Reviews by johanlefourbe

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I was positively surprised by ‘Bullet Train’, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, I did prefer ‘Bullet Train’ which was even wilder but this movie still turned out to pretty cool though. First of all, I actually used to watch the TV-show when I was a kid but, to be honest, it was hardly one of my favorite shows at the time (Hell, even ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ was way cooler when I was 12 years old). Fortunately, this adaptation had very little to do with the TV-show after all (at least, what I did remember about it) but I think it was a blessing though. Indeed, eventually, I understand why some critics made a comparison with ‘Barbie’ and not only because Ryan Gosling was involved in both movies. Basically, in both cases, they took some seemingly hopeless and even rather lame IP and went for some irreverent, slightly meta, daft approach and I have to admit that it worked really well here. Obviously, the action scenes were really badass, it was basically the whole point, but Gosling was also once again pretty much pitch-perfect and the guy was fairly often quite hilarious. It was also pretty neat how they managed to squeeze a rather cheesy but still sweet romance in such an action flick. With Emily Blunt, they got the perfect actress for this challenge and she has some solid chemistry with Gosling. Still, to be honest, the story was nothing really great after all and I do think that they did stretch the running time but, eventually, it was fairly impressive what they managed to do with this material. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be quite entertaining and the damned thing 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 starring Josh Hartnett, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a rather chaotic movie, that's for sure, but I think its randomness was its biggest asset but also its biggest drawback as well, I’m afraid. Indeed, as result, it did make the whole thing really unpredictable and I kept wondering what would happen next which is always something appreciated. However, you wish that they would stop jumping from one idea to the another and focus instead on one of the 5 characters involved (Setsuko AKA Lucy, her sister, her niece, her English teacher and Takeshi AKA Tom) as they were all interesting. Unfortunately, with 90 mins of running time, there was just enough time to develop any of them, even Setsuko. I also think it was a mistake to have the whole story started after she had only one or two lessons with John. Indeed, I wish they took more time to see the impact it had on her. By the way, I never understood why Mika asked her aunt to get some English lessons from her boyfriend. I think it was a way to get some money but, to be honest, the whole plan was rather confusing. Another issue was that the timeline was rather confusing. I mean, it seemed that Mika and John were gone for a few weeks but, at some point, it seemed that they were going for at least 6 months. Finally, I didn’t really get why Mika made such a fuss about the fact that John had a wife and a daughter. I mean, it was pretty obvious that they were separated so, in this case, what was the big deal? Wasn’t he allowed to have a previous relationship? Still, it was an intriguing story and the cast was really solid. In fact, it was a very long time that I saw Josh Hartnett delivering such a fine performance. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Even though this movie had been a huge critical flop, since it was available on Netflix and since it was directed by Zack Snyder, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, to be honest, I don’t think it deserved such harsh critics though as I don’t think it was such a disaster after all. Indeed, I always had a weak spot for such epic Sci-Fi adventures and the damned thing was definitely ambitious. Still, even if I don’t think that it was really abysmal, it was still not good either though. I mean, it was visually not bad and it actually had some potential but, at the end of the day, I’m afraid most of it didn’t work. The most frustrating thing was probably the fact that, even though this first part was more than 2 hrs long, the story still felt curiously empty. It probably had to do to with the fact that, even though it was a new story taking place in some new world, Snyder picked up so many stuff from other movies that, sometimes, it felt more like watching a checklist in motion instead of an actual movie. Basically, he gave us ‘Seven Samurai’ in space which was not necessarily a bad idea but the end-result was barely entertaining. Another issue was the fact that the characters were either poorly developed or barely entertaining or probably a combination of the two. A perfect example would be Gunnar. Indeed, the idea of a simple farmer getting involved in some intergalactic rebellion against a ruthless seemingly almighty empire was actually pretty cool but, unfortunately, Michiel Huisman did nothing interesting with this character. In fact, it was in fact exactly what he did, nothing, as he looked stunned and wooden through the whole duration. However, the worst of the bunch was probably Sofia Boutella though. Indeed, as long as she didn’t say anything, she was quite charismatic and badass but, as soon as she was speaking, it was seriously rather cringe-inducing. Sure, she wasn’t helped by the rather pathetic dialogues she was provided with and, in the contrary to the rest of the cast, she basically had to carry the whole thing on her shoulders but still. Anyway, to conclude, it is too bad because the fact that Netflix is still willing to put so much money in something new should be celebrated but the damned thing felt like a huge waste and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are really a die-hard fan of Snyder’s work. 

A few days ago, I already saw ‘Brumes d'automne’ and since this other vintage short from Dimitri Kirsanoff had an even better reputation, I thought I might check it out as well. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that, just like with ‘Brumes d'automne’, even though I did admire the work done, I still had a hard time to connect with the damned thing though. I mean, even though the lovely Nadia Sibirskaïa was once again involved (I thought she was actually even more mesmerizing in ‘Brumes d'automne’), it was interesting how really different both movies were. There is of course the fact that this movie was 3 times longer but it was also slightly less surreal and there was this time some plot, even if I still had a hard time to figure out what was going on most of the time. I think the main issue with this short was that it actually started with its climax. Indeed, it was such a powerful and striking scene but, like I said before, it seemed to be actually the climax of this movie, which was definitely a bold move but, as a result, I felt slightly numb through everything that happened afterwards. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in such experimental vintage features. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really dying to see yet another adaptation of the famous Jane Austen book but, since I have a weak spot for Anya Taylor-Joy and since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I still don’t think it is a really strong story (on the other hand, I have to admit that I don’t remember much the version starring Gwyneth Paltrow which I saw ages ago, except that it didn’t really impress me back then). Indeed, even though Emma Woodhouse and Knightley are separately fairly entertaining on their own, I’m afraid their little romance was just too predictable and it was in fact barely entertaining. And, yet, with this adaptation, I think they made the most of this story though. First of all, the damned thing was visually really impressive and I’m not surprised that Autumn de Wilde used to be a photographer before making this movie. Indeed, all the production design and costumes were quite exquisite. Furthermore, the cast was pretty good, especially Anya Taylor-Joy who, once again, really impressed me. Indeed, I think it was rather tricky since Emma Woodhouse can’t be super smart but she can not be really dumb either, and she has to be sharp and direct but she can’t be completely vain, insensitive or mean either. However, Taylor-Joy really nailed it though and she delivered in the process a fully-fledged and complex character and I think it’s even more remarkable when you think that the material was basically a rather fluffy romance at the end of the 18th century in England. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Recently, I have been focusing on older movies and since this one seemed to have a decent reputation and since it was available on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a really poetic short, that’s for sure, and, yet, it was still missing something to really blow me away though. To be honest, I have to admit that I actually had a very bad day when I watched it so I might have to check it again under better circumstances. On the other hand, there was also the fact that I recently watched several vintage shorts which were so much more abstract and wild than this one, as a result, it did seem slightly to be too straightforward, even if it was quite beautiful to look at. I mean, Nadia Sibirskaïa was a really intriguing and charismatic woman and these landscapes were striking as well but half of the duration was only about switching between her and these images which was rather repetitive and, to be honest, not really satisfying. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in such experimental vintage features. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but my girlfriend wanted to see something romantic and in Dutch and, since this movie was available on Netflix, I thought we might as well check it out. Well, I usually don’t care much for most Dutch movies and even less for their usually really lame romantic-comedies but I have to admit that I really like this one. Indeed, the characters were very well written and I was really impressed by Hanna van Vliet who was just so charismatic and, yet, still completely relatable which is a really tricky balance to achieve. I also did appreciate how they take their time to show this vibrant community of gay people living in Amsterdam showing that gays are just regular folks, they just want to be left alone and enjoy life like everyone else. And yet, somehow, I think the damned thing still missed something to be really great though. Basically, the main idea was that the main character had some major issue to articulate her thoughts and feelings which was well handled but I'm afraid this approach did drag the down the pace of the whole thing. Indeed, if the whole issue was that the girl has some trouble to speak her mind, well, it was actually pretty thing narratively speaking, even if it was quite realistic. Still, it was easily one of the best Dutch movies I have seen in quite some time and I think we will also check the TV-series it was based on, just to spend more time with this intriguing young woman and to see what happen to her before. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t manage to be a masterpiece, I really enjoyed the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

As usual, I didn’t know anything about this movie before watching it but my other film club members made it pretty clear that it would heavy. Well, within 5 mins, I understood that it will be pretty rough and, indeed, at the end, we were all fairly traumatized about what we just saw. As far as I was concerned, it felt like a horror feature, the big difference was that it was based on something real which made all these images even more hard to swallow. Eventually, it was a strong reminder how we seem to live in some kind of parallel world where we worry about the costs of our groceries and about where we are going to spend our next fancy holidays when, not so far away, some really desperate immigrants are going through hell dreaming of a better life for themselves and very often for their very young kids. Something which was not handled in this movie was the fact that, if they ever managed to reach their destination (many won’t), they will be despised and very poorly treated by the local population which made me feel such a great shame. They did spend some time however to show how awful the job was for the military working at the border and it was a great way to show that, even if someone gets in direct contact with these refuges, they pretty much feel instantly different about them which shows, that deep down, we are all human. But they didn’t stop here, they also spent some time with some activists, just a handful of them, who tried to make a difference but I think the way this group was depicted was less effective. Indeed, it seemed that none of them had a daily job or some family to take care of and that they all could simply drop off everything to help these poor souls which seemed less realistic than the rest of this movie. Anyway, to conclude, I’m still shaken up by the damned thing, I still think it is definitely worth a look but you should expect to feel really depressed afterwards. 

A few weeks ago, I already saw ‘Die Büchse der Pandora’ and since Louise Brooks really blew me away at the time, I was quite eager to see this other movie she also made in 1929. It’s only afterwards that I discovered that both movies had the same director (G. W. Pabst). It’s interesting because I think that the two movies had a completely different vibe. I do think that ‘Pandora’ had a stronger story and a stronger character for Brooks but ‘Diary’ was however narratively less disjointed. Still, even though both movies were entertaining, I think that they were rather messy though. For example, in this case, it took me forever to figure out that Frieda was not Thymian’s mother but actually her aunt. It was also rather bewildering that Meinert was not fired and kicked out from their house when they found out that he was actually the father of Thymian’s newborn child. Finally, there was also the fact that the Count Osdorff killed himself after being married for maybe 10 mins with the main character. However, this movie will not be remembered for its story or its directing, it will be remembered because of Louise Brooks. Indeed, her performance was once again so intriguing and, after Maria Falconetti, she must be hands down the best silent movie actress I have ever seen. The interesting thing is that she did look exactly the same as she did in ‘Die Büchse der Pandora’ but, expect that they both did end up in the prostitution, the two character were so different though. Above all, in both cases, Brooks was quite spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, if only to see Louise Brooks shine one more time.