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“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. After the runaway success of ‘The Notebook’, they kept making such Nicholas Sparks film adaptations and this one was actually the very last one. Apparently, it w” read more
Notes: It turned out to be a piece of war propaganda which was released just before the US joined WWII and it was apparently a huge box-office success when it was released. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that I had a rather hard time to connect with the damned thing after all. On the other hand, I have to admit that the version I saw on YouTube was of very poor quality and the fact that it was without subtitles also didn’t help. Indeed, above all in the 1st half, everyone was talking with such a thick Tennessee accent so I was barely able to figure out what they were actually saying. Coming back on the story itself, Alvin York was apparently a real famous war hero during WWI and they tried to be accurate as possible because York himself was actually involved. On paper, the story of this poor barely literate farmer going from major village drunkard to born-again Christian to finally most famous US decorated WWI soldier absolutely had some potential but, as far as I was concerned, I was hardly impressed with the end-result and the whole thing felt rather clunky. Eventually, this movie did remind me of ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ which didn’t become such a classic but I thought it was much more superior though. At least, there is no denying that Gary Cooper did deliver a really solid performance and, in the process, he managed to win his first Academy Award.
Notes: It turned out to be a piece of war propaganda which was released just before the US joined WWII and it was apparently a huge box-office success when it was released. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that I had a rather hard time to connect with the damned thing after all. On the other hand, I have to admit that the version I saw on YouTube was of very poor quality and the fact that it was without subtitles also didn’t help. Indeed, above all in the 1st half, everyone was talking with such a thick Tennessee accent so I was barely able to figure out what they were actually saying. Coming back on the story itself, Alvin York was apparently a real famous war hero during WWI and they tried to be accurate as possible because York himself was actually involved. On paper, the story of this poor barely literate farmer going from major village drunkard to born-again Christian to finally most famous US decorated WWI soldier absolutely had some potential but, as far as I was concerned, I was hardly impressed with the end-result and the whole thing felt rather clunky. Eventually, this movie did remind me of ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ which didn’t become such a classic but I thought it was much more superior though. At least, there is no denying that Gary Cooper did deliver a really solid performance and, in the process, he managed to win his first Academy Award. 
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a piece of war propaganda which was released just before t” read more
“To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a stellar cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. It is quite a famous story and, even though I haven't watched any other version before, I was already quite familiar with the plot even before watching ” read more
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Chloë Grace Moretz, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I really loved this title, even it did make the whole thing sound slightly pretentious. Well, I always had a weak spot for Moretz but, to be hone” read more
“To be honest, even though I was eager to see this movie, I wasn’t even planning to watch it right now. In fact, I had planned to watch 'Oppenheimer' instead at least 6 months ago but, unfortunately, it didn't work out with my filmclub so I had to pick up this movie at the last minute. On the other” read more
chosen by Johan
Notes: To be honest, even though I was eager to see this movie, I wasn’t even planning to watch it right now. In fact, I had planned to watch 'Oppenheimer' instead at least 6 months ago but, unfortunately, it didn't work out with the filmclub so I had to pick up this movie at the last minute. On the other hand, it was already the 4th movie directed by Wes Anderson watched by our filmclub, more than any other director, which was pretty cool. Anyway, how was the damned thing after all? Well, it was definitely a decent effort from the American director, no doubt about it, but it was definitely not one of his best. Visually, as usual with Anderson, it looked amazing though as each scene was turned into some kind of gorgeous painting. Concerning the cast, well, I won't name all the famous and insanely talented actors involved but it's obvious that they had a blast with this material, especially with the dialogues which were often quite hilarious. Eventually, the only issue I had was with the story. Indeed, even though it seems that there was a lot going on during each individual scene, as a whole, I had the feeling that it was in fact about nothing much after all. It was like focusing on the guy who wrote the play this story was supposedly based on, sure, I have to admit that it was fun but, as far as I was concerned, it didn't have much added value. Basically, this movie displayed an endless succession of nice ideas but it might have been more satisfying to keep only a few of these ideas and actually develop them. It was still pretty good though.
(Jul. 2023)
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