Login
Home
581 Lists
7719 Reviews
Collections
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1920's) list
Notes: Even though it might seem to be a simple story (it is basically about a guy losing his job, not much more), I have to admit that I was really impressed by the sheer power of its visuals and of the performances, especially by Emil Jannings who played the main character. Itās only afterwards that I discovered that Jannings, arguably one of the best actors of all time, was actually a major Nazi supporter and Iām glad I didnāt know that before watching the damned thing. Anyway, it was still a powerful movie, so powerful, that they didnāt have to use a single title card for the dialogues. Seriously, it was quite impressive and there was not a single moment while what was going on was not crystal clear. Furthermore, it was such a sad movie, probably one of the saddest I have seen so far. The saddest part, at least for me, was when his neighborhood found out that he had actually lost his job and was pretending to still be a doorman. Indeed, for some reason, maybe Iām too optimistic but I was expecting them to be supportive but, eventually, they were all mocking him which was just so cruel but I guess it was actually true to human nature, Iām afraid. There was also this rather weird and ridiculous happy ending coming from nowhere. Apparently, the producers forced F.W. Murnau and Carl Mayer to end up with something else and more upbeat than the inevitable death of the poor doorman but since they really hated this idea, they went for something really far-fetched and cynical. At first, this ending really bothered me but, the more I think about it, the more I believe it was actually quite brilliant. 2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Even though it might seem to be a simple story (it is basically about a guy losing his job, not much more than that), I have to admit that I was really impressed by the sheer power of its visuals and of the performances, especially by Emil Jannings who played the main character. Itās only afterwards that I discovered that Jannings, arguably one of the best actors of all time, was actually a major Nazi supporter and Iām glad I didnāt know that before watching the damned thing. Anyway, it was still a powerful movie, so powerful, that they didnāt have to use a single title card for the dialogues. Seriously, it was quite impressive and there was not a single moment while what was going on was not crystal clear. Furthermore, it was such a sad movie, probably one of the saddest I have seen so far. The saddest part, at least for me, was when his neighborhood found out that he had actually lost his job and was pretending to still be a doorman. Indeed, for some reason, maybe Iām too optimistic but I was expecting them to be supportive but, eventually, they were all mocking him which was just so cruel but I guess it was actually true to human nature, Iām afraid. There was also this rather weird and ridiculous happy ending coming from nowhere. Apparently, the producers forced F.W. Murnau and Carl Mayer to end up with something else and more upbeat than the inevitable death of the poor doorman but since they really hated this idea, they went for something really far-fetched and cynical. At first, this ending really bothered me but, the more I think about it, the more I believe it was actually quite brilliant. 2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Last Laugh
“Since this movie seemed to have a solid reputation (it is included in the ā1001 Movies You Must See Before You Dieā list among other things), I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though it might seem to be a simple story (it is basically about a guy losing his job, not much more), I hav” read more
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Elle s'en va
“I wasnāt really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was starring Catherine Deneuve, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be about a middle-aged woman going through some kind of middle-life crisis and going on a road-trip in the process. To be honest, I always” read more
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe voted for list
Listal RESISTANCE: Operation Save the Front Page! (82 art items)2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1940's) list
Notes: First of all, to be honest, Iām usually not a huge fan of such classic screwball comedies. In this case, there was also the issue that they developed the idea that, for a pretty woman like Gerry Jeffers, the best prospect was not to find an actual job to support herself but finding some rich guy who would support her. Sure, you might argue that I shouldnāt take this movie too seriously but it did make the damned thing look rather dated. And, yet, I have to admit that this movie actually worked for me. For starters, the intro was just so weird, I had no idea what this movie was actually about and I thought they were showing that would actually happen afterwards. However, the story was not about how this couple fell in love and got married. Indeed, instead, it was about how she tried to escape this marriage, not because they didnāt care for each other anymore but mostly because their marriage was a failure considering their financial and social status. Well, I have to admit that this approach was actually quite refreshing and I really enjoyed most of the jokes and most of the dialogues were just so fun and witty. 2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: First of all, to be honest, Iām usually not a huge fan of such classic screwball comedies. In this case, there was also the issue that they developed the idea that, for a pretty woman like Gerry Jeffers, the best prospect was not to find an actual job to support herself but finding some rich guy who would support her. Sure, you might argue that I shouldnāt take this movie too seriously but it did make the damned thing look rather dated. And, yet, I have to admit that this movie actually worked for me. For starters, the intro was just so weird, I had no idea what this movie was actually about and I thought they were showing that would actually happen afterwards. However, the story was not about how this couple fell in love and got married. Indeed, instead, it was about how she tried to escape this marriage, not because they didnāt care for each other anymore but mostly because their marriage was a failure considering their financial and social status. Well, I have to admit that this approach was actually quite refreshing and I really enjoyed most of the jokes and most of the dialogues were just so fun and witty. 2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Palm Beach Story
“Since this movie seemed to have a solid reputation (it is included in the ā1001 Movies You Must See Before You Dieā list among other things), I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, to be honest, Iām usually not a huge fan of such classic screwball comedies. In this case, there was al” read more
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Accident
“To be honest, I wasnāt sure what to expect from this movie since it was directed by Joseph Losey, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a rather tricky movie to judge. Indeed, on the surface, it basically focused on some rather pathetic and oversexed middle-aged college” read more
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1950's) list
Notes: In fact, it was the very first movie directed by Roberto Rossellini that I have seen so far and, hopefully, I will watch much more of his work in the near future. The first interesting thing about this movie was that, even though it seemed deeply pious, Rossellini was not really a religious man himself. In fact, back then right when he was making this movie, there was this huge scandal as he was having a baby with Ingrid Bergman while they were still both married with other people. I guess, Rossellini was a little bit like me in the sense that, even if he wasnāt really religious, he thought that religion was a fascinating subject. Still, even if this movie was intriguing, it was never really fascinating though. I mean, I did appreciate its focus on the purest form of Catholicism but, in my opinion, its episodic form prevented it from really developing St. Francis as a character and also as a concept. Sure, it was faithful to the book it was based from, āLittle Flowers of St. Francisā which was based on more than 50 episodic chapters but I just didnāt care much for this approach. It was still a fine piece Italian neo-realism though and I was amazed to discover afterwards that the characters were not played by actors but by actual Franciscan monks. Apparently, Rossellini usually preferred to work with non-professional actors and, in this case, it did work fine.2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: In fact, it was the very first movie directed by Roberto Rossellini that I have seen so far and, hopefully, I will watch much more of his work in the near future. The first interesting thing about this movie was that, even though it seemed deeply pious, Rossellini was not really a religious man himself. In fact, back then right when he was making this movie, there was this huge scandal as he was having a baby with Ingrid Bergman while they were still both married with other people. I guess, Rossellini was a little bit like me in the sense that, even if he wasnāt really religious, he thought that religion was a fascinating subject. Still, even if this movie was intriguing, it was never really fascinating though. I mean, I did appreciate its focus on the purest form of Catholicism but, in my opinion, its episodic form prevented it from really developing St. Francis as a character and also as a concept. Sure, it was faithful to the book it was based from, āLittle Flowers of St. Francisā which was based on more than 50 episodic chapters but I just didnāt care much for this approach. It was still a fine piece Italian neo-realism though and I was amazed to discover afterwards that the characters were not played by actors but by actual Franciscan monks. Apparently, Rossellini usually preferred to work with non-professional actors and, in this case, it did work fine.2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Flowers of St. Francis
“To be honest, I wasnāt sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the āThey Shoot Pictures, Donāt They?ā list, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, it was the very first movie directed by Roberto Rossellini that I have seen so far and, hopefully, I will watc” read more
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Blair Witch
“Even though this sequel didnāt get much love when it was released, since I always had a weak spot for āThe Blair Witch Projectā, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, after all these years, I still havenāt watch āBook of Shadows: Blair Witch 2ā but I should definitely check it” read more
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1930's) list
Notes: First of all, I wonder if the English title was a literal translation of the Japanese title but it is probably one of the greatest titles I came across. It might sound cryptic but it completely made sense with this movie, especially during the very last scene. Concerning Sadao Yamanaka, I had never heard of the guy before, he apparently died pretty young but he was apparently a major influence on all the great Japanese directors that came afterwards such as Akira Kurosawa or YasujirĆ“ Ozu. And, indeed, it was quite impressive how immersive the world created by Yamanaka was. He really gave you the feeling that you were transported 2 centuries ago in Feudal Japan and you basically spent most of the running time in some rather poor neighborhood with so many intriguing characters. It was also pretty neat how, even though the material was fairly dark and the hopes of the involved characters were rather bleak, there was still quite a lot of humor. And, yet, the damned thing was still missing something though. It might had to do with the fact that, since there were quite a lot of characters involved, many were not really developed whatsoever. Still, even if it didnāt completely blow me away, it was definitely a strong vintage Japanese drama.2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: First of all, I wonder if the English title was a literal translation of the Japanese title but it is probably one of the greatest titles I came across. It might sound cryptic but it completely made sense with this movie, especially during the very last scene. Concerning Sadao Yamanaka, I had never heard of the guy before, he apparently died pretty young but he was apparently a major influence on all the great Japanese directors that came afterwards such as Akira Kurosawa or YasujirĆ“ Ozu. And, indeed, it was quite impressive how immersive the world created by Yamanaka was. He really gave you the feeling that you were transported 2 centuries ago in Feudal Japan and you basically spent most of the running time in some rather poor neighborhood with so many intriguing characters. It was also pretty neat how, even though the material was fairly dark and the hopes of the involved characters were rather bleak, there was still quite a lot of humor. And, yet, the damned thing was still missing something though. It might had to do with the fact that, since there were quite a lot of characters involved, many were not really developed whatsoever. Still, even if it didnāt completely blow me away, it was definitely a strong vintage Japanese drama.2 years, 3 months ago
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Humanity And Paper Balloons
“To be honest, I wasnāt sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the āThey Shoot Pictures, Donāt They?ā list, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I wonder if the English title was a literal translation of the Japanese title but it is probably one of t” read more
2 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
2 years, 3 months ago