Reviews by johanlefourbe

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. Well, first of all, I was really impressed by the production value displayed in this movie. Seriously, visually speaking, it was easily one of the most lavish movies I have seen from this time period and it seemed be so far ahead of anything else released back then, at least, in this area. The other thing I enjoyed in this movie was to see Emil Jannings giving another stellar performance. Sure, the guy became later on a real Nazi f*ck but, even if he must have been awful in his private life, he was probably the best silent actor, no less than that, and he was once again quite spellbinding here. To be honest, he was lucky to play seemingly the only interesting character here as his Henry VIII was basically some kind of oversexed womanizer. The fact that they really made an effort to make him actually look like the English monarch was also appreciated (which was something rather frustrating when you watched Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing the same character in ‘The Tudors’). Unfortunately, pretty much else felt pretty flat though. Sure, there was the issue that I have seen by now so many versions of Henry VIII’s convoluted love life (I already mentioned ‘The Tudors’ before which is, in my opinion, the most definite version of this story) and their approach was not really interesting, I’m afraid. For example, they decided to reduce Anna Boleyn to an innocent victim but I think it terribly weakened her character. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is 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 it did receive some solid reviews and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I did like it, I think it was still missing something to become really amazing though. I don’t know what exactly, maybe it’s because the 70’s settings did have very little impact after all and that it could have easily taken place nowadays without changing anything about the story. Maybe I wish they managed to deliver the whole thing without including Nancy Wheeler who was the only character who was rather nasty. Indeed, it was one thing really refreshing about this movie, the fact that, except for Nancy, everybody was just nice and decent. Anyway, there is no denying that it was a really strong coming-of-age story, no doubt about it, and Abby Ryder Fortson was pretty much pitch-perfect here. Concerning Rachel McAdams, even though she did give a solid performance, I was wondering if she might have been miscast. I mean, by that time, she actually already had 2 kids of her own which, I have to admit it, didn’t expect, but I never thought she was really convincing as the mother of a teenager. Basically, in spite of her efforts, she still looked too much like a glamourous movie star and not like some average mother who was been through all this for more than a decade. Concerning the religious angle, it was also quite intriguing. Indeed, for someone who didn’t have an official religion and who even said that she didn’t believe in God, she did an awful lot of talking with him though. They also perfectly displayed that a free and lovely upbringing can also bring quite a lot of confusion. I was raised with as much as freedom as you can imagine, with indeed, no religion, and I turned out to be pretty messed up so I do have some experience in this matter. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it was still a really lovely movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but, since it was starring John Travolta and since I had this movie for years on my queue, I thought I might as well finally watch the damned thing. Well, even though it didn’t expect much from the start, it still turned out to be seriously lame though. Where should I start? First of all, in my opinion, car racing is rather dull but this dirt racing seemed even more pathetic but it wasn’t even the main issue here. Indeed, the whole thing was just so cheap and, above all, so flat. Indeed, the plot was also really generic and completely predictable and the fact that it was all done and wrapped up in 80 mins was also another bad sign. Concerning John Travolta, even with such trash, the guy was still charismatic but it was pretty much the only thing he gave here and his performance was just really weak. Concerning Becca, I was wondering who was this really charismatic actress who looked like Shania Twain and it’s only when the movie was over that I discovered that it was actually Shania Twain herself. Well, I’m glad she was involved because she was really lovely but, to be honest, it seemed to be a rather weird career move to show up in a cheap flick like this one that very little people will watch after all. At least, you could say this movie did finally procure some kind of reunions of the Vega brothers but, since Travolta and Madsen were both rather pathetic, even the Tarantino fans won’t be pleased, I’m afraid. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have to admit that the damned thing was rather harmless, it was still a big waste of time and you should probably avoid it. 

Pretty much like with 'A Close Shave', ‘The Wrong Trousers’ and 'A Grand Day Out', I actually watched this movie for the first time in the movie theater which was a total blast but, contrary to these other shorts, I don’t have it on DVD which is a real pity. Indeed, it would be really great to watch it again at some point after all these years. Anyway, even though I always wish to see Nick Park working with some other characters than the iconic Wallace and Gromit, his attempts were not great though (see ‘Chicken Run’ and ‘Early Man’). This short was the exception though. I think it also displayed that his stuff actually works much better with such small sketches than with a full-length feature format but that’s a personal opinion. Anyway, the damned thing was just so well made and completely hilarious and it’s by far the best thing Nick Park has ever delivered which didn’t involve W & G. 

Pretty much like with 'A Close Shave' and ‘The Wrong Trousers’, I actually watched this movie for the first time in the movie theater which was a total blast and I do have it as well on DVD. So, I do have seen it couple of times, even many times, and, yet, it has been a while and I actually have a hard time to remember it in details so I guess I should re-watch it at some point. Anyway, that’s where it all started for Wallace and Gromit. Sure. the clay-motion might seem crude compared to their latter features (you have to keep in mind that Nick Park did the whole thing pretty much on his own at the time) but there is no denying that these characters were pure gold from the start. The other thing I really loved about this first short was that, from a narrative point of view, it still clearly stands out from their other movies and, only therefore, it did get some extra points from me. Anyway, I have a really weak spot for the damned thing. 

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 was actually a really obscure directorial effort from DeMille and, to be honest, it wasn’t really good, I’m afraid. The fact that the copy I saw was of a rather poor quality probably didn’t help but, as far as I was concerned, it was a rather typical romantic melodrama, a genre that seemed to be really popular at the time. In this case, I was rather amazed how convoluted the damned thing was. I mean, I have seen my share of romantic tales but it was probably one of the weirdest love triangles I have seen so far. Indeed, Marian Ramsay was more or less cheating with a deposed king instead of some average guy. The weird thing was how she was actually flirting with this guy so publicly. At some point, I thought this Jaromir was some kind of con artist who was trying to trick her husband into some fake wheat deal but it would be giving this movie too much credit. Instead, to get rid off the guy, Michael Ramsay actually broke a (real) wheat deal with the government of the country of this deposed king with the condition that they would give him back his throne. So, like I said, it was all pretty convoluted… To make the whole thing even more random, they had a daughter who was also involved in her own love story. In her case, it was at first weird and even cringe-inducing to see a 17 year-old girl chasing a guy who was probably in his 40’s but  I’m afraid it’s inherent to the time period. Another completely random scene was when this girl tried to explain something to her lover and they switched the scenery to the prehistoric age as if it would make her argument more potent this way. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was rather forgettable, I guess it might still be worth a look, at least, if you like the genre or if you are interested in Cecil B. DeMille’s work. 

Pretty much like with 'A Close Shave', I actually watched this movie for the first time in the movie theater which was a total blast and I do have it as well on DVD. So, I do have seen it couple of times, even many times, and, yet, it has been a while and I actually have a hard time to remember it in details so I guess I should re-watch it at some point. However, in my opinion, I think it is actually the best Wallace and Gromit feature or, at least, it is my favorite one. Indeed, it was with this movie that Nick Park did set most of the trademarks that would be running through all this franchise. Sure, they might have improved the clay-motion technique afterwards but, after all these years, this short still looks pretty awesome though and it is above all so damned entertaining.

It has been ages since I saw this short feature, to be honest, I have to admit that I don't remember much about it and maybe I should check it out again at some point. The other reason I forgot most of it was probably due to the fact that, after 'The Wrong Trousers', all the W & G features followed the same pattern and this one was not different, at least, not different enough. Still, there is no denying that the animation was gorgeous and awesome to look at but, at this point, I wouldn't expect less from Aardman and their best director. Eventually, it would take Nick Park 10 more years to finally come up with a new feature and it would take 6 more years finally see these iconic characters again. Anyway, to conclude, even though I wish Nick Park would manage to come up with something else to do for these guys, the damned thing was still terribly entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.