Reviews by johanlefourbe

I have to admit I had never heard of this movie but since it seems to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, I made a mistake, I didn’t know this movie was originally in black-and-white and I saw instead a colorized version on YouTube. Unfortunately, the colorization was just awful, especially at the beginning, so you should definitely check the original black-and-white version instead. Concerning the movie itself, it was pretty good but, to be honest, it was so distracting how similar ‘Titanic’ was similar to this movie. Eventually, I have to admit I have never been a huge fan of this massive classic but, at least, I always thought that it was an accurate depiction of this tragedy. Well, suddenly, I discovered that, 40 years before, there was already a super accurate movie about these events, with a fraction of the same budget and with no CGI available. Sure, James Cameron did admit that this movie was an ‘inspiration’ but I think it went much further than that though. Indeed, there were at least 5 or 6 ‘iconic’ scenes from Cameron’s classic which were clearly lifted from this movie and, as far as I’m concerned, his movie was basically a remake to which he added a rather cheesy and unnecessary love story. In this case, they went for a much more documentary-like approach with no main characters or bad guys involved and this approach was so much more satisfying. Still, even though I did appreciate the work done, I’m still not sure if it is such a fascinating story though. Anyway, to conclude, I’m rather amazed that this movie doesn’t get more credit, it is rightfully considered the best movie about the Titanic tragedy and it is definitely worth a look. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by David O. Russell, I was really eager to check it out. I have noticed that this movie didn’t get much love when it was released and, well, to be honest, I would have to agree with the critics on this one. I mean, it’s not that it was bad, it was probably Russell’s most ambitious project so far, the whole thing was visually pretty neat and there was an impressive cast involved. I guess the main issue was with the writing. Indeed, the beginning scenes were definitely promising but it seems that Russel kept indulging himself with some narrative digressions which constantly dragged down the whole thing. Sure, I get that it was convoluted on purpose but I’m afraid this approach did backfire after all. I mean, you had many WWI veterans struggling to fit in the US society, several romances, a couple of murders and a fascist plot to overthrow the US government. And I shouldn’t forget that, in the middle of all this, the trio of main characters did get indeed to Amsterdam at some point but, in my opinion, it had not enough impact on the story and I think it could have been actually easily removed. Anyway, it was a lot to digest, some of it was fairly interesting but, to be honest, none of it was really dazzling, I’m afraid. In fact, even the star-studded cast started to bother me at some point. Indeed, instead of focusing on the main characters, every 5 minutes, you had a famous actor showing up to play a very minor character for maybe 5 mins and then disappear completely which was just so distracting. As a result, it is rather tricky to judge the acting since everyone involved was given too little to do, except maybe Christian Bale who had fun with his character but he also had slightly more running time than everyone else. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing never really worked, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in David O. Russell’s work. 

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since this sequel was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I actually saw the first instalment in the movie theater because my wife really loved the trailer at the time but, to be honest, I barely remember the damned thing except for the fact that it didn’t really impress me. Well, as expected, this sequel turned out to be pretty weak. Sure, as usual with Illumination, the animation was fine but the writing was just so lazy. Indeed, apparently, they couldn’t come up with one story and, instead, they went for 3 different plotlines which converged towards the end. Well, even though, on paper, there might be nothing wrong with this approach, the end-result was just so disjointed and, above all, barely entertaining. I have to admit that I was curious to see (or hear would be a better word) Harrison Ford in his first animated feature and he was indeed a good choice for this character but I’m afraid this movie, being the sequel of a third-rate animated franchise, was rather symptomatic of Ford’s current career status. Eventually, I still think that the idea of showing that pets have a whole secret life that we don’t know anything about was maybe generic but it could have be entertaining. However, and that’s the whole issue with this franchise, instead of simply showing the everyday lives of these pets, they keep getting them involved in some far-fetched scenarios (in this case, not one but even three of them) and the end-result was probably even more underwhelming the second time around. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have to admit that it might be fairly enjoyable for young children, I really didn’t care much about the damned thing and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you need to entertain some kids. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure to what to expect from this flick but since it was starring [Link removed - login to see] and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be an intriguing movie, that’s for sure. Indeed, even though the tone was fairly well established, the whole thing was pretty dark, the genre they were going for was much more unclear. However, it was done on purpose and I think it was actually quite clever. Indeed, it made the whole thing quite unpredictable and I kept wondering where they were going with all that. Eventually, its sheer randomness also had its downside and I’m afraid the end-result didn’t completely add up. It mostly had to do with the fact that none of the characters was developed whatsoever, even the main character. Sure, this way, they could keep a cloud of mystery around all these rather weird characters but it turned out to be after all an artificial gimmick and I wish they tried to explain slightly more their behavior and actions. For example, how could you explain that Anna would put up with this nasty behavior? Why did she stick around? In a similar fashion, even though Sensei AKA Leslie’s macho misogynist approach was obviously toxic, somehow, it seems that it still allowed Casey to have more confidence after all which was a rather questionable and even bewildering narrative choice. Finally, even though it might seem neat that Casey and Anna would take over the dojo at the end, it seems rather unlikely that the dojo’s students would inherit it automatically if the owner would suddenly pass away. Anyway, to conclude, even if not everything did make sense, with this mix of various genres and its unpredictability, the damned thing was still really interesting to behold 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. To be honest, when I noticed on IMDb that this movie was more than 3 hours, I was actually rather apprehensive to see a movie which seemed to be not much more than a daft comedy lasting for so long. Well, eventually, I wonder what it is listed with such a long running time since the only version(s) that you can watch are much shorter (the one I saw was around 150 mins). Anyway, on paper, there is no way that such a silly comedy with a very thin plot and lasting for way too long should interest me and, yet, I have to admit I did enjoy the damned thing after all. I mean, there is nothing much to it, it's about a group of barely developed characters finding out that there might be some kind of treasure hidden in some park and, for the rest of the movie, you get see to see them racing each other to get there first. How they managed to deliver 150 mins of running time which such a flimsy concept is quite extraordinary but it was even more impressive that the end-result was actually entertaining. Eventually, even though the die-hard fans might argue otherwise, I think that’s actually the strength of this movie, the fact that nobody involved took it seriously at all so there was nothing pretentious about the whole endeavor, just some plain old fun. Finally, one of the major points or goals with this movie was to include as many ‘famous’ American comedians as possible but, if you are not familiar with who was famous back then in the 60’s, this whole aspect will be pretty much lost on you (I think I managed to spot only 3 or 4 actors). Anyway, to conclude, even if I don’t think it was really amazing, I have to admit that it is actually an entertaining comedy 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 the last directorial effort by Sam Peckinpah, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, while watching the damned thing, I have to admit that I was constantly scratching my head though. Seriously, from the beginning until the very end, the whole thing didn’t seem to make much sense. Apparently, this movie was supposed to be Sam Peckinpah's big comeback but he actually didn’t like the novel it was based on, he didn’t like screenplay either and the editing was botched by the producers who chose not to involve Peckinpah in the process. Eventually, before writing this review, I wondered if Roger Ebert did see it and, well, apparently, he shared my feelings. In fact, he even hated the damned thing and I can’t say I blame him. For example, you might wonder what was the point of all the nudity involved. Did it really have any added value or connection at all with this spying business?  There was also an interesting cast involved (Rutger Hauer, John Hurt, Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, Chris Sarandon, Burt Lancaster), they did what they could with this material and I guess there was some kind of sadistic fun to see them swimming and trying desperately not to drown in this mess. Indeed, the damned thing was definitely a mess and, unfortunately, not on purpose. Yet, somehow, I do think that the weird editing and directing choices did enhance the whole paranoid mood which did work for such a spy conspiracy thriller. Eventually, it makes me almost want to read Robert Ludlum's book to see if it at least made more sense than this film did. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating was probably too generous here but I guess it might still be worth a look but probably only if you are really interested in [Link removed - login to see]’s work.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by David Cronenberg, I was quite eager to check it out. On top of that, not only it was almost a decade since Cronenberg had delivered a new directorial effort but, after more than 20 years, he was also going back to the body-horror genre, the genre that launched his career back in the 80’s. Well, I was expecting something weird and gross and I was certainly not disappointed. In my case, somehow, the most unsettling thing was probably actually this breakfast eating chair but I have to admit that the whole concept of people getting aroused while getting cut or cutting other people was definitely not my thing either. And, yet, David Cronenberg delivered once again a rather fascinating vision of the future, a vision which was quite scary and, yet, for some reasons, still strangely attractive somehow. Unfortunately, even though the damned thing was always intriguing, to be honest, I can’t say it really blew me away though. The first thing that bothered me was the lack of context. Indeed, how did we get there? How long was this organic evolution already going on? Was there anything else noteworthy going on in the world? A bigger issue was probably the fact that there were too many characters involved. Indeed, the characters, especially the one played by Léa Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen, were really interesting but, instead of developing them, they kept adding some other characters to the mix instead which was, in my opinion, a mistake. Eventually, you get a succession of characters saying and doing some weird things but I think it would have much more satisfying if, instead, they would have gone deeper in what a few of them were actually feeling and thinking. As a result, you don’t get to really know any of them and the biggest victim was probably Kristen Stewart who did end-up with a rather half-baked character. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t a real home-run, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Cronenberg’s work.