Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but the subject matter did sound interesting and since it was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well check it out. Even though most politicians might be worthless, I always found politics quite fascinating and I actually remember well this really messed up elections back in 2000 and the actual outcome. However, I didn’t remember that it was the Democrats who chased this recount so hard, even though it did make sense. Anyway, it was quite fascinating to behold the whole process in such (seemingly) accurate details. To be honest, it is still difficult to see Kevin Spacey and separate him from all the sexual misconduct allegations against him and the fact that his character was rather smug probably didn’t help, I’m afraid. Still, damned, 10 years before his career met this tragic ending, the guy was really good though. Concerning the whole process, the movie was obviously leaning towards the Democrats but I didn’t necessarily agree. Sure, if they kept counting and recounting these ballots, maybe Al Gore would have come on top (it’s not even sure though) but constantly postponing the results was not a good thing for the Democracy in the USA. Eventually, Al Gore made the right call to give it up at some point, it was the most honorable thing to do, for him and for his country. The crazy thing, for an outsider like myself, was that the Democrats and the Republicans (I’m not talking about Donald Trump… This guy is a completely different kind of ball game…) are actually so similar in their politics, it’s actually hardly democratic to be able to choose only between 2 parties which are actually so similar. So, it is actually rather priceless to see Ron Klain fighting tooth and nail to get an actual fair result when, at the end of the day, I don’t think it really mattered that much with such, in my opinion, rather ‘fake’ democracy. Another priceless thing was that, back then, many people myself included thought that George W. Bush was the worst president the US ever had but, after Donald Trump (that the guy managed to be elected twice is just mind-blowing), he seemed to be a rather decent fellow after all. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be super interesting and I think it is definitely 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 there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was actually a decent watch. The main reason why I got into this movie was because it really mirrored my own first marriage. Indeed, like the couple displayed in this movie, my marriage did last 20 years, it was a really toxic relationship and the divorce (which is still ongoing almost 2 years later) was a big mess as well so I could understand what these characters were going through. In general, I really have a hard time to care about people like Grace who refuses to let go a busted relationship like this one but, like my ex-wife, some people can’t think rationally after such a break-up and start to act, well, really weird. At least, she did seem to slowly recover afterwards which was rather hopeful (To be honest, I’m not so optimistic about my ex-wife though…). What was well done was that, even though Grace was portrayed as quite a basket case, it was also well displayed that Edward, with his withdrawn attitude, actually enabled her and her toxic behavior. Annette Bening also delivered another strong performance as Grace had to be attractive and smart but also rather unhinged and, yet, she had to make sure she didn’t completely alienate the audience with a character who was, as far as I was concerned, very often downright unlikeable. Bill Nighy was also fine but his character was just really decent and, therefore, not really interesting. Concerning Josh O'Connor, it was interesting to see this man who wanted to be supportive of both his parents but the movie didn’t focus enough on him so his character felt rather half-baked after all. Anyway, to conclude, I really had a personal connection with the material, I think it was well handled 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 strong reputation and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. During the last months, I have been focusing on movies from the 20’s but, to be honest, many of them were really obscure and, above all, not really good at all. Well, this movie was the very last one in this cycle and, fortunately, it turned out to be really amazing. I have to admit that the first 20 mins were actually rather disjointed and I did struggle to get a good grip on the damned thing at first. However, this seemingly convoluted structure might have enhanced the weird nature of this rather fascinating picture. Anyway, it will be a good excuse to revisit it in a few years. It might be also one of the most virulent anti-alcohol films I have seen but this movie went so much deeper than that though. Indeed, by now I have seen my share of tragic melodramas that they used to make back in those days but there was something really different about this one. Sure, the tone was pretty dark which was pretty neat but it went beyond that. There was something really poetic about this movie as well and the ending was pretty much pitch-perfect. It was visually also striking and, in this area, it was much more satisfying that most of the other movies I have seen from this time period. Concerning the acting, Victor Sjöström, who also directed the damned thing, really stood out playing David Holm, a rather wretched man but the arc of his story in this movie was just so spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, this movie really deserves its stellar reputation, it is a great classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but Bob Dylan has always been huge on my father side, including my father but also most of his siblings, so I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I did end up with some mixed feelings about the damned thing. I noticed that some critics were dismissive towards this movie because it was too much a generic biopic, an issue they already had with ‘Walk The Line’, also made by James Mangold exactly 20 years ago, but this aspect didn’t bother me though. Indeed, Bob Dylan was/still is one of the most fascinating musicians ever so it was cool to spend some time discovering the beginning of his career. What bothered me more was the fact that, even though Dylan was probably a genius, it doesn’t mean that his life was really fascinating (it wasn’t, as far as I was concerned). To make things worse, it seemed that the guy was a major douchebag who treated pretty much everyone around him as some disposable garbage. The fact that it was true or not doesn’t really matter, as a result, Dylan, as a person, was actually not really interesting after all. Still, his music, especially at the beginning of his career, was just mind-blowing and I shared the awe-inspired look that all the other characters had when he first played his mythical songs. Furthermore, even though Timothée Chalamet was probably not as good as he was in ‘Call Me by Your Name’, he still delivered a solid performance though. Above all, it was pretty impressive how he actually sang all these songs himself instead of going for some playback which would have been the safer option. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t blow me away, I still think it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Bob Dylan.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Sharon Stone, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have always been a huge fan of such adventure films and I have to admit that a part of me really wanted to like this movie, even if it was obviously a really cheap knock-off of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, arguably the best movie in this genre. Unfortunately, most of it didn’t work though. To start with, they went for such a messy introduction starting right away with some torture scene with no introduction whatsoever. Then, they switched directly to Allan Quatermain and Jesse Huston apparently going to the same city, however, you had to guess it, because themselves and what the hell they were actually doing was not introduced either. Seriously, it was pretty relentless, they kept jumping from one thing to another pretty much non-stop during the first 30 mins. However, even though it was pretty chaotic and borderline impossible to follow, I was actually more or less enjoying what was going on or maybe my love for the genre allowed me to give the makers some slack, at least, for a while. And, then, at some point, they finally settled down and the damned thing became easier to follow. Unfortunately, it didn’t become better with a slower tempo, I’m afraid. Indeed, the dialogues, full of supposedly clever one-liners, were just pathetic. At least, Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone were quite charismatic but there was not much they could do with such poorly developed characters. I mean, at some point, Jesse confessed to Quatermain that she was in love with him but you had no clue where these feelings actually came from. Anyway, to conclude, even though I love the genre, this movie was just too weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look after all.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. I already saw the remake with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis at some point but, to be honest, it was a while back and I don’t remember much about it. Well, this 1st version is usually considered as one of the better Disney live-features (before they became this massive entertainment juggernaut including Marvel and Star Wars among many things) but it doesn’t mean much. On top of that, I have never been a huge fan of the body swap genre, even if this movie is usually considered as one of the best in this genre. Eventually, what bothered me the most was how outdated the damned thing was nowadays. Indeed, Mrs Andrews AKA the Mother was basically a housewife stuck at home and her life was limited to doing endless chores, especially for her husband which was, in my opinion, really demeaning. The most annoying thing was that the way her life was depicted in this movie was supposed to be funny but I thought it was actually rather cringe-inducing. On the other hand, Annabel was such a pitch-perfect teenager portrayal though, probably one of the best I have ever seen, which was even more impressive coming from a film which was made around 50 years ago. The fact that Jodie Foster was really 13 years old when she shot this movie instead of a few years older which is very often the case in the genre also helped but the main reason was that Jodie Foster, before she became one of the best actresses of her generation, was actually a really talented child actress. Anyway, to conclude, even though I actually had a hard time to care about the damned thing, I have to admit that it was not bad though and it is worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. From the 3 directorial efforts Elizabeth Banks has churned out so far, well, I think it was the most satisfying one. Sure, if you hear the title and you think that it sounds like a stupid movie and above all, a waste of time, then this movie is not for you and you should probably skip it. As far as I was concerned, it was a really daft concept and Banks certainly did her best to deliver a seriously wacky movie. My favorite bit was probably the one with these paramedics which ended up with a really wild and insane chase with an ambulance and this coked-up bear. Did this movie completely work though? Well, even though I have to admit that Banks almost pulled it off, it wasn’t a complete success though. The main issue was that they kept throwing pretty much everything they could think off and, well, half of it was rather half-baked. For example, it was a good idea that Ray Liotta playing a major drug lord would spend almost the whole running time taking care of his grand-kid, that was funny. However, the whole sub-plot about his son played by Alden Ehrenreich who was depressed because his wife/ex/girlfriend/whatever passed away was neither interesting or entertaining enough. As a result, his relationship with his friend/dealer/colleague/whatever played by O'Shea Jackson Jr. was also rather underwhelming, even though both actors can be actually pretty good. However, their biggest misfire was to have these 2 very young kids doing some coke… Sure, somewhere in the world, you will have such young children doing hard drugs, that wasn’t the issue, the issue was that, in this case, it was supposed to be funny when it was probably one of the most cringe-inducing scenes I have ever seen. It now reminds me of a Dutch rom-com I saw during which a kid did swallow some Viagra by accident which was just so lame but this was actually even worse. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent B feature and I think it is actually worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

To be honest, since this movie got some rather poor reviews, I wasn’t expecting much but I have been following the MCU ever since ‘Iron Man’ was released so I was still eager to check this last instalment. Well, unfortunately, I would I have to agree as it was possibly the weakest MCU film I have seen so far. It’s too bad because the first movie starring a black Captain America could have been a huge event. The issue with Captain America is that, pretty much like DC’s Superman, the character himself is already actually pretty boring and, what was disheartening with this last movie, was that they managed to make this African-American version even more boring than the classic Caucasian version. To make it even worse, they gave him a completely bland supposedly wise-cracking sidekick who was so tedious obviously to make this Captain America slightly more charismatic than he actually was. Concerning the idea of going back to ‘The Incredible Hulk’ and bring back Samuel Sterns and Betty Ross, sure, why not? Unfortunately, the plot was just terribly generic and underwhelming. I mean, the Leader is/was supposed to be a super smart villain so the possibility were pretty much endless but then, he basically hypnotized random people so he could avenge himself which was probably one of the most predictable plots you could think of. Concerning the Red Hulk, they really put the character everywhere on the promotional material but, eventually, he only showed up during the last 20 mins and, to be honest, except for the color, he displayed exactly the same behavior as the classic green version so the character did feel rather pointless. Anyway, to conclude, I actually think I was rather generous with my rating here, I guess we shouldn’t expect so much from a super-hero flick (at least, not anymore) but, with such a groundbreaking main character, it could or should have been so much more awesome than this tepid end-result.