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johanlefourbe posted a review of The Nest
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, for some reasons, I was intrigued by it and I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be rather disappointing and the damned thing never really grabbed me after all. I mean, it’s not that it wasn’t well made” read more
2 years ago
johanlefourbe voted for list
Movies the giraffe watched in 2022: March (28 movies items)2 years ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Mustang
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Matthias Schoenaerts, I was quite eager to check it out. I was actually wondering how Schoenaerts, a Belgian actor, did end up playing a character who could have been played by countless US actors. Eventually, t” read more
2 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Ronny's Dutch Film Club list
chosen by Bea
Notes: After an impressive and prolific career going over 4 decades, Pedro Almodovar was finally tackling one of the darkest pages of Spain history. However, he seemed that he chickened out as he decided to squeeze it into one of his typical convoluted family drama. Of course, you could argue that both stories were dealing with genetic identity and heritage but, in my opinion, this link was just too thin. I mean, looking for some long deceased and seemingly lost relatives through DNA test and figuring out who’s the mother of a misplaced young baby also with some DNA test was hardly the same thing. It’s too bad because these two tales were actually interesting but mixing them turned out to be rather awkward. On top of that, he kept adding layers upon layers of dramatic turns and I’m glad I’m familiar with his work, otherwise, I can imagine how alienating his chaotic approach can be. As an example, it was probably not the greatest idea to have these two mothers starting a romantic relationship, especially since it was completely dropped 10 minutes later. Still, Almodovar always delivers such fascinating and complex women and he certainly didn’t disappoint in this area. Furthermore, the female cast was top-notch and I’m not surprised that Penelope Cruze was nominated for an Academy Award for her work. Anyway, I guess we would have to wait a little bit longer to have Almodovar making a movie really focusing on the Spanish civil war but, in the meantime, this movie will do.
(Apr. 2022)2 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Movies I can't wait to see list
2 years ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Foreigner
“To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Pierce Brosnan, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was still a decent watch. The weird thing is that it was, in fact, not one movie but” read more
2 years ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood
“After all these years, I still have to watch ‘Waking Life’. On the other hand, I really loved ‘A Scanner Darkly’, so I was definitely eager to check this new animated feature from Richard Linklater, especially since it would be available on Netflix. Well, the damned thing turned out to be su” read more
2 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2022 list
Notes: The damned thing turned out to be such a sweet nostalgic vintage slice of life and I thoroughly enjoyed it. To be honest, you might wonder if the animation genre was really required to tell this tale since it could have been just as well shot as a standard live-action feature but I think this choice made sense. Indeed, even if we think we have some clear memories from our childhood, it is actually always a heightened recollection of what actually happened and, with animation, there was no better way to convey this surreal feeling. Furthermore, I loved how Linklater looked back into such deep details into his childhood and it is really impressive how he managed to tell this story through the eyes of a young kid. I also really appreciate how he didn’t sugar-coat anything. Indeed, I think it’s pretty obvious that he loved his childhood but he was definitely not shy to show that not everything was perfect, even far from it, but it actually made the whole thing even more interesting to behold. Eventually, the only thing that didn’t really work for me was Stan pretending that he went on a secret mission on the moon a couple of months before Apollo 11. Sure, I do understand that the kid had a wild fantasy and was therefore fantasizing about taking part in this legendary mission but, as far as I was concerned, it didn’t really have any added value, especially since the main character was not apparently such a huge fan of the race to space or of NASA in general. Anyway, even if it was maybe not a masterpiece, I really enjoyed the damned thing though.2 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Guillermo del Toro's work list
Cast : Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Richard Jenkins, Tim Blake Nelson
What was it about?
An ambitious young carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.
My two cents:
For the 1st time of his career, Del Toro finally handled a fairly realistic tale without some fantastic elements but there was an obvious connection between his usual work and this carnival world filled with freaks and misfits. Anyway, there is no denying that the damned thing looked amazing and Del Toro, with his first neo-noir, delivered a pitch-perfect mood. Bradley Cooper also delivered a strong performance as well, even if his character turned out to be not much more than a cheap hustler after all. Concerning the story, it definitely had some potential but, to be honest, I think it could have been even better developed though. First of all, even if it was always entertaining, it was also really long and it felt as if Del Toro tried to combine two movies in one. To make things worse, in spite of the rather extensive running time, most of the other characters (Molly, Dr. Lilith Ritter, Zeena, Pete, Clem, Ezra Grindle) were all barely developed which was a shame since they were all quite fascinating. The biggest victim was probably Rooney Mara who was stuck playing another thankless part. I mean, what did Molly see in Stanton? And, the other way around, what did he see in her? Coming back on Stanton Carlisle, we do spend so much time with the guy and, as a result, I was expecting him to come up with something exceptional at some point. However, after all, the guy went from being a hobo to be a cheap hustler, then a slight less cheap hustler and finally ended up as a pathetic drunk so you might wonder if the guy was really worth spending so much time with after all. On the other hand, I have to admit that the final scene was pretty much perfect. All in all, even if it wasn’t really a homerun, it was a solid watch though.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review2 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2021 list
Notes: For the 1st time of his career, Del Toro finally handled a fairly realistic tale without some fantastic elements but there was an obvious connection between his usual work and this carnival world filled with freaks and misfits. Anyway, there is no denying that the damned thing looked amazing and Del Toro, with his first neo-noir, delivered a pitch-perfect mood. Bradley Cooper also delivered a strong performance as well, even if his character turned out to be not much more than a cheap hustler after all. Concerning the story, it definitely had some potential but, to be honest, I think it could have been even better developed though. First of all, even if it was always entertaining, it was also really long and it felt as if Del Toro tried to combine two movies in one. To make things worse, in spite of the rather extensive running time, most of the other characters (Molly, Dr. Lilith Ritter, Zeena, Pete, Clem, Ezra Grindle) were all barely developed which was a shame since they were all quite fascinating. The biggest victim was probably Rooney Mara who was stuck playing another thankless part. I mean, what did Molly see in Stanton? And, the other way around, what did he see in her? Coming back on Stanton Carlisle, we do spend so much time with the guy and, as a result, I was expecting him to come up with something exceptional at some point. However, after all, the guy went from being a hobo to be a cheap hustler, then a slight less cheap hustler and finally ended up as a pathetic drunk so you might wonder if the guy was really worth spending so much time with after all. On the other hand, I have to admit that the final scene was pretty much perfect. All in all, even if it wasn’t really a homerun, it was a solid watch though.2 years ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Nightmare Alley
“Since I had seen so far all the movies directed by Guillermo Del Toro, of course, I had to see his last directorial effort at some point, especially since it had once again received some solid reviews. Everybody noticed that, for the 1st time of his career, Del Toro finally handled a fairly realisti” read more
2 years ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Death on the Nile
“I didn’t care much for ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ but, since it was apparently fairly successful at the box-office, they had to come up with a sequel and, since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I did see the older version starring Peter Ust” read more
2 years ago