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johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 worst movies 2015 list
Notes: To be honest, it is rather difficult to judge this movie. I mean, sure, it was pretty much a disaster but, in fact, it wasn’t even supposed to be released. Indeed, the production on this movie was a huge mess and they had to stop shooting several times because of some financial problems. At some point, David O. Russell completely walked away and since then has completely disavowed the damned thing. And, yet, after so many years in production hell, against all expectations, the producers still managed to release the damned thing but the end-result was certainly rather bewildering. Basically, it was some kind of mix of a political satire with a romantic comedy but this mix never worked. It’s not that the jokes were not really funny, it was above all the fact that they were, well, pretty weird and not in a positive way. Concerning David O. Russell, well, he was quite struggling at the time but he did manage to finally make his come-back in 2010 with ’The Fighter’.4 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1950's) list
Notes: Honestly, I'm not really familiar with Billy Wilder's work but I have fortunately managed to watch a few of his movies lately and this movie was easily of one of his best. The first striking thing about this movie is its introduction when the voice-over tell you that they had never made a flick about a POW camp before. I don't know if it was indeed true but, personally, it was indeed the oldest I have seen so far (for example, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' came soon after in 1957 and 'The Great Escape' in 1967). What I enjoyed the most was that the main character played by William Holden was not some hot-headed macho hero like Steve McQueen in 'The Great Escape'. No, he was a smart but really selfish con-artist looking only for his own interests and there was not a single moment when he suddenly had a change of conscience and became heroic, even at the end, he seemed mostly concerned about saving his ass. The other characters were not too bad but a little too stereotypical in my opinion and I was a little bothered that too many German characters spoke English fluently but it was something inherent in Hollywood back then and it still is nowaydays. Still, I liked the solid directing by Wilder, the tone and this main character so I really enjoyed this flick which has inspired all the similar movies that came afterwards about the same subject.4 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Honestly, I'm not really familiar with Billy Wilder's work but I have fortunately managed to watch a few of his movies lately and this movie was easily of one of his best. The first striking thing about this movie is its introduction when the voice-over tell you that they had never made a flick about a POW camp before. I don't know if it was indeed true but, personally, it was indeed the oldest I have seen so far (for example, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' came soon after in 1957 and 'The Great Escape' in 1967). What I enjoyed the most was that the main character played by William Holden was not some hot-headed macho hero like Steve McQueen in 'The Great Escape'. No, he was a smart but really selfish con-artist looking only for his own interests and there was not a single moment when he suddenly had a change of conscience and became heroic, even at the end, he seemed mostly concerned about saving his ass. The other characters were not too bad but a little too stereotypical in my opinion and I was a little bothered that too many German characters spoke English fluently but it was something inherent in Hollywood back then and it still is nowaydays. Still, I liked the solid directing by Wilder, the tone and this main character so I really enjoyed this flick which has inspired all the similar movies that came afterwards about the same subject.4 years ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Imagine Me & You
“For some reason, I honestly don’t really remember why, it was a movie I wanted to watch for quite some time. Well, it turned out to be a charming little romantic comedy, no more but no less than that either. To be honest, you might wonder how and why a US actress like Piper Perabo did end up in ” read more
4 years ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2000's) list
Notes: Back then, when it came out, it was a huge success which was quite surprising so right away I was rather curious to check it out. Eventually, I didn't expect it to be so funny and actually so good... In my opinion, it is easily one of the best comedies from the last 20 years. The best thing about this flick was that Sacha Baron Cohen managed to create a character who is obviously rather stupid and despicable but, in a weird way, after a while you can't help feeling sympathy for him... And quite often, that's the other great asset in this movie, the 'real' people around Borat were even funnier and more despicable than Borat himself. Many people think it is a comedy based on a stupid character with some stupid jokes but I think they are wrong, I think it is actually some very smart humor. Like the Tramp who wasn't really bright created by Charlie Chaplin, Sacha Baron Cohen has created quite something here. Of course, instead of poetry, you have vulgarity but, in both cases, you are dealing with simple minded character but it is still some smart comedy, at least, that's what I think. 4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1970's) list
Notes: More than 30 after releasing this movie, Ridley Scott came back to this franchise but, even though 'Prometheus' did seem to be at first really promising, it turned out to be rather disappointing after all. In the mean time, I thought I might as well re-watch this first installment which has always been a massive science-fiction classic. To be honest, I have to admit that I always preffered 'Blade Runner' which is more challenging and interesting in my opinion but this movie is still really awesome. I mean, there are so many iconic landmarks here : Ripley, the Alien, the chest-bursting scene, Ash,... Visually, it was really impressive and Ridley Scott managed to create a really oppressive mood which has been copied so many times afterwards. Obviously, back in those days, they didn't have any CGI at their disposal so it was pretty obvious that the alien was mostly a guy wearing a suit and some people might argue that it didn't look really convincing. On the other hand, as a result they used pretty much the same method used in 'Jaws' which was to show the monster as less as possible and, just like in 'Jaws', it made the whole thing even more tensed and spellbinding to behold. Eventually, even though it is more than 40 years old, the whole thing still looks terrific and it remains one of the best science-fiction movies out there.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1980's) list
Notes: To be honest, I always had some rather mixed feelings about this one. First of all, I have to make myself clear : it is a really good movie but I don't think it is flawless though. Obviously, as usual with Stanley Kubrick, the directing was absolutely amazing and the acting was really strong as well. However, the combining of the 2 parts (the training and the actual war) just didn't really work for me. I mean, the first part was really great, on the same level of some of the best work provided by this great master but the second part was decent but honestly rather underwhelming, especially after the emotional roller-coaster provided by the boot camp. Basically, it is a random succession of war scenes with no real plot (there are even two scenes involving Vietnamese prostitutes) but, in just an hour, you don’t really get the time to get involved in the conflict and, compared to ‘Platoon’ which spends its whole running time in Vietnam, this part was never really spellbinding in my opinion. Anyway, it is still a classic though.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: More than 30 after releasing this movie, Ridley Scott came back to this franchise but, even though 'Prometheus' did seem to be at first really promising, it turned out to be rather disappointing after all. In the mean time, I thought I might as well re-watch this first installment which has always been a massive science-fiction classic. To be honest, I have to admit that I always preffered 'Blade Runner' which is more challenging and interesting in my opinion but this movie is still really awesome. I mean, there are so many iconic landmarks here : Ripley, the Alien, the chest-bursting scene, Ash,... Visually, it was really impressive and Ridley Scott managed to create a really oppressive mood which has been copied so many times afterwards. Obviously, back in those days, they didn't have any CGI at their disposal so it was pretty obvious that the alien was mostly a guy wearing a suit and some people might argue that it didn't look really convincing. On the other hand, as a result they used pretty much the same method used in 'Jaws' which was to show the monster as less as possible and, just like in 'Jaws', it made the whole thing even more tensed and spellbinding to behold. Eventually, even though it is more than 40 years old, the whole thing still looks terrific and it remains one of the best science-fiction movies out there.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of If Beale Street Could Talk
“Since I really loved ‘Moonlight’, I was really eager to watch Barry Jenkins’s directing follow-up, especially since it also had received some stellar reviews. Well, maybe my expectations were too high but, even though I really did appreciate the whole thing, to be honest, I never really impres” read more
4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, I always had some rather mixed feelings about this one. First of all, I have to make myself clear : it is a really good movie but I don't think it is flawless though. Obviously, as usual with Stanley Kubrick, the directing was absolutely amazing and the acting was really strong as well. However, the combining of the 2 parts (the training and the actual war) just didn't really work for me. I mean, the first part was really great, on the same level of some of the best work provided by this great master but the second part was decent but honestly rather underwhelming, especially after the emotional roller-coaster provided by the boot camp. Basically, it is a random succession of war scenes with no real plot (there are even two scenes involving Vietnamese prostitutes) but, in just an hour, you don’t really get the time to get involved in the conflict and, compared to ‘Platoon’ which spends its whole running time in Vietnam, this part was never really spellbinding in my opinion. Anyway, it is still a classic though.4 years, 1 month ago
