Reviews by johanlefourbe

I already saw this movie not so long ago but since it was so challenging, I thought I might as well check it out again, especially since I bought a really cool Tarkovsky Blu-Ray box-set. Obviously, since I’m such a major movie buff, I had to watch a movie directed by Andrei Tarkovsky at some point, especially since the guy has such a stellar reputation. Well, according to IMDb, it is his best movie, so I guess it was a good place to start. However, to be honest, even though I expected it, it still turned out to be a really difficult movie. I mean, basically, it is about three guys wandering for almost 3 hours in a place called the ‘Zone’ and, even though it does sound like a science-fiction feature, there was nothing really futuristic about this place. Of course, the fans of this movie in particular and in Tarkovsky in general would argue that this movie went just way beyond being a simple SF feature and they would be right. However, I’m afraid I was not smart enough to understand most of the symbolism, philosophical and metaphysical elements developed in this flick and I still think that the damned thing was pretty damned long and slow. Still, even if it was minimalistic, it was very often beautiful to look at and the damned thing was quite mesmerizing. Indeed, in spite of the lack of plot or character development, the whole thing is such an interesting maelstrom of ideas, theories and assumptions. Anyway, to conclude, it was probably one of the most difficult movies I have ever seen and even if I probably didn’t get half of it, I still think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you want to see something really challenging. 

To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it had won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, I was really eager to check it out. Well, with a running time of more than 3 hours, it was definitely a challenging watch and the fact that basically nothing much happened through the whole thing didn’t help either. At least, Nuri Bilge Ceylan did deliver a beautiful movie to look at but since the characters didn’t go really anywhere, it did become rather monotonous fairly quickly. So, what did the guy try to achieve with this rather overlong flick? In my opinion, it was some kind of character study dealing with emptiness and boredom. Indeed, at first, the main character seemed to be a soft-spoken educated and sophisticated man. However, it became obvious pretty quickly that the guy was terribly self-absorbed and had no connection with his community but not much more with his sister and his wife. I mean, most of the dialogues involved some seemingly intellectual conversations but, at the end of the day, it was only some platitudes and I’m not surprised that the director had been inspired by Russian literature. Of course, you could blame the main character but, in my opinion, his sister and his wife were not really much better. Indeed, they were both complaining about how boring and empty their life had become, mostly blaming the main character for it, but it was rather dubious that their lives had been so difficult and, above all, they were not willing to do anything to really improve their situation. Concerning the main character, he spent most of his time trying to convince everyone around him of how important he was when, in fact, the only thing he did was basically aimlessly wandering around. Still, 3 hours was quite a long time to spend with some characters who were neither really likeable and/or interesting after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it is not an easy movie, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

To be honest, I’m not really sure if we really needed yet another movie about this tormented artist but since I always had a weak spot for Julian Schnabel’s work, I was really eager to check it out. Well, after Jean-Michel Basquiat, Reinaldo Arenas and Jean-Dominique Bauby, Schnabel, himself a famous painter, focused once again on another artist, the big difference was that, this time, it was easily one of the most famous artists that ever lived. And, that was probably the biggest obstacle that this movie had to face. Indeed, what can you say about the guy that hasn’t been said so many times before? In my opinion, by focusing mostly on his mental state which was a pretty neat approach, Schnabel did partially succeed but not completely though. Basically, according to the makers, Van Gogh was constantly overwhelmed by the beauty in our world but this process was so intense that he became some kind of Icarus who got too close and basically completely burned his soul. As a result, it was also really difficult for him to connect with other people, in fact, there were probably just a handful of people with whom he really managed to develop a lasting and meaningful relationship. So, eventually, even though the guy was probably one of the greatest geniuses that ever lived, he led a terribly tormented and lonely life but, even though I liked the impressionist approach chosen by Julian Schnabel, it was nothing really groundbreaking. At least, I really liked the fact that they did show the painting process which is something actually really rare in this kind of biopics and this process was quite fascinating to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even though I don’t think it turned out to be the ultimate biopic about this great painter, it was still pretty good though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I wonder if the original version starring Terry O'Quinn was any good but this remake was pretty weak, I’m afraid. Basically, it was supposed to be a rather creepy movie about some rather creepy guy but, to be honest, I wasn’t impressed by the end-result, in fact, far from it. The first issue was that Dylan Walsh was never charismatic enough when he was acting like a ‘good’ guy and he was never threatening enough when he was going full psycho. Another problem was that nothing much really happened through the damned thing. As a result, to fill up the running time, they apparently made the rather weird decision to add so many scenes possible involving Amber Heard around the pool in her bikini. I mean, Amber Heard was and still is extremely lovely to look at but, even if the stepfather was really weid and creepy, he wasn’t a sex predator at all (in fact, his motivations were never really properly developed) so it was definitely a rather dubious decision. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here, the damned thing was pretty weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the Muppets but since their last movie was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I really liked the fact that they went for a completely different approach than what they did in the previous instalment and, Constantine, Kermit’s evil dubbelganger, was a pretty cool character. Furthermore, the whole thing was really well made, even if they could have avoided a few scenes obviously done with some CGI. The songs were not bad either, especially the first one making fun of the fact that they were making another sequel. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I still had a hard time to really care about this flick though. Indeed, in my opinion, this movie was just too long (apparently, it is the longest Muppet film released to date) and, to be honest, I really struggled to focus on the damned thing until the very end. The main issue was probably that those heists were rather lame and, above all, seriously repetitive. Indeed, basically, you get to see the Muppets going to Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and, finally, London giving some show while the bad guys were pulling some heists but the gimmick got old very fast. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.