Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by David Lean and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. While watching this movie, it’s hard to imagine that David Lean would deliver ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’, his first great epic, only 3 years later, and, to be honest, I’m rather surprised that this movie turned out to be a box-office success when it was released in Great Britain. It’s not that it was bad, in fact, it was pretty neat to see such a great master like David Lean doing a comedy for the first time in his career, it’s just that I was never really impressed or dazzled by this movie. The main issue I had was that the whole thing felt rather disjointed. Indeed, who was actually the main character? The other thing that bothered me was the fact that they pushed their portrait of William Mossop too far my making him such a bumbling idiot. Sure, it was supposed to be funny, I get that, but, as far as I was concerned, it was rather odd that a bright and beautiful woman like Maggie Hobson would be interested in a guy who was almost retarded. At least, there is no doubt that I was once again seriously impressed by Charles Laughton who has definitely become one of my favorite actors, no less than that. Indeed, there was absolutely no redeeming qualities regarding this character and there was nothing really interesting about this guy either and, yet, Laughton managed to make him quite entertaining to behold, it was just quite masterful. Anyway, to conclude, even if I didn’t really care about this flick, I have to admit that it was still a decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Lean’s work. 

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 and it was apparently a big box-office success when it was released), I thought I might as well check it out. On top of that, when I was studying English in College, I read ‘Waverley’, another book written by Walter Scott but, to be honest, it was probably the most tedious book I had to read at the time. Still, I was always intrigued by this other story which was probably the most famous book written by Scott. Well, unfortunately, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing after all. It’s funny that this movie is described as an epic swashbuckling action flick when, in fact, most of the movie was about the characters having some rather tedious conversations. The fact that I saw it on the BBC without subtitles probably didn’t help though. Sure, I have to admit that there we some action scenes and I guess they were fairly impressive for a movie which was produced at the beginning of the 50’s. However, the most intriguing thing was the love triangle involving Ivanhoe, Rowena and Rebecca. Indeed, Joan Fontaine and Elizabeth Taylor were both super charismatic back in those days but, even though it made more sense that Ivanhoe would choose Rowena, Rebecca, a Jewish girl, was actually much more mysterious and interesting. So, it was a rather intriguing situation but you might wonder why it was introduced in the first place since they didn’t do anything really interesting with it. The fact that Ivanhoe was such a perfect righteous boring hero was also a major issue. Anyway, to conclude, even though the damned thing didn’t really impress me, I have to admit that it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Elizabeth Banks, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I have never watched the TV-show ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ but I did watch ‘Choudenshi Bioman’ even though, to be honest, it was never one of my favorite children TV-series when I was a kid. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be actually much more watchable than I expected, at least, during the first 30 mins. Indeed, they gave not one but two really unexpected and insane car crashes and the whole ‘Breakfast Club’ vibe was actually pretty neat. Unfortunately, this positive first impression didn’t last for very long, I’m afraid. The main issue was that it took them no less than 90 mins to finally become some freaking Power Rangers. Indeed, not only this movie lasting 2 hours was just way too long but, above all, it took them forever to finally get their damned suit on. Sure, I understand that it was an origin story, that they wanted to properly introduce this group of characters but, while the intention was fine, this approach just seriously backfired. The funny thing was that you don’t learn so much after all about them, instead, you see them getting involved over and over again in one of the most pathetic trainings I have ever seen. Eventually, it was pretty obvious that this movie was supposed to be the start of a new franchise (they even teased the upcoming addition of a Green Ranger) but I’m afraid this movie was not successful enough since no sequel was released afterwards. Anyway, to conclude, even though the beginning was promising, it turned out to pretty weak after all and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Jean-Luc Godard and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Even if it might not be one of the most famous movies directed by Godard, it did actually win the Golden Lion for the Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Well, once again, it turned out to be another seriously challenging movie from the French master. Fortunately, since it was the 3^rd movie I saw from this guy in a rather short period of time, it didn’t bother me so much this time and, in fact, I think I finally figured out what he was trying to do. Basically, you could compare it to the painting Art for example. Indeed, for centuries, they tried to deliver the most photo-realistic paintings possible but, at some point, they took their distance from this approach and the artists started to create some more and more abstract work. Well, it seems that Godard didn’t want to wait for so long and started, way before everyone else, to deliver some really abstract movies. However, in spite of what the French director might have thought, I’m not sure if movies can really work if you strip down so much of the narrative tissue. Anyway, the most striking thing with this movie was probably its sexuality though. Indeed, in spite of his reputation of being high-brow and hyper intellectual, I have noticed that Godard always have/had some very cute women and even young girls in his movies but, in this case, he pushed it even further though. Indeed, Maruschka Detmers, who was only slightly older than 20 years old and in her very first role, was displayed prominently naked (at least, Jacques Bonnaffé who played her romantic partner was very often naked as well) but I have to admit that she was not only quite gorgeous but also seriously charismatic. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have to admit that I didn’t really care much about the damned thing, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Jean-Luc Godard’s work. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Jean Renoir and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it’s only afterwards that I discovered that it was only Renoir’s 2^nd directorial effort. Back then, he was still making some silent movies and it was something quite ambitious for someone who just started to direct. Still, to be honest, I have to admit that I really struggled to care about the damned thing though and the main issue I had was that the damned thing was just so long. Seriously, there is no way that this story required almost 3 hrs of running time and I wonder if the book written by Emile Zola worked better. At least, there is no denying that Nana was indeed quite a character. Indeed, even though she was quite vulgar, not really gorgeous and had no real talent, yet, I could see why all these men would be attracted to her. Eventually, it was an interesting balancing act from Catherine Hessling who must have had a lot of fun with this character. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if I really cared about this character and the fact that the other characters were even less interesting probably didn’t help. That’s another thing that bothered me, the fact that the whole thing felt rather misogynistic. Indeed, if you would believe this movie, all this men were actually innocent as they were all under the spell of this evil devious woman. I wonder how this movie would have been received if it was released nowadays following the #Metoo movement. Anyway, to conclude, even if I think it was a minor effort from the French master, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jean Renoir’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by the Dardenne Brothers, I was really eager to check it out. Well, it was probably one of the strongest stories they came up with in a very long time. Unfortunately, even though the brothers usually have a steady hand, in this case, it felt rather disjointed, I’m afraid, and, right from the disorienting first scene, you might wonder if their approach was really the best way to handle this material. Indeed, even though the main character was quite fascinating, the lack of background around him was rather frustrating. The fact that the only Muslim adult he ever spoke to was this radical imam was also rather bewildering. Eventually, you might wonder why this young teenager would believe every single word this man would tell him and would doubt what everybody else would say. Of course, that’s how religious fundamentalism works but you never get a glimpse on how this poor guy actually got sucked into this. It was also intriguing how much effort the Belgian authorities seemed to take for such a troubled young man (apparently, they give a specific case worker for each of them which actually sounds too good to be true) but this aspect was also barely developed after all. Eventually, as far as I was concerned, the most surprising and interesting aspect of this movie was the blossoming relationship between Ahmed and Louise. Unfortunately, it came really late so it didn’t get much attention but I think it could or should have been the main focus in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have to admit that it was a minor effort from the Belgian masters, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Dardenne Brothers’s work. 

I have to admit that this movie was definitely not a priority, at least not for me, especially since I have Disney+, but it was my youngest daughter's birthday and she was eager to see it in the movie theater. First of all, I’m not sure how I felt about the whole thing regarding its visual aspect. I mean, it was not bad, especially such sea scenes in 3D in the movie theater are always pretty neat. However, it did involve a lot of CGI which made the whole thing look terribly fake. Furthermore, it didn't help that James Cameron with ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ definitely raised the expectations in this area to such a high level and this movie certainly didn't come near, I'm afraid. At least, there is no denying that Halle Bailey was just perfect to play the lead. Indeed, she was really charismatic and her singing was top-notch. Furthermore, since the story was taking place in the Caribbean like in the classic animated feature, it actually made sense that, at least, one of them would be black in this cute couple. Concerning the rest of the cast, Melissa McCarthy was a great choice to play Ursula and Javier Bardem was cool as well but he wasn’t really given enough to do. Concerning Jonah Hauer-King, I guess he was not bad but, to be honest, he didn’t really impress me after all and, eventually, the guy felt like a rather cheap version of Ryan Gosling. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, to be honest, I have never been a huge fan of the animated feature, in fact, it took me many years to appreciate it. Anyway, in spite of its popularity, I don’t think it is one of their strongest story and the fact that they added 50 mins of running time seriously didn’t help. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I think it was still a decent watch though but it is probably only worth a look if you really 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. Well, first of all, I have to admit that I had never heard of Louis Wain before and it is usually pretty neat to discover a new artist this way. However, in this case, to be honest, even if his cats were cute, I’m not sure if Wain really deserved such a biopic though. At least, there is no denying that the whole thing was visually pretty neat. On top of that, Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy had a solid chemistry together. I think it was also clever how they displayed within only a few scenes why they were meant to be together. It’s too bad that Foy’s character disappeared fairly quickly but, unfortunately, Wain was only married for a few years with his wife until she passed away. Eventually, instead of focusing on this lovely romantic relationship, they decided to focus instead on his erratic behavior which made sense as it was probably just as remarkable as his famous work on cats was. Still, eventually, what the hell was going on with Mr. Wain after all? That was probably the main issue with this movie. Indeed, they gave us pretty much anything going from borderline personality, ADHD, autism, schizophrenia,… but, instead of going deeper into the man, they kept showing how quirky he was which was supposed to be, I guess, entertaining but, as far as I was concerned, this approach didn’t really make me care about the man and what he went through. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Louis Wain’s work.