Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since this movie is included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, it didn’t turn out to be an easy watch after all. Indeed, even if it was supposed to be a ‘restored’ version, it was probably one of the nastiest versions I have seen on YouTube so far. Furthermore, for some long stretches, nothing much really happened after all. I mean, basically, it is a very simple story and you might wonder if it really needed almost 2 hrs of running time but Erich von Stroheim has always been rather notorious for overindulging himself (that some people would love to watch a 8 hrs version of ‘Greed’ remains rather bewildering to me). However, there is no doubt that von Stroheim was basically born to play such characters, even if he was probably too old to play this character (I was not surprised to find out that Maude George, who played his mother in this movie, was actually three years younger than him). On top of that, I have to admit that I was actually really caught by surprise by the ending. Indeed, even though most of the movie was really romantic, there were 2 scenes that really stood out. First of all, even though Nicky seemed to be head over heels for Mitzy, he still went to a brothel spending hours with countless prostitutes which wasn’t exactly what you would expect from such a romantic feature. However, it actually did fit the character after all. Even more surprising was the ending though. Indeed, I was so sure that Nicky would dump Cecilia to end up with Mitzi but, no, he actually went for the money which was so dark and cynical but that’s actually how people worked (and probably still do) and it was such a strong ending. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely work, it was still a decent watch 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 there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I didn’t know much about Ludwig van Beethoven so it was definitely pretty neat to see a movie focusing on this great musical genius. Unfortunately, the movie itself was not really amazing though. Indeed, instead of focusing on Beethoven himself, they told the story from the point of view of Anna Holtz, a woman who helped with copying his Ninth Symphony. I won’t blame Diane Kruger, she was lovely as usual and she did what she could with the material but her character was just not interesting enough (the fact that Beethoven didn’t work at all with a woman as a copyist back then certainly didn’t help). There was even a really pathetic and unnecessary subplot involving Hanna and her lover, some architect called Martin Bauer. Still, there is no doubt that Beethoven was a fascinating character, some kind of rock star of the classical music, and Ed Harris delivered here another strong performance. Eventually, the best scene was when the guy got to play for the first time his Ninth Symphony. Seriously, it gave me some major goosebumps so they definitely nailed it. It was such a historical moment regarding classical music but even music in general and to think that, at the time, Beethoven was actually deaf is just so mind-blowing. Unfortunately, after this amazing climax, the whole thing felt rather flat and the only thing left was to wait until Beethoven passed away at only 56 years old. 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 are interested in Beethoven’s work. 

Since this movie has a strong reputation like pretty much all the movies directed by Sergei Eisenstein, it is indeed included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list among other things, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, it’s the 3^rd movie I watched directed by Sergei Eisenstein and it was probably the most difficult one I have seen so far. While watching this movie, I tried to remember what I did learn at school about the 1917 October Revolution but it was more than 20 years ago and this movie certainly didn’t give any background information. Eventually, the end-result was some kind of endless feverish dream dealing with the uprising that took place at the time in Russia. Seriously, the damned thing was quite relentless and I don’t think they took a minute to breath and provide the viewers with the opportunity to absorb what they just watched. By now, I got pretty much used to the fact such Soviet propaganda movies actually never focused on the characters individually but, still, it was interesting that Lenin was mentioned only a couple of times (Vasili Nikandrov was a stunning look-a-like though). For Trotsky, the situation was even worse as, even though he did show up a couple of times, his name was never mentioned and, in fact, Eisenstein had to remove most of the footage dealing with him which shows how things can change in only 10 years. Eventually, what impressed me the most with this movie was the frenetic editing. Eisenstein’s idea was to edit together some shots of various things which apparently had nothing to do with each other to create an intellectual comparisons between them which was quite intriguing. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t an easy watch, it was still really interesting and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you’re interested in this genre.      

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jamie Bell, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though the material was quite strong and even though the damned thing definitely had some potential, I’m afraid it was still missing something though. Eventually, I believe that it was one of these cases when a mini-series would have been probably more suitable for this material. Indeed, this movie focused mostly on Bryon Widner but I wish they could have spent more time on the other characters involved such as Fred Krager, Shareen, Daryle Jenkins or Julie Price. Anyway, it still gave a pretty good look on how toxic such environments can be. In this case, they actually went further as they handled White Supremacy as if it was some kind of disease that could be cured which was an interesting approach, even if I’m not sure if it is actually accurate. On the other hand, any belief system based on hatred is obviously not worth it, for yourself but also anyone else interacting with you. Concerning the actors involved, Jamie Bell gave here a really solid performance as he completely disappeared in this character. It was also interesting how they tried to create empathy towards a rather despicable guy but, in fact, it’s often the issue with movies dealing with this subject. Indeed, they often tend to divide the characters into two groups, the good Nazis and the bad Nazis but the more complex the approach is, the better the end-result usually is and this movie was probably not complex enough, at least, not for my taste. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.  

Since this movie has a really strong reputation (it is included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list among other things), I was quite eager to check it out. By now, it was the 3rd movie I saw directed by Jean Cocteau and I guess I’m starting to get more familiar with his surrealist vibe. Recently, I also watched ‘La belle et la bête’ by Cocteau but, even if it did like it, to be honest, it didn’t really blow me away though. In fact, I thought this other directing effort by Cocteau was actually much more intriguing. Sure, visually speaking, it was less fancy than ‘La belle et la bête’ but Cocteau still had some neat tricks in this area but, as far as I was concerned, it wasn’t the most interesting thing about this movie. Basically, he took an ancient Greek myth and set it in a contemporary setting, which is basically what we often do with many classic Shakespeare plays. Anyway, it was above all quite fun to see that he really took some liberties with the classic mythological tale. Indeed, even though Orphée still did go to Hell to save his wife Eurydice, he seemed to be actually most of the time rather annoyed by her and, in fact, he seemed to be actually more interested by Death who herself was also in love with Orphée. It probably sounds pretty weird if you haven’t seen this movie and it was indeed weird but these unexpected turns were super interesting. Still, I have to admit I still struggled to get a good grip on this challenging material (the fact that I was really tired when I watched it probably didn’t help) and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was not an easy watch, there was something quite mesmerizing about it 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 it was rather late and I wanted to watch something short and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I have a weak spot for Topher Grace, the damned thing was still rather weak, I’m afraid. Indeed, right from the start, the concept was just too flimsy and, eventually, you might wonder who was supposed to be the audience for this movie. The ones who really love musicals or the ones who really don’t care about them at all? I mean,  there were some decent ideas but, from all the characters involved, the only one who seemed to work was the one played by Taye Diggs. I have to admit that I had actually never heard of JC Chasez before but it turned out that he was indeed, for real, the other guy from NSYNC which was fun. It was also the first movie I saw starring Anne Heche after she tragically passed away only a few months ago but, to be honest, this role was actually quite representative of her career. Indeed, it was a rather half-baked character, some has-been actress who had been quite promising at some point, who was drugged out for most of the duration and it was rather sad how it actually mirrored what Heche herself pretty much went through during her career. Concerning Topher Grace, well, I still think the guy is charismatic but his character was just boring and I really had a hard time to root for him. It also didn’t make much sense that a promising Broadway actor/singer would then decide to become production manager as a new career choice. Anyway, to conclude, even if this movie was rather harmless, I just didn’t care much for it and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

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, it’s only afterwards that I discovered that this movie had received some very poor reviews but, to be honest, I don’t think it was bad at all. Indeed, in my opinion, it gave a grim but compelling depiction of the everyday life in the black ghettos in Los Angeles. During the process around the beating of Rodney King, the situation in these urban areas became even more unstable and unsafe and, following the verdict, they even had some riots for days. Well, in my opinion, this movie gave a good idea on how bleak it was for all the people living there at the time and it is rather disheartening that, 30 years later, their situation has hardly improved. Still, even if the material was quite strong, I’ll have to admit that this movie did falter on various occasions and, eventually, the biggest issue was with Daniel Craig’s character. First of all, the decision to add such a white character in this tale was rather dubious at best and, to make it worse, what they did with the guy was really cringe-inducing. Indeed, at first, he seemed to be a hysterical probably racist white dude but, then, he turned out to be gentle and helpful because, apparently, that’s what Millie Dunbar, a strong resourceful black woman, needed at the time, a white man to save her ass. However, it all got so much worse when they both got cuffed around some lantern pole. Seriously, this scene didn’t make any sense whatsoever on any level possible. The best thing I can come up with was that the makers thought it would be a great idea to show that, even during the biggest tragedies, you can still have some fun (even romantic?) adventure while a whole neighborhood was looting and shooting  which probably sound as appalling as it was to see on the screen. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws and even though this movie has a rather poor reputation, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I already saw this movie in the movie theater when it released but since it was already available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, first of all, even though I did like ‘Black Panther’, to be honest, I didn’t think it was such a revolutionary super-hero flick after all. However, since it was the first genuine black blockbuster, its historical impact was still huge though. Anyway, following the massive commercial and critical success of ‘Black Panther’, I have to admit that I was quite intrigued by this sequel. So, the expectations concerning this sequel were very high and, following the tragic passing of its main actor, it was certainly not an easy task to deliver the goods. Fortunately, the death of Chadwick Boseman, and therefore of his character T'Challa, was handled really gracefully here and it was all quite emotional. It was also a solid transition towards the new Black Panther even though it probably took too long to get there. I also did appreciate how T'Challa’s decision to open Wakanda to the rest of the world in the previous movie had such a ripple effect and it was interesting how the rest of Wakanda struggled with this decision, a decision none of them took, when he was gone. So, there was definitely some good stuff but not everything worked so well, I’m afraid. Indeed, with all of this already going on, did we really need Namor and his aquatic world after all? I’m not surprised that Namor was always supposed to the antagonist, even before Boseman passed away, but the guy came pretty much out of nowhere and started almost immediately to be aggressive with no serious motivations. Another weird thing was that this movie was supposed to conclude Phase 4 but how on Earth did it conclude anything concerning the MCU in general? I mean, during this Phase 4, Marvel gave us a whopping 7 movies and 8 mini-series but, after all this, I was rather disappointed by how little connective narrative tissue there was between all these stories. Finally, this movie was just too long and, to be honest, it tends to be rather sleep-inducing (seriously, both times I saw the damned thing, I actually struggled not to fall asleep). Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was a solid sequel though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

A couple of days ago, I already saw ‘Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker’ and I was quite eager to see this second part. Well, after a rather weird slightly homo-erotic intro, fairly quickly, they went back to the Olympics and, in contrary to the previous chapter which focused only on track and field sports, this 2^nd movie was much varied as it displayed all kinds of sports. Unfortunately, it did make the whole thing much more random and it didn’t help either that they focused on some rather obscure sports. It was also weird that all the competitions displayed were involving only male athletes. Indeed, it was only towards the end that they focused on the female diving competition but it was the only sport events involving some women. I thought it was also a missed opportunity that they did not end with something more spectacular but, eventually, it was rather short and quite anti-climactic. It didn’t help that the ending ceremony was included for some reason in the previous movie which, in my opinion, didn’t really make sense. Eventually, as far as I was concerned, I think it would have worked better to combine the two movies and cut it into a 3 hour long movie instead. On the propaganda side, it was much lighter this time around, above all since you didn’t get to see Adolf’s ugly face, but it was still really odd, awkward and even distressing to see some Nazi soldiers in full uniform taking part in some of the competitions. Anyway, some scenes in this movie were just mesmerizing to behold (the diving competition is rightly fully considered a classic sequence) and I don’t think I will ever get enough of watching such incredibly majestic athletes in slow-motion. To conclude, this film definitely deserves its stellar reputation and it is absolutely worth a look, especially if you are interested in such historical features. 

Since this movie seemed to have a solid reputation (it is included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, Mario Peixoto definitely delivered a strange movie here, that’s for sure, and I have to admit that I had pretty much no clue what the damned thing was actually about. Apparently, one woman had escaped from prison, another woman had left a bad marriage and there was a man in love with someone else's wife but, to be honest, it didn’t get all that at all. It’s also interesting that this movie would be Peixoto only directing effort but, even if the guy was only around 21 years old at the time, his movie would still manage to become one of the best Brazilian movies ever made, no less than that. Anyway, even if I didn't really get what it was all about or what the hell was actually going on, I have to admit that I really dug the beginning scenes though. Above all, I think I especially enjoyed the melancholic haunting score and, in combination with the surrealist visuals, it made the whole thing quite spellbinding to behold. Unfortunately, they didn’t stick to this score and, after 15 mins, they went instead for some generic violin tune which was not awful but this movie definitely didn’t have the same impact at all anymore. As a result, I had a hard time to keep my focus on the damned thing. Furthermore, even though I do appreciate a surrealist/experimental movie when it is rather short, 2 hours of this was just seriously challenging though. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not easy watch, it was definitely an interesting watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.