Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since it kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, the fact that I didn’t know much about the Rolling Stones and what happened during this infamous concert before watching this movie made it rather difficult for me to get a good grip on the damned thing. Indeed, it actually took me forever to figure out that the concert footage at the beginning had actually nothing to do with the Altamont Free Concert and was in fact taken during some previous concert in the Madison Square Garden. There was also some footage showing the Rolling Stones at work for some songs for their coming-up album ‘Sticky Fingers’ but, to be honest, it all felt rather random. However, there is no denying that the scenes involving the Altamont Concert were actually quite fascinating to behold or seriously disturbing might actually be more accurate. Indeed, back in 1969, Woodstock turned out to be arguably the best concert ever filmed, well, the very same year, the Altamont Free Concert might turn out to be the worst concert ever filmed. Should we blame the promoters who switched location just a day before the concert was planned? Should we blame the Hells Angels for poisoning the mood right from the start and creating a really antagonizing atmosphere not only with the audience but also with the bands performing? Should we blame the Stones for even considering a biker gang to provide the security for such a massive concert? Eventually, not only it was a milestone as this event was considered as the end of the Flower Power era but I think it also completely changed how concerts would be managed in the future. Indeed, can you imagine a free concert with 300 000 people with a stage only a meter high, no gates between the stage and the audience, no check at the entrance and a security composed of unprofessional goons probably all drunk? In fact, it is more surprising that something even more dramatic didn’t happen before at Woodstock or any other massive music festival. Anyway, nowadays, when you go to a concert, there is tons of security involved including a big distance between you and the performers which is not very intimate but, at least, it is much safer for everyone involved. Finally, the most stunning scene in this movie was probably when you get to see Mick Jagger actually watching the footage of a man pointing out a gun and then being savagely stabbed to death by one of the Hell Angels while Jagger himself was actually trying to perform on stage. Seriously, it was so surreal and it felt like watching a snuff movie with this Rock and Roll legend. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing turned out to be seriously dark and disturbing and if you are curious about the most messed-up concert that ever took place, you should definitely check this movie. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was the last movie produced by Laika, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I’m hardly surprised that it turned out to be a flop at the box-office. I mean, the animation was, as usual, quite amazing but I wouldn’t expect less from these guys, though I wish they didn’t use so much CGI mixed with their state-of-the-art stop-motion animation. The main issue was that it was easily their most generic story so far. The fact that there were so many animated movies dealing with yetis in a very short time period (see also ‘Smallfoot’ and ‘Abominable’) probably didn’t help. Still, even without this competition, this movie would still have struggled to find an audience, I’m afraid, and I'm not sure if it really deserved a better reception. Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, what really saved the whole thing was this Mr. Link character. Indeed, while all the other characters were just never really interesting and/or entertaining, this Sasquatch creature was actually quite hilarious. Through the whole duration, I kept wondering who was voicing him and it’s only afterwards that I discovered that it was actually Zach Galifianakis who was behind this voice. I wish I could say the same about the main character voiced by Hugh Jackman (who I did instantly recognize) but even though Jackman did a fine job, I just didn’t care much about his character. Concerning Adelina Fortnight, the 3^rd character involved in this adventure, it was actually even worse as she joined them completely randomly and provided very little added value after all. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it thought it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre but, to be honest, I hope that Laika will really come up with a better story the next time around.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this movie but since it was starring Ethan Hawke, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the damned thing turned out to really weak, in fact, it was probably the worse movie I have seen so far starring Hawke. Seriously, it’s the kind of movie during which they did blow up some power plant in some rather convoluted scene and, yet, afterwards, the lights were still on everywhere in this city. To make things worse, it was apparently not at all needed for them to be onsite since it could have disabled remotely. Of course, I understand that it was supposed to be a non-stop action flick and I did like the idea of a guy doing some tasks as if he was in some real version of ‘Grand Theft Auto’. However, the first mistake they made was to force the main character to go through all these tasks against his will which is such a lame approach. Even more problematic was that the action scenes (which did represent 99% of the running time) were just poorly put together. Above all, the rapid-fire editing was just so awful and made these scenes borderline incomprehensible. Seriously, there were as much as or maybe even more than 10 cuts within 30 seconds which was pretty much headache-inducing. Concerning Ethan Hawke, it is pretty obvious that he didn’t care much about the damned thing and got involved because he could do some cool stunts with some very cool car. Concerning Selena Gomez whose character was dropped in this tale completely randomly, I wonder what could have been the appeal for her. Maybe she should get another agent? Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was a big waste of time and you should probably avoid it. 

Since I have seen all the movies directed by Wes Anderson, I was quite eager to check his last directorial effort. Well, once again, Anderson didn’t disappoint and delivered another delightful picture. Eventually, it’s not very often that I came across such an anthology of short stories which worked so well. Indeed, none of these 3 stories could have been really developed as a full-length feature and yet, there was plenty of room to fully develop each tale (which wasn’t the case, for example, with 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’, the anthology delivered by the Coen brothers). However, even if it was quite enjoyable, I don’t think it was one of Anderson’s best movies though. Above all, I thought the whole thing was just rather exhausting to watch. Sure, as usual with this director, the whole thing was visually really impressive and the amount of details and visual tricks was once again just amazing. In fact, to really grasp what was going in the screen, you should pretty much watch it frame by frame so you can notice every single neat detail. However, in normal speed, there was so much random stuff going on, I think I missed half of it which was rather tiresome and frustrating. Concerning the cast, well, pretty much every Anderson production has become some kind of All-Star game of the best actors around which might sound neat but it also has its downside. Indeed, as a result, at least half of them came by just to do one scene and it was in fact rather distracting to see a major actor playing some random character with barely any impact on the movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not another slam dunk for Wes Anderson, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this director. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since there was a solid cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I had no idea what this movie was about and, with its title and poster, I was expecting something rather cheesy. However, it turned out to be actually one of the most cynical and darkest romantic-comedies I have ever seen. Indeed, the couple involved was just so messed-up but it was actually seriously refreshing. Eventually, even if they hated everything and everyone, they above all loathed themselves even more and, as far I was concerned, it made them really stand out from the usual couples you get in such romantic features. It also reminded me of a discussion I had so many times with my wife. Indeed, she often argued that a romantic relationship is always based on a nice and friendly connection but I always strongly disagreed because, in my opinion, romantic relationships are much more complicated than that. Basically, there are actually so many reasons why you decide to be with someone (and some of these reasons can be pretty messed up) and it goes way beyond the single fact that you’re being nice or not, as it was perfectly displayed in this movie. Anyway, concerning Keanu Reeves, the guy has always been criticized for his wooden performances but I think he was actually really good here and, in my opinion, he completely disappeared in this character. Indeed, it’s hard to believe that this misanthrope is actually considered as one of the nicest guys working in Hollywood. Concerning Winona Ryder, she was not bad either but I thought she was slightly less convincing (it felt too much that her character was constantly drunk or high) but she still had a pretty good chemistry with Reeves. Eventually, they both had to carry the movie by themselves (seriously, there wasn’t a single supporting character around to support them) which was very gutsy but, to be honest, it did make the whole thing slightly monotonous. Basically, the whole duration was about the two characters endlessly barking at each other which was sometimes rather tiresome. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a really surprising romantic-comedy and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you want to see something else in this genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I have weak spot for Emma Roberts, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though not everything did really work, I was actually surprised by how intense this movie actually turned out to be. Eventually, the concept was actually not bad at all and, in my opinion, it worked much better than in ‘The Purge’. Indeed, there was a good chunk of the running time during which I was nodding my head, thinking ‘Ok, this might actually work’. I also did appreciate the fact that they never provided any explanation about who was behind this game. The only thing that didn’t make much sense (beside the fact that their mobile phones seemed to have some endless battery life) was how did they get their money to reward the players but it was explained later on that the viewers were paying to watch the players of their choice (however, it was rather far-fetched that people would pay a whopping 20 dollars to watch a live-stream…). Unfortunately, even if it was expected, it was too bad that the dares became more and more hazardous because, as long as the dares were believable, it was actually all possible and therefore actually quite entertaining. And obviously the ending was also seriously lame. It was rather ridiculous to see a bunch of hackers managing to crack this thing within minutes and it was rather disappointing that the final dare would be to have the players shooting each other… Everything involving the friends of the main character was also rather useless and could have been removed as well. Eventually, as long as they were focusing on this team of players and as long as the dares were not seriously life threatening, it was actually quite spellbinding to behold. Concerning Emma Roberts, she was a perfect choice to play the main character and she had a pretty good chemistry with Dave Franco. Concerning Franco, he was not bad either but it’s too bad that his character’s behaviour at the beginning of the game didn’t match at all what was probably his actual state of mind at this point, considering the information we got later on in the movie. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that the damned thing turned out to be much better than I expected 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 really nice cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Apparently, it was a pet project for Robert Redford who actually wanted to do it with Paul Newman about 20 years ago which would have been pretty awesome but Nick Nolte was still a pretty cool replacement though. On top of that, I have to admit that I aways had a weak spot for such movies dealing with some seemingly impossible hiking trail. In this case, at least, as far I was concerned, this movie was actually a solid good commercial for the Appalachian Trail and, while watching the damned thing, I thought it could be pretty cool to do something like this. But it was probably one of the many issues with this movie, the fact that they made it look too easy. And yet, right at the start, seriously during the very first hours, you saw both guys already really struggling physically which was so lame. Indeed, it was pretty obvious that there was no way that they would quit so soon so it was rather pointless to make them start up this way. At least, it was rather refreshing that they didn’t actually finish the famous hiking trail but it was probably the only original idea displayed during the whole thing. Eventually, it’s too bad that they chose such a light tone. Indeed, it was pretty obvious that both characters had a lot of ‘baggage’ and I’m not talking about their backpacks and such an endless hike could have been the perfect opportunity to dig deeper into these guys but the makers chose to completely avoid any real introspection. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a decent watch and I believe it is worth a look, at least, if you actually like the genre.