. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still 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 seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, I just saw yesterday ‘Dark Victory’, another classic starring Bette Davis. Basically, back in those days, these movies were really tailor-made around her, and, to be honest, it takes a while to get used to the fact that these movies didn’t have much else to offer, at least, as far as I was concerned. Still, I was more able to enjoy this one though. Sure, the gimmick of the ugly duckling transforming into a gorgeous woman has never been really interesting but there is no doubt that Davis absolutely made the best of it. Indeed, she was so good when playing this fragile and psychologically disturbed young woman. Later on, when she played the same woman but as strong and independent, it was obviously not such a stretch for Davis who was basically being herself but I have to admit that she was so charismatic. This movie was also a perfect example of toxic narcissistic behavior and the character of the mother was actually quite fascinating, even if her behavior could have been slightly more subtle. At least, the main character didn't fell in love with her doctor like she did in ‘Dark Victory’, the romance was here more convincing here and I think Davis had some pretty good chemistry with Paul Henreid. I have to admit that I was really surprised that they didn’t end up together but it was actually a refreshing way to conclude this romance. Eventually, the whole thing was narratively too scattered though (I didn’t even mention that the main character suddenly ended up taking care of the child of the man she loved during the final act). Anyway, to conclude, even if I don’t think it was a masterpiece, it was still a solid vintage drama 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, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I had a rather hard time to get into the damned thing. Sure, I have to admit that the fact that I did watch on it on the BBC without subtitles probably didn’t help. Indeed, I was rather confused by the opening scenes and it took me a while to figure out what was going on. Still, I think it went beyond that. Anyway, the biggest asset of this movie was obviously Bette Davis and she was nominated for the Academy Award for the Best Actress in a Leading Role for this movie (in fact, she would be nominated 8 times in 10 years back then which is quite impressive). And, indeed, there is no doubt that Davis was really good here (it was apparently her favorite role). However, I don’t think this movie had much else to offer after all. I mean, the plot was actually really thin. Basically, you were introduced to this rich young woman who was right away seriously ill and, for the rest of the movie, we see how she handles this predicament which was, as far as I was concerned, not really fascinating, in spite of Davis’s efforts. Furthermore, even though the rest of the cast was praised, I thought all their characters were really flat. Still, it was rather fun to see Humphrey Bogart a couple of years before he got his big break with ‘The Maltese Falcon’. It was especially interesting to see him playing such an emasculated man when he will be mostly remembered for playing some major tough guys. Eventually, I might check again this movie in the future to make up my mind about the damned thing. Anyway, to conclude, even if this movie didn’t really impress me, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since there was a solid cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, as expected, it turned out to be one of these cheap direct-to-VOD action flicks and, even if it was maybe not the worst of the bunch, I still didn’t care much for it though. First of all, even though they didn’t overuse filters which is often the case with these movies, the end-result was still not really impressive, visually speaking. Above all, in this area, I was rather amazed by the number of shots which seemed to be out of focus. Concerning the story, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it did have some potential though. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for heist movies and taking the action into a bus was a bold move (don’t except some adrenaline rush like in ‘Speed’ though). Still, some bits didn’t make much sense though (for example, how did Luke Vaughn knew that their getaway car would bail and that they would end up in this bus?). Still, the cast was pretty cool though (Robert De Niro, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Dave Bautista, Kate Bosworth, Gina Carano, Morris Chestnut, Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and it was rather impressive what they all managed to do with this material. The only exception would be Gina Carano who’s such a poor actress, the only exception is when she is involved in some badass fighting scenes which was unfortunately not the case here. Still, even the best actors involved did struggle with the dialogues which were fairly often rather pathetic. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, the damned thing was still pretty weak 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 seemed to have a decent reputation (it was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, just a week ago, I actually saw ‘Heaven Can Wait’ (1943) but, even though this movie was adapted from a play also called ‘Heaven Can Wait’, both movies didn’t have much in common after all. Well, I was expecting another quaint movie from the 40’s but it didn’t last for long, fortunately. Indeed, it turned out to be a rather daft comedy with a rather silly concept and, yet, I have to admit that the damned thing was actually fairly entertaining. Above all, Robert Montgomery was quite fun, even if his character was not really interesting. In fact, even though this movie was dealing with the afterlife, it was rather nothing really deep after all. I mean, back then, it was competing with ‘Citizen Kane’ to win the Best Picture Academy Award (they actually both lost) but it’s clear that this movie was not from the same level. On the other hand, I did appreciate its lack of pretentiousness. Eventually, this movie was remade twice, back in 1978 (‘Heaven Can Wait’ directed by Warren Beatty, a movie I still haven’t watched so far) and in 2001 (‘Down to Earth’ directed by the Weitz brothers, a movie which certainly didn’t impress me). Still, to be honest, the fact that I have so little to say about this movie makes me wonder if I wasn’t too generous with my rating after all.  Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not a masterpiece, I have to admit that it was a solid vintage comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

The main reason why I wanted to check this movie was because it was directed by Sarah Polley and because there was such a stellar cast involved. However, since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I became even more eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be a movie which was equally fascinating and frustrating to behold. Indeed, when I heard about this movie, I became really intrigued by this story and read a detailed article about all the atrocities that took place at this ultraconservative Mennonite community located in Bolivia. However, this movie was not really about what happened before these men (or some of them) got caught or even what really happened when they got caught, instead, it turned out to be some kind of discussion these women, basically, the victims, might have had if you would have put them in a room for an extended period of time. However, such a meeting obviously never took place so it was all fiction. Even more problematic, at least to me, was the fact that such a group of women, basically illiterate, who were never allowed to think for themselves, would suddenly have such an elaborate even highly philosophical debate. Sure, it could be possible that one of them could have such conversation but all of them? To be honest, you might wonder if the women who went through these atrocities would recognize themselves in the portrayals given in this movie. Eventually, the whole thing was basically some kind of intellectual exercise but, even though I’m not sure if it was really the most interesting thing they could have done with such strong material, the end-result was still quite intriguing though. The top-notch cast (Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Ben Whishaw) certainly did help as well. The idea of giving these poor women such an articulate voice and dialogue was also quite appealing and even emotional. Anyway, to conclude, even if I believe this movie is an acquired taste, it was still a really interesting watch and it is worth a look, especially if the concept appeals to you. 

Even if this movie was a flop when it was released, since it was directed by Damien Chazelle, I was still quite eager to check it out. Well, unfortunately, even if it was definitely Chazelle’s most ambitious project so far, I’m afraid it didn’t really work out after all. It’s not that it was bad, there were so many great ideas and the damned thing looked quite amazing but it seems that Chazelle had watched too many movies directed by Baz Luhrmann and Federico Fellini at the same time. The first issue was with the characters. Sure, Brad Pitt was fine and the meta-casting was pretty neat. However, I thought it was rather difficult to root for him when, even at the top of his popularity, the guy was basically an unreliable drunk. Concerning Margot Robbie, well, she was obviously the biggest asset in this movie. However, the whole routine of the hysterical and destructive actress became old at some point and, in spite of a very strong performance from Robbie, it felt rather one-note, I’m afraid. However, the most problematic character was the one played by Diego Calva thougy. Sure, I won’t blame Calva who did what he could with his puppy eyes but his character was just too bland and boring. Finally, for some reason, they started to focus also on some black trumpet player but it lasted for only 20 mins so you might wonder why they even bothered if it was to spend so little time with the poor fellow. Eventually, what bothered me the most was probably the running time though. Indeed, even though not everything was working, during the first 2 hours, I was still admiring most of it. However, during the last stretch, they could have concluded so many times and I think they could have easily cut 1 hour of running time. Eventually, even though the end-result was definitely ambitious, it did feel rather pretentious as well, I’m afraid. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Damien Chazelle’s work. 

When I heard that this movie got some rather weak reviews, I was rather skeptical about the damned thing but since I have always been a huge fan of this franchise, I still wanted to check it out though. Well, to be honest, I don’t think it was so bad after all. Concerning the intro, I actually had some mixed feelings though. Indeed, on one hand, it was a solid Indiana Jones adventure taking place in the 40’s with our favorite adventurer facing a whole bunch of Nazi’s. However, on the other hand, the de-aging of Harrison Ford was technically so impressive, it was actually slightly creepy. Indeed, even if it was well made, you still could see that it was fake but it seems pretty obvious that, in 10 years time, the technologically will be so advanced that we won’t be able to see the difference which is rather unsettling. By the way, Harrison Ford at 80 years old was really impressive and, after all these years, Indiana Jones remain so fun and charismatic and it was really cool to spend more time with this iconic character. Concerning the rest of the cast, I really enjoyed the character played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Even though I always thought that Indiana Jones would chase at some point some Aztec treasure, they settled for Archimedes's Dial which was not a bad idea though and it was actually pretty neat to see the adventurer going back in time to actually witness some historical event taking place during the Antiquity. However, even if it was an improvement on ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, this sequel still felt rather useless, I’m afraid. Above all, the damned thing was just too long. Seriously, when will they understand that there is really no good reason why such a blockbuster should last more than 2 hours? Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.