Reviews by johanlefourbe

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. To be honest,  during the last 20 years, it has become quite a chore to watch Nicolas Cage’s movies because you’re never sure if you will get yet another lame and completely forgettable action flick or another cult-classic if you are really lucky. Well, sure, this movie was nothing really groundbreaking but I thought it was not bad, at least, I have seen much worse with Cage involved. Basically, it was a minimalistic movie with only 2 characters, a genre I definitely have a weak spot for, with a dash of ‘Collateral’ which is not the worst inspiration but it did make the whole thing slightly derivative. Above all, Nicolas Cage gave here one of his typical unhinged performances and the guy was just a real riot and so entertaining to behold. Concerning Joel Kinnaman, I do have a weak for this actor but, in contrary to Cage, he was stuck playing the ‘straight’ guy so the challenge was actually bigger for him but, at the end, his character was completely forgettable, I'm afraid. Concerning the story itself, to be honest, I’m not sure if it really held up though. I mean, did these guy know each other after all or not? The character played by Cage did tell his tale at some point but I guess I wasn’t really paying attention at the time (until this point, it wasn't exactly really a deep movie which required much of my energy or mind). Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Nicolas Cage’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Cecil B. DeMille and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it is only afterwards that I discovered that this movie was considered as possibly the worst one DeMille had delivered in his career and I have to agree that it wasn’t really good. Basically, the whole thing was just too disjointed. Seriously, who was actually the main character in this tale and you might wonder if this movie really required some full-blown fantasy showing some decadent bacchanal in the Roman era but my guess is that it was maybe DeMille’s favorite part. And, yet, some ideas were not bad though. Indeed, it was interesting how reckless, selfish and even rather unlikeable Lydia Thorne was and it was actually quite satisfying to see her ending up in jail, in spite of all the wealth she had. Back then, many movies were focusing on the rich and fortunate and it was refreshing to see a movie showing how actually vapid this lifestyle was. Unfortunately, it didn’t last for long though and the way she found redemption after spending a few years in jail was rather preposterous. Indeed, if you thought that the fantasy scenes in Rome were unrealistic, these scenes taking place in prison were even worse as if this woman went to some nice friendly summer camp and came back as a complete new person. Unfortunately, we all know that, in most cases, going to jail would be actually a dreadful, if not even seriously traumatic experience. Another issue was the really convoluted love story between Lydia Thorne and Daniel O'Bannon. I mean, wasn’t it a major conflict of interest that this District Attorney would be prosecuting her case when they were actually acquainted? Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look but probably only if you are really interested in Cecil B. DeMille’s work.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it did receive some solid reviews, I thought I might as well check it out. After watching the trailer, I was slightly concerned as it seemed to be about a creepy and abusive relationship but, fortunately, this trailer turned out to be misleading after all. Indeed, what they failed to display in the trailer and actually displayed right away at the beginning of this movie was the fact that Romy did desire some kind of SM sexual relationship way before she started this affair which completely changed the way I perceived her character and the one played by Harris Dickinson. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, to be honest, no matter the efforts of the brilliant people involved, it turned out to be a rather generic love affair between an older married woman and some hot young guy after all. However, the damned thing still worked though mostly thanks to some pitch-perfect performances by Nicole Kidman but also by Harris Dickinson. Indeed, what made their relationship so special was not really the kinky stuff but how they had such a deep connection right from the moment they met each other for the very first time. Indeed, within seconds, it seemed that they completely understood each other which was rather overwhelming for Romy who couldn’t even understand herself so to experience something like this with another human being was actually quite life shattering. Another interesting thing with this movie was that it displayed the reason why I dislike most people in general. Indeed, we basically all try to look and sound the same which is, for me, just so terribly underwhelming. In fact, like Romy, we all have something unique which might be dark/weird/whatever but we should lean much more in what makes us unique. Unfortunately, everybody tries to be the same and not only it makes us just terribly homogeneous and boring but also terribly frustrated like Romy was for all these years. Reading all this, it might seem that this movie was really fascinating but, even though Kidman and Dickinson were indeed quite mesmerizing to behold, the rest of the movie was actually rather pedestrian. On top of that, the weird happy ending which allowed Romy to keep her marriage intact was hardly satisfying and/or convincing. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. I have to admit that I didn’t remember anything about it and, to be honest, I was wondering if I actually ever saw it before. Anyway, even though I know Claude Sautet is regarded as a major director in France, I’m not familiar at all with his work (I have actually seen only 2 of his movies, including this one) but the guy really blew me away here. I can imagine that, even if I did watch it when I was a teenager, there is no way I could really feel a connection with the damned thing at the time. Basically, it’s a fascinating character study and a mesmerizing love story. Sure, there was actually no ‘consummation’ of this love but it was actually a really bold move and it made the whole thing stands out the countless love stories that you can find out there. Another tricky thing was to make sure that Stéphane (probably one of the best performances by Daniel Auteuil) didn’t become a completely unlikeable sociopath. Sure, there was something off about the guy and many characters in the movie itself expressed that they didn’t like him and he did remain an enigma until the end but the point of the movie was not to make us like him but to show him as he is. The fact that a gorgeous woman like Camille could fall in love with him like this shows his appeal, at least, to some of us. By the way, Emmanuelle Béart never looked more beautiful than in this film and I can imagine that it can be frustrating for some viewers to see a guy dumping her like this, especially after she basically dropped everything just to be with him. That’s the other fascinating thing about this movie, it is actually possible that Stéphane actually did love her, maybe he just loved the tension that there was between them and he didn’t want to ruin it or change this dynamic but we’ll never know for sure. Anyway, to conclude, even if it might seem a little bit forgotten nowadays, I really loved the damned thing 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 was starring Al Pacino and since it was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it was a really interesting story with tons of potential, to be honest, the movie itself was not really good though. I have to admit that I wasn’t really familiar with this case and the first 30 mins were just seriously disjointed. I also think it was a mistake to put so much attention on Linda Kenney Baden, Phil Spector’s lawyer. I mean, I get it, like the audience, Baden at first was convinced that Spector was either guilty or doomed to be condemned but, slowly, she came to realize that he probably didn’t do it after all and this approach was pretty obvious. However, who cares that she was suffering of pneumonia through seemingly the whole trial? Furthermore, the person of interest in this case was Phil Spector himself, not his freaking lawyer. Anyway, the whole idea was to show that Phil Spector, from their perspective, probably didn’t shoot the poor woman and that it was, after all, a tragic incident and it was an interesting approach because it seemed to be common knowledge that Spector was guilty. On the other hand, it was dealing with a reclusive guy with an erratic behavior who was either high or drunk maybe half of the time and owned dozens of firearms. I mean, even if it was an accident, it was probably bound to happen at some time. Eventually, this movie was also another example how rigged and flawed the US judicial system is. Basically, no matter the evidence or lack of it, the American people and the jury thought that Spector was guilty even before the trial started because of his (probably deserved) terrible reputation. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though but, with such material, it could have been so much better though. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was rather hard to judge this movie. It’s not that it was Shyamalan’s worst movie (it was definitely not one of his best though) but it was probably his nastiest so far, at least, as far as I was concerned. The fact that I went myself on the very same day through a very traumatic experience probably didn’t help and maybe this movie was not the greatest choice from my side. Still, seriously, what’s the point of imagining that the Apocalypse will actually take place and that some complete random act of violence might prevent it? There is no way that such thing might happen so why entertain the idea and imagine if it would be possible? In this case, why not upping the stakes and have these poor guys actually raping their little girl and chopping her head off afterwards for good measure? I guess it’s the dark side of movies or even creativity in general. Indeed, with your imagination, you can create the most fantastical things ever but you can also explore some really messed up ideas as well as it was displayed in this movie. And, yet, the fact that it did shake me up like it did shows that it was working somehow. At least, it was not as weird and laughable as ‘The Happening’ was so I guess you might say that Shyamalan might be improving (only somewhat though…). Anyway, to conclude, even if this kind of movies is really not my thing, I have to admit that it was well made and I guess it might be worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Ernst Lubitsch and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Last week, I saw ‘Anna Boleyn’ also directed by Lubitsch and I was really neat how lavish this movie was for a movie produced in the 20’s. Well, this time, he brought us back to Ancient Egypt and the production value was once again really impressive. Unfortunately, even though the movie was quite strong visually speaking, I still struggled to care about the rest of it though. Above all, the story was rather disjointed, especially during the first 30 mins. It seems that they were also missing some reels so many scenes were replaced with some stills and intertitle cards which certainly didn’t help. Furthermore, back then, they apparently really loved such convoluted melodramas (the fact that it did take place in Egypt didn’t really matter) but, to be honest, it has never been really my cup of tea. When the movie started, I was pleased to see that the great Emil Jannings would be playing the Pharao. However, even though there was nothing really wrong with his performance, to be honest, he didn’t really dazzle me this time around but I can guess you can’t expect an actor to deliver the performance of a lifetime each time around. Concerning Harry Liedtke, it was even worse though as the guy was, in my opinion, just not charismatic enough to play the lead. At least, on the other hand, Dagny Servaes was really lovely. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work for me, it was still a decent watch and I think 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 available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, when I heard that Neill Blomkamp was next coming up with a video game adaptation, I thought it sounded actually rather depressing. I mean, when ‘District 9’ came out, he was hailed as the next-best-thing (I have to admit that I was also super hyped as well) but this movie was not exactly what I had in mind for him. And yet, the damned thing was not so bad after all. First of all, when I moved into my new apartment, my son-in-law brought a Playstation 4 and, even though I did buy a bunch of games, the only one I played extensively so far has been ‘Gran Turismo’. The funny thing is that I actually wanted to play ‘Need For Speed’ but my son-in-law only had this game. So, I have to admit that it was actually pretty cool to see a gamer like me managing to become a real car racer and the fact that it was a true story was pretty insane. The other cool and surreal thing was that I’m actually from Le Mans so, the fact that they ended up at this legendary track was pretty cool (too bad they didn’t manage to shoot there but I guess you can’t have everything). Concerning the rest of the movie, sure, it was all fairly generic and predictable and if you would expect Blomkamp to take some wild swings at the genre, well, I’m afraid you will be terribly disappointed. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing ground-breaking whatsoever, I have to admit it was actually a decent watch and it is worth a look but probably only if you really care about the subject matter. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching it in the movie theater. Of course, when I heard that Barry Jenkins would be helming this prequel, like everybody else, I became intrigued but, to be honest, after watching the trailer, I didn’t care much about the damned thing. First of all, I have to admit that it was pretty cool to go back to Africa because I just went there on holidays only a few weeks ago. Anyway, no matter what you think about these movies, from a technical point of view, it is incredible how realistic and convincing the animals were. On the other hand, it is still weird to see such photo-realistic lions suddenly speaking or even singing (by the way, I didn’t care much for these songs and, as far as I was concerned, they could have been removed). In spite all this, eventually, even if it was nothing mind-blowing, I guess it was still watchable though and I think it was probably better than ‘The Lion King’ (the 2019 version, even if I have to admit that I don’t remember much about it though). Basically, the way Mufasa became King was actually more compelling than how Simba got to be in this spot so, automatically, it made the whole thing more compelling, at least, to me. It was also interesting to see how closed Mufasa and Taka AKA Scar used to be when they were kids. Another thing that I did appreciate was the fact that, in contrary to ‘Wicked’ for example which was just way too long, they managed to wrap this up in less than 2hrs. Anyway, to conclude, even if I will probably forget most about it within a few days, it was not bad and I guess it is worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since I have a weak spot for Carmen Ejogo and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, apparently, this movie was a remake from a movie made in the 70's which I never heard of but Whitney Houston was apparently a huge fan and she had been trying to make this remake for more than a decade. She would eventually passed away during the post-production so I'm not even sure if she did see the end-result after all. This movie was also noteworthy because it was starring Jordin Sparks, the youngest winner of American Idol, who played the main character. The fact that I only vaguely remembered her name before watching this movie shows that winning at this singing competition won't necessarily make you a huge star afterwards. Anyway, coming back on the movie itself, well, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. First of all, it was a rather weird move to have to the two best singers (Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks) being either reluctant to sing or even against singing at all. As a result, they focused mostly on Carmen Ejogo's character and she probably gave the best (or only good?) performance in this movie while she wasn't even the main character (Otherwise, the title would have been 'Sister'). Another thing that bothered was me that the damned thing was just too long. I noticed that it was about 30 mins longer than the original version and I'm pretty sure this extra time was not necessary, especially since the plot was just so generic and predictable. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be rather boring and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you really like the genre.