Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. It was apparently a big success when it was released and it’s because it was so successful that Dreyer would manage to make later on ‘La passion de Jeanne d'Arc’, obviously his magnum opus. Unfortunately, to be honest, I actually had a hard time to really care about the damned thing though. The fact that it took me 3 attempts to watch it until the end maybe didn’t help but, with each session, it never really interested me. Sure, it was technically well made, especially for a movie made 100 years ago, and it was a nice time-capsule showing how people lived back then in Denmark. However, I never really cared for any of the characters involved and what they were going through. I mean, the way Viktor treated his wife but also the rest of his family was of course rather deplorable but you might wonder if it was really uncommon back then (even nowadays some guys are pretty nasty with their partners). As a result, you might wonder how the audience back then thought about a movie about a man showing typical dominant, or even tyrannical, being actually corrected by the women around him. Still, this setup never really intrigued me though and, to make things worse, the way they completely infantilized Viktor to make him change his ways was, in my opinion, rather pathetic. Seriously, they even brought his childhood’s nanny who treated him again as if he was 12 years old. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really work for me, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s work. 

As usual with my film club, I went to see this movie with basically no knowledge about the damned thing at all. Since my uncle chose this movie, I should have known though… I mean, he is a really sweet guy and I love him but he very often picks up some seriously heavy features and this movie was not an exception, I’m afraid. Sure, it was a black comedy but it’s not really my kind of humor and most of it was not funny at all. The first part focusing on the parents displayed, in my opinion, how painful, ugly and lonesome getting old and dying is for actually most people. The second part focusing on the son was even worse as it was basically a reminder of my own relationship with my parents. But, at least, Tom’s life seemed to be more complex, more diverse and, in his super chaotic messed up life, there was still some good stuff. He was definitely the most developed character here. However, for some reason, the 3rd part focusing on the daughter was even harder to handle though. I don’t know, maybe it was because I had already spent 2 hrs dealing with this massively dysfunctional family at that point but, to see this lost woman indulging in such destructive alcoholic behavior, something I took so much distance from myself, was for some reason almost unbearable to watch for me. And, yet, I have to admit it, the damned thing was sometimes actually really funny though. I also enjoyed the raw and sober approach without much music underlining the various emotions. Basically, it was all up to the cast and they all delivered some really solid performances. To be honest, this movie crushed me so much, I can’t say I really enjoyed it but it was definitely an emotional experience to see it. Anyway, to conclude, I’m not sure if I should recommend watching this movie but, if you think you are tough enough, you might want to check it out.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Steven Soderbergh  and since it was available on HBO Max, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, unfortunately, as usual with this director, sure, there were a couple of decent ideas but, to be honest, the end-result was rather half-baked after all. Indeed, I didn’t care much about the story and in my opinion, the characters were all rather pathetic. One example would be Tyler who had such a hopeless crush on Karen. To be honest, I didn’t even acknowledge the fact that she was much older (I guess I don’t really care about such things since my ex-wife was much older and I’m currently involved with a much younger woman) but it was so obvious that she would never be interested in him and to see him entertain this idea made him look like an idiot, to be honest. Fortunately, instead of having these old friends reuniting during this cruise and have a great time together after all these years, Soderbergh went for a really different approach which was more interesting, even if it was never really fascinating. Furthermore, once again, as usual with Soderbergh, the directing was really solid though. Indeed, for a movie with barely a plot and hardly anything going on, it was neat how much he managed to get from this material. Finally, he had such a strong cast involved (Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, Lucas Hedges, Gemma Chan), especially Streep. I have seen most of her movies so I don’t get to see her so often in something new but she once again really impressed me. I mean, the way she once again completely disappeared in this character was just uncanny and, as far as I was concerned, she remains the best actress ever. It’s too bad that the movie and/or the story was not of the level of her performance. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth  a look, especially if you are interested in Steven Soderbergh’s work. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have always had a weak spot about movies about politics which is, in my opinion, a fascinating subject, so this movie definitely had some potential. Unfortunately, it’s too bad that, even though the concept was quite interesting, I’m afraid the end-result turned out to be rather half-baked after all. Steve Carell was actually pretty good though and his character was fairly interesting but it was probably the only thing that really worked here though. Concerning the rest of the cast, Rose Byrne was a perfect example. Indeed, she was a perfect choice to play this character but she was given barely anything to do after all so, as a result, I think she was pretty much wasted here. Even more problematic was the fact that there was barely any pulse in the damned thing. Eventually, for me, the best part was this guy talking during the credits (no idea who it was) explaining that what happened in this movie could actually happen for real, technically speaking. Once again, it displayed how the elections in the US have become such a completely demented and decadent circus. In this case, they especially focused on the ridiculous amount of money that are involved but this speech at the end was actually more compelling than anything that was displayed in this movie. I mean, towards the end, they tried to pull the rug out on the viewers but I felt rather anticlimactic to me. Anyway, to conclude, even if it turned out to be rather disappointing, it was still fairly entertaining though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Russell Crowe and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to my surprise, it turned out to be much better than I expected. Sure, it was basically a B feature but the makers never pretended it was anything else and it has been a while since I have seen such a satisfying movie in this genre. Indeed, it was obvious that Russell Crowe had a lot of fun with this character and I thought he was actually pretty good here. Concerning the rest of the cast, they were all fairly unremarkable, expect maybe for the young boy but you might wonder how much acting he actually did himself after all. It was also a nice touch that the characters did speak in their own language such as Italian or Spanish and, even if they did switch to English sometimes, it did make sense in the context of the respective scenes. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, it was pretty much a fairly generic exorcism story but I thought it was fairly effective. At first, I was wondering how they would manage to fill the running time since this poor little boy was possessed so soon and, eventually, they added some rather convoluted backstory regarding this specific demon and the place where the action took place but I have to admit that it wasn’t bad. Eventually, the only thing that bothered me was probably the fact that it was slightly too long and I think they could have removed 15-20 mins but it wasn’t a big deal though. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

First of all, for some personal reasons, I have stopped watching movies for about 2 weeks, probably for the first time in 20 years. To be honest, it didn’t bother me that much though. As a result, I also wrote only 1 review during this period, so I feel kind of rusty (Yeah, I know, after such a short period of time, it does sound weird…). To make things worse, for the same personal reasons, I was seriously distracted when I watched this movie so, to be honest, you shouldn’t expect much from this review. Anyway, it’s pretty cool to keep discovering Harold Lloyd’s work after all these years and even though it might not to be one of his best movies, at least, not for me, it was still pretty good though. Indeed, even if it was still pretty random which is inherent to such vintage silent comedies, there was actually a plot. In fact, it was even shot in sequence probably because the focus was not really on the jokes (there were still plenty of them) but on the main character, Harold Lamb played of course by Harold Lloyd himself. Sure, Lloyd who was more than 30 years old was actually too old to play a young freshman in college but I think this character was a perfect fit for this comic genius. The other interesting thing about this movie was that Lloyd always wanted to shoot a movie about football/American football and the sports sequences turned out to be pretty decent after all. In fact, it was even one of the first, or even the very first sports movie ever made. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, 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 it was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well finally check it out. Well, when it was released after 4 long years, it turned out to be the first real flop in this franchise and, after watching this movie, I don’t think it really deserved a better fate though. Indeed, the damned thing was pretty much a rambling mess. Of course, they had the pandemic and the whole mess with Johnny Depp who had to be replaced but, even without these issues, I don’t think it would have worked either. First of all, sure, it has been a while since I saw the previous instalments but I had no idea about who half of the characters were. Why was Tina, one of the most recognizable characters, not involved? Why bringing back Jacob Kowalski in the mix? Sure, Dan Fogler has always been one of the (very few) highlights in this struggling franchise but it doesn’t make sense to bring his character each time again. Concerning the story, once again, I really struggled to see how it exactly connected by the previous movies but, basically, it was some kind of really muddled mix of some half-baked unconvincing little mind games and some spy feature taking place in the 30’s. Of course, this mix does sound odd and it obviously never worked. The only thing that this movie had going was that they finally fully leaned in the fact that Albus Dumbledore is gay and it was a nice touch that he was, at some point, actually in love with Gellert Grindelwald. Can you imagine a movie focusing on this love story, instead of these useless endless fights between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ wizards? On the other hand, the fact that J.K. Rowling has been such an outspoken anti-transgender advocate does leave such a bitter taste that her ‘appreciation’ or, even worse, ‘acceptance’ of gay people does almost feel like an insult. Anyway, to conclude, it’s possible that my rating might be too harsh but, I’m sorry, the damned thing was just weak and I think you can avoid it, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of this franchise. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I always had a weak spot for romantic-comedies, this one turned out to be really lame though. I actually did like the song during the opening credits but I’m afraid it was probably the only thing that did work in this movie. Seriously, how can you mess up so bad a movie starring such actors (Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, William H. Macy, Richard Gere)? First of all, the whole concept was just so lame so it was rather doomed to fail from the start. I mean, they gave us two couples who were cheating on each other spouses without any one of them being aware of this which was obviously supposed to be hilarious but it was just too convoluted and, above all, not entertaining whatsoever. The other thing that bothered me was the big fuss they made about being married. Seriously, getting married might be a nice gesture/symbol/tradition but it’s no warranty that a marriage would either improve or destroy a relationship as it was sometimes argued during this movie. Basically, the bottom line is that you have to constantly work on your relationship and the fact that you are married or not should be actually of no consequence in your efforts. In this case, it seemed to be important for Michelle to be married so, if Allen really loved her, he should get married with her with no hesitation because the impact for him would be actually minimum. To make things worse, the two couples (Diane Keaton + Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon + William H. Macy) didn’t have any chemistry whatsoever and the dialogues were just downright pathetic. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have to admit that the damned thing was rather harmless, it was still a big waste of time for everybody involved including myself so you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by D.W. Griffith and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have been focusing on watching older movies on YouTube and, sometimes, the quality is not great but I’m afraid this one was pretty much the worst of the bunch. Seriously, even the sound would break down every 10 mins. Concerning the movie itself, it’s interesting that it was released exactly the same year as ‘Faust’ by F.W. Murnau as both movies shared very similar plots. Unfortunately for Griffith, sure, he was a legendary director but, compared to Murnau’s masterpiece, his own take on selling your soul to the Devil was, to be honest, not really impressive. From a visual point of view, there were a couple of scenes which were pretty neat, especially the opening scene, but most of it was pretty straightforward though. Concerning the story, it seemed rather weird to me that Geoffrey would never at least talk to Mavis to tell her what was going on. However, it made also the whole thing intriguing, in the sense that Prince Lucio de Rimanez was quite hypnotizing, by the way, Adolphe Menjou gave here a subtle but actually strong performance and it seems the main character couldn’t resist doing whatever he was asking for. Eventually, the happy ending with the couple beating the Devil and living happily ever after was hardly convincing and, once again, the approach chosen in ‘Faust’ was so much more compelling. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was a really obscure feature, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in D.W. Griffith’s work but you should try to find a better version than the one I saw.