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johanlefourbe posted a review of The Power of the Dog
“Since it was the first movie directed by Jane Campion in more than a decade, I had some rather high expectations and I was really eager to check it out. Well, even though this movie did receive some stellar reviews (it was even hailed as the best movie released in 2021 by Indiewire), to be honest, I” read more
3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2020's) list
Notes: Well, even though this movie did receive some stellar reviews, to be honest, I really struggled to connect with the damned thing. I mean, sure, it was very well made and some of the scenes were just gorgeous to look at. Furthermore, there was no doubt that the cast also delivered some really strong performances (Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst). And, yet, somehow, it never grabbed me. What bothered me was the fact that the 4 main characters were all rather pathetic. Let's start with Phil Burbank. Basically, the guy turned out to be a closeted gay man who was pissed off with everyone around him but probably even more with himself. He is pretty much what would have happened to Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar if they would have never met each other. Concerning Peter Gordon, he was probably the most misleading of the bunch. Indeed, at first, he might seem to be a rather fragile soft-spoken (probably autistic) young man but he actually turned out to be a rather nifty cold-blooded killer after all. Concerning George Burbank, he was probably the most enigmatic of the bunch, not because he was so fascinating but because he suddenly disappeared and only showed up sporadically during the 2nd act. Rose Gordon did get more screentime than her husband but it's too bad that, most of the time, she was just drinking herself to death which got old fairly quickly. Anyway, you might think that they were all fascinating but, as far as I'm concerned, they were all rather sad, mediocre and, above all, never really interesting to behold. Still, I have to admit that it was a decent watch though but not much more than that.3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Well, even though this movie did receive some stellar reviews, to be honest, I really struggled to connect with the damned thing. I mean, sure, it was very well made and some of the scenes were just gorgeous to look at. Furthermore, there was no doubt that the cast also delivered some really strong performances (Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst). And, yet, somehow, it never grabbed me. What bothered me was the fact that the 4 main characters were all rather pathetic. Let's start with Phil Burbank. Basically, the guy turned out to be a closeted gay man who was pissed off with everyone around him but probably even more with himself. He is pretty much what would have happened to Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar if they would have never met each other. Concerning Peter Gordon, he was probably the most misleading of the bunch. Indeed, at first, he might seem to be a rather fragile soft-spoken (probably autistic) young man but he actually turned out to be a rather nifty cold-blooded killer after all. Concerning George Burbank, he was probably the most enigmatic of the bunch, not because he was so fascinating but because he suddenly disappeared and only showed up sporadically during the 2nd act. Rose Gordon did get more screentime than her husband but it's too bad that, most of the time, she was just drinking herself to death which got old fairly quickly. Anyway, you might think that they were all fascinating but, as far as I'm concerned, they were all rather sad, mediocre and, above all, never really interesting to behold. Still, I have to admit that it was a decent watch though but not much more than that.3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Last Duel
“When I heard that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were finally working together (acting and writing) on a new project more than 20 years after âDogmaâ and âGood Will Huntingâ, I got really intrigued and the fact that the damned thing would be directed by Ridley Scott pretty much turned this movie” read more
3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Ridley Scott's work list
Cast : Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons
What was it about?
When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately...murder.
My two cents:
Well, even though the material definitely had some potential and even though there was a really cool cast involved, to be honest, I wasnât really impressed by the damned thing after all. Eventually, Iâm not sure what was the biggest issue between the directing and the writing. Concerning the directing, sure, the whole thing looked fine but it also felt terribly flat with no tension whatsoever. It seems that Scott didnât really know how to tackle this material which was rather surprising coming from such a seasoned director. However, the writing was probably even less convincing though. Indeed, even though they had more than 150 mins at their disposal and had therefore plenty of time to properly develop Patrizia Reggiani and Maurizio Gucci, it was most of the time rather unclear what was actually going on with these characters. For example, at first, Reggiani was introduced as being only interested in Maurizio because of his last name and, yet, she seemed rather unfazed when he got kicked out of the Gucci family by his father. Furthermore, when she started to loose her grip on Maurizio, she was just way too passive and it is rather bewildering that her only move was to consult a psychic which didnât seem really effective. With Maurizio Gucci, it was even more problematic though. Indeed, he was first introduced a young gullible law student who was easily manipulated by some attractive gold-digger. However, he became somehow super ambitious, super business savvy and dropped his wife in the process which was quite a U turn from who he was at the start but this evolution was never explained or even actually displayed on the screen. Anyway, to conclude, like many other Ridley Scott features, the damned thing felt like another missed opportunity but I still think it is worth, if only to see Lady Gaga showing once again that she has some really solid acting chops.
My rating: 06/10
Check the full review3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1920's) list
Notes: To be honest, so far, after watching around 5 of his movies, I canât say I have become a huge fan of Buster Keaton's work. However, since this movie had a rather stellar reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure. Indeed, the damned thing was a total blast and easily one of the best silent comedies I have seen so far. Indeed, as usual with Keaton, the whole thing was quite random but, in the contrary to his other movies, it worked fine here. Basically, most of the duration was just a dream but it didn't stop here as they also gave us a 'movie within a movie'. In fact, it was probably the first time this gimmick was ever used but it was visually quite clever and actually very well done. Anyway, from the moment Keaton went through this screen, pretty much everything became possible and it became one of the most freewheeling movie experiences I ever had. Indeed, it was so wild and I don't how many times I was gasping at the insane scenes that Keaton gave us combining some magic tricks, some marvellous daredevil stunts and even some awesome pool trick shots. There were a couple of times I even had no clue how they actually pulled this off. Anyway, the damned thing definitely deserves his awesome reputation and it is, in my opinion, Buster Keaton's magnum opus. 3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, so far, after watching around 5 of his movies, I canât say I have become a huge fan of Buster Keaton's work. However, since this movie had a rather stellar reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure. Indeed, the damned thing was a total blast and easily one of the best silent comedies I have seen so far. Indeed, as usual with Keaton, the whole thing was quite random but, in the contrary to his other movies, it worked fine here. Basically, most of the duration was just a dream but it didn't stop here as they also gave us a 'movie within a movie'. In fact, it was probably the first time this gimmick was ever used but it was visually quite clever and actually very well done. Anyway, from the moment Keaton went through this screen, pretty much everything became possible and it became one of the most freewheeling movie experiences I ever had. Indeed, it was so wild and I don't how many times I was gasping at the insane scenes that Keaton gave us combining some magic tricks, some marvellous daredevil stunts and even some awesome pool trick shots. There were a couple of times I even had no clue how they actually pulled this off. Anyway, the damned thing definitely deserves his awesome reputation and it is, in my opinion, Buster Keaton's magnum opus. 3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Best Directorial Debuts from 1921 until 2021 list
3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Saint Maud
“To be honest, I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick but since I kept hearing some really good things about it and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, this movie won't be popular among religious viewers as it displayed that, if you are in a” read more
3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1920's) list
Notes: It was another tricky short movie to analyse. Indeed, at first, it seemed to be about a rather lonely and depressed woman pretty much stuck at home and dealing with a rather weirdo husband. In fact, she never really smiled and looked grumpy through the whole duration. Itâs only afterwards that I discovered that this movie had been directed by a woman which made the whole thing even more intriguing. In fact, it is usually considered as one of the first feminist movies ever made. It mostly due to the fact that the main character was a fairly regular woman while her husband was rather grotesque which was a really unusual approach back in the 1920âs. Anyway, I was above all intrigued by its visual aspect. Indeed, thatâs the cool thing with such old movies, back then, all filmmakers had to experiment because the actual rules of filmmaking didnât exist yet. In this case, they came up with something so striking, mixing some hyper realism with some surreal imagery. The end-result was therefore at once very pure and simple and yet quite complex as well. Of course, you could argue that the plot was really simplistic but thatâs not where lies the power of this movie. Indeed, above all, it had a strong visual aspect and I wonder if this movie could have been an inspiration for David Lynch, the master mindf*cker.3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: It was another tricky short movie to analyse. Indeed, at first, it seemed to be about a rather lonely and depressed woman pretty much stuck at home and dealing with a rather weirdo husband. In fact, she never really smiled and looked grumpy through the whole duration. Itâs only afterwards that I discovered that this movie had been directed by a woman which made the whole thing even more intriguing. In fact, it is usually considered as one of the first feminist movies ever made. It mostly due to the fact that the main character was a fairly regular woman while her husband was rather grotesque which was a really unusual approach back in the 1920âs. Anyway, I was above all intrigued by its visual aspect. Indeed, thatâs the cool thing with such old movies, back then, all filmmakers had to experiment because the actual rules of filmmaking didnât exist yet. In this case, they came up with something so striking, mixing some hyper realism with some surreal imagery. The end-result was therefore at once very pure and simple and yet quite complex as well. Of course, you could argue that the plot was really simplistic but thatâs not where lies the power of this movie. Indeed, above all, it had a strong visual aspect and I wonder if this movie could have been an inspiration for David Lynch, the master mindf*cker.3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of You Don't Nomi
“To be honest, I wasnât sure what to expect from this flick but since I was rather intrigued by the fandom around âShowgirlsâ, I was quite eager to check this documentary. In fact, the day before, I did rewatch âShowgirlsâ, especially since I saw it only once and it was such a long time ago” read more
3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Paul Verhoeven's work list
3 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
3 years, 1 month ago