Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Dakota Fanning and since it was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I was willing to give Ishana Shyamalan the benefit of the doubt since she was only 26 years old and since it was her directorial debut but, I’m sorry, the damned thing was just not good. Eventually, like anyone else, I was wondering what M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter would do but, unfortunately, instead of doing her own thing, she basically delivered a typical M. Night Shyamalan half-baked horror feature. Like with her father, sure, the whole thing didn’t look bad and there was a decent creepy mood but, to be honest, pretty much nothing else did work though. Above all, what bothered me the most were the huge plot-holes constantly showing up. I mean, right from the start, why was the action taking place in Ireland? Why was the main character an American? Only because Fanning was a bankable actor? How was this whole bunker/coop/whatever supposed to make any sense? Who came up with these rules? None of the 4 characters were properly developed either so I had a hard time to care about what they were going through. It was also quite laughable how the remaining characters went back to civilization as if nothing happened to them. Seriously, how her twin sister reacted completely unfazed by her story was rather priceless. Finally, through the whole duration, I was wondering if she would go for some twist which has been such an enduring and tedious trademark in her father’s work and, of course, she did. However, this twist was just too predictable so it barely had any impact whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even if my rating might seem harsh, I still think the damned thing was rather weak and I don’t think it is worth a look. 

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, first of all, I have to admit that I actually never heard of the dictatorship in Brazil when, in fact, it did last for 20 years and was apparently the blue-print for the other dictatorships that emerged in South America afterwards. Well, pretty much like me, this wealthy family didn’t seem to care much about all this up until the father was snatched by the police. They actually mostly focused on the mother who had to deal with all this and, from the moment she was also sent to prison, I realized that all this people, in Brazil but also in any other country with such conditions, have basically no rights whatsoever, even the upper-class members. With this in mind, I was thinking that we should cherish more the fact that we do have basic rights, instead of whining all the time about minor issues. It also stroke me that the poor woman had actually no idea about the secret activities of her husband, even if they seemed to be really close. It didn’t seem to bother her that much though, I guess she had other more pressing issues to deal with, but it did seem to me to be some kind of betrayal. However, it was also an act of love from her husband as he did protect her this way. It was also rather amazing how the guy remained relaxed with his kids and his wife, even when he was finally picked up by the police when he must have known that the outcome for him would probably be tragic. It’s also such an impossible choice, either you do nothing to change things and your family has a greater chance to stay safe or you act like he did, you do the right thing but, then, you might destroy your family in the process. I mean, this woman and her 5 children did get through all this but at what cost? Anyway, to conclude, it was an impressive come-back from Walter Salles and the damned thing is definitely worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by the Russo brothers and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, it turned out to be another abysmal blockbuster from Netflix (apparently, the damned thing did cost a staggering 300 million dollars). I mean, ‘The Gray Man’ was already hardly impressive but I thought this movie was even worse though. Where should I start? The concept of this conflict between robots and humans was seriously derivative and barely entertaining. I mean, I’m not saying that it is not a cool subject, I actually love science-fiction when it’s done properly but, in this case, they didn’t add anything interesting to the concept. Concerning the cast, Millie Bobby Brown is quite charismatic but, I’m sorry, her performance was just really weak here. Of course, the fact that the story was lame and her character was really poorly developed probably didn’t help either. At least, it got slightly better when Chris Pratt finally showed up with his wise-cracking robot (by the way, good luck recognizing Anthony Mackie behind this robotic voice) but, let’s be honest, his character was basically a cheap version of Star-Lord and, if you would switch his lines between this movie and any Guardians of the Galaxy instalment, you wouldn’t notice the difference. It’s also the kind of movie during which, after 90 mins, you’re checking your watch and despair about the fact that you still have 30 mins more to watch when it’s obvious that nothing else really major will really happen after that point. Anyway, to conclude, you wonder if Netflix will ever manage to deliver a satisfying blockbuster, I think I have seen all of them, this one was probably the worst of the bunch and you should probably avoid it.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it seemed to have a strong reputation and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I was certainly not disappointed. Even though I’m still not an expert, I have seen my share of vintage Soviet movies (around 15) but, even though it is an interesting genre as these movies are so different than your usual full-length feature, to be honest, most of them tends to be rather tedious. This one was definitely an exception though. Above all, I was really impressed by how visually amazing it was. Indeed, this movie featured some hand-held camera scenes which were groundbreaking for the time period and, even 70 years later, these scenes are still so thrilling to behold. Concerning the cast, Tatyana Samoylova was just so charismatic, she was quite spellbinding and I’m not surprised that she was praised for her performance when this movie was released. To be honest, I didn’t care much for either Boris or Mark but I think the main focus was Veronica played beautifully by Samoylova. Concerning the story itself, it was not bad at all but I think it was probably the least interesting aspect of this otherwise fascinating movie. Sure, on one hand, it was interesting to see for the first time the impact of WWII on the Soviet population. However, on the other hand, this story of a young man super eager to join the army as a patriotic gesture and eventually ending up being butchered was hardly original though. Another thing that did bother me was the fact that it was never properly explained why Veronica suddenly got married with Mark when she was still clearly in love with Boris, especially since, at the time, there was no indication that Boris was dead. Anyway, to conclude, I really enjoyed the damned thing 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 Netflix and since this horror trilogy from Ti West seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I apparently f*cked up here. Indeed, for some reason, I was convinced that this movie was the first one in this trilogy when, in fact, it is obviously a prequel to ‘X’. It’s rather funny because my brother actually warned me about this and literally asked me if I was sure if it was really the first movie in this trilogy. So, from the start, I noticed that something might be off and now I understand why. Anyway, since it was a prequel and not a sequel, it won’t be such a big deal after all. Coming back on the movie itself, I did watch it as a stand-alone feature and I don’t think it was bad at all. I knew it was supposed to be a horror feature but, except for dumping a dead goose into the jaws of a crocodile, nothing really horrific happened for a good while. Indeed, it was more some kind of homage to such quaint colorful movies they made back in the 40’s or 50’s so there was definitely something original about the damned thing. In fact, it might be the most luminous and colorful horror feature I have seen as most of the movies in this genre are usually really dark. However, what really stood out in this movie was Mia Goth though. Indeed, she was always an intriguing actress but it was really with this trilogy that she finally got a breakthrough though and, now, I understand why. Indeed, there was something really unhinged but also fragile about her performance (this final close-up was also quite something) and even if the rest of the movie was not really amazing, she was always quite fascinating to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even though I should have probably watched ‘X’ before this movie, it was still a decent watch and I think it is definitely worth a look. 

I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but, since I’m pretty obsessive in my movie watching, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. I did watch the first instalment before but, to be honest, it has been a while and the only thing I did remember about it was that it was pretty lame. Seriously, from all the horror franchises I have seen, this might be the most disappointing one, I mean, even the very first movie was rather worthless. Anyway, coming back to this sequel, at least, I don’t think it was really much worse but it was certainly not an improvement though. Basically, they went for the gimmick of following up right away after the events of the previous movie which wasn’t such a bad idea but, unfortunately, pretty much nothing else really worked though. For example, I thought it was always about some mysterious evil paranormal force but, at some point, they also added some Indian mythology and also some conspiracy about some polluted poisonous corn. Seriously, it was pretty laughable how random the whole thing was. There were also 2 completely random romances involving 2 strangers more or less passing by (one of them was actually a journalist investigating the events of the previous movie) with 2 local girls. At least, I have to admit that Christie Clark was really lovely but it was probably one of the only positive aspects of this movie. Concerning the rest of the cast, at least, they had Linda Hamilton in the first instalment, but, here, there was really nobody noteworthy and only a bunch of rather weak B actors. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was rather generous with my rating here and I don’t think it is really worth a look, even if you really like the genre. 

Since I really loved 'Parasite', I was really eager to check Bong Joon Ho's next directorial effort, especially since it seemed to be quite ambitious. Well, there was definitely some good stuff but, like many other lesser efforts from this director such as 'Okja', it was just too random for my taste. I mean, I have to admit that the randomness in his work is actually what makes it really stands out from the rest and it was downright amazing in 'Parasite' or 'Memories or Murder'. However, in this case, I just wish he did tone down a bit though. Anyway, it did expect to see some solid science-fiction and to see Robert Pattinson playing several versions of the same character (which he did really well) but it didn't expect me to turn out to be such a virulent anti-Trump satire. Seriously, I think it was just so surreal to see the guy on a daily basis delivering the most insane speeches and that a movie like this one was released during the same time period. Mark Ruffalo was also pitch-perfect and pretty much stole the show every time he was on the screen. Beside this satire, well, the rest of the movie was just too random for my taste though. For example, Pattinson was also pretty good playing the different Mickeys but his characters were just not consistent enough. I mean, in all variations, Mickey was pretty much a loser and it was the reason why the character was interesting to me. But towards the end, he/they became some kind of hero somehow which wasn't really satisfying. The way he scored a gorgeous girl without any effort whatsoever was also rather head-scratching. They also went for some happy ending which didn't seem earned, there was also some gangster chasing the main character, some kind of resistance movement and also some weird but apparently smart local creatures but all this stuff was either too much and/or not properly developed. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn't another home-run for the Corean director, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is definitely worth a look. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have never been interested in bodybuilding but I have always been fascinated by movies and it was actually really cool to see Arnold Schwarzenegger before he became one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Indeed, it is a known fact Schwarzenegger, before he got into the movie business, became that one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time and I have to admit that the guy was pretty impressive. Of course, his body seemed pretty much perfect, I mean, if you are into this sport, and he was clearly from another level than his contestants. However, what was even more impressive was his huge personality and charisma, something none of these other guys really had. Eventually, you wish that this documentary would have been directed by a really good director who could have gone deeper into this. I mean, the determination displayed by Schwarzenegger was at the same time inspiring, intoxicating but also scary at the same time. I mean, the whole story about him dumping his father’s funeral was apparently vastly exaggerated but you can sense that Schwarzenegger was ready to go pretty far to reach success (which he obviously did after all). And, yet, behind his poker face, the guy was always relaxed and polite with everyone, while still playing some mind-games with his competitors who were all shitting their pants in the mean-time. Eventually, I was amazed by how complex Schwarzenegger turned out to be and, even though he was always criticized for this thick accent, he actually spoke English very well. To be honest, every time they drifted to talk about some other bodybuilders, it didn’t work so well though. The soundtrack was also rather lame. Anyway, to conclude, even though half of it was a rather lame or, at best, hardly interesting look on bodybuilding, it was however a fascinating look on how it all started for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but the subject matter did sound interesting and since it was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well check it out. Even though most politicians might be worthless, I always found politics quite fascinating and I actually remember well this really messed up elections back in 2000 and the actual outcome. However, I didn’t remember that it was the Democrats who chased this recount so hard, even though it did make sense. Anyway, it was quite fascinating to behold the whole process in such (seemingly) accurate details. To be honest, it is still difficult to see Kevin Spacey and separate him from all the sexual misconduct allegations against him and the fact that his character was rather smug probably didn’t help, I’m afraid. Still, damned, 10 years before his career met this tragic ending, the guy was really good though. Concerning the whole process, the movie was obviously leaning towards the Democrats but I didn’t necessarily agree. Sure, if they kept counting and recounting these ballots, maybe Al Gore would have come on top (it’s not even sure though) but constantly postponing the results was not a good thing for the Democracy in the USA. Eventually, Al Gore made the right call to give it up at some point, it was the most honorable thing to do, for him and for his country. The crazy thing, for an outsider like myself, was that the Democrats and the Republicans (I’m not talking about Donald Trump… This guy is a completely different kind of ball game…) are actually so similar in their politics, it’s actually hardly democratic to be able to choose only between 2 parties which are actually so similar. So, it is actually rather priceless to see Ron Klain fighting tooth and nail to get an actual fair result when, at the end of the day, I don’t think it really mattered that much with such, in my opinion, rather ‘fake’ democracy. Another priceless thing was that, back then, many people myself included thought that George W. Bush was the worst president the US ever had but, after Donald Trump (that the guy managed to be elected twice is just mind-blowing), he seemed to be a rather decent fellow after all. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be super interesting and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.