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johanlefourbe posted a review of Come and See (1985)
“Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, the damned thing definitely deserves its notorious reputation and it is indeed by far the bleakest WWII movie I have seen. Of course, Iâm well aware of the atrocities that happened back then in” read more
3 years, 6 months ago
3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1940's) list
Notes: First of all, when you watch this flick, you have to keep in mind that you are actually watching one of the first ancestors of our contemporary horror movies and it was pretty neat to see how much have changed in 70 years. Back then, there was basically no sex, no blood, in fact, to be honest, nothing much happened during the whole thing when you think about it. Pretty muck like today, they made this choice mostly because they basically had no money but it made the whole thing even more effective. There was indeed constantly this eerie atmosphere which was not really frightening but it still made me uneasy throughout the whole duration. To show the impact of this flick, you should know that the horror movie technique of slowly building tension to a jarring shock which turns out to be something completely harmless is actually called a âLewton busâ after a famous scene from this movie. How amazing is that? Anyway, even if it didnât grow old very well, it is still a decent watch though. 3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1940's) list
Notes: For many years, I kept coming across those two names, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and they were always referred as some of the best movie directors ever (Martin Scorsese, for example, is a huge fan) and, supposedly, the movies they made together represented the Golden Age of British cinema. After hearing all these, I started to watch all the movies they made together. This movie was the first one I saw and, so far, it is easily my favorite one. I mean, I'm not really into ballet but the movie was just gorgeous to see with some solid directing and it was also very interesting to see how a ballet in general works. The story was also rather fascinating and they seamlessly combined a realistic approach to ballet with some fantasy scenes (which reminded me of 'Black Swan'). Like I said before, I'm not really into ballet so I wasn't exactly blown away by the whole thing but it was still very enjoyable. 3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Relic
“I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was suggested by a fellow Listal member and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I always had a weak spot for minimalist features but, even though this one was not bad at all, I thought it ” read more
3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Best Directorial Debuts from 1921 until 2021 list
3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1950's) list
Notes: After watching the damned thing, the first thing I thought was how interesting it was that such a small and low key feature would actually win the Best picture Academy award. Indeed, do you think it would have a chance against our contemporary epics with a huge budget such as âGladiatorâ, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, âDance with the Wolvesâ, or âTitanicâ? Even if some smaller productions did win the big prize recently like âSpotlightâ, âBirdmanâ or â12 Years a Slaveâ, they were still much more ambitious than this movie. Eventually, the fact it was so small was definitely part of its charm and why it was fairly successful commercially and critically when it was released. For Ernest Borgnine, a character actor throughout all his lengthy career, it was definitely a all-time high and he even won the Academy award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance. Anyway, I thought it was charming movie with a a really solid Ernest Borgnine.3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1960's) list
Notes: Honestly, it has been a while since I have watched this flick and maybe I should re-watch it again at some point. Anyway, back in the 90âs, I was quite a fan of Ken Loachâs work so I was quite eager to check this movie, one of his very first. Indeed, it is usually considered a massive classic from the British cinema so I had some rather high expectations. Eventually, to be honest, even though I thought it was a decent watch, I canât say I was really blown away by the whole thing. I donât know, maybe I was just too young at the time to really appreciate it but I just couldnât see what was so amazing about the damned thing. I mean, the directing was solid, as usual with this director, and I always loved the way he mixes a really realistic barren social environment with a captivating dramatic story. Furthermore, the young actor playing the lead character was also quite amazing. And yet, this tale was slightly too generic and predictable to become really remarkable. Anyway, even if it didnât turn out to be one of my favorites movies, it was still pretty good.3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1970's) list
Notes: Since I have seen every single major movie directed by John Carpenter except this one, I just had to watch it really bad. Eventually, it took me a very long time to finally get my hands on it. Unfortunately, something quite dreadful happened though. Indeed, I finally managed to secure a 2nd hand DVD while vacationing in France but, when I was back home, I discovered that it was actually a French dubbed version with no original version with or without subtitles... It was definitely a major disappointment but I still didn't want to throw the damned thing away. Anyway, fortunately, the movie itself was pretty good. Basically, it is a B movie, an exploitation flick, and even though I'm not a huge fan of this genre, this was definitely one of the best that I have seen so far. Of course, the acting and the dialogues were not nothing amazing but it is really inherent to the genre, and since the whole thing was in French (shrug...), maybe it was just some poor dubbing. The plot was not bad, sometimes a little bit hard to follow, and apparently inspired by 'Rio Bravo', but pretty much like its illustrious predecessor, I failed to see what was so amazing about this story. Above all, I really enjoyed the amazing score by John Carpenter. Indeed, Carpenter is not only a very good director but also an impressive composer who produced some really memorable soundtracks. 3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1970's) list
Notes: Even though I was pretty sure I saw the damned thing when I was young, I think I actually never saw it at the time. I think it has to do with the fact that âMad Max 2â was called âThe Road Warriorâ, therefore ignoring the first installment so I probably thought the sequel was the first movie. Anyway, this movie is definitely a milestone and for many reasons. Indeed, not only was it the directing debut for George Miller, one of the most successful directors coming from Australia, but it was also of course Mel Gibsonâs debut as well. To be honest, in my opinion, the whole thing didnât grow old very well but, with such a small budget, they still managed to make something quite striking and pretty badass, thatâs for sure. Since then, it has become a cult classic and it definitely deserves its reputation. More than 35 years later, George Miller would finally come up with a new sequel and, even though the production was pretty chaotic and suffered many delays, it turned out to be a massive popular success. 3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2010's) list
Notes: Eventually, even though I had a good time, pretty much like with 'Inglourious Basterd', there were many things I enjoyed but also many things that just puzzled me and, at the end of the day, I can't say that it was really so amazing. The first half was really good though. Indeed, it was sharp, focused and really really fun with some great dialogues. Furthermore, there was a great cast and they delivered some strong performances. Many people actually criticized Tarantino for constantly using the word 'nigger' and being disrespectful about the sensitive subject of slavery but I thought he handled it actually really well, probably better than the Nazis in 'Inglourious Basterds'. Indeed, the living conditions of the slaves were displayed as really horrible and the slave owners were displayed as stupid morons looking also quite terrible as well. It was just a really f*cked up business and Tarantino didn't sugarcoat the whole thing, that's for sure. So, what went wrong? From the moment that DiCaprio showed up on the screen, the whole thing lost some momentum. Don't get me wrong, DiCaprio was terrific but from this point, you get some very long dialogues involving DiCaprio, Waltz, Foxx and even Samuel L. Jackson who also gave one of his best performances. The problem was that all those actors were just amazing and Django pretty much get upstaged, sitting quiet in a corner while the other actors were really stealing the show. I don't know, the whole thing with the slave deals was also seriously quite murky and, precisely like in 'Inglourious Basterds', after this long talk, the whole thing was concluded with a huge shoot-out.... How disappointing... But it didn't stop there, no, Django was sent away and came back again for yet another bloodbath! Why?!? What's the point of this second bloodbath?!? In my opinion, the main issue with this 2nd half is that you had 4 fascinating characters (Django, Dr Schultz, Calvin, Stephen) and you could have made one brilliant movie about each one of them but to put them all together in one single room was just too much to handle for this movie. Eventually, the only solution Tarantino found was to kill all of them, except obviously Django, but it was a rather weak way to solve this predicament. Still, like I said before, the whole thing was pretty good though and I had a good time watching this.3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe commented on a list
Listal's 100 Films To See Before You Die (2021) (100 movies items)"Yensid Naf's choice: 1. Vertigo (1958) 2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 3. Gone with the Wind (1939) 4. Network (1976) 5. Fight Club (1999) 6. The Incredibles (2004) 7. Princess Monono"
3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2010's) list
Notes: If you would ask around, many people would tell you that this was the best movie released in 2015. With this in mind, I had some high expectations but, to be honest, I had my doubts. Well, after I I watched the damned thing, I thought it was a fairly entertaining action flick but not much more than that, I'm afraid. I mean, basically, the whole thing was just a very long chase scene. Sure, it was well made and quite spectacular to behold but, seriously, the movie had nothing else to offer so I kind of missed what was so amazing about it. Concerning the casting, Tom Hardy was a good choice and he did a good job but, in my opinion, he was actually upstaged by Charlize Theron who was just really intense throughout the whole thing. I donât know, it was as if Max was more mellow than actually mad. But that's the problem with the whole chase thing, some would argue that it was just very cool to have some non-stop action scenes but some character development would have been more than welcome. Anyway, I think it is actually overrated but it is still a solid action flick.3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2020's) list
Notes: First of all, What a year for ChloĂŠ Zhao! She was supposed to release her first huge blockbuster with 'Eternals'. However, because of the Coronavirus pandemic, it was postponed until late 2021 but, in the meantime, she managed to make and release this much smaller indie feature which turned out to be one of the most talked about movies during the awards season. On top of that, I have always been fascinated by such alternative lifestyles so I definitely had some rather high expectations. Well, even though I thought it was indeed a beautiful movie with another pitch-perfect performance from Frances McDormand whoâs apparently challenging Meryl Streep for the title of best actress alive, to be honest, it didnât really blow me away though. Of course, you could argue that nothing much really happened through the whole thing but it didnât really bother me. It might have to do with the fact that, even though McDormand was brilliant through the whole thing, even though her character went through some life changing events, she didnât seem to really evolve after all. Eventually, the biggest issue was maybe the fact that every single person on the road was just so freaking nice. I mean, I have to admit that this lack of conflict was refreshing but, to be honest, it seems rather unlikely that none of them had a bad bone whatsoever. Eventually, even if it was unintentional, it did turn the whole thing into some kind of commercial for the nomadic lifestyle. Still, even though I wasnât completely sold, it was quite fascinating to see these people taking some distance from our rather decadent capitalistic way of life and seeming pretty happy in the process. 3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2020 list
Notes: First of all, What a year for ChloĂŠ Zhao! She was supposed to release her first huge blockbuster with 'Eternals'. However, because of the Coronavirus pandemic, it was postponed until late 2021 but, in the meantime, she managed to make and release this much smaller indie feature which turned out to be one of the most talked about movies during the awards season. On top of that, I have always been fascinated by such alternative lifestyles so I definitely had some rather high expectations. Well, even though I thought it was indeed a beautiful movie with another pitch-perfect performance from Frances McDormand whoâs apparently challenging Meryl Streep for the title of best actress alive, to be honest, it didnât really blow me away though. Of course, you could argue that nothing much really happened through the whole thing but it didnât really bother me. It might have to do with the fact that, even though McDormand was brilliant through the whole thing, even though her character went through some life changing events, she didnât seem to really evolve after all. Eventually, the biggest issue was maybe the fact that every single person on the road was just so freaking nice. I mean, I have to admit that this lack of conflict was refreshing but, to be honest, it seems rather unlikely that none of them had a bad bone whatsoever. Eventually, even if it was unintentional, it did turn the whole thing into some kind of commercial for the nomadic lifestyle. Still, even though I wasnât completely sold, it was quite fascinating to see these people taking some distance from our rather decadent capitalistic way of life and seeming pretty happy in the process. 3 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Nomadland
“Since this movie had been a massive critical success (among other things, it recently won the Academy Award for the Best Picture and also the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival), I was really eager to check it out. First of all, What a year for ChloĂŠ Zhao! She was supposed to release her first” read more
3 years, 6 months ago
