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johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1970'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. Well, after all these years, I actually have some mixed feelings about the damned thing. I mean, on one hand, it was and has always been a massive critical success and it is considered as one of the best movies ever made. On the other hand, the more I think about it, the more I believe that this movie gave a rather romantic view of the life in a psychiatric hospital. Indeed, many years after watching this movie, I had some first-hand experience, professionally and personally, with this environement and it really changed my thoughts about this movie. Indeed, even if a psychiatric hospital might not be a great place, especially back in those days, in fact, many patients would need something else than a wacky convict to experience any kind of mental relief. Anyway, even if I’m not completely convinced anymore by the damned thing, it is still a strong drama with a really solid performance by Jack Nicholson. 4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Richard Jewell
“To be honest, I kinda of lost faith in Clint Eastwood a couple of years ago, however, since this movie had been rather well received, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, once again, Eastwood chose to tell the true story of an American hero and, while the end-result was at least miles bette” read more
4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1970's) list
Notes: I'm a huge fan of animated features but it is sometimes rather frustrating that most of those features lack any sort of ambition and we usually end up with some children orientated flicks. Disney is the biggest culprit here. I mean, on the technical side, they have perfected their style and, after 60 years, the result is quite mind-blowing. Unfortunately, their stories are very often really tedious to watch with the usual talking animals. However, there are some brilliant minds in the animation world who did manage to break the old mold and this flick is a perfect example. Indeed, it is a really amazing Science-Fiction feature creating a fascinating but also at times quite distressing world. First of all, I really loved the animation. It had a very distinctive peculiar style but I thought it was quite beautiful. Furthermore, the combination with the mesmerizing music was just amazing, especially during the first minutes. The only low point would be the lack of plot or narrative structure. Indeed, there was not really a story and you jump instead randomly from one event to another without much continuity. It was also rather disappointing that they decided to spend more time with the humans than with the Draags which were much more interesting in my opinion. However, even if it isn't flawless, it is still one of the most original animated features ever made.4 years, 1 month 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. Well, after all these years, I actually have some mixed feelings about the damned thing. I mean, on one hand, it was and has always been a massive critical success and it is considered as one of the best movies ever made. On the other hand, the more I think about it, the more I believe that this movie gave a rather romantic view of the life in a psychiatric hospital. Indeed, many years after watching this movie, I had some first-hand experience, professionally and personally, with this environement and it really changed my thoughts about this movie. Indeed, even if a psychiatric hospital might not be a great place, especially back in those days, in fact, many patients would need something else than a wacky convict to experience any kind of mental relief. Anyway, even if I’m not completely convinced anymore by the damned thing, it is still a strong drama with a really solid performance by Jack Nicholson. 4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: I'm a huge fan of animated features but it is sometimes rather frustrating that most of those features lack any sort of ambition and we usually end up with some children orientated flicks. Disney is the biggest culprit here. I mean, on the technical side, they have perfected their style and, after 60 years, the result is quite mind-blowing. Unfortunately, their stories are very often really tedious to watch with the usual talking animals. However, there are some brilliant minds in the animation world who did manage to break the old mold and this flick is a perfect example. Indeed, it is a really amazing Science-Fiction feature creating a fascinating but also at times quite distressing world. First of all, I really loved the animation. It had a very distinctive peculiar style but I thought it was quite beautiful. Furthermore, the combination with the mesmerizing music was just amazing, especially during the first minutes. The only low point would be the lack of plot or narrative structure. Indeed, there was not really a story and you jump instead randomly from one event to another without much continuity. It was also rather disappointing that they decided to spend more time with the humans than with the Draags which were much more interesting in my opinion. However, even if it isn't flawless, it is still one of the most original animated features ever made.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2000's) list
Notes: After such movies like 'Twilight', 'Underworld', 'Blade', '30 days of night' or 'Daybreakers', we finally got, out of nowhere, an original and striking vampire movie. I know, Sweden is not exactly 'nowhere' but I thought it was rather unexpected. Anyway, this movie was definitely one of a kind and I'm not sure you could describe it as an 'horror' movie since it really pushed the boundaries of this genre. Indeed, they seamlessly mixed the vampire loneliness with some teenage anxiety and the end result was quite impressive. Another thing I enjoyed was that, not like in 'Twilight' for example, they didn't add some mindless and boring action scenes. There was still some blood sucking but most of it was off screen but it was obviously not the point here. I guess the damned thing would still be an acquired taste since it was rather slow and there was no action scenes but it didn't bother me at all. However, I must say that a few details didn't really work for me, like for example, who was this old guy hanging out with her? And the (happy) ending was far from convincing, in my opinion, but these were some minor flaws.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: I’m pretty sure I saw this flick when I was a kid but it was definitely a very long time ago and I had forgotten most of it. What a grand Science-Fiction tale! Indeed, I thought it was much better than I remembered. First of all, I really enjoyed how they took their time at the beginning for the viewers and the characters to get acquainted with this strange world. Eventually, after waiting for 30 minutes, you finally see those apes and it was basically a huge slap in my face. In my memories, I thought they looked really cheesy but I was wrong, they looked just awesome. The way they managed to allow the simian characters to have some specific facial characteristics and being able to show their emotions was just mind-blowing. Especially considering that the make-up is now already 45 years old! Furthermore, when the apes show up, it was like a nightmare (‘Where did I land?!? Is it real?’). They further developped some very interesting ideas about the future, science-fiction in general, parallel realities and many other things. The only major flaw in my opinion was how clueless Taylor actually was. I mean, how many clues did he actually need ? I mean, the vegetation, the horses, the language, the alphabet and many other things in this planet were exactly the same as on Earth but, still, he didn’t get it. Anyway, with the ending, it then completely made sense. And what an ending! Definitely one of the famous ever put on the silver screen and it was indeed downright awesome and shattering.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Sorry We Missed You
“Since I have always been interested in Ken Loach’s work and since I really loved ‘I, Daniel Blake’, his previous movie, I was quite eager to check this follow-up. Well, it turned out to be another really strong directing effort from the British master. Of course, you could argue that Loach has” read more
4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1980's) list
Notes: Nowadays, Brian de Palma is pretty much forgotten but back in the 70's and the 80's, he was a major movie director. Anyway, I always had a weak spot for this director and, in my opinion, this movie is easily one of his best. Apparently, Quentin Tarantino even said that this film is his favorite Brian De Palma movie and Tarantino cast John Travolta in ‘Pulp Fiction’ because he liked his performance in this movie so much. Basically, it is a typical de Palma thriller, the style where he had the best results and it was obviously also an homage to 'Blowup', the great flick directed by Antonioni. However, even though the plot follows the same structure, the directing style was quite different. As a result, I thought that the mood was just great and the story was quite spellbinding. Back in those days, Travolta, before disappearing into oblivion in a few years later, delivered here a solid performance. Of course, since you are dealing with an American thriller, at the end, you had some rather preposterous twist(s) and action scenes but, for once, it didn’t bother me much.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: After such movies like 'Twilight', 'Underworld', 'Blade', '30 days of night' or 'Daybreakers', we finally got, out of nowhere, an original and striking vampire movie. I know, Sweden is not exactly 'nowhere' but I thought it was rather unexpected. Anyway, this movie was definitely one of a kind and I'm not sure you could describe it as an 'horror' movie since it really pushed the boundaries of this genre. Indeed, they seamlessly mixed the vampire loneliness with some teenage anxiety and the end result was quite impressive. Another thing I enjoyed was that, not like in 'Twilight' for example, they didn't add some mindless and boring action scenes. There was still some blood sucking but most of it was off screen but it was obviously not the point here. I guess the damned thing would still be an acquired taste since it was rather slow and there was no action scenes but it didn't bother me at all. However, I must say that a few details didn't really work for me, like for example, who was this old guy hanging out with her? And the (happy) ending was far from convincing, in my opinion, but these were some minor flaws.4 years, 1 month ago
Childhood Memories
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of various directors' s work list
4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1920's) list
Notes: Even though I'm a huge fan of Charlie Chaplin, I must confess, I have always been kind of oblivious about Buster Keaton. Indeed, so far I only saw 'The General' which didn't really blow me away. Anyway, this was my second movie starring Keaton and I really enjoyed it though. Basically, the plot was some kind of typical 'Romeo and Juliet' tale and it was a good excuse to get some funny jokes and spectacular stunts. And that's also probably the reason I still prefer Chaplin to Keaton. Indeed, even though Chaplin's work was also constantly hilarious, there was also this amazing poetic tone and/or some really deep thoughtfulness and I kind of missed that in Keaton's movies. I mean, it was a really funny flick and I was laughing my ass off more than once and some of the physical stunts were just amazing and became deservedly quite legendary but I think that it was basically the whole point of this production, to make us laugh and surprise the audience but it stopped there and it didn't go the extra mile like the movies of Chaplin. Still, I definitely have to watch more movies from this guy.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Nowadays, Brian de Palma is pretty much forgotten but back in the 70's and the 80's, he was a major movie director. Anyway, I always had a weak spot for this director and, in my opinion, this movie is easily one of his best. Apparently, Quentin Tarantino even said that this film is his favorite Brian De Palma movie and Tarantino cast John Travolta in ‘Pulp Fiction’ because he liked his performance in this movie so much. Basically, it is a typical de Palma thriller, the style where he had the best results and it was obviously also an homage to 'Blowup', the great flick directed by Antonioni. However, even though the plot follows the same structure, the directing style was quite different. As a result, I thought that the mood was just great and the story was quite spellbinding. Back in those days, Travolta, before disappearing into oblivion in a few years later, delivered here a solid performance. Of course, since you are dealing with an American thriller, at the end, you had some rather preposterous twist(s) and action scenes but, for once, it didn’t bother me much.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1950's) list
Notes: Eventually, I have to admit that I really had a good time with this movie and I thought it was quite entertaining. Indeed, Gene Kelly is definitely an amazing dancer (I always thought he was much more interesting than Fred Astaire) and there were indeed some impressive dancing numbers, probably the best I have ever seen in fact. Back then, there was a big controversy because ‘An American in Paris’ managed to sweep the Oscars while 'Singin in the rain' was snobbed when it was in fact considered a much superior movie by many. In fact, later on, I did watch 'Singin in the rain' and, in my opinion, I thought that the dancing scenes were actually much more impressive in this movie. Unfortunately, I really had a hard time to care for the story which was rather weak but I guess it is rather inherent to the genre. Anyway, even though I wasn’t completely blown away by the whole thing, it is still a classic and it is definitely worth a look.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Eventually, I have to admit that I really had a good time with this movie and I thought it was quite entertaining. Indeed, Gene Kelly is definitely an amazing dancer (I always thought he was much more interesting than Fred Astaire) and there were indeed some impressive dancing numbers, probably the best I have ever seen in fact. Back then, there was a big controversy because ‘An American in Paris’ managed to sweep the Oscars while 'Singin in the rain' was snobbed when it was in fact considered a much superior movie by many. In fact, later on, I did watch 'Singin in the rain' and, in my opinion, I thought that the dancing scenes were actually much more impressive in this movie. Unfortunately, I really had a hard time to care for the story which was rather weak but I guess it is rather inherent to the genre. Anyway, even though I wasn’t completely blown away by the whole thing, it is still a classic and it is definitely worth a look.4 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The House with a Clock in Its Walls
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Eli Roth and since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though the idea of having Eli Roth directing a family feature was intriguing, to be honest, I was surprised by ho” read more
4 years, 1 month ago