Login
Home
583 Lists
7760 Reviews
Collections
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of the Farrelly Brothers' work list
Cast : Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini
What was it about?
A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver of an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
My two cents:
To be honest, I’m surprised the damned thing reserved so much praise. I mean, sure, it was a decent watch but not really much more than that, in my opinion. As pointed out by many people before me, it was pretty much a reversed version of ‘Driving Miss Daisy’, a rather weak which at least had the excuse that it had been released 30 years ago. Seriously, it is rather sad that ‘BlacKkKlansman’ which was also nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award was snubbed when it was not only an impressive come-back from Spike Lee but also gave a much more provocative view on the very same subject than this movie. On top of that, even though the story was rather generic and predictable, it was also rather condescending. The worst example was probably when Donald Shirley helped Tony writing these letters. Seriously, can you imagine if it would have been the other way around, with a white guy showing a black man how to write a romantic letter? It would have been a scandal. At least, there is no doubt that both Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali both delivered some solid performances but I just didn’t care much about anything else in this movie.
My rating: 06/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Ang Lee's work list
Cast : Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen
What was it about?
An over-the-hill hitman faces off against a younger clone of himself.
My two cents:
Even though this movie was rather poorly received by the critics and will probably end up being a box-office flop, since I'm a huge fan of Ang Lee, I was still eager to check it out though. Well, first of all, I have to admit it, the story was rather weak. Indeed, even if it might have sounded cool on paper, it didn't make much sense to send the main character's clone to kill him. Basically, it would have been much more efficient to send someone with much more experience with no connection with the victim. Then, they came up with this really bogus theory that someone with the same genetical background would end up with exactly the same set of skills and abilities which was just ridiculous. Anyway, the plot or lack of it was obviously not the selling point as the whole thing was in fact basically another experiment from Ang Lee to push the current movie technology and, this area, it was fortunately much more successful. On one hand, they managed to deliver a completely realistic and believable younger version of Will Smith and the end-result was just amazing. I also have to add that Smith did a fine job playing these two versions of himself. And, then, the other technological breakthrough was obviously the HFR shooting. Well, to be honest, it is still not really working yet but it has some potential and Ang Lee made a rather sensible choice to use it for an action flick like this one, instead than for a drama like 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk'. However, except for the amazing chase between the two Smith''s which was one of the best action scenes I have seen in a very long time, there wasn't so many action scenes after all. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was an interesting experimental action flick and I believe it is worth a look but only if you would be attracted by such an experiment.
My rating: 6/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of M. Night Shyamalan's work list
Cast : James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy
What was it about?
Security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities.
My two cents:
To be honest, after watching the flick, I have to admit that I was actually positively surprised by the damned thing and I wonder why the reviews were so harsh. I mean, sure, it wasn’t a masterpiece whatsoever but I thought it was still a decent sequel in this franchise. Indeed, I really loved the idea of a movie reuniting David Dunn with Elijah Price and Kevin Wendell Crumb and the set-up, to have them imprisoned all together fairly early on in a psychiatric hospital/jail was really neat as well. However, it was rather odd that, even though there were only 3 characters and the running time was over 2 hours, Shyamalan didn’t really manage to develop any of them. I mean, Bruce Willis was basically sleepwalking through his whole performance but I guess you shouldn’t expect more from him nowadays. Samuel L. Jackson was simply catatonic for one hour. James McAvoy was once again quite brilliant juggling no less than 20 characters but, for some reasons, this time around, they decided to make him switch characters every 10 seconds and, as a result, he became some kind of exhausting circus act. Finally, as usual with this director, there were couple of twists at the end but, since it is his most infamous trademark, they were hardly surprising but, above all, they were rather pretentious and, eventually, hardly as fascinating as Shyamalan would like us to think. However, even though I would agree that this movie was flawed, I still believe that the concept was really neat and it turned to be a decent watch after all.
My rating: 6/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Michael Bay’s work list
Cast : Ryan Reynolds, Mélanie Laurent, Dave Franco
What was it about?
Meet a new kind of action hero. Six untraceable agents, totally off the grid. They've buried their pasts so they can change the future.
My two cents:
At least, it was refreshing to see Michael Bay finally making an action flick with no Transformers involved. On top of that, the car chase at the beginning, which lasted a whopping 20 mins, was just amazing. Seriously, it was hands down one of the best chases I have ever seen. Unfortunately, while the rest of the movie was not bad, it turned out to be too generic though. There was also too much use of flashbacks and voice-overs obviously to make the whole thing look more fancy than it actually was. Furthermore, concerning this group of lethal agents, except for Ryan Reynolds, it was pretty much a bunch of B actors. I mean, they were not bad but I wish they came up with a slightly more charismatic group. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it still turned to be a decent effort from Michael Bay, even if it is completely forgettable.
My rating: 6/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Danny Boyle's work list
Cast : Lily James, Ed Sheeran
What was it about?
A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles.
My two cents:
Even if the concept didn’t sound really amazing, I still thought it was pretty neat that, once again, Danny Boyle was trying something completely different. Unfortunately, I was surprised by how little I actually did care about the damned thing after all and I don’t really get why it had been relatively well received when it was released. First of all, I find rather doubtful, if the Beatles would come up with their songs nowadays, that they would be so successful but it probably had to do with the fact that I’m not a huge fan of their work. However, the biggest issue was the fact that the whole thing was just so damned generic and predictable. At least, I did appreciate that they toned down Lily James’s natural beauty to make her look like your average next-door-girl but, in my opinion, she didn’t have much chemistry with Himesh Patel. On top of that, Patel was a rather underwhelming lead after all. Eventually, even if I have seen worse, I still think it was, so far, Danny Boyle’s most disappointing directing effort.
My rating: 06/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of various directors' s work list
5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Central Intelligence
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Dwayne Johnson, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though I think that the concept actually had some potential, the end-result was actually pretty disappointing, I’m afraid. Indeed, it could have” read more
5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Creed II
“I already saw this movie but since my wife is a big fan of the ‘Rocky’ franchise, I thought I might as well rewatch it with her. As far I’m concerned, I have to admit that I actually really liked ‘Creed’ but this sequel, even though it was a decent watch, to be honest, wasn’t really much” read more
5 years, 6 months ago
Directors and Lenses
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: Basically, it is one of those classics I knew I should watch at some point but I kept postponing it indefinitely since I was pretty sure I would have a hard time to care for the whole thing. And, indeed, If you are a real movie buff, you have to watch this movie at some point but, man, it remains a tough watch though... I mean, I have to admit it, it was pretty impressive from a technical point of view and it has a huge historical value but it is also seriously boring and quite sickening to behold. Basically, half of the movie is about Adolf and his demented buddies making some dreadful speeches and the other half is about some endless marches involving 1000’s and 1000’s of fanatics in uniform. Like I said before, it was quite groundbreaking at the time and you can imagine that Leni Riefenstahl couldn't resist the temptation of making such a huge production with a virtually limitless budget so she did some pretty impressive stuff visually speaking making the most notorious propaganda feature ever conceived. Still, I felt pretty sick during most of the duration and even their uplifting music couldn’t cheer me up.5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Quentin Tarantino's work list
Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Kurt Russell
What was it about?
A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.
My two cents:
Eventually, I think it turned out to be Tarantino's most challenging movie so far which is not necessarily a bad thing, in the contrary, but I wish this challenge would have been more rewarding. I mean, I really liked it but it just never left like a real home-run to me. Still, on a technical side, it was just a marvel to watch. Indeed, Tarantino went very far in the mood and the details to create a believable version of Hollywood at the time. On top of that, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were both pretty good and I was above all impressed by DiCaprio who gave here actually one of his best performances. However, what the main point was probably the nostalgia that Tarantino has for this time and place but, if you don't share this feeling, well, there are so many references that you will either miss or even won't care at all. On top of that, even if it is something you probably should expect from this director, the whole thing was pretty random. Indeed, in 'Pulp Fiction', you had also such seemingly random mess but every single scene did end up being crucial, which wasn't really the case here. Still, I have to admit that I never saw coming the twist at the end as Tarantino used the same trick he did with 'Inglourious Basterds', rewriting history in the process, but I was actually pretty neat and it worked better this time around. Anyway, if it didn't completely won me over, it was still a really bold project, much more interesting than all these remakes, reboots and sequels that you get to see nowadays at the movie theater.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2019 list
Notes: Eventually, I think it turned out to be Quentin Tarantino's 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 really liked it but it just never left like a real home-run to me. Still, on the technical side, it was just a marvel to watch. Indeed, Tarantino went very far in the mood and the details to create a believable version of Hollywood at the time. On top of that, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio were both pretty good and I was above all impressed by DiCaprio who gave here actually one of his best performances. However, what the main point was probably the nostalgia that Tarantino has for this time and place but, if you don't share this feeling, well, there are so many references that you will either miss or even won't care at all. On top of that, even if it is something you probably should expect from this director, the whole thing was pretty random. Indeed, in 'Pulp Fiction', you had also such seemingly random mess but every single scene did end up being crucial, which wasn't really the case here. Still, I have to admit that I never saw coming the twist at the end as Tarantino used the same trick he did with 'Inglourious Basterds', rewriting history in the process, but it was actually pretty neat and it worked better this time around. Anyway, if it didn't completely win me over, it was still a really bold project, much more interesting than all these remakes, reboots and sequels that you get to see nowadays at the movie theater.5 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...5 years, 6 months ago