Login
Home
580 Lists
7683 Reviews
Collections
johanlefourbe commented on a list
The evolution of...6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to The evolution of... (C) list
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to The evolution of... list
6 years, 11 months ago
The Evolution of Tim Curryjohanlefourbe added 2 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020) list
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Collateral Beauty
“Even though it seemed rather lame and even though it didn't get much love when it was released, since there was a really nice cast involved, I was still eager to check it out though. Well, it turned out to be really weak, I'm afraid. Seriously, you might wonder how did they manage to get such an imp” read more
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 50 worst movies ever list
Note : Well, what can I say about this flick? Pretty much nothing worked. Indeed, the plot was completely idiotic, it was never funny, most of the time actually rather offensive and sometimes even gross. On top of that, even though it was supposed to be about a gigolo, there was actually no sex whatsoever (there was though a topless weather presenter but I have never seen anything like this in the Netherlands and I have been living there for almost 20 years).6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 2 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020) list
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Life of Crime
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. On top of that, since I really loved ‘Jackie Brown’, it was pretty neat to see again Ordell and Louis. Unfortunately, the whole thing didn’t really work for” read more
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Coco
“I already saw this movie but since it was available on Disney+, I was quite eager to check it out again. Since I have been following Pixar ever since 'Toy Story' was released and since this movie was really well received, the first time around, I saw the damned thing in the movie theater when it was” read more
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
“Obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick and it turned out to be indeed really terrible. In fact, when this movie was made, there was actually quite some media coverage in the Netherlands, apparently, because most of the movie was shot in Amsterdam. On top of that, there were easily a doze” read more
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Terry Gilliam's work list
Cast : Jonathan Pryce, Adam Driver, Olga Kurylenko, Stellan Skarsgård
What was it about?
Toby, a disillusioned film director, becomes pulled into a world of time-jumping fantasy when a Spanish cobbler believes him to be Sancho Panza. He gradually becomes unable to tell dreams from reality.
My two cents:
Like many other movie buffs, I have been waiting to see this movie for almost 20 years. Well, I wish I could say it had been worth the wait but, unfortunately, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. Above all, even though there were some good ideas, the damned thing was a mess very difficult to digest. Of course, you could argue that every Gilliam movie is pretty messy but the fact that it was just way too long (about 140 mins) without really going anywhere didn’t help either. On top of that, in spite of the excessive running time, there were only a handful characters involved and, expect for the main character, nobody was developed whatsoever. Eventually, like some other cursed movie projects like ‘The Other Side of the Wind’ (which also managed to finally be released in 2018) or ‘Dune’ by Jodorowski (which never got made), it seems that the legends around the doomed production of this movie were more interesting than the movie itself after all. Anyway, even if this movie was rather disappointing, it is still worth a look.
My rating: 06/10
Check the full review6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Luc Besson's work list
Cast : Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy
What was it about?
Beneath Anna Poliatova's striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world's most feared government assassins.
My two cents:
Following the debacle around ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ (a movie which wasn't so bad in my opinion), EuropaCorp, Luc Besson’s film production, was on the verge of bankruptcy so he apparently decided to take no risk with his following directing effort. However, as a result, he did deliver something terribly derivative and, even more problematic, it turned out to be another flop at the box-office. Well, to be honest, I didn’t care much for the damned thing. First of all, following the footsteps of Anne Parillaud, Milla Jovovich, Rie Rasmussen, Louise Bourgoin, Scarlett Johansson and Cara Delevingne, Sasha Luss was the latest gorgeous lady that Besson had chosen to headline his action flick but, to be honest, even though she did look fine indeed, her performance was rather weak though. A bigger issue was that the whole thing was just so poorly written. I mean, I actually have a weak spot for the genre, the action flicks dealing with a lethal female spy, but this movie was pretty much a really weak version of ‘Nikita’, which is still by far my favourite movie from Besson. Furthermore, to make the whole thing look more complicated than it actually was, they went for a mixed-up chronology which was usually more annoying than really effective. Of course, the main character had to have some rather meaningless love affairs with not one but two other spies but, beyond the fact that Sasha Luss had very little chemistry with her co-stars, it all felt rather random and gratuitous.
My rating: 5/10
Check the full review6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Paul Verhoeven's work list
Cast : Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, Clotilde Courau
What was it about?
A 17th-century nun in Italy suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions. She is assisted by a companion, and the relationship between the two women develops into a romantic love affair.
My two cents:
Eventually, the Dutch master didn’t disappoint, at least, not me as it turned out to be a massive Verhoeven festival. Indeed, he went pretty much all the way with some over-the-top hallucinations, violence, blood, full frontal nudity and some good old sex. Seriously, even if probably not everything did work, the whole thing was still really intense. Eventually, he gave us all the various ways anyone at the time might approach religion (as a real vocation, as a capitalist enterprise, as a powerful political weapon, as a simple way to get fed or a way to escape a toxic household). What I enjoyed the most was how ambiguous Benedetta was until the very end. Indeed, was she some kind of con artist? A complete lunatic? Another sexually frustrated nun? An actual prophet who could communicate with God, somehow? Or maybe it was a combination of all this all together. Well, you won’t get any easy answer which was the movie’s biggest strength but also its weakness. Indeed, at the end, all the other characters’s thoughts, feelings and motivations were pretty clear but Benedetta remained an impenetrable wall which was slightly frustrating and, yet, it made her rather fascinating. I also think that the whole lesbian relationship was not very well linked with her religious ‘awakening’. The best thing that I can think of was that, by being touched by Bartolomea’s love, she was then more able to get in touch with God? Or maybe, after all these years of sexual abstinence, it pretty much blew up her fragile mind? Anyway, even if it wasn’t flawless, Verhoeven delivered here another intense roller coaster.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Gus Van Sant's work list
Cast : Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black
What was it about?
About John Callahan who became a paralyzed after a car accident at age 21, and turned to drawing as a form of therapy.
My two cents:
After the huge critical failure of 'The Sea of Trees' (It is even considered by many as his worst movie so far), Gus Van Sant here made a nice come-back with and this flick was easily his best movie since 'Milk' released already 10 years ago. Still, even though it was indeed an entertaining biopic, it was nothing really amazing, to be honest. I mean, even though Van Sant went for a chaotic and random structure, the whole thing was actually fairly generic and predictable after all. Still, I had never heard of John Callahan before watching this movie, the guy was really interesting and I really appreciate the fact that they kept displaying his work through the whole duration. Eventually, I think I enjoyed mostly the cast involved. Indeed, once again, Joaquin Phoenix completely nailed it and displayed again that he is easily one of the best actors of his generation. On top of that, the rest of the cast was also strong even if their characters were unfortunately barely developed. I was above all impressed by Jonah Hill who I didn't recognize at all and it was only by the sound of his voice that I was able to spot him. Anyway, even though it was nothing ground-breaking, it was still a decent biopic and it is definitely worth a look.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Robert Rodriguez's work list
Cast : Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Jackie Earle Haley
What was it about?
A deactivated female cyborg is revived, but cannot remember anything of her past life and goes on a quest to find out who she is.
My two cents:
For how long have I been waiting to see this movie? 10 years? 15 years? Indeed, when I was kid, I bought the comic-books with my brother, I really loved them, and when I heard that James Cameron would adapt them, it sounded really awesome. However, somehow, the guy got completely obsessed with 'Avatar' and it seemed that this project would be stuck in production hell forever. Fortunately, Robert Rodriguez came on board and even if he wouldn't have been my first choice as a director, I still wanted to check the damned thing, in spite of the negative hype it received even before it was released. Well, eventually, I have to admit it, it didn't turn out to be a masterpiece, but it was far from being a failure either and I enjoyed most of it. Indeed, even though it felt rather derivative by now, the world created was interesting enough and visually quite impressive but I wouldn't expect less from Cameron. Above all, they completely nailed the main character. Indeed, Alita was just as fascinating as she was in the comic-book. Not only the way she looked worked very well (the controversy about her big eyes turned out to be completely unjustified after all) but, above all, she was just so charismatic, complex, and completely faithfull to the comic-book. Concerning the story itself, it's a shame that they tried to adapt the first 4 comic-books as it turned out to be just too much material for 2 hours of running time. Still, in spite of it flaws, I think it was a rather faithtfull adaptation and it is definitely worth a look.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review
6 years, 11 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of Ridley Scott's work list
Cast : Mark Wahlberg, Christopher Plummer, Michelle Williams, Timothy Hutton, Romain Duris
What was it about?
story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather John Paul Getty to pay the ransom.
My two cents:
With this movie, Ridley Scott pulled off the marketing stunt of the year. Indeed, just about a month before this movie was released, he decided to reshoot all the scenes involving Kevin Spacey and replace him with Christopher Plummer. And, indeed, the whole thing looked great and it felt like Plummer had been involved from the very beginning. And, yet, if you put this stunt aside, was it really a great movie? Not really, I'm afraid. Basically, it was a typical effort from this director. I mean, it looked great, the material had a lot of potential but it still felt either rushed or lazy. For example, during the introduction, you get to meet John Paul Getty II and his happy family but, then, within a few minutes, he became a drug-addict living in Morocco. This character was just so poorly handled, without mentioning the fact that the guy was apparently actually much more involved in the negotiations with the kidnappers. Then, they made the mistake of focusing on one of the kidnappers. It was obviously made up but, above all, completely uninteresting. Another mystery was Mark Wahlberg's character. Seriously, what was the point of this character? At what point was he actually really helpful? I mean, to make us believe that he was the one who gave a heartfelt speech to John Paul Getty who would finally change his mind was just really ludicrous. Anyway, I think I'm being rather generous with my rating here but it was an interesting story and Ridley Scott knows how to direct a good looking picture but there is no doubt that it could have been so much better.
My rating: 07/10
Check the full review6 years, 11 months ago