Login
Home
581 Lists
7553 Reviews
Collections
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2021 list
Notes: To be honest, Iām rather surprised that this movie has mostly received some poor reviews (only 53 Metascore) since I really enjoyed the damned thing. First of all, I have to admit that I had never heard of Mohamedou Ould Slahi before but it probably allowed me to enjoy more this movie. Indeed, this lack of knowledge did allow me to appreciate the approach they chose by not showing right away if Mohamedou might be guilty or not as it remained rather ambiguous, at least, during the 1st half. Eventually, just like the defence and the prosecution, we slowly discover that Mohamedou might not only be innocent but that the US army actually never heard had any proof against him at all even though they kept him captive for years and even tortured to him to achieve some baseless and ridiculous confessions. Of course, you might argue like many critics that it was actually nothing new but I donāt agree. Indeed, they are actually still 40 prisoners in Guantamo Bay right now and this movie displayed in a powerful way how the US, in spite of their incredible resources, waged a senseless war on terror by terrorizing 1000ās of innocent people themselves. The fact that Kabul and Afghanistan in general has just fallen back under the Taliban regime after 20 years of US occupation made this movie even more topical. At least, even if the reviews were rather harsh, everybody seemed to agree that Tahar Rahim delivered another strong performance here and the guy was indeed pretty much pitch-perfect. 2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe commented on a list
Ronny's Dutch Film Club (115 movies items)"@Stehako, yeah, I have been member of this film club for about 8 years now and I just really love the damned thing ;)"
2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe commented on a review of Black Widow
I can't believe that your main complaint was about the fact that Florence Pugh was not sexy enough to play her character...
A major issue with female characters in comic-books such as in Marvel is t2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
“Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I had actually never heard of the Harlem Cultural Festival that took place in 1969 but Iām not the only one. Indeed, while” read more
2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, I have to admit that I had actually never heard of the Harlem Cultural Festival that took place in 1969 but Iām not the only one. Indeed, while Woodstock became the most famous festival that ever took place, this festival was actually largely forgotten, at least, by the mainstream audience. What was even more surprising was that they actually did film everything but it took a staggering 50 years before someone finally released the damned thing. Apparently, back then, nobody cared about spreading this magnificent piece of Black power, love and creativity which was basically censored in spite of its actually very positive message. Concerning the festival itself, I have to admit that I didnāt know about half of the performers but it didnāt matter and they were all really good. The fact that appearing on this stage meant so much for them really transpired in their performances which were very often quite electrifying. Eventually, the only thing that prevented this movie from becoming really epic was the fact that they reduced 40 hours of footage to only 2 hours. I mean, the documentary about Woodstock was lasting 3 hours for a reason and Iām pretty sure it wouldnāt have had the same impact if it would have been shorter. In this case, with an extra hour or even more, they could have fleshed out even more some of the performances or some portraits of the artists and people involved. Still, it wasnāt a deal-breaker and the damned thing was really awesome to behold. 2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Ronny's Dutch Film Club list
chosen by Peter
Notes: This movie turned out to be really important to us because it was the first one we saw with the film club after around 18 months because of the current corona pandemic. Well, to be honest, it took me a while to get the damned thing. Indeed, not only I was expecting a very light comedy but Iām not a huge fan of alcohol in general. However, if it might seem to be only about a group of four rather pathetic guys who decides to get drunk because they are all stuck in some kind of middle-crisis, it went actually way beyond that. Indeed, many might make the mistake of thinking that this movie was about drinking but, in fact, it was a movie about living. Basically, life can be incredibly dull and monotonous and, if youāre unlucky, it can be terribly tough and full of hardships. Eventually, the only way to live a full life is through experiences and experiments. Basically, from time to time, we should all try to get outside this tiny little box that society has given us, to go against the rules, to push our boundaries, or simply do something rather foolish because otherwise whatās the point? Of course, as displayed in this movie, it can be hazardous or even dangerous (eventually, one of them died and two nearly broke down their family in the process) but, at least, they tried something instead of going through the motions until the very end. When the movie started, the main character didnāt drink because it was the reasonable thing to do, he didnāt want to dance and was incredibly sad. At the end, at least, he was having fun with his students (something unthinkable a while back) and he was dancing again, even if he still looked sad. Eventually, even though it might seem to a rather silly movie promoting excessive drinking, it turned out to be a really life affirming picture, something we desperately need in this time of worldwide crisis and I canāt imagine a better way to start up again the film club.
(Aug. 2021)2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Best 2nd Directorial Effort from 1923 until 2023 list
2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Best Directorial Debuts from 1921 until 2021 list
2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2021 list
Notes: To be honest, I have to admit that I had actually never heard of the Harlem Cultural Festival that took place in 1969 but Iām not the only one. Indeed, while Woodstock became the most famous festival that ever took place, this festival was actually largely forgotten, at least, by the mainstream audience. What was even more surprising was that they actually did film everything but it took a staggering 50 years before someone finally released the damned thing. Apparently, back then, nobody cared about spreading this magnificent piece of Black power, love and creativity which was basically censored in spite of its actually very positive message. Concerning the festival itself, I have to admit that I didnāt know about half of the performers but it didnāt matter and they were all really good. The fact that appearing on this stage meant so much for them really transpired in their performances which were very often quite electrifying. Eventually, the only thing that prevented this movie from becoming really epic was the fact that they reduced 40 hours of footage to only 2 hours. I mean, the documentary about Woodstock was lasting 3 hours for a reason and Iām pretty sure it wouldnāt have had the same impact if it would have been shorter. In this case, with an extra hour or even more, they could have fleshed out even more some of the performances or some portraits of the artists and people involved. Still, it wasnāt a deal-breaker and the damned thing was really awesome to behold. 2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe voted for list
The man who wanted to be Joan Baez (14 music items)2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Ride Along 2
“I wasnāt expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Olivia Munn, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I wasnāt really impressed by the 1st instalment but the fact it still managed to spawn a sequel does display Kevin Hartās current star power, either you l” read more
2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2020's) list
Notes: To be honest, I have to admit that that Iām not really familiar with Bo Burnhamās work. Indeed, I did see his directorial debut, āEighth Gradeā, but that was pretty much it though. Well, this was something completely different but it was definitely quite a massive artistic tour-de-force. Indeed, while we were all stuck at home (myself, I have been working from home for more than a year and who knows when itās going to end?), Burnham made this comedy special completely on his own in this little room but it was impressive how creative he still managed to be. Indeed, the guy was most of the time quite hilarious and, even though more than half of the duration was filled up with some songs, I actually enjoyed those which I didnāt really expect. As the weeks go by, even months, you see his hair and beard growing and he is basically telling the viewers that his mental state was actually deteriorating and you hope that it is an act so you can keep smiling but it might have been genuine after all. In this case, the whole lockdown didnāt have much impact on my lifestyle but many people did suffer severely mentally from this ānew normalā. Even the room itself becomes some kind of character and you might wonder if its mess might reflect Burnhamās own state of mind.2 years, 8 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, I have to admit that that Iām not really familiar with Bo Burnhamās work. Indeed, I did see his directorial debut, āEighth Gradeā, but that was pretty much it though. Well, this was something completely different but it was definitely quite a massive artistic tour-de-force. Indeed, while we were all stuck at home (myself, I have been working from home for more than a year and who knows when itās going to end?), Burnham made this comedy special completely on his own in this little room but it was impressive how creative he still managed to be. Indeed, the guy was most of the time quite hilarious and, even though more than half of the duration was filled up with some songs, I actually enjoyed those which I didnāt really expect. As the weeks go by, even months, you see his hair and beard growing and he is basically telling the viewers that his mental state was actually deteriorating and you hope that it is an act so you can keep smiling but it might have been genuine after all. In this case, the whole lockdown didnāt have much impact on my lifestyle but many people did suffer severely mentally from this ānew normalā. Even the room itself becomes some kind of character and you might wonder if its mess might reflect Burnhamās own state of mind.2 years, 8 months ago
