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johanlefourbe posted a review of The Element of Crime
“Since this movie was Lars von Trier’s directing debut, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, as usual with this director, it wasn’t really an easy watch but, at least, there was some kind of a plot. Still, the plot was obviously hardly the biggest concern of von Trier who delivered one of the” read more
5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: First of all, it has been ages since I saw this flick and, to be honest, I have to admit that I don’t remember much about it. In my opinion, it is one of these rather obscure movies that could and/or should be removed from this list. I mean, sure, it is a decent early Buñuel, no doubt about it, but if it would have directed by someone else, I’m pretty sure it would have been completely forgotten by now. Still, it’s interesting that Buñuel would start his career with a hyper-realistic documentary when he will be eventually known as one of the most surrealist directors that ever worked. Anyway, the stuff displayed in this documentary was actually pretty extreme and, somehow, you might hope it was some kind of dark mockumentary but it was apparently the real deal (in fact, this movie was even banned in Spain from 1933 until 1936). Anyway, even if I wouldn’t call it a movie that you have to see at all costs, it was still a decent watch. 5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Everybody Wants Some!!
“Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a decent college comedy but, even if Richard Linklater probably managed to deliver one of the best movies I have seen in this genre, he didn’t bring anything new ” read more
5 years, 6 months ago
Most Anticipated Movies - 2016johanlefourbe commented on a list
Most Accomplished Active Directors (2019 Edition) (50 person items)"Seriously!?! Paul Verhoeven, the 'German' provocateur? The guy is DUTCH.... From someone who supposed to have a deep knowledge about movies... it is like claiming that Ingmar Bergman was Danish..."
5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: Even though I was rather oblivious about Buster Keaton’s work for a very long time, like with Charles Chaplin, I saw many shorts starring Laurel and Hardy when I was a kid and, back then, I thought these guys were just hilarious. However, I think it was at least 25 years ago the last time I saw one of their movies so I was wondering what I would think of them after all these years. Well, first of all, with this title, you might expect the comedic duo to go to some exotic location but you would be disappointed, as they eventually ended up at some convention in Chicago. At the end of the day, it was just about two ordinary guys who had nothing else more exciting to do then fixating on some fraternity. In fact, most of the movie was basically a play taking place at Hardy’s place involving usually the two men and sometimes their wives. So, it was nothing really complex or ambitious but it was obviously not the point. Indeed, it was more about the interactions and dialogues between these two guys and, even if it was not as hilarious as what I remembered as a kid, it was still certainly entertaining though. To be honest, in my opinion, Stan Laurel verges sometimes too much towards Chaplin but Oliver Hardy is always there, making sure he snaps out of it, and the combination of them together made them so unique and so successful.5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Ride Along
“To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Well, even though the intro was pretty lame and generic, I was surprised that the concept was actually quite promising. Indeed, Ice Cube and Kevin Hart were perfectly cast fo” read more
5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Deepwater Horizon
“I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Mark Wahlberg, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that I was actually positively surprised by the damned thing. Of course, it was still a rather straightforward disaster flic” read more
5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
“I already saw this movie when it was released but I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, eventually, I think it turned out to be his most challenging movie so far which was not necessarily a bad thing, in the contrary, but I wish this challenge would have been more rewarding. I mean, I reall” read more
5 years, 6 months ago
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Movies the giraffe watched in 2019: July (22 movies items)5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Todd Phillips's work list
Cast : Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz
What was it about?
An original standalone origin story of the iconic villain not seen before on the big screen, it's a gritty character study of Arthur Fleck, a man disregarded by society, and a broader cautionary tale.
My two cents:
To be honest, even though I did like this movie, I can’t say I was completely blown away after all. To be honest, it took me a while to figure out what actually bothered with this movie which had been virtually universally loved so far. Was it the saturation? I mean, we get such an overdose of super-hero movies. Even with the Joker himself, it has been already at least the 5th iteration of this iconic character in 30 years and, even if Joaquin Phoenix was quite amazing, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and even Mark Hamill were just as heralded as he was. Furthermore, even though they are all making a big fuss about the fact that this movie could be a revolution in this genre but, in my opinion, the story was actually rather basic and predictable. I mean, it was a decent story but this tale of a rather sad mentally ill man slowly becoming homicidal was not really original. Eventually, the genius moves from Todd Philips was not to deliver a great story but to include the Joker in the mix and to have this popular character played by one of the best actors around. Seriously, if you would remove these 2 elements, I wonder if this movie would make so many waves. And, yet, there is no denying that, once again, Joaquin Phoenix gave us here another intense and spellbinding performance. Basically, the whole thing was some kind of amazing dark one-man-show and Phoenix definitely made the most of it.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Terrence Malick's work list
Cast : Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruno Ganz, Michael Nyqvist
What was it about?
The Austrian Franz Jägerstätter, a conscientious objector, refuses to fight for the Nazis in World War II.
My two cents:
To be honest, I did start to lose faith with Terrence Malick as his recent directorial efforts were increasingly underwhelming. However, since his last movie had received some solid reviews, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, it was his most straightforward movie in years which was really refreshing and promising. However, as usual with this director, the damned thing was still quite challenging though. Anyway, Malick might be the most spiritual director I know and it might be his most spiritual movie so far. Indeed, the whole thing was basically a reflection about the soul and, if you would follow the logic of this movie, the redemption of our soul might be actually more important than our own life. However, I'm not sure if I really agree with this assessment. Indeed, WWII was a huge waste of human life, and, in my opinion, with Franz Jagerstatter, the waste was even worse. I mean, it was completely understandable that the guy refused to fight for the Nazis and to choose to rather die than taking part in this massive senseless killing machine was not only courageous but also the only moral thing to do. However, at some point, he was provided a way out and he basically died because he refused to pledge an oath to Adolf Hitler and, in this context, his choice became more dubious, at least, for me. Indeed, if all the people who tragically died back then had been given the same choice, they might have survived after all and his stubbornness felt more selfish and arrogant than really courageous. Still, even though I had some trouble to root for the guy, as usual with Terrence Malick, even if Emmanuel Lubezki was not involved, this movie was quite beautiful to look at and the guy still makes the most poetic movies out there. To conclude, even if I wasn't really blown away, it was still a vast improvement on the previous movies delivered by Malick.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Jim Jarmusch's work list
Cast : Chloë Sevigny, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Bill Murray, Selena Gomez, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, RZA, Iggy Pop
What was it about?
The peaceful town of Centerville finds itself battling a zombie horde as the dead start rising from their graves.
My two cents:
Not only if it was probably Jarmusch’s worse movie, it was on top of that his laziest effort so far. Basically, the main issue was probably that there was no pulse whatsoever. Of course, that’s something that you could argue about most of Jim Jarmusch’s movies. The issue in this case was that he tried to deliver a comedy which was barely funny after all. I mean, at some point, when Bill Murray asks Adam Driver how he knows that everything will end badly, Driver tells him he knows it because Jim gave him the full script. And that was one of the better jokes. Futhermore, if Jarmusch probably gathered his strongest cast so far, it actually backfired. Indeed, there were basically too many characters involved and, as a result, none of them was really developed. Even worse, none of them was really interesting or entertaining. It’s such a shame because, a couple of years ago, Jarmusch managed to do something really neat with the vampire genre with ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’. However, this time, he tried to tackle the current zombie craze but, unfortunately, he did absolutely nothing interesting with an already completely overdone genre.
My rating: 05/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago