Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, 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 quite eager to check it out. I have to admit that I’m not really familiar with Kenji Mizoguchi’s work but it is really neat to finally discover this great Japanese master. Anyway, I was rather impressed by how modern this tale actually turned out to be. Indeed, it was basically a story dealing with stardom, art, and love but it could just as well have taken place nowadays. Seriously, I could really picture a modern version dealing with the son of some popstar. Anyway, the main character was such a lonely guy who always lived in the shadows of his illustrious father and, basically, during his whole life, no one really ‘spoke’ with him. Instead, they kept giving him some empty and fake compliments and it’s so interesting because you can be pretty sure that’s how things still go nowadays with most celebrities. Of course, it might seem dubious that he would fall in love with the very first girl that finally tells him something real but I think it’s actually understandable. Indeed, for someone like him, to finally have an actual conversation with another human-being must have been quite intoxicating, even irresistible. On the other hand, you might wonder what Otoku really did get from this relationship but there is no denying that both characters somehow felt a deep connection for each other. I also loved the idea that an actor is like any other artist, in order to become great, they probably should have to face many obstacles because, eventually, how could you portray an emotion that you have never experienced? Anyway, to conclude, even if it might not be an easy watch, I really enjoyed the damned thing 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 Ana de Armas and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I’m afraid it turned out to be even worse than my lowest expectations. Basically, I never really cared for the ‘The Fast and The Furious’ but do you know what is actually worse than the long-running action franchise? A cheap European knock-off like this one. Seriously, they even took the least interesting actor ever involved in Vin Diesel’s franchise and turned him into the lead. Concerning [Link removed - login to see]s, as usual, she was very lovely but, to be honest, she also gave here such a weak performance. Seriously, it’s difficult to believe that, the very same year, she would give her breakthrough performance in ‘Blade Runner 2049’. It’s not that the rest of the cast was better, it’s just that I didn't expect her to sink so low. Or maybe I did overestimate her. By the way, what I don’t get is that, even though it was a French production, there was no consistency regarding how the French characters were talking to each other. Indeed, sometimes, they would speak French for a while, then suddenly they would speak English with each other. Sure, it might be a minor detail but I always find this rather annoying. Of course, when you’re watching an action flick and you’re starting to pay attention on what language the characters are talking to each other, the makers probably did mess something up. Finally, I understand that they wanted to deviate somehow from ‘The Fast and The Furious’ by focusing on some vintage cars but developing a high-octane action flick around some 50 year old cars might not be the greatest idea in the world after all. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was a big waste of time, not only for me but also for all the people involved and you should pretty much avoid it. 

I have to admit that I wasn’t really eager to watch yet another version of this timeless tale but since this movie is considered as the best version ever made, I had to watch it at some point. To be honest, I was at first actually worried during the first scenes. Indeed, the whole thing looked way too cheesy for me, especially Errol Flynn with his tights, pointy hat and haircut which all looked quite ridiculous. However, from the moment Robin Hood went to Nottingham Castle on his own with just a bow and some arrows to provoke his enemies right on the spot, I was actually sold. Indeed, not only the action scene that followed was quite thrilling, but the boldness and recklessness of the character was just neat. Eventually, while watching this movie, it became pretty obvious that the main issue with the more recent versions is that they usually chose a grim and serious approach but it is completely misunderstanding the material. Indeed, the story is actually fairly ridiculous and, in this case, they turned it into a fun and light entertaining tale which was a perfect fit. In fact, I was also surprised by how much Disney’s animated version turned out to be pretty much a copycat of this movie. Seriously, they basically turned the characters into some animals and added a few songs but the mood and the plot were otherwise pretty much identical. This movie was also the obvious precursor of all the super-heroes movies which would rule the box-office more than 80 years later and it is rather surprising that it took the movie studios so long to figure out the commercial potential of the genre. Anyway, to conclude, this movie really deserves its solid reputation and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since it was probably the most ambitious movie released in 2021, of course, I was really eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, maybe I wasn’t in the right mood but I actually really struggled to get into the damned thing after all. It’s not that I don’t have any affinity with the material though. Indeed, I did read the book (which I really loved) and I watched David Lynch’s version (which I didn’t hate) but it was at least 20 years ago which was actually pretty cool since I didn’t remember everything in details. I don’t know, I have always been rooting for [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see] but it seems that his SF flicks are getting not only bigger but also more pretentious each time around and I hope he will finally go for some other genre when he is done with ’Dune’. I mean, the whole thing was visually really neat, I wouldn’t expect less from this director, it is still a fascinating world and there were tons of charismatic and interesting characters and, yet, the damned thing never really grabbed me. Eventually, you might wonder if such a straightforward adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic book was the best approach and, maybe, Alejandro Jodorowsky with his completely bonkers project was actually right. Of course, you might argue that I shouldn’t muse over a movie which was never made but it seems that turning this story into another SF blockbuster extravaganza only amplified the weaknesses of this story. For example, Paul Atreides is basically a wimpy emo kid who’s terribly passive and never takes any decision by himself. Another issue was that most of the plot was about the fact that the Harkonnens were summoned to leave Arrakis so they could come back to get rid of the Atreides but wasn’t it actually a really convoluted plan from the emperor to handle his enemies? Anyway, to conclude, maybe it will be more enjoyable when we will be able to see the whole thing when Part 2 will be released so, for the time being, I will give it the benefit of the doubt but, so far, I can’t say I was really impressed though. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a pretty cool cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, to be honest, it wasn’t really much more than that. I mean, they certainly displayed how unfair, inadequate and completely incompetent the US judicial has been and probably has always been but, by now, I have seen plenty more movies about the subject. Indeed, even if the intentions of the makers were more than commendable, I’m afraid they didn’t break any new ground. Their approach was also really biased. Basically, all the black folks were kind, soft-spoken with no bad bones whatsoever (even the prison inmates which was rather doubtful), while pretty much all the white characters were prejudiced, ignorant and even vile. To add a token friendly white woman played by Brie Larson, a character completely underwritten who could have been easily removed, certainly didn’t help. While watching this movie, I was actually wondering what the white community was thinking and feeling about this whole situation. Did they really believe that it was fine to pin down a murder on any random black man just to even the score? Did it really give them some kind of closure? Of course, the impact on this man, his family, even his whole community, was just more than dramatic and this massive issue definitely deserves our attention but the approach chosen for this movie turned out to be rather safe after all. Still, it remains infuriating to see all these convicts getting no defence whatsoever which shouldn’t be the case, even if they are guilty. Finally, how could you still think that the death penalty is a suitable option after watching this flick? Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing ground-breaking, it was still a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

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. To be honest, the whole concept of a bunch of thieves hiding in some empty warehouse after some botched robbery was hardly original but I still think it could have been worse though. Indeed, I was surprised by how entertaining it was to hear these guys reminiscing about some old heist or just their lives in general. In fact, I wish they gave us more flashbacks showing how they met. Indeed, if you decide to copy ‘Reservoir Dogs’, you might as well go all the way. Or they could have gone into a different reaction and give us some flashbacks scenes showing how their heist went down. Each one of these directions could have been pretty cool but, instead, they decided to focus on how these characters tried to survive against some seemingly invincible dog involved in some dog fighting. Unfortunately, I never really cared about this dog and his story was rather awkwardly mixed up with the tale of these three robbers. In fact, Walker should have also told some anecdote or tale involving some dog, it would have been at least consistent but, even with that, I don’t think I would have cared much more about this angle. The ending was also seriously annoying. Indeed, you get to see Stacy on a beach looking for his old girlfriend with a brand-new pup. Of course, you could argue that Stacy was actually fantasizing this scene when he was dying but I would have simply get rid of the beach scene. Seriously, it would have been actually pretty awesome to end-up with every single character, even the damned dog, actually dead but, unfortunately, it was a rather drastic step the makers didn’t dare to take. Anyway, to conclude, I think my rating might be too generous here but I thought it was still a decent watch after all. 

Not so long ago, I watched again ‘Under Siege’ and I have to admit that it was not as bad as I remembered so I thought I might as well check out this sequel. Well, I guess I should have skipped it after all… The first mistake they made was to follow too much the concept of the previous movie. Indeed, how big are the odds that Casey Ryback, a former Navy SEAL, would stumble once again on some terrorist attack completely by accident? Then, there was the issue that the action was taking place on a train. I mean, sure, it did make sense considering the fact that the previous movie was taking place on a boat but a train is simply not a convenient spot to shoot an action flick. Basically, you have the wagons, the locomotive and going on top of the train but that’s pretty much everything you have. As a result, they spent an awful amount of time dealing with some unconvincing and above all really boring techno babble just to fill up the running time because, without it, the movie would last only 20 mins. Finally, the ending scene involving these 2 trains crashing with each other was definitely one of the worst climax I have seen in a very long time. Seriously, nothing worked in this scene, it looked so fake and I don’t understand why they thought it would be a great idea to end up with something so completely over-the-top. At least, Eric Bogosian and Everett McGill were some decent bad guys and it was neat to see a very young Katherine Heigl even if her character really had nothing to do except standing around and wait until her uncle would finally save her. Furthermore, this movie did give us one of the most badass film quotes ever written which is obviously ’Assumption is the mother of all f*ck-ups’. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was pretty weak and I think you should pretty much avoid it, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of Steven Seagal.

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Well, I wasn’t disappointed, that’s for sure. Eventually, the most bewildering thing was that it took a whopping 30 years until Anthony Hopkins was finally provided with a part which was actually worthy of his tremendous talent. Indeed, the guy was just amazing and gave here one of the most pitch-perfect performances even delivered on the silver screen. Beside Hopkins at the top of his game, it was also a rather fascinating movie about dementia. Indeed, one of the usual stereotypes about people suffering of Alzheimer's disease is that they don’t remember anymore who their loved ones actually are. In this case, they went much deeper than this cliché and displayed that, the more confused Alzheimer’s patients get, the more they lose their grip on time and space. This process is probably also speed up by moving to a retirement home but to keep such a high maintenance patient at home might not be a better option, I’m afraid. Eventually, that’s probably what happened at some point, the main character was brought to a retirement home, maybe weeks before, maybe months before, but instead of making some new mental landmarks, like we all do, his scrambled brain never managed to handle this big change in his life. This whole process was so well displayed and it was just so heart-breaking to see this man who might have been brilliant at some point desperately shouting ‘I’m an intelligent man’, without mentioning the ending scene during which he cries for his mother. Of course, you could argue that the other characters were not developed whatsoever but it made sense since the main character was constantly confused so, like him, the audience is never really sure who is actually with him in the room. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a rather stunning drama with an amazing performance by Hopkins and the damned thing is absolutely worth a look.