Reviews by johanlefourbe

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a solid cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, it was a pretty badass title, that’s for sure, and it was also a really ambitious Western epic. Indeed, it was involving no less than 4 directors (John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, Richard Thorpe). It was also one of the very few fictional features shot in Cinerama which was a short-lived widescreen process involving a complicated three synchronized cameras and the projecting of the actual film on a huge deeply curved screen. Obviously, I didn’t see in its original format and, if you watch it nowadays, since it has been formatted so you can watch it on a regular TV, there is nothing really peculiar about it except that it was with a very widescreen aspect ratio. Anyway, from an historical point of view, this movie was still pretty neat since you get to see 60 years of the US history in a fairly accurate way. However, even if their approach was fairly neutral, the tone was just too light for me. Seriously, it was even borderline cheesy at some point. Concerning the cast, of course, there was the issue that James Stewart was at least 20 years too old to play his part and was therefore really miscast (Stewart did acknowledge this fact himself). At least, the rest of the cast was really neat and was actually pretty much spot-on (James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, John Wayne, Karl Malden, George Peppard, Eli Wallach, Russ Tamblyn). Unfortunately, I didn’t care much for any of these characters though. 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.  

Since this movie had been a huge critical bomb when it was released, I had some rather low expectations but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. I was also intrigued by the fact that it still managed to get a rather solid rating on IMDb (6.6). Well, to be honest, I don't really get how the IMDb users could find any redeeming value in this flick. Indeed, in this case, I would have to agree with the critics as the damned thing turned out to be a massive disaster. Sure, there was nothing wrong with the fact that Colin Trevorrow wanted to direct again a small indie feature between his 2 massive Jurassic Park blockbusters. However, since 'Safety Not Guaranteed' was not bad at all, nobody would have expected his return to his indie roots to turn into such a misfire. Well, the guy should maybe stick with CGI dinosaurs instead. In fact, even if the 1^st half was slightly annoying, pretentious and, above all, not really entertaining, at least, it was rather harmless. However, at some point, Henry did get terminally ill (which is, by the way, one of the cheapest gimmicks to add some dramatic weight to your story), and, afterwards, the whole thing became completely bonkers and not in a good way, I'm afraid. Who thought it would be a great idea to mix up a rather half-baked quirky comedy with a murder plot involving a child molester? Seriously, the end-result was not only bewildering but also completely tone-deaf. The fact that I never cared about the characters obviously didn't help but the story never worked whatsoever. In fact, it was worse than that, it was really cringe-inducing and even borderline unwatchable. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was terribly misguided and I don't think it's worth a look whatsoever. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the damned thing turned out to be pretty lame, that’s for sure. Basically, I always thought that ‘Jerry Maguirre’ was a decent flick but not much more than that and this movie was basically a very tedious ‘Jerry Maguirre’ rip-off. Concerning Vince Vaughn, sure, I will admit that the guy did deliver some fun comedies at some point in his career but it is rather sad that, almost 20 years later, he is still playing basically the same character and his shtick has become seriously stale in the meantime. Furthermore, his approach for this movie never really worked. Indeed, because of the way he played his character, I never felt any stress or pressure when, considering the circumstances, the guy should have been a nervous wreck. Concerning the jokes, well, most of them were pretty weak and, even though I saw the movie only yesterday, I can’t remember a single one which was actually really funny. I do remember that there was quite a lot of topless nudity, even a couple of penises, which basically shows how desperate the makers were to get the attention of their audience. The sub-plots involving the kids of the main character were also terribly half-baked and pathetic. Indeed, even though this movie was dealing with a workaholic who was basically never at home, at the end of the movie, he was still hailed as a great father because he had a couple of really uninspired Facetime chats with his kids. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was pretty much a waste of time for myself and all the people involved so I think you should avoid it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Since this movie had been a huge critical and commercial flop when it was released, I had some rather low expectations but, to be honest, I thought it was not so bad after all. Still, it was definitely a good example that it is much easier to deliver a bad movie from a good story than to create a great movie from a bad story. At least, it made me quite eager to read the book it was adapted from which was apparently a huge best-seller and even won the Pulitzer prize. Indeed, the story was quite intriguing and many characters involved were really interesting and/or entertaining but, unfortunately, I’m afraid John Crowley really struggled to turn it into something cohesive for the silver screen. Indeed, I'm afraid the directing was just terribly clunky. For example, sure, the book was told in retrospective first-person narration by the main character but there was no need to go several times back-and-forth between the young and the older Theo Decker. Then, I thought it was rather ridiculous that the main character didn’t bump once but twice completely randomly with someone he knew in New York. Seriously, it is one of the biggest cities in the world, with almost 9 million inhabitants, how high are the odds that something like this might ever happen? I thought it was also rather dubious that this young kid would manage to travel by bus all the way from Las Vegas to New York on his own and with a freaking dog! Finally, for most of the duration, the painting didn’t seem to have much impact on the life of the main character (it could have easily been removed and the story would have been exactly the same) and it was only during the 3^rd act that it became something major but it should have been so all along. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was a rather weak adaptation, I still don’t think it was a total disaster though, the characters involved were just too interesting for that, but there is no doubt that it could or should have been much better. 

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I thought that Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis were both rather pitch-perfect and they had tons of chemistry together. Seriously, they made such a cute couple together. Furthermore, I really did appreciate that their characters were fairly complex, at least, much more than what you usually get in this genre. Of course, your first reaction might be to be really judgmental towards Harper and the choices that she made but I think it’s easy to judge her if you’re coming from a super tolerant background, like I do. Indeed, as pointed out by another character, coming-out is a complete life-altering experience for all gays and, for some of them, an extremely difficult even borderline impossible step to take, as displayed in this movie. So, it was some really strong material but, unfortunately, they tried to squeeze it in some typical ‘Meet The Parents’ comedy. Sure, I understand that they wanted to appeal to a larger audience but the jokes were hardly entertaining. Even more problematic was that this approach pretty much ruined all the supporting characters involved. That’s a tricky thing, one on hand, they wanted to have the audience having a good time watching a fairly basic Christmas comedy but, on the other hand, the two main characters were in the process pretty much dying from the inside out and combining these 2 concepts was maybe not the greatest idea in the world. 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. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was on the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of musicals but I have to admit that this one was actually pretty good. Indeed, what I enjoyed the most was that Fred Astaire was playing a different character than usual, some kind of washed-up insecure veteran actor, and this character was much more interesting and entertaining than what I have seen him doing in his other movies. I think it was also the first movie I saw starring Cyd Charisse and not only she was quite gorgeous but she was probably the best dancer I have ever seen in such a classic musical. Especially the scene called ‘Dancing In The Dark’ during she was dancing with Fred Astaire was just downright amazing and probably one of the best musical scenes I have seen. It’s unfortunate that, even though Astaire and Charisse were some incredible dancers, in my opinion, they didn’t have much chemistry together when they were not dancing. In fact, except for Fred Astaire’s character, none of the other characters involved were really interesting or entertaining. Finally, I couldn’t really make heads or tails of the musical-within-the-musical. Indeed, I wish they displayed at least a bit of Jeffrey Cordova’s version, explaining why it was such a flop. At least, the rehearsal did display that this musical was a disaster in the making. Even more bewildering was the new version. Sure, it became a hit but what the hell was it supposed to be about after all?!? Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was 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 available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I’m not surprised that it turned out to be a box-office flop since it might have been the most useless adaptation of this classic story I have seen so far. Of course, the merit of delivering a new version every decade is already seriously dubious but, in this case, the end-result was probably even weaker than usual. First of all, they gave us an aesthetic which was some kind of mix of Medieval and modern stuff. I mean, it was not awful but it was still rather distracting to see one of the main characters suddenly showing up with a modern coat. Of course, the makers wanted the damned thing to look edgy but they should have focused on the story instead. Indeed, the biggest challenge when they come up with yet another version of a story which has been told so many times before is that they have to come up with a new fresh approach as well. Well, in this case, they went for an origin story which was not a bad idea, except that it was already what Ridley Scott did with the previous version so it felt rather redundant. Furthermore, they turned Nottingham into some kind of mine city exploited by the Sheriff of Nottingham which was at least something new but, unfortunately, this approach was never entertaining or interesting whatsoever. For some reason, King Richard never showed up which was even more bewildering because, towards the end, they actually had proofs showing that the Sheriff of Nottingham and Cardinal Franklin were betrayers. Seriously, why didn't they bring the money and the paper work they found to King Richard instead of hiding in the woods, only because it is what Robin Hood must apparently always do at some point? Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, the damned thing was still pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look.