Reviews by johanlefourbe

First of all, it’s really too bad I didn’t manage to watch first ‘Pather Panchali’ and ‘Aparajito’ before watching this movie. I did try to get my hands on these 2 movies but I didn’t succeed. Eventually, when I gave up and watched the damned thing, at the end, on the Belgian channel I actually recorded this movie, there was a commercial advertising that these movies were actually available on their streaming platform but, by then, they were already gone. Anyway, it is still a movie that you can watch as a stand-alone. Above all, it was really neat to finally discover Satyajit Ray’s work and I really enjoyed the mood, at least, at first. Indeed, it was so refreshing to see a main character who was poor, who even had nothing but who still seemed to be quite happy and even cheerful. Basically, we have been so conditioned to think that, if we can’t buy everything we desire, we will feel automatically miserable and I loved how this movie really challenged this way of thinking. When he got married, the movie became even better. Sure, their union was really unlikely and, yet, they made such a sweet couple. Indeed, even if they had nothing, they still felt a deep connection and I thought that Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore had a great chemistry (even if Tagore was only 14 years old at the time which was slightly creepy). Eventually, it’s too bad that they kind of lost me when Aparnad died and, to be honest, I didn’t care much for this dramatic turn of events. Basically, in my opinion, it really broke the mood of this movie. Indeed, after that, the main character was constantly roaming with a really grim and depressed demeanor which was hardly rewarding for the viewers, at least, as far as I was concerned. Of course, he was eventually reunited with his son but he was still only a shadow of himself and I thought it was rather frustrating, especially compared to the rest of the movie which was much more compelling. Anyway, to conclude, even it I wasn’t completely sold, it was a really interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Satyajit Ray’s work.

A few months ago, I have noticed that there were a few Buster Keaton movies included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list so I decided to check them out since they were all available on YouTube but, apparently, for some reasons, I actually missed out on this one. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good, even probably one of my favorite movies starring Buster Keaton. Indeed, it was slightly less random than his usual work, even if the monkey still showed up pretty much from nowhere. However, I have to admit that this little monkey was actually pretty awesome though. On top of that, it was by far Keaton’s most romantic feature, at least, among the movies he has made that I have seen so far. As a result, of course, the jokes and stunts were still the main focus but, in my opinion, Keaton’s character was actually very well balanced. Indeed, I don’t think he was a complete loser. Sure, he was seriously clumsy, even pretty much a walking disaster but he was also so much more charismatic than all the other guys that tried to hook up with the character played by the charming Marceline Day. Eventually, I wasn’t so surprised that she would fall for him. And yet, even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with this movie and I mostly enjoyed it, to be honest, I have to admit that it never grabbed me though but it’s usually the case with Keaton’s movies. It’s so weird because I’m actually a huge fan of Chaplin’s silent comedies. Maybe it’s because I grew up with Chaplin’s work while I discovered Keaton’s work much later on as a grown-up. Anyway, to conclude, it was a solid vintage silent comedy 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 since the trailers looked pretty cool, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it was rather poorly received by the critics and even though it will probably be a flop at the box-office, I thought the damned thing turned out to be actually terribly fun. First of all, it was just so refreshing to see an action flick which had no link with some super-heroes or some other huge franchise. Of course, with David Leitch in the director’s chair, the action scenes, especially the fighting scenes, were pretty badass but I was above all sold by the wacky tone. Furthermore, even though there were many characters involved, I was rather impressed by the fact that almost all of them actually worked pretty well. The only exception was probably Joey King’s character. I don’t blame King herself, she wasn’t bad at all and I understand what they were trying to do with this young girl but this character just didn’t really work or, at least, I didn’t care much about her. By the way, it’s only afterwards that I noticed that Logan Lerman was actually involved in this movie. Eventually, their biggest asset was Brad Pitt though. Indeed, he managed to find a pitch-perfect tone and Pitt really found a tricky balance for this character. Basically, even if the guy tried to avoid violence as much as possible, he was never a complete loser though. Anyway, his interactions with the other characters were most of time just so much fun. All in all, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was still a really entertaining flick and I think 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 there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. When I was a kid, I really loved Laurel and Hardy but I have to admit that, for a couple of decades, I hadn’t watch any of their movies. However, about 6 months ago, after all these years, I finally saw once again one of their movies, the classic ‘Sons of the Desert’, and, to be honest, I think their antics were actually much more enjoyable when I was a kid. Still, there is no denying that they were one of the greatest comedy duos ever so it was pretty neat to see a biographical movie focusing on them. However, even if this movie was fairly well received when it was released, to be honest, it didn’t really grab me though. The tricky thing with such biographical movies dealing with a specific time period is that you might wonder if the chosen time period was really so interesting. I mean, the intro was fine and both sides were actually fairly well developed but, then, they completely skipped how these two guys got back together after their falling out. Then, focusing on their tour in Great Britain was not a bad idea but, for too long, not much or not enough was actually going on. Eventually, it was only when they had their argument towards the end that this tale started to get really intriguing. Still, there is no denying that Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly were really good, especially Coogan whose resemblance with Stan Laurel was just uncanny. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t completely sold, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this hilarious comedy duo. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I was quite eager to check it out. I have to admit that I had never heard of the Aran islands before but it definitely didn’t seem to be the most welcoming place to live. On the other hand, I already saw a couple of movies directed by Robert J. Flaherty, especially the impressive ‘Nanook of the North’. Eventually, the guy was rightfully considered as the precursor of the modern documentaries, even if there was always something fake in pretty much all his movies. For example, in this case, even though the shark hunting was quite spectacular, it was apparently something they haven’t done for many years, even decades. However, there was one thing that wasn’t fake and it was the sea itself. Indeed, I can’t remember the last time I saw such incredible sea footage showing how the sea can be and, apparently, always is raging at these remote Irish islands. Especially at the beginning, you get to see this family of fishermen going back and forth trying to retrieve some net and this scene was just so weird and yet quite mesmerizing at the same time. It’s too bad the copy I saw on YouTube was pretty weak (on the other hand, I should have maybe lower my expectations since this movie is almost 100 years old). However, even so, the damned thing was still visually quite impressive. To be honest, you don’t get the opportunity to really get to know the people involved in this movie but it was rather impressive how cheerful and seemingly happy they seemed to be. Anyway, to conclude, as usual with Flaherty, I really enjoyed this vintage documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.