Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by François Ozon, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I have been following Ozon for more than 20 years (I have even seen his directorial debut ‘Sitcom’ in the movie theater when it was released) and I think it was his most sober film I have seen so far. It was also the first time he directed something based on true facts and, in fact, the movie was made and released while the trial was still ongoing at the same time. Eventually, I wonder what made him chose to direct this true tale. Anyway, the end-result was really solid and I believe that Ozon did deliver here one of his best movies. The first act was especially intriguing. Indeed, Melvil Poupaud (probably the most underrated French actor I know) gave another strong performance playing a really square guy with such deep wounds. On top of that, it was just so intriguing to see this man struggling with his traumatic past and, yet, always keeping his composure, in his emails but also in person, even when facing the man who ruined his childhood and pretty much his whole life. And, yet, the damned thing was still missing something to really blow me away though. I mean, the switch to Denis Ménochet’s character made sense since François Debord took over from Alexandre Guérin at some point but I’m not sure if it worked so well with the 3^rd character, Emmanuel Thomassin, played by Swann Arlaud. Even so, this movie gave a convincing glimpse on how the Catholic church in France but also in many other countries has always tried to conceal and minimize decades of abuse. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a strong drama dealing with a horrible tragedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in François Ozon’s work.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Edgar Wright, I was of course eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I had a hard time to really care about this movie, even more than with ‘Baby Driver’ which already didn’t really impress me. However, it wasn’t a bad movie though, not all. Indeed, as usual with Wright, the damned thing was visually quite impressive, the soundtrack was really neat and I just loved the mood. I also did appreciate that he was once again doing something so completely different than his previous movies. Furthermore, Anya Taylor-Joy displayed once again that she is one of the most fascinating actresses at work nowadays and she definitely didn’t disappoint me here. For Thomasin McKenzie, she doesn’t have quite reach yet the same status as Taylor-Joy, at least, not for me (she is still very young though) but there is no denying that both actresses did deliver some strong performances here. However, from the moment the main character had her first ‘dream’ bringing her back in Soho in the 60’s, to be honest, they actually lost me. The first thing that bothered me was the fact it was obvious that both characters would actually never really interact with each other which was rather frustrating. On top of that, in spite of Taylor-Joy’s effort, her character was just not developed enough. I’m not surprised that the flashback scenes were originally supposed to be without dialogue but it shows how limited this character was from the start. Then, there was the issue that these flashback scenes, even though there were technically really neat, were actually quite redundant. Another narrative mistake they made was that Eloise chose not once but TWICE to escape a toxic environment (at the very beginning, when she decided to leave her dorm and, towards the end, when she decided to leave London all together) and it was just weird or, at least, never properly explained why Sandie wouldn't simply just leave this dreadful situation like the other main character did in this story. Finally, the link between the present day and the past was just too thin and, as result, you basically had two films constantly vampirizing each other. Anyway, to conclude, the more I think about it, the more I believe that my rating was actually too generous for this movie but I still think it was a decent watch because the damned thing was just so well made and the actresses involved gave such solid performances. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Sylvester Stallone, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it is rather disheartening that, 20 years after ‘Pulp Fiction’ was released, there were still making such shameless copycats. I mean, can you imagine ‘Pulp Fiction’ without its amazingly cool soundtrack, can you imagine if it would have been written by some hack instead of Quentin Tarantino and can you imagine if they would have added some lame self-help book to link somehow all the characters together? Well, this movie would have been pretty much the end-result. Concerning Stallone, I have to admit that it was actually probably one of the most interesting characters he had done in years but his character was not developed whatsoever (which could be said about every single character involved in this movie). It was also pretty neat to see the lovely Lauren Cohan finally in something else than ‘The Walking Dead’. Damned, she is really super charismatic but, unfortunately, pretty much like Stallone, she was given really nothing interesting to do here. Concerning the rest of the cast, there were quite a lot of B stars involved and they all did what they could with this material but I can’t say I cared about any of them. Coming back on the self-help book, the damned thing was unconvincing right from the start but it might have been slightly more efficient if Teddy Raymond would have remained an enigma. Instead, at some point, they decided to show his ‘skills’ and how he managed to cure another character of his nicotine addiction but it was just so pathetic and it made this book look even more idiotic than it already was. Anyway, to conclude, pretty much nothing worked in this movie, the damned thing was pretty bad and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Eva Mendes and since it was on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it’s almost 10 years that Mendes retired to take care of her kids she had with Ryan Gosling and it had been a while since I saw one of her movies. Unfortunately, this movie was pretty weak, I’m afraid. Basically, it turned out to be one of these typical quirky indie comedies but, right from the start, the damned thing just didn’t work at all. In fact, I think it might have had some potential if they had chosen a completely different approach. Indeed, there was actually something rather sad, melancholic and genuine about this teenager and this single mother trying to figure out how to make sense of their respective lives. Unfortunately, for some reasons, the makers decided to make it ‘cheerful’ which was such a misguided choice and, as a result, it was rather annoying to see how they tried to force a light whimsical tone on this tale. To make things worse, all the characters were fairly pathetic and even rather unlikeable. Seriously, it was rather unbelievable that an obviously bright girl like Ansiedad would believe that such a convoluted plan would work and, above all, would have a positive impact on her life. The worst character was probably Dr. Harford though. Maybe this character would have worked if someone very handsome like George Clooney or Brad Pitt would have played him but, eventually, it was rarely bewildering that Grace wouldn’t dump the guy sooner. Eventually, I won’t blame Eva Mendes or Cierra Ramirez though, they were both really charismatic and I think they did what they could with the material that was provided. Anyway, to conclude, I really didn’t care about the damned thing and I don’t think it’s really worth a look, except maybe if you really like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Diane Kruger, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it apparently didn’t get much love when it was released, I thought it was not bad. First of all, Diane Kruger was basically born to play such characters and she gave here a really solid performance. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about Martin Freeman. Indeed, Freeman tried really hard to sell this supposedly seasoned spy but I never thought he was really convincing. Eventually, I think that someone like Michael Fassbender would have been more suitable or basically anyone who didn’t look like such a harmless Teddy Bear. On the other hand, I have to admit that he wasn’t really helped by the fact that his character didn’t make much sense. I mean, a British Jew working for the Mossad in Germany? Couldn’t they come up with something slightly less convoluted? Concerning the movie itself, I liked the realistic approach and I liked how they displayed that, in real life, you actually have all kinds of spies and not only the usual lethal killing machines. Unfortunately, even if the tone was fine and even if it all felt quite convincing, the story was slightly too murky. Indeed, for example, how was she actually recruited? In the same fashion, I don’t think I completely understood what was actually the purpose of most of her assignments/missions. Concerning the ending, during the 3^rd act, she went into full Jason Bourne mode which was rather predictable but it was fortunately not a deal-breaker. Anyway, to conclude, I might have been slightly too generous with my rating here but I have a weak spot for such gritty spy features and I think this one is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

First of all, it’s really too bad I didn’t manage to watch first ‘Pather Panchali’ and ‘Aparajito’ before watching this movie. I did try to get my hands on these 2 movies but I didn’t succeed. Eventually, when I gave up and watched the damned thing, at the end, on the Belgian channel I actually recorded this movie, there was a commercial advertising that these movies were actually available on their streaming platform but, by then, they were already gone. Anyway, it is still a movie that you can watch as a stand-alone. Above all, it was really neat to finally discover Satyajit Ray’s work and I really enjoyed the mood, at least, at first. Indeed, it was so refreshing to see a main character who was poor, who even had nothing but who still seemed to be quite happy and even cheerful. Basically, we have been so conditioned to think that, if we can’t buy everything we desire, we will feel automatically miserable and I loved how this movie really challenged this way of thinking. When he got married, the movie became even better. Sure, their union was really unlikely and, yet, they made such a sweet couple. Indeed, even if they had nothing, they still felt a deep connection and I thought that Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore had a great chemistry (even if Tagore was only 14 years old at the time which was slightly creepy). Eventually, it’s too bad that they kind of lost me when Aparnad died and, to be honest, I didn’t care much for this dramatic turn of events. Basically, in my opinion, it really broke the mood of this movie. Indeed, after that, the main character was constantly roaming with a really grim and depressed demeanor which was hardly rewarding for the viewers, at least, as far as I was concerned. Of course, he was eventually reunited with his son but he was still only a shadow of himself and I thought it was rather frustrating, especially compared to the rest of the movie which was much more compelling. Anyway, to conclude, even it I wasn’t completely sold, it was a really interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Satyajit Ray’s work.

A few months ago, I have noticed that there were a few Buster Keaton movies included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list so I decided to check them out since they were all available on YouTube but, apparently, for some reasons, I actually missed out on this one. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good, even probably one of my favorite movies starring Buster Keaton. Indeed, it was slightly less random than his usual work, even if the monkey still showed up pretty much from nowhere. However, I have to admit that this little monkey was actually pretty awesome though. On top of that, it was by far Keaton’s most romantic feature, at least, among the movies he has made that I have seen so far. As a result, of course, the jokes and stunts were still the main focus but, in my opinion, Keaton’s character was actually very well balanced. Indeed, I don’t think he was a complete loser. Sure, he was seriously clumsy, even pretty much a walking disaster but he was also so much more charismatic than all the other guys that tried to hook up with the character played by the charming Marceline Day. Eventually, I wasn’t so surprised that she would fall for him. And yet, even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with this movie and I mostly enjoyed it, to be honest, I have to admit that it never grabbed me though but it’s usually the case with Keaton’s movies. It’s so weird because I’m actually a huge fan of Chaplin’s silent comedies. Maybe it’s because I grew up with Chaplin’s work while I discovered Keaton’s work much later on as a grown-up. Anyway, to conclude, it was a solid vintage silent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.