Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by King Vidor and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the beginning was quite promising. Indeed, I had never seen John Gilbert before (he was apparently a big star at the time but faded away when talkies came out) but the guy was just so charismatic and pretty much pitch-perfect for this role. Same thing with Eleanor Boardman (who would eventually get married with King Vidor), not only she was quite lovely but her character was quite charismatic as well. I also loved the dialogues, seriously, it might have been the best intertitles I have seen so far. So, the damned thing definitely had some potential. However, it’s too bad that the plot itself turned out to be such a predictable drag though. I mean, I did like the fact that this wager was basically a win-win for the Comte de Chatellerault. Indeed, even if he would loose this wager, his biggest competitor would be then out of the game. Unfortunately, pretty much everything that happened afterwards was really routine though. I wish they instead spent more time developing why they actually fell in love with each other. I mean, at least for Bardelys, it did make sense since it was probably the first time he met a woman with actually some brain instead of the usual bimbos he seduced at the French court. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Roxalanne de Lavedan, a seemingly strong smart woman, fell too easily in love with him. I mean, sure, their trip on a rowboat was quite dreamy but it seemed to be another standard trick that Bardelys would pull with any other woman. At least, the swashbuckling scene towards the end was actually pretty neat and even quite impressive for a movie almost 100 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 like the genre.

To be honest, even though I have seen almost all the instalments, I have actually never been a huge fan of this franchise. However, since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out anyway and I have to admit that I was first slightly intrigued. Indeed, Chris Rock was apparently a fan of the franchise and he was the one who actually pitched the idea to Lionsgate. He also managed to even get Samuel L. Jackson on board so, at least, there was for once some star power involved this time around. Well, even though it was nice to see Chris Rock for the first time in a horror feature, unfortunately, I didn’t care much for the damned thing after all though. Indeed, basically, this time, the killer did focus on getting rid off cops but everything else was basically the exact same thing that they gave us already during the 8 previous installments. Seriously, except for this interesting cast, there was really nothing really original or interesting about the damned thing after all. By the way, the killer was actually pretty easy to spot, even the reasons why he was going on this killing spree was hardly surprising. However, it was just so annoying that they tried to make us believe that a guy can be a cop, which is a really intense full-time job, and also a serial killer at the same time who had not only the time to kidnap people but had also the time to build such complex and/or convoluted traps. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of Chris Rock’s efforts, I was actually bored by the damned thing and I don’t think it is really worth a look, 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 it was definitely pretty exciting to see for the first time an Indian movie with my film club. Well, even though I did like it, I think it was still missing something to really blow me away though. The main thing was probably the fact that the story turned out to be a rather classic crime thriller after all. However, the fact that it was taking place in India really made it stood out from the rest though. Furthermore, Sandhya Suri, the director, only made documentaries so she went for a really realistic and sober approach which was pretty neat. Basically, you get involved in a fairly generic story but the surroundings, the language, the culture, were so completely different than what you usually get to see in such movies so it was still some compelling viewing. Concerning the characters, the lead was played by Shahana Goswami who was quite charismatic. She was also quite convincing playing basically an average woman with some common sense and a good heart getting caught up in the local police and political schemes. However, you don’t get to know her much after all and, as far as I was concerned, this character was slightly too cold and distant. Eventually, I was more intrigued by her boss, some kind of female version of Columbo. Indeed, with a few words and a simple hand gesture, it was if she was telling a whole story and you can only wonder everything that happened during her career. The fact that, within maybe 10 mins, she went from being a beacon of female strength and ingenuity and obviously a role model to the main character to being another corrupt mastermind playing some disheartening games was also impressive and quite a sight to see. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t completely sold, it was an intriguing movie and it is definitely worth a look. 

Since this movie had been a huge box office failure, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from it but I have watched pretty much all the animated features from Disney and, since this one was now available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out after all. Well, after watching the damned thing, I’m not surprised nobody really cared for it when it was released. I will go more into details later but, basically, it was the most half-baked project that they had released in quite some time. However, the big difference with something like ‘Chicken Little’ for example is that the damned thing actually had some potential. Indeed, to deliver an old-fashioned adventure feature called ‘Strange World’ about discovering, well, some strange world could have been actually really neat. However, the road to this big discover was just way too cumbersome and, above all, barely entertaining whatsoever. Let’s see, they did start with some classic exploring expedition but, then, at some point, the leader and his son got into some argument and the son went back home to investigate some plant they found during their journey. This plant actually turned out to be some kind of energy source which drastically changed their world but, then, it got sick and the son had to go back to some expedition to fix this miracle plant. Well, all this boring stuff took pretty much half of the duration and, at this point, there was still no sight of this wonderous ‘strange world’. As you can imagine, they was also some family drama going over 3 generations (the explorer, his son and his grandson) but it didn’t fit at all within such an adventure tale. Finally, to make the whole thing even more random and scattered, the grandson turned out to be openly gay, which was quite a milestone for Disney, but it was just dropped there without any focus on it whatsoever and I’m still not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that all the characters acted as if being gay was the most normal thing in the world. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was really half-baked, it was actually visually pretty neat and I don’t think it is actually their worst animated feature but, with such a concept, it could and probably should have been much better.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick, this movie was actually one of my lowest priorities for 2024 but, since it was available on Netflix, I still wanted to check it out. Well, it has been a while since I have been so positively surprised by a movie, especially since the production was pretty messy. Indeed, its release was delayed several times which is usually not a good sign. One of the main reasons was because their lead actor, John Boyega, left the project while they were filming so they had to start from scratch again with another actor and they had to re-shoot all his scenes. The amazing thing, especially for Jeremy Saulnier, was that his replacement, Aaron Pierre, was just so good here. Indeed, the guy gave here a pitch-perfect performance and I can’t wait to see him again in something else. I was actually amazed when I discovered afterwards that I already saw him in ‘Old’ and these 2 characters couldn’t have been more different which shows that the guy has a great potential. Concerning the plot, for a good while, it was just so captivating to behold. Basically, it’s as if they took ‘First Blood’ but really toned down the over-the-top action scenes and focused instead on making John Rambo one of the most level-headed men that walked the Earth which was such a cool and fascinating approach. Unfortunately, they managed to keep it awesome only up until the cousin of the main character tragically died. I mean, the movie still worked afterwards and it was still quite entertaining but it all became routine as the main character became somehow some kind of lethal unstoppable machine (yeah, pretty much like Rambo once again). Anyway, to conclude, I actually really enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jeremy Saulnier’s work.

I did hear about this movie, it did seem to be really intriguing and, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, as expected, it turned out to be an incredible and fascinating story. At first, it was obviously quite heartwarming to see these 3 boys getting together after almost 20 years and it was even more awesome to see them getting along so well pretty much instantly. However, there was also a dark side to this fairytale story as one of them, Eddy, did kill himself 15 years later. In fact, it didn’t stop here and the whole thing did get so much weirder though. Seriously, at some point, it felt more like watching some kind of cheap horror movie, except that it all really did happen. Indeed, these boys were apparently not separated by accident, it was apparently done on purpose by some psychiatrist which does sound really insane. The craziest thing for me was to hear the only 2 people who were working for this psychiatrist actually still praising this ‘experiment’ after all these years which was completely mind-blowing to me. Sure, I understand the value of scientific experiments but the impact on the concerned children and their adoptive families was massive and they should have been left alone. To make things worse, this study would never be published at all because these guys actually became aware that it wouldn’t be so popular after all. Even more frustrating for all the people/victims involved, it seemed that the whole thing turned out to be inconclusive so all the damage done might have been all for nothing. Anyway, to conclude, it was probably one of the weirdest documentaries I have seen and I think 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 and, in fact, the main reason why I checked it out was because Javier Bardem was involved (he was apparently voicing one of the robots). Well, at least, it turned out to be more ambitious than all these underwhelming B action flicks that Antonio Banderas has been making lately. Indeed, the robots were not bad and I was rather amazed to find out that they were all some animatronic creations which was pretty cool. The mood in general was also not bad either, even if it is quite amazing that, after 40 years, they are still copying ‘Blade Runner’. I love so much this movie though, I guess it might explain why I waste so much of my time with such rather weak shameless copies. Still , they didn’t do anything really original with the material after all though. Indeed, they did try to make it all sound deep and philosophical but, to be honest, it did feel rather pretentious after all. The fact that the acting from pretty much the whole cast involved (Antonio Banderas, Dylan McDermott, Melanie Griffith, Robert Forster) was pretty weak as well probably didn’t help either. It was especially a bad idea to have Melanie Griffith playing some fancy high-tech wizard. I mean, I can believe that Griffith might have been really lovely at some point but I tend to think that her acting is usually rather abysmal and this movie was a pretty good example, I’m afraid. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that my rating was probably too generous for this movie but I do have a weak spot for the genre and I think it is worth a look but probably only if you really like this kind of movies. 

To be honest, it did seem to be a rather obscure movie from the 20’s but, since it was directed by Ernst Lubitsch and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. It’s rather funny and interesting how, back then, almost 100 years ago, they could make a movie like this one with just a handful of characters and barely a plot at all. Indeed, the damned thing was really about pretty much nothing as it focused on 2 couples living across each other and who basically swapped partners. Eventually, it was all really daft and actually way too feather-light for my taste and, yet, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be quite entertaining after all. Indeed, the 4 actors involved (Monte Blue, Patsy Ruth Miller, George Beranger, Lilyan Tashman) were all pretty good but I was above all impressed by their body language. Back then, like all other movies, it was silent, but, in this case, I was really neat how they managed with only their face and their body to say so much and, above all, to be so hilarious. My favorite one was probably Monte Blue playing Dr Giraud as he had the best bits. Concerning the directing, Ernst Lubitsch was one of the early masters, especially in in this genre, and the fact that the damned thing worked so well was probably thanks to his directing but, to be honest, it didn’t see anything really fancy in this area. Indeed, it seemed all fairly basic to me but I’m probably not expert enough in this area to make an educated analysis. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t really a masterpiece, it was still a solid minimalistic comedy 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 was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the production on this movie was pretty epic and, even though the overhype was huge (some critics even called it one of the super-hero flicks ever made), it turned out to be a big flop and there is a fair chance that Ezra Miller’s career is now really over after all the shenanigans in his private life. Anyway, how was the damned thing after all? Well, the opening was definitely not promising. Indeed, it was such a tedious mess, no matter how many cameos they might throw at us (Gal Gadot was such a mighty Wonder Woman though and she will be terribly missed in the future). Fortunately, the plot was not bad at all. Indeed, it is a classic tale about the Flash going into the past to save his mother and it had a nice emotional core. Furthermore, , no matter how f*cked-up Ezra Miller might be in real life, he really managed to deliver 2 distinct versions of the same character at different age and I also really liked the sweet connection between the two Barry’s. Even if it was completely ruined by the trailer, it was also really cool to see Michael Keaton playing again this iconic character and it was even more awesome that he completely nailed it at more than 70 years old. Concerning Sasha Calle, I did like her take on Supergirl but she was just there for 20 mins only and I’m afraid she wasn’t given enough to do. Anyway, to conclude, it seems rather shameful how DC completely copycat in specific ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and in general Marvel’s current take on the multiverse but, even if this movie was sometimes a hot mess, I have to admit that it was actually fairly entertaining and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.