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johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: I saw the damned thing when it came out back then thinking it would be just a fun SF movie. But, as a matter of fact, it started much better than I expected and it seemed really promising. Indeed, the visuals were great, there were some great actions scenes and the theme was really neat : "our world is not real, we live in an illusion". My God ! They are going for the big question "what is the meaning of life?" at least "What is real and what is not?". I was completely hooked and waiting to see what would happen next. But that was only the first 30 minutes... Then, came this black dude with the famous blue and red pills. And then, I got my answer. We don't live for real, actually, our brains are sucked out by some machines... Come on! Really? Give me a break ! So, basically, those guys implied that our world was not real, that there might be something else out there but, instead of giving us an amazing and inspiring new world, they went for a vision even more sordid and underwhelming than our actual world. What was then the freaking point?!? I still think it was visually great and indeed a milestone in this area but the story was in fact not great at all. At least, according to me.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1940's) list
Notes: Eventually, this movie will be mostly remembered for winning the Best Picture Academy Award at the expense of 'Citizen Kane' but I was still eager to check it out to see if it was actually any good. Well, while the reputation of 'Citizen Kane' has only increased through the years and it is usually considered by most as one of the greatest movies ever made, this movie on the other hand didn't grow old very well, I'm afraid. I can imagine that it had been a big commercial and critical success at the time when it was released but, nowadays, it seems terribly cheesy, at least, that's what I felt watching the damned thing. I mean, I have to admit that it was well made with some solid performances so it turned out to be OK but not much more than that. Sure, it was dealing with some nice and decent people but, as far as I'm concerned, I would rather have instead the complexity displayed in 'Citizen Kane'. At least, it was very neat to see the lovely Maureen O'Hara who must have been one of the most gorgeous actress ever.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: In fact, it was my wife who actually introduced this movie to me when we first met. Indeed, it was one of her favorite movies, one of those that she saw so many times as a child, and she was (rightfully) shocked that I never saw the damned thing. Well, even though it was indeed a decent watch, to be honest, I didn't really connect with this movie, I'm afraid. Basically, the oddest thing about this movie is how it keeps switching between the rather cheesy dance scenes (which were pretty cool, I have to admit it, at least, if you like this kind of dance) and some realistic dark moments which were more compelling to watch, at least, for me. It seems that the makers were not able to make up their mind between something rather fluffy to appeal to the mainstream audience or something more dramatic to make sure that they were taken seriously. Or maybe I'm completely mistaken and it was done on purpose in order to accurately represent the life of the average teenager. Indeed, at the end of the day, their lifestyle is filled up with some shallow glamorous fantasy but their lives also involve some genuine drama. I doubt it was intentional though.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Beautiful Boy
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but I have to admit that I was quite eager to see Felix van Groeningen’s first English-speaking directing effort. To be honest, even if it was definitely not bad at all, I still think they struggled to bring something new to the genre. Furtherm” read more
3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1990's) list
Notes: Almost 30 years ago, Disney was going through a glorious period. At the time, this movie was their biggest one and, for many years, it had been the highest grossing animated feature ever made. Back then, I saw it in the theater when it was released and it was pretty neat to re-watch it after all these years. Anyway, to be honest, I'm not exactly a huge fan and, from the same era, I think that 'Aladdin' (which was also a huge success when it was released but it has always been overshadowed by this classic) was actually much better. I mean, sure, it is definitely a solid feature, the animation was top-notch and, for once, Disney was creating something rather dark (the reason why my wife never really connected with this movie) almost creating a Shakespearean tragedy ('Hamlet' was a big inspiration for this tale). Still, somehow, I had a hard time to connect with the whole thing. Maybe because I didn't really like the combination of musical songs side by side with some rather dramatic material (the songs were also not really amazing) or maybe it was because it was taking itself too seriously? Still, even though it is not among my favorites, it remains a classic.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Eventually, this movie will be mostly remembered for winning the Best Picture Academy Award at the expense of 'Citizen Kane' but I was still eager to check it out to see if it was actually any good. Well, while the reputation of 'Citizen Kane' has only increased through the years and it is usually considered by most as one of the greatest movies ever made, this movie on the other hand didn't grow old very well, I'm afraid. I can imagine that it had been a big commercial and critical success at the time when it was released but, nowadays, it seems terribly cheesy, at least, that's what I felt watching the damned thing. I mean, I have to admit that it was well made with some solid performances so it turned out to be OK but not much more than that. Sure, it was dealing with some nice and decent people but, as far as I'm concerned, I would rather have instead the complexity displayed in 'Citizen Kane'. At least, it was very neat to see the lovely Maureen O'Hara who must have been one of the most gorgeous actress ever.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1960's) list
Notes: To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick so maybe I should give it another try at some point. In fact, I remember actually very well the first time I saw it. Back in those days, I was in college, studying English, and an English exchange student showed us this movie while in class. The guy was really enthusiast, telling that it was a massive classic but, in fact, none of us had heard about if before. Eventually, I had a rather hard time to connect with the whole thing and, frankly, I thought it was slightly disappointing. It is always the tricky thing with watching a movie at school. Indeed, very often, it is just not the right setup to watch a movie, especially if it is something rather deep and/or subtle. Anyway, this movie is apparently regarded as one of the first that captured the counterculture movement of the late 60's which sounds really cool and which should have really appealed to me but, somehow, it didn’t really work for me. I don’t know, I guess it didn’t care much about the mix between realism and fantasy, it felt sometimes really silly to me and something slightly more straightforward might have worked better for me.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Almost 30 years ago, Disney was going through a glorious period. At the time, this movie was their biggest one and, for many years, it had been the highest grossing animated feature ever made. Back then, I saw it in the theater when it was released and it was pretty neat to re-watch it after all these years. Anyway, to be honest, I'm not exactly a huge fan and, from the same era, I think that 'Aladdin' (which was also a huge success when it was released but it has always been overshadowed by this classic) was actually much better. I mean, sure, it is definitely a solid feature, the animation was top-notch and, for once, Disney was creating something rather dark (the reason why my wife never really connected with this movie) almost creating a Shakespearean tragedy ('Hamlet' was a big inspiration for this tale). Still, somehow, I had a hard time to connect with the whole thing. Maybe because I didn't really like the combination of musical songs side by side with some rather dramatic material (the songs were also not really amazing) or maybe it was because it was taking itself too seriously? Still, even though it is not among my favorites, it remains a classic.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick so maybe I should give it another try at some point. In fact, I remember actually very well the first time I saw it. Back in those days, I was in college, studying English, and an English exchange student showed us this movie while in class. The guy was really enthusiast, telling that it was a massive classic but, in fact, none of us had heard about if before. Eventually, I had a rather hard time to connect with the whole thing and, frankly, I thought it was slightly disappointing. It is always the tricky thing with watching a movie at school. Indeed, very often, it is just not the right setup to watch a movie, especially if it is something rather deep and/or subtle. Anyway, this movie is apparently regarded as one of the first that captured the counterculture movement of the late 60's which sounds really cool and which should have really appealed to me but, somehow, it didn’t really work for me. I don’t know, I guess it didn’t care much about the mix between realism and fantasy, it felt sometimes really silly to me and something slightly more straightforward might have worked better for me.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Wife
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a solid cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I really liked these 2 characters who both turned out to be quite complex and fairly well developed. Of course, the fact that Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce ” read more
3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
3 years, 5 months ago
3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe voted for a review of Dancer in the Dark
“Fuck you Lars Von Trier. I can't count how many time you made me depressed by watching your movies. First time I watched Dancer, I was depressed fo”
3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2000's) list
Notes: To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. In fact, I even saw it the movie theater when it was released. First of all, even though I have seen all the movies directed by Lars von Trier and even though I respect what he has done, I always had some mixed feelings about his work. Indeed, I always have a hard time to connect with his movies and this feature was a perfect example. Indeed, pretty much like with ‘Breaking the Waves’, the directing was really good, the acting was fine as well but everything was just relentlessly bleak and I’m not surprised that some people called it the most depressing movie ever made. I mean, I don’t mind if a movie is dark and incredibly sad but, with von Trier, it feels sometimes like a gimmick, pretty much like David Lynch with his mind-f*ck gimmick, and, as a result, after seeing this gimmick again and again, I find it rather difficult to take it really seriously. 3 years, 5 months ago
October 2021 Horrorfest
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1990's) list
Notes: Well, this movie was unfortunately Paul Verhoeven’s last success in the US and everything he made afterwards in American didn’t really work. And, of course, this feature also turned Sharon Stone into a major star but it’s such a pity that almost everything she did afterwards was eventually really underwhelming, ‘Casino’ being one of the very few exceptions. Coming back to our main feature, well, even though this movie has a rather solid reputation, to be honest, I always had some rather mixed feelings about the damned thing. Sure, I have to admit it, the first half was actually quite awesome. Indeed, it was basically some kind of really steamy Hitchockian thriller and it was quite spellbinding to watch. Indeed, the story was really entertaining and Micheal Douglas and Sharon Stone had some great chemistry together. Unfortunately, the second half didn’t work really well in my opinion. Indeed, as far as I was concerned, it was just a succession of non-sensical and more or less shocking scenes. 3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. In fact, I even saw it the movie theater when it was released. First of all, even though I have seen all the movies directed by Lars von Trier and even though I respect what he has done, I always had some mixed feelings about his work. Indeed, I always have a hard time to connect with his movies and this feature was a perfect example. Indeed, pretty much like with ‘Breaking the Waves’, the directing was really good, the acting was fine as well but everything was just relentlessly bleak and I’m not surprised that some people called it the most depressing movie ever made. I mean, I don’t mind if a movie is dark and incredibly sad but, with von Trier, it feels sometimes like a gimmick, pretty much like David Lynch with his mind-f*ck gimmick, and, as a result, after seeing this gimmick again and again, I find it rather difficult to take it really seriously. 3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1950's) list
Notes: Apparently, it is a very popular story and they have made already 4 different versions with the latest one coming out in 2018 directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Lady Gaga. In fact, this latest version actually turned out to be a big critical and commercial success. Anyway, we are only talking about the official versions but they are also so many movies following the same template such as the infamous 'Showgirls'. Anyway, back to the movie itself, I know it is a beloved classic and, indeed, it was quite entertaining but I honestly didn't care much about the whole thing. I don't know, like I said before, it is a very old basic story and maybe I have seen too many similar tales before. I have to admit it though, Judy Garland was pretty good but, in fact, I was more interested in James Mason who is such a fine actor and eventually, I would rather have had the movie focusing on him. Anyway, it is and remains a classic, a very well made musical with an ageless story.3 years, 5 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Well, this movie was unfortunately Paul Verhoeven’s last success in the US and everything he made afterwards in American didn’t really work. And, of course, this feature also turned Sharon Stone into a major star but it’s such a pity that almost everything she did afterwards was eventually really underwhelming, ‘Casino’ being one of the very few exceptions. Coming back to our main feature, well, even though this movie has a rather solid reputation, to be honest, I always had some rather mixed feelings about the damned thing. Sure, I have to admit it, the first half was actually quite awesome. Indeed, it was basically some kind of really steamy Hitchockian thriller and it was quite spellbinding to watch. Indeed, the story was really entertaining and Micheal Douglas and Sharon Stone had some great chemistry together. Unfortunately, the second half didn’t work really well in my opinion. Indeed, as far as I was concerned, it was just a succession of non-sensical and more or less shocking scenes. 3 years, 5 months ago