Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I kept hearing some great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Well, the damned thing turned out to be really impressive, even quite unforgettable I might add. Indeed, it is a great companion piece to ‘Shoah’, even if both movies tackled this subject in two completely different ways. At least, this movie was much shorter than ‘Shoah’ so you might assume that it is much easier to swallow but you would be actually mistaken. In fact, you might be grateful that it is rather short because they gave us some of the most horrifying images I came across. The interesting thing is that the damned thing started with some rather bucolic shots of the countryside with some fairly whimsical tune. They even made some sarcastic jokes about the architecture of the guards towers which was just so unexpected and it actually really floored me. The narration was also quite amazing. Indeed, it was so poetic in spite the fact that the material was dealing with the closest thing to hell you can imagine. It was apparently written by some guy called Jean Cayrol who was, unsurprisingly, a survivor from one of these death camps. Seriously, how incredibly difficult it must have been for him to write this stuff only 10 years after this nightmare took place? In general, it is quite incredible that they came up with such a movie so soon after the actual events. Eventually, I think that, back then, people already had the need to remember, to look back to what happen, even if it was so horrible because, if we don’t, we might forget it or not believe something so horrendous might have ever taken place. Anyway, to conclude, it really deserves its reputation, it is an incredible masterpiece and it is pretty much a must-see in my book. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Angelina Jolie and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Apparently, there has been some reports that this movie had been bombed with fake negative reviews because some black kids were playing some version of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland which is just sad and even rather f*cked-up. In fact, I did appreciate the fact that they gave us a mixed-race family as if it was the most common thing back in those days but I’m afraid if it was probably the only interesting thing about this flick though. Indeed, even if the damned thing was really harmless, it was just way too whimsical for my taste and, to be honest, I was rather bored through the whole duration. And what about this ending? I mean, until that point, they managed to reach an albeit boring but still solid balance between what was going on in the fantasy games of these children and what was actually really going on in this family but, suddenly, it went completely overboard during the final act. I mean, Peter, a young boy not even 10 years old, basically ran away from home, became some kind of Robin Hood and his parents and his sister didn’t freak out whatsoever? Seriously, I get that they tried to give the whole thing some fairy-tale vibe but this ending was still really hard to swallow. Concerning Angelina Jolie, even if she was maybe never the best actress in the world, she was still seriously charismatic and it’s rather sad to see her wasting her time (and ours) with such thankless parts. Anyway, to conclude, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing but I guess it might still be worth a look, only if you really like the genre though. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Elizabeth Olsen and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. While watching this movie, I was thinking about my wife who, on a regular basis, breaks my balls because I don’t use social media at all. Well, this movie certainly didn’t make it more attractive to me, that’s for sure. At least, there is no denying that the damned thing was really topical but, even if it really had some potential, I’m afraid it never really worked though. The first issue was that the main character was such a pathetic loser and the fact that she was obsessing about a bunch of people which were just as vapid as she was obviously didn’t help. However, a bigger issue was that the characters involved were just not developed enough. I mean, I won’t blame [Link removed - login to see], she actually delivered a solid performance playing a rather unlikable woman, but except for her Instagram obsession, there was nothing else really defining her. Even the death of her mother was actually use only as a device so she would have plenty of money when she moved to California. With Elizabeth Olsen’s character, there was a similar situation as she was displayed only as an Instagram influencer which was simply not enough. It’s interesting that, instead of developing these 2 young women, half way through, they suddenly added yet Nicky, another character, who turned out to be even more obnoxious than all of them put together which might seem actually impossible. And, yet, he turned out to be more complex than he first seemed to be but the guy was eventually merely a plot device after all. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think the subject was actually quite interesting so it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

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. Well, from the few movies I have seen directed by D.W. Griffith, it might be the best one so far. Indeed, I was quite impressed by this lavish production, especially for a movie made more than 100 years ago. However, I have to admit that I was at first slightly worried when they kept hammering the fact that the government following the French Revolution was ‘Bolshevik’. Fortunately, the damned thing still turned out to be fairly accurate, at least, according to what I learned back then in school growing up in France. Seriously, I was actually quite impressed by how the Aristocrats were described as decadent, seriously rotten and even quite repulsive. The contrast with the filthy living conditions of the commoners was so huge, it also felt quite accurate and the end-result was such a polarized society which was ready to explode at any moment. All this was actually seriously well done and quite fascinating but, to be honest, I’m not so sure if I really cared about the gloomy tale of these 2 orphan sisters. It was also rather intriguing that these 2 sisters who were not actual sisters were played by 2 women who were actually sisters in real life (Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish). Anyway, it was basically another typical dark and gloomy drama, a genre really loved by Griffith. Still, even if it was all quite theatrical and melodramatic, it was so well put together and it was seriously entertainaing, even after 150 mins. To conclude, it was another solid silent epic drama by D.W. Griffith and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, I must be one of the very few people on Earth who didn’t think that ‘Suicide Squad’ was a complete disaster. On the other hand, I have to admit that I don’t remember much about it but I don’t think I’m really willing to check it again just to make sure it is indeed just as lame as everybody seems to think. Anyway, as a result, to be honest, even if I did enjoy this sequel/soft reboot by James Gunn, I didn‘t think it was such a massive improvement though. However, I have to admit that it is still such a neat concept though. Indeed, because all the characters involved are such low-lifes, they are not inhibited by any moral compass like your standard super-heroes. As a result, they actually can kill a whole bunch of people, resulting very often in some massive bloodbaths and, on top of that, they are actually much more fun than many righteous and, to be honest, rather boring, super-heroes like Superman for example. In this case, James Gunn came up with a really weird obscure but still entertaining set of characters. I also did appreciate the fact that he killed off so many of them usually in a really random way. Still, I wish that they did give Sylvester Stallone more dialogues as King Shark as the character, with such a specific voice, could have been pure gold. Unfortunately, eventually, it turned out to be basically a shark version of Groot which was rather disappointing. Anyway, it was all fairly entertaining but I guess my main issue was with the plot. Indeed, even if it was rather generic, with such a name, it was rather logical that they would be sent on some kind of suicide mission. However, after watching so many super-hero flicks during the last 15 years, it‘s getting really tedious that every single one of these movies have to end up apparently with a huge battle against usually a huge monster which threatens every living thing on Earth. 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. 

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Aaron Eckhart and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be even worse than I expected. Basically, they took a very generic and boring action flick and they thought it would be so clever to mix it up with an internet streamer/journalist. Seriously, it has been a while since I have seen a movie with such a ridiculous concept (and, yesterday, I saw ‘Down’ which was about a killer elevator… but it actually worked better than this movie). First of all, there is absolutely no reason and no explanation whatsoever why this cop would accept that this girl would tag along while he is working on a case. Seriously, what was the upside for him? Then, it was just so annoying to hear this girl constantly hammering the fact that she was supposedly searching for ‘the unfiltered truth’ when, in fact, what she was doing was the worst kind of sensationalist journalism. Finally, there is absolutely no way that any network would broadcast this kind of live feed with people getting shot at and even getting killed live on the air. Even on the internet, after a while, they would have just shut this sh*t down. Concerning Aaron Eckhart, he was actually not bad and he did what he could with this abysmal material but it‘s a pity that the guy is spending his time nowadays with such worthless action flicks. Seriously, it is quite a downfall 13 years after playing Harvey Dent in ‘The Dark Knight’. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was just pretty bad and you should probably avoid it. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was included in the list ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They’, I thought I might as well check it out. Furthermore, it was was directed by Fritz Lang and it seemed to have a solid reputation. Anyway, even if  ‘Metropolis’ would eventually turned out to be a timeless masterpiece, it also turned out to be seriously expansive, so Lang decided to make this following directorial effort on the cheap but it was apparently a big success when it was released. And, indeed, I have to admit that I really enjoyed this mix of romance, thriller and comedy with all these genres sometimes colliding in the very same scene. I also enjoyed the concept of a super spy falling in love with a femme fatale without noticing that she was also a spy even if it was actually pretty obvious. Still, even if it was a decent watch, the damned thing was still too long for my taste and, to be honest, the story was really rambling. Finally, the fact that the main Asian character was actually played by a guy from Romania was rather disappointing, even if it was something rather usual back in those days. Still, I really enjoyed the theatrical and expressionist acting and, even if there were properly too many characters involved, they were all so colorful and quite entertaining to behold. My favorite one was probably the character played by the lovely Gerda Maurus who was just so charismatic with her deep blue eyes. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it was still a decent silent feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

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 didn’t know much about Ted Kennedy and what happened back then and only therefore I thought it was quite interesting. Still, I wish they did develop more the background around this story though. Seriously, it is rather bewildering that so many brainless blockbusters like Transformers or Pirates of Caribbean should last more than 150 mins but such historical drama would actually struggle to reach 90 mins. Anyway, they didn't give us much details about Ted Kennedy before the actual accident and even less about the other characters involved. Seriously, his wife was mentioned a couple of times and I don’t think they had a single conversation during this major scandal. Furthermore, I wasn’t so sure about the approach they took. Indeed, they decided to display Ted Kennedy as a rather spineless loser who was basically a coward. According to the makers, he was a coward for not trying harder (or not trying at all?) to save Mary Jo Kopechne, he was a coward for not resigning afterwards and he was a coward for not daring taking a position against the wishes of his family and the wishes of his father above all. I’m not saying that I don’t agree with them but I think that a more nuanced approach would have been more interesting. For example, they gave us a scene during which Mary Jo Kopechne tried to survive in the car but nobody, except maybe Ted Kennedy, knows if that really occurred. By not showing this scene, it would have made the whole thing more ambiguous in the sense that there was nothing else he could have done (except maybe not drive so recklessly). Still, there is no doubt that Jason Clarke delivered here one of his best performances so far. 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.