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johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of George Miller's work list

Cast : Tilda Swinton, Idris Elba What was it about? A lonely scholar, on a trip to Istanbul, discovers a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. My two cents: Eventually, it turned out to be a very classic tale but the fact that the story was fairly derivative was not a problem at all. Indeed, it was actually pretty neat to see Miller giving his own twist on this old genre and the damned thing was visually really nice as well. Furthermore, Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba were some perfect choices to play their respective characters and they had an interesting chemistry together, up until a certain point though. Indeed, as far as I was concerned, I think it was a huge mistake that, I think right before the 3rd act, Alithea suddenly professed her love for the Djinn and, apparently, he did share the same feelings. Seriously, it came out of nowhere and, while these 2 characters definitely had an interesting connection, it seemed to be obvious that it was an intellectual connection and not a romantic one. Unfortunately, I’m afraid this approach actually pretty much derailed the whole thing and I wish they just left these characters alone in this hotel room in Istanbul debating the meaning of life and what was the basis of a great story. Indeed, I really liked the idea of this scholar specialized in narrative study who would meet an ancient Djinn who would tell her the most incredible stories that she had ever heard. Eventually, without making a single wish, by telling his tales, he would already give her the greatest gift she could ever wish for. My rating: 07/10 Check the full review

4 years, 10 months ago

johanlefourbe added 3 items to My Queue 2 - Movie backlog list

4 years, 10 months ago

johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Guy Ritchie's work list

Cast : Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant What was it about? An American expat tries to sell off his highly profitable marijuana empire in London, triggering plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him. My two cents: Well, after making an unnecessary and rather misguided new version of ‘Aladdin’ and also an unnecessary and even more misguided new version of ‘King Arthur’, Ritchie went back to his roots, to the genre that gave him his breakthrough, the British gangster flick. Of course, since I really loved ‘Snatch’, I was hoping for something seriously wild and entertaining and I had some rather high expectations but, to be honest, I actually ended up with some mixed feelings. I mean, sure, it was well made and there was a really solid cast involved and it mostly worked fine but it wasn’t exactly a home-run though. Indeed, I still missed the wild energy displayed in ‘Snatch’ and the whole thing felt sometimes a little bit flat. Furthermore, even though Hugh Grant probably gave here one of his best performances, I think it was a mistake to spend basically all the movie on his conversation with Charlie Hunnam’s character. Indeed, they were both hardly the most interesting and/or entertaining characters but we were still stuck with them through the whole duration. Above all, this framing of this story was not really entertaining and it did outstay its welcome at some point. As a result, we didn’t spend so much time with Michael Pearson and it’s a pity because having Matthew McConaughey playing a marijuana drug baron in a Guy Ritchie gangster flick was actually freaking awesome. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still nice to see Guy Ritchie doing what he is best at. My rating: 07/10 Check the full review

4 years, 10 months ago

johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Ron Howard's work list

  Cast : Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto What was it about? An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future. My two cents:  Since this movie had been really poorly received, I had some rather low expectations but, to be honest, I didn’t think it was so bad at after all. At least, the material definitely had some potential but I have to admit that this movie still never really worked though. The first issue was that Ron Howard was obviously not the right guy to handle such a dark material. I mean, this story was clearly about a highly dysfunctional family but, instead of diving into the complex mechanisms involved in this group of people, Howard always remained skin-deep and instead constantly hammered the fact that the narrator actually really loved his family. The directing was not the only problem though. Indeed, I haven’t read the book it was adapted from but the fact that it was a best-seller doesn’t necessarily mean that it was actually really great. I mean, you could assume that the main drive of this story was the deconstruction of the American Dream showing in the process that some big chunks of the American population will never come close to this ideal. Yet, the fact that this tale was actually told by a guy who came from nothing and managed to study at Yale and eventually became a venture capitalist and a successful author, basically reaching the American Dream, in my opinion, clearly undermined the whole message. Finally, the movie spent too time much on the narrator who remains seriously clueless about what was going around him, even as a grown-up, when they should have focused more on Mamaw and Bev. At least, even though their performances reeked of Oscar-bait, I still think that Amy Adams and Glenn Close were both really good in this flick. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I think it was a decent watch though but there is no doubt that it was another rather misguided directing effort from Ron Howard. My rating: 06/10 Check the full review

4 years, 10 months ago