Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was really eager to check it out. It’s only when I started to watch this movie that I discovered that it was actually directed by Josef von Sternberg and I’m pretty sure it was the first movie I saw from the famous director. It is interesting to note that, even though this movie is nowadays highly regarded, it was actually barely noticed when it was released because was it was one of the last films of the silent era and, at the time, everybody was obsessed about the first talkies coming out, even if they were not really that good. Concerning George Bancroft, he was some kind of combination of Jean Gabin with John C. Reilly and I wonder if I have ever saw him before. Anyway, I thought he was pretty good. Concerning the movie itself, it turned out to be an interesting combination of dark and grim realism with an almost fairy-tale like romance. The best example would be the wedding which is often considered as the most famous scene in this movie. Indeed, on one hand, it might seem pretty sordid and it was rather obvious that Bill Roberts wouldn’t keep his vows and, and yet, Mae actually believed in this ceremony while the crowd around them was not exactly sweet and gentle and these strong contrasts were really interesting. It’s too bad they didn’t develop more the characters though but, on the other, the fact that we knew so very little about them automatically made them more mysterious and intriguing. 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 I have a weak spot for Kristen Stewart and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if the damned thing was seriously derivative, it was actually not bad at all. Basically, it was very similar to ‘Alien’ except that it was taking place at the bottom of the ocean, not really much more than that, but I thought it was actually quite effective. First of all, I have to admit that I was rather surprised that the mayhem did start right away. Indeed, I was pretty sure that the main character had some kind of premonitory dream and that they would introduce this drill station under normal circumstances but their approach was actually rather refreshing. Concerning Kristen Stewart, I wonder if it was really necessary to have her running around in a sport bra for so long but it wasn’t a big deal and I thought she was fairly convincing. Concerning the rest of the cast, if Vincent Cassel and T.J. Miller were solid, the other actors were not really charismatic but I have to admit that they were not helped by the fact their characters were barely developed. However, it was obviously not the point of this movie. Indeed, the point was to create a claustrophobic atmosphere with a group of characters trying to survive at the bottom of the ocean, first in some soon-to-explode drilling station and then walking in the dark wearing some diving suits which were far from being indestructible and it was all quite entertaining to behold. I’m not sure if I really needed all these weird creatures obviously inspired not only by ‘Alien’ but also by H.P. Lovecraft but it was definitely not a deal-breaker. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was actually a decent watch 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 there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, it turned out to be terribly lame, I’m afraid, and I’m not surprised that it was released 3 years after it was actually made. It’s too bad because Alex Baldwin and Salma Hayek are both really charismatic and they had some solid chemistry together. On top of that, I think the concept actually had some potential. Indeed, how do you turn into a comedy the story of an upper-class couple who decides to get drunk instead of staying focused in order to get out of their financial problems? It wasn’t an easy thing to do and it’s clear that the makers completely failed. Their first move was to dump a whole bunch of stuff in their front yard which seemed like a very dramatic move but, sure, if you need some money, why not? However, what was rather bewildering was that, instead of actually trying to sale anything, they actually antagonized anyone who actually approached them. Seriously, what was that all about? Was it really supposed to be funny? Anyway, eventually, pretty much all the jokes were just flat or terrible or even seriously cringe-inducing. Seriously, to make one joke about child molesting was in really bad taste but to keep making such jokes was just so misguided and, obviously, not entertaining whatsoever. Coming back on the main characters, I won’t blame either Baldwin or Hayek, they both did what they could with this material, but their characters were just rather pathetic, if not even slightly annoying. However, the supporting characters were even worse though. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was just really lame and you should probably avoid it. 

I had no idea 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’m not surprised that this movie was released in the US three years after it was actually completed. Seriously, even if it might not be Renée Zellweger’s worst movie, it wasn’t far from it, I’m afraid. Back then, her career was not going so good and she would even take a 6 years hiatus soon after this movie was released. She would eventually come back with a completely different face (but that’s a different story…). Coming back to the movie itself, well, it was pretty obvious during the first minutes that there was something fishy about this kid. To be honest, I never really cared about the horror genre dealing with evil kids but this one was even harder to swallow than usual. Indeed, it really rubbed me in the wrong way that someone working for social services would suddenly be convinced that the little girl she was taking care of was apparently some kind of demon. Seriously, the whole concept felt really misguided or, at least, terribly distasteful. Basically, the conclusion of this movie was that her parents were actually right to put her into an oven, she apparently deserved it but I’m not sure if this is really how we should judge foster children and the parents who might have mistreated them. At least, the death scene involving Bradley Cooper (before he got his breakthrough with ‘The Hangover’) was pretty creepy but that’s probably the only scene that actually worked for me. Sure, you might argue that, since it is a horror movie, I shouldn’t take it too seriously but there was something rather unsettling, and not in a positive way, to see all these grown-ups suddenly trying to kill a foster kid. Anyway, to conclude, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing and I don’t think it is really worth a look.            

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it did receive some decent reviews and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. I did watch the TV-show when I was a kid but, to be honest, it was definitely not one of my favorites so, as far as I was concerned, this reboot did seem at first to be a rather misguided idea. Well, eventually, in spite of my low expectations, I have to admit it that they actually made the most of it. Indeed, it was pretty obvious that their biggest inspiration was ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ but it was a neat way to approach this material. As a result, they gave us something really meta and it was actually quite difficult to keep track of all the famous characters displayed and mentioned during this movie. For example, I was constantly wondering who the hell this polar bear was supposed to be but, apparently, it was based on a popular series of Coca-Cola commercials involving such bears which shows how deep (and random) they went. Obviously, the most surprising and entertaining one was hands-down Ugly Sonic. Indeed, it was pretty awesome that they dared adding such a completely weird character and give him so much screen time. However, you wonder how long it will take before people will watch this movie and will have no clue about where this character was actually coming from in the first place. Eventually, I’m not sure who was the audience for this movie. I mean, the original material was clearly aiming for young children but I’m pretty sure they won’t get most of the pop culture references in this movie. Anyway, I did like this approach and the only thing that did bother me was eventually the story. Indeed, it was too convoluted and still too generic at the same time which is too bad because the rest of the movie was fine. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I actually didn’t know this movie had been a huge flop when it was released but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that the beginning was actually not bad at all. Sure, it was really derivative, it mostly reminded me of the vastly superior ‘Ex Machina’, but I was fairly intrigued, at least, up until the psychological evaluation with Paul Giamatti’s character. In fact, even this scene was fine but only to a certain point. Indeed, this psychologist was dealing with a possibly aggressive AI and, yet, he kept pushing her buttons while there was no security at all. I mean, in the previous incident, she did attack Kathy Grieff for less than that so this scene was pretty much ruined by the really reckless and rather unprofessional approach of this so-called expert. To make things worse, from this point on, the damned thing basically went on auto-pilot and focused on some underwhelming action scenes until the very end. Obviously, it was a rather weak approach for this material and, to make things worse, it was just bewildering that everyone involved (except for the cook/nutritionist) would actually defend Morgan. I mean, it was an interesting concept, the idea that, to develop an AI pretty much like a human being, the people around him/her/it should try to be as friendly as possible. However, at this point, she had violently assaulted one of them and even killed someone else so it was rather ridiculous that ALL of them would go on full mutiny to protect her. There was also a twist at the end (that Kate Mara’s character was also some AI) but it was actually really predictable and they didn’t do anything interesting with this. Anyway, to conclude, I think I might have been generous with my rating here but I guess it might still be worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since it was starring Lieke van Lexmond, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be one of these typical Dutch romantic-comedies involving a dozen of couples and, even though it seems that my wife has a weak spot for the genre, I think these movies are just lazy and tedious to watch. Sure, it was fair game that they would release a knock-off of ‘Love Actually’ and, back then, ‘Alles is liefde’ was a huge success but it was already 15 years ago and I wish they would finally do something else with the rom-com genre. In this case, it was even worse since Johan Nijenhuis is probably one of the most underwhelming directors in the Dutch movie business. I mean, why would you call your movie ‘Skirt Day’ if this movie would have nothing to do with skirts in general or this day in specific? They could have just called it ‘Tapas Date’, at least, it would have made more sense. Concerning the little stories involved in this movie, even though 5 women were displayed on the poster, there were about a dozens of couples involved so you might wonder why they didn’t include more of them on the marketing material. Anyway, I have to admit that some of these romantic tales were actually not bad but there were just so many of them, as a result, none was probably developed whatsoever. Eventually, the story involving Lieke van Lexmond was the one which got the most attention but it was definitely not the best of the bunch. First of all, it was rather ridiculous that, during the opening scene, they tried to make us believe that van Lexmond, easily of the most beautiful Dutch women, would have any trouble to find a man. Then, couldn’t they find someone more charismatic to play the love of her life? Finally, it was never properly explained why on Earth her best friend would try to get the very same guy at all costs when she could have had any other guy who would have been much more suitable for her. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was harmless, it was still really weak and I don’t think it is worth a look. 

The funny thing with this franchise was that both Peter Sellers and Blake Edwards would claim after each installment that they were done but, at this point, it was so successful that kept making those and Edwards would keep on making more of them even after Sellers passed away. At the time, Peter Sellers’s mental and physical state was so bad, it made the production of this movie apparently extremely chaotic but that’s not something you would really notice when you watch this movie. Concerning the movie itself, well, to be honest, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. The first really weird thing was that, even though Chief Inspector Dreyfus threatened the whole world and even disappeared/died in ‘The Pink Panther Strikes Again’, he was still released (once again) from a psychiatric hospital as if the events in the previous movie never took place. I mean, I can imagine that the comedic interaction between Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom had always been a favorite among the fans but this approach was just so lazy. To make things worse, this time, it was the French mob who wanted to kill Clouseau which was just way too similar to what happened in the previous movie. At least, Dyan Cannon was a really lovely lady and they did give her more to do than the other female characters involved in this franchise. However, how she got entangled in this whole affair was just way too random. Even worse was this character Claude Russo. Maybe I missed something (I doubt it though) but the guy showed up completely out of nowhere and was killed within a few mins. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here but I guess it might be still worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre.