Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I’m rather clueless about [Link removed - login to see]’s work so I was really eager to check his directorial debut. First of all, I was lucky enough to find a Blue-ray box-set with 5 of his movies for a fairly cheap price and, with this first movie, I was really amazed by the impressive quality of the restoration done. Seriously, the damned thing really looked amazing, especially the opening scene. Concerning the movie itself, even though it is usually considered as Tarkovsky’s most accessible movie above all because it was the shortest one he made, to be honest, I still struggled to connect with this movie. Still, it was interesting that the directing was so different from what he did for ‘Stalker’ (the only movie I saw before from this director). Indeed, there were some scenes in this movie which were actually quite lyrical, even surreal sometimes. Still, what was the damned thing all about? Was the main goal to show WWII from the Soviets point of view? In this case, it wasn’t really convincing since Ivan had contact with only a handful of soldiers but it was probably not what Tarkovsky was aiming for. This movie was probably more about the depiction of the impact warfare might have on such a young child like Ivan. Indeed, it was rather striking how, at same time, it gave him a sense of purpose in this completely chaotic world but also constantly traumatized him even more. In a similar fashion, even though the ‘grown-up’ soldiers found Ivan’s involvement regrettable, you can sense that they actually liked to have him around as a simple distraction or because it was probably more satisfying or even soothing to take care of a young child instead of killing a bunch of random unknow guys and not getting yourself killed in the process. Anyway, to conclude, even if I might be too stupid to really get this filmmaker, the damned thing was still intriguing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I heard some pretty good things about this flick and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out. It was also the first movie I saw directed by Robert Bresson and, as I expected, his work turned out to be quite challenging. Indeed, I’m not surprised that Andrei Tarkovsky was a huge fan of Bresson’s work and, to be honest, just like with Tarkovsky’s work, I did struggle to feel a connection with this movie. Indeed, even though the main character keeps telling us his feelings and thoughts mostly when writing in his diary, I was never really sure what I should think regarding the events displayed in this movie. I mean, you could argue that they tried to display the contradictions between what this community was expecting from their new priest and what he was expected to do according to his religious dogma. However, this theory completely clashed with the fact that the main character was heavily ill through most of the duration and, as result, the whole thing was rather murky, at least, to me. Still, Bresson had such a raw and realistic directing style, it made the whole thing rather ostentatious but also quite spellbinding to behold. It is also interesting to note that Bresson used to make takes after takes so that the actors would basically forget that they were acting but, to be honest, even if the performances were intriguing, I didn’t think that they were super realistic. Still, Claude Laydu, in his first acting part, was actually really good. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a really interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, even though Pierce Brosnan (who was the main reason why I started to watch this movie) was displayed prominently on most of the promotional material, the guy actually showed up only for 10 mins. Concerning the movie itself, well, it turned out to be basically ’Die Hard in a Football Stadium’ but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Eventually, what was more problematic was not the fact that the story was really generic but the fact that the directing was just so clunky and barely efficient. Indeed, right from the start, the intro telling some details about a revolution taking place in some obscure (and fictional) region in Russia was not only not convincing whatsoever but, above all, completely unnecessary. Seriously, can you imagine ’Die Hard’ starting up with a scene telling us in details Hans Gruber’s political agenda? Another even bigger issue was the fighting scenes which were obviously the main draw for this movie. Indeed, they were rather poorly shot with some annoying quick cuts mixed up with some shaky cam. At least, Alexandra Dinu was pretty badass and actually seriously convincing in spite of her rather small silhouette. And I have to admit that, with each movie, [Link removed - login to see] keeps impressing me. Indeed, even if the material was actually rather weak, Bautista went actually beyond beating everyone’s ass, he was actually really acting and was actually quite convincing during the more quiet and dramatic scenes. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of Bautista’s decent efforts, the whole thing was rather weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

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. To be honest, I have to admit that I knew pretty much nothing about Roberto Duran before watching this flick and, only therefore, it was pretty neat to discover this incredible athlete. On the other hand, as a result, I probably gave this movie more credit than it actually deserved. Indeed, even though it was dealing with a strong story, I have to admit that it wasn’t really a strong movie, even far from it, I’m afraid. The main issue was that the whole thing was just too random without properly digging into some of the interesting ideas displayed. The best example would be when Sugar Ray Leonard was rematching his first match against Roberto Duran with his wife. Indeed, this scene was not bad at all as he was arguing that Duran psychologically f*cked him up on purpose to throw off his game. However, while this argument might have had some merit, it did actually vastly contradict everything displayed before or after in this movie. Indeed, Duran was displayed as a hot head who very often lacked discipline and such a complex strategy was never discussed with his coach, Ray Arcel, who was the one who constantly arguing that Duran should exactly focus on this aspect. By the way, it was a relief to see De Niro in something half decent for once but, in fact I was actually above all impressed by Edgar Ramirez who was actually really good here giving, in my opinion, the best performance of his career. Anyway, to conclude, even if one of the greatest boxers of all the time probably deserved a better movie, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I have to admit that I hadn’t been really impressed by ‘Life in a Day’ but since this sequel was once again directed by Kevin Macdonald and since it was available for free on YouTube, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I didn't  have some huge expectations, I have to admit that I was actually positively surprised by this sequel and, in my opinion, they really improved the formula. Sure, even if the makers will try forever to convince you that there is something massively artistic about this endeavour, it remains after all a bunch of home-videos all put together but the reason why I still think it was quite enjoyable this time around was the fact that the editing was so tight and so much more effective. Of course, the end-result might feel jarring and even slightly exhausting with this rapid-fire of images coming your way but, as a result, they never lingered too long on a single segment. Another benefit was that, this time around, they seriously cut down on the sanctimonious speeches gave by some random people telling their own version of the meaning life, something that terribly bogged down the previous version. I was also surprised that the Corona pandemic didn‘t have a bigger impact since July 25^th 2020 was right in the middle of this tragedy. Sure, at least 50% of the footage had some link one way or another with the pandemic but, with this movie, it seemed that half of the world population just kept on going with their lives without much obstacle. However, this hindsight turned out to be quite interesting. Another thing that surprised me was the fact that there were not more people returning from the previous movie. Indeed, I did count only 2 but one of these tales was actually quite powerful and even rather heart-breaking. Anyway, to conclude, even if this concept is still flawed, I have to admit that I actually enjoyed it this time around and, if they come up with a 3^rd instalment in 10 years, I will definitely check it out. 

I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Nick Frost, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. After checking his filmography, I was actually surprised to discover that it was, sor far, Frost’s first (and only?) leading part which made this movie already worthwhile. However, to be honest, I didn’t care much for the concept but I have to admit that Frost did make the most of it though. Indeed, his character had some potential and the general idea (no matter how you look, you can still be the best at something and shine in front of everybody) was actually pretty neat. To see this rather average guy reclaiming a major part of his identity was nice and I actually wish they focused more on this instead of the really generic and barely entertaining love triangle they gave us. Another thing that bothered me was that even though Nick Frost obviously put a lot of effort and energy in this project (he apparently trained intensively for 7 months), during the scenes he was dancing, it was shot way too close so, in most of the scenes, we basically didn’t see him dancing which was rather disappointing. Concerning Rashida Jones, she was lovely as usual and she did what she could but her role was just barely developed and rather thankless. Concerning Chris O'Dowd, of course, I understand that his character was supposed to be obnoxious but they pushed it too far and the guy was eventually more cringe-inducing than actually entertaining. But, again, I wish they didn't bring this love triangle at all and focused more on the journey made by the main character to become who he was always supposed to be. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Anne Fontaine, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be another dark page of history regarding the aftermath following the liberation of East Europe by the Soviets during WWII. Of course, what the Nazis did was horrible (they burned entire villages back then) but you might wonder if the Soviets were such an improvement and it was hardly surprising that they would raid such a convent and rape the nuns. Eventually, what made this movie worked for me was above all Lou de Laâge, a girl I had never seen it before. Indeed, not only she had the coolest name ever but she was also terribly charismatic, some kind of intriguing mix of Claire Foy with Léa Seydoux. It’s a pity that they never really developed her character and her relationship with the other characters were seriously limited as well. For example, her relationship with her colleague were limited to him constantly flirting with her and asking what the hell she was hiding which got old rather fast. In fact, it didn’t make much sense that she didn’t tell him at some point what she was up to. I mean, he was also a freaking doctor, someone also doing everything he can to help his patients, so he wouldn’t have caused any trouble, in fact, the chances were pretty high that he would have helped her. However, even if we basically learn nothing about the main character, de Laâge definitely made the most of it though. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a solid drama and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, at first, I wasn’t really interested by this movie but since I kept hearing some pretty good things about it and since it was available for free on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, there is no denying that the damned thing was rather derivative as it turned out to be a mix of many movies such as ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Groundhog Day’, 'The Matrix', ‘Her’ and obviously above all ‘The Truman Show’. They even thrown in some completely random references to ‘Captain America’ and ‘Star Wars’ because, well, Disney is nowadays such a juggernaut that they pretty much own most of the most famous brands and names in the business nowadays. Furthermore, I wish they found something else than an evil software developer stealing some code. Indeed, they could have gone slightly deeper in what it could mean to be alive for such an AI. Still, in spite of its flaws, it was definitely a fun blockbuster completely tailor-made for Ryan Reynolds’s skills and charisma. Furthermore, even though I don’t play much nowadays, I used to be a hardcore gamer and their depiction of the open world concept in videogames was pretty much spot-on. I also enjoyed how they displayed that, even though such games can be technically impressive, they also usually provide some really dumb-ass gameplay after all. Seriously, I can’t remember how many times I saw my stepson roaming around in ‘GTA’ just to steal some car and randomly beat someone around and, this, for hours on end. Eventually, it turned out to be a decent reflection on the fact, that even though we could technically create the most advanced and intricate worlds, we always go for something so much less ambitious and interesting after all, as long as it makes a profit. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was no masterpiece whatsoever, it was still an entertaining feel-good feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.