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johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: There are so many Hood movies, especially released back then in the 90's, and most of them are actually rather forgettable. However, there are a few exceptions and this movie is definitely one of them. Indeed, it turned out to be a great and heartbreaking movie and, in my opinion, it was even slightly better than 'Boyz n the hood' which is probably the most famous movie in this genre. I mean, both movies are really good and eventually 'Boyz n the hood' got a lot of attention whereas this movie went by pretty much unnoticed. I preferred this one because 'Boyz n the hood' ended up with a rather hopeful message while this movie was bleak and relentless from the beginning until the end and it made more sense to me. Indeed, for most of the people living in those ghettos, there is no happy ending at the end, just a lot of misery along the way. It is such a shame that the Hughes brothers, the guys who directed this movie, never managed to really break through afterwards. I mean, they still managed to direct a movie once in a while but none of them reached the level of their amazing debut.4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Little Women
“I wasnāt really dying to see another adaptation of this classic US novel but since it had been very well received, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I still donāt think it is such a great story (I might have to read the book at some point to really judge it though) but ” read more
4 years, 3 months ago
More Painful Than Childbirthjohanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (1990's) list
4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 2 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2010's) list
4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 8 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 6 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2010's) list
4 years, 3 months ago
Martial Arts around the Worldjohanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Toy Story (1995)
Notes: So, that's where it all started for Pixar. Of course, Pixar was working on CGI animation for more than a decade already but it was their first full length feature and the first time they reached such a broad audience. At the time, there was a pretty good buzz about this flick, I was even lucky to see it in the movie theater when it was first released but nobody expected that it would become such a phenomenon, creating a whole new trend of animated features in the process. Indeed, it was obviously a huge success and, eventually, it became a major milestone in motion picture history. Suddenly, hand-drawn animation which was mercilessly ruled by Disney was dropped and everyone, virtually every single studio, started to make CGI animated features with some various amount of success. Coming back to our game changer, like I said before, I had the pleasure to see it in the theater when it was released and it was quite mind-blowing. Back in those days, it was something completely new and even though it does look a little bit old today, it was really impressive when it was released. Above all, their masterstroke was to not only blow us away technically but also to provide an entertaining, touching and rather deep story with some great characters which would be an enduring trademark in Pixar's work.
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Notes: For so many years, Pixar managed to keep an impressive trackrecord of releasing back-to-back some highly critically and commercially succesfull features, something really unique in Hollywood. Of course, it had to stop at some point and nowadays, most of their recent movies have been quite enjoyable but everybody seems to agree that those guys have somewhat lost their magic touch a little bit. The main issue is that they keep on bringing some rather underwhelming sequels instead of releasing some new material. The interesting thing is that this first sequel was actually quite amazing and many would argue that it is even better than its predecessor. I remember it very well, just like the first installment, I saw it in the movie theater when it was released and I was again really impressed. Indeed, this time, we were all used to this new CGI animation and even though the whole thing looked great, their masterstroke was above all another really entertaining tale about these toys. Not only it was completely entertaining but it was also quite deep which made so many Pixar pictures like this one an instant Classic.
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Notes: To be honest, I did like Toy Story 3, I really did, but I also really failed to see what was so great about it. Indeed, after its release, it was hailed as a real masterpiece but, personally, I don't think it was as good as many other Pixar features such as the first 2 Toy Story, Wall-E, UP or even Ratatouille. The point is that as usual the animation was great, especially if you compare it to the very first 'Toy Story' and they developed some interesting ideas about what will happen with them when their owner grow old. Still, I didn't care much about the whole escaping thing. I mean, it was entertaining enough but nothing amazing, especially compared to the previous installments. Furthermore, they felt compelled to add even more characters and, as a result, a whole bunch of them, like Jessie for example, had barely anything to do. Still, it remains really enjoyable and I have to admit that the ending was just great. It seems they can do no wrong, even a sequel, at least, that's what I thought when this movie was released. To conclude, even though I think it is actually overrated, it still is a gorgeous and entertaining animated feature.
Toy Story 4 (2019)
Notes: When I heard that they were coming up with a new sequel, I canāt say I was really excited but since it had been well received (it even won the Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature Film) and since I have always been a fan of Pixar, I still had to watch it at some point which I did but, for the time, not in the movie theater, but with Disney+. Anyway, to be honest, it gave me pretty much the same feeling I had while watching āToy Story 3ā. Indeed, the animation was once again quite amazing but I wouldnāt expect less from Pixar and it was definitely an entertaining new tale. However, pretty much like its predecessor, it still felt like a rather useless sequel which didnāt add much to the flawless 1st two instalments. First of all, the story was hardly original. Indeed, once again, some toy got lost and, once again, Woody had to face some identity crisis which was pretty much what happened during every single āToy Storyā movie. Furthermore, one of the main themes in the whole franchise was that the main purpose for any toy was to make a child completely happy but, in my opinion, this idea was pretty much contradicted in this new sequel. Anyway, it was still a decent effort from Pixar though.4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 4 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2010's) list
4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 4 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1930's) list
Notes: Jean Vigo is one of these mythic movie directors who managed to deliver only one masterpiece (āLāAtalanteā) before dying very young. Vigo did also manage to direct a few shorts and this one is probably the most famous one. Well, to beginning with, I just loved this title. I mean, even though this movie was made 60 years before I myself went to junior high-school in France, I completely could identify myself with these kids who felt completely misunderstood by the school and by the establishment in general. In their case, it was actually much worse though since, at least, I didnāt have to sleep there. This movie also displayed the unrest and melancholy that you can experience at this age, when you start to realize that your games are becoming childish and that you discover that the grown-ups around you are not so great after all. So, the approach was definitely quite realistic and Iām pretty sure that this movie must have been a major inspiration for FranƧois Truffaut when he made āLes quatre cents coupsā 25 years later. However, in spite of Vigoās realistic approach, there was also a few seriously surrealist moments, the kind of wild combination you would see only back then when they were still experimenting on how to make a movie and these few surrealist bits made the whole thing even more unique and even quite poetic.4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Jean Vigo is one of these mythic movie directors who managed to deliver only one masterpiece (āLāAtalanteā) before dying very young. Vigo did also manage to direct a few shorts and this one is probably the most famous one. Well, to beginning with, I just loved this title. I mean, even though this movie was made 60 years before I myself went to junior high-school in France, I completely could identify myself with these kids who felt completely misunderstood by the school and by the establishment in general. In their case, it was actually much worse though since, at least, I didnāt have to sleep there. This movie also displayed the unrest and melancholy that you can experience at this age, when you start to realize that your games are becoming childish and that you discover that the grown-ups around you are not so great after all. So, the approach was definitely quite realistic and Iām pretty sure that this movie must have been a major inspiration for FranƧois Truffaut when he made āLes quatre cents coupsā 25 years later. However, in spite of Vigoās realistic approach, there was also a few seriously surrealist moments, the kind of wild combination you would see only back then when they were still experimenting on how to make a movie and these few surrealist bits made the whole thing even more unique and even quite poetic.4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Zero for Conduct (1933)
“Since I kept some really interesting things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, Jean Vigo is one of these mythic movie directors who managed to deliver only one masterpiece (āLāatalanteā) before dying very young. Vigo did also manage to direct a few shorts and t” read more
4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2000's) list
Notes: Since this movie won the prestigious Golden Palm at Cannes film festival, I was really eager to check it out. As expected, it was really a depressing movie and Iām not sure if I will re-watch it any time soon but, to be honest, I don't really mind. Obviously, if you're looking for a feel-good entertaining movie, you should look somewhere else though. Indeed, there is no doubt that that this story was quite heartbreaking. Of course, it was a drama but, as a matter of fact, I thought it actually felt almost like a thriller sometimes as I was really wondering most of the time what was going to happen next. The directing was not flashy at all, it was in fact very sober but it was probably the best way to handle this subject. After this movie, Cristian Mungiu went to direct some other movies which were also very well received but I havenāt seen them to be honest and, at the time, there was some claim about a New Romanian Cinema but, to be honest, we donāt hear much from this anymore.4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to The evolution of... list
4 years, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to The evolution of... (R) list
4 years, 3 months ago