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The evolution of — Matthew Macfadyen (40 movies items)4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1980's) list
Notes: It has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Honestly, I always found it rather difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, back in those days, the best movie released at that time was obviously ‘Raging Bull’ so the fact that this movie eventually won the Best Picture Academy Award was always quite controversial. And, yet, I still think it is actually a really good drama though. Indeed, for various reasons, I always thought that psychology is a rather fascinating subject but not only you don’t get many movies dealing with this topic but most of them give a rather unrealistic and colorful image of such patients (see for example ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’ or ‘Girl, Interrupted’). Well, this movie gave one of the most convincing and compelling depictions of depression that I have ever seen. Indeed, the directing was solid without being too flashy and there was a really good cast. At the time, it launched the career of Timothy Hutton who became one of the youngest winners of an Academy Award ever but this guy never really fulfilled those great expectations. 4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Even though it is a rather tricky movie and even though I took me a while to get into the damned thing, I was eventually really impressed. First of all, even though I did laugh a few times, it was definitely not a comedy but it was neither really a drama. Eventually, it was something really different and quite spellbinding to behold. One thing I was wondering was when did Winfried Conradi started to show this erratic behaviour. Was he always like this or is it something that came later on in his life? Indeed, it was something that was never addressed by this family which might give the feeling that he did this for quite a while but, on the other hand, their bewilderment was an indication they really didn’t know what the hell was going on. Anyway, another thing I loved about this movie is that it didn’t provide some supposedly profound life lessons which was just so refreshing. Indeed, even if Winfried was obviously trying to get closer to his daughter, his method was actually rather toxic and you might wonder if what he did actually change anything after all. And, yet, I was still admiring this man who was at least trying to do something, even if it was something seriously weird. I have to admit that I also liked how they displayed that someone making a lot of money with a supposedly high-social status might still have a rather lame job after all. Eventually, Winfried probably did his best to raise his daughter, he managed to give her a high education resulting in a successful career and, yet, they have become seriously estranged in this process and it was so recognizable and rather heartbreaking. 4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1970's) list
Notes: Many consider the 70's as the best decade in the movies, especially when you are dealing with American cinema. I mean, nowadays, the big movies are somewhat entertaining but also very often kind of stupid ('Transformers', 'Pirates of the Carribean', 'Marvel',...). Back in the 70's, it was definitely a different kind of ball game though. Back then, they really took the viewers seriously and provided some reallt challenging work. This movie is a perfect example. I mean, first of all, it is a great story and you would need a very bad director to mess it up. Still, we should give Alan J. Pakula some credit to make the plot realistic but also spellbinding to watch. Coming back to what I said before, if they would make this movie nowadays, there would be some chases, some shootings and, of course, one of those dreadfull twists at the end. Not here though. Here, you really get to understand that the most part of the job was staying behind your desk, arguing with some other people on the phone, and writing a bit, meeting someone with some intel, writing some more, etc. There is no guns, no explosions, but some 3 dimensional human beings facing a terrible truth and trying to deal with it. Of course, Roberd Redford and Dustin Hoffman were back then on top of their game and gave some terrific performances showing that acting is not about your ego but about disappearing behind a character. 4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: It has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Honestly, I always found it rather difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, back in those days, the best movie released at that time was obviously ‘Raging Bull’ so the fact that this movie eventually won the Best Picture Academy Award was always quite controversial. And, yet, I still think it is actually a really good drama though. Indeed, for various reasons, I always thought that psychology is a rather fascinating subject but not only you don’t get many movies dealing with this topic but most of them give a rather unrealistic and colorful image of such patients (see for example ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’ or ‘Girl, Interrupted’). Well, this movie gave one of the most convincing and compelling depictions of depression that I have ever seen. Indeed, the directing was solid without being too flashy and there was a really good cast. At the time, it launched the career of Timothy Hutton who became one of the youngest winners of an Academy Award ever but this guy never really fulfilled those great expectations. 4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of A Question of Silence
“Since this movie is basically a Dutch classic (it is even included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list), I was really eager to check it out. Well, even though it is a visually rather ugly movie, the material turned out to be however really unique and quite fascinating to behold” read more
4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Many consider the 70's as the best decade in the movies, especially when you are dealing with American cinema. I mean, nowadays, the big movies are somewhat entertaining but also very often kind of stupid ('Transformers', 'Pirates of the Carribean', 'Marvel',...). Back in the 70's, it was definitely a different kind of ball game though. Back then, they really took the viewers seriously and provided some reallt challenging work. This movie is a perfect example. I mean, first of all, it is a great story and you would need a very bad director to mess it up. Still, we should give Alan J. Pakula some credit to make the plot realistic but also spellbinding to watch. Coming back to what I said before, if they would make this movie nowadays, there would be some chases, some shootings and, of course, one of those dreadfull twists at the end. Not here though. Here, you really get to understand that the most part of the job was staying behind your desk, arguing with some other people on the phone, and writing a bit, meeting someone with some intel, writing some more, etc. There is no guns, no explosions, but some 3 dimensional human beings facing a terrible truth and trying to deal with it. Of course, Roberd Redford and Dustin Hoffman were back then on top of their game and gave some terrific performances showing that acting is not about your ego but about disappearing behind a character. 4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2010's) list
Notes: Even though this movie was maybe not completely flawless, it wasn't far from it and I can't remember the last time I saw a movie combining so perfectly drama and comedy. Seriously, this movie was so funny, it was very often much more hilarious than most of your average comedy. And yet, it was dealing with a really tragic story but, somehow, this mix worked miraculously well. I think that, even though the acting was quite impressive, I enjoyed most of all the writing. Indeed, the two main characters (an uncle and his nephew) were just so fascinating, with so many layers, and their dialogues were just pure gold. The ending was also very effective without forcing these characters into a more traditional happy-ending. More than 15 years ago, I was lucky enough to see 'You Can Count on Me' when it was released, it was just great to see Kenneth Lonergan making such an impressive come-back and the guy displayed once again that he has a gift to show the complex relationships within a family. 4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: Even though this movie was maybe not completely flawless, it wasn't far from it and I can't remember the last time I saw a movie combining so perfectly drama and comedy. Seriously, this movie was so funny, it was very often much more hilarious than most of your average comedy. And yet, it was dealing with a really tragic story but, somehow, this mix worked miraculously well. I think that, even though the acting was quite impressive, I enjoyed most of all the writing. Indeed, the two main characters (an uncle and his nephew) were just so fascinating, with so many layers, and their dialogues were just pure gold. The ending was also very effective without forcing these characters into a more traditional happy-ending. More than 15 years ago, I was lucky enough to see 'You Can Count on Me' when it was released, it was just great to see Kenneth Lonergan making such an impressive come-back and the guy displayed once again that he has a gift to show the complex relationships within a family. 4 years, 6 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Hillbilly Elegy
“Even though this movie was really poorly received, since it was directed by Ron Howard and since it was available on Netflix, I was still eager to check it out. Well, maybe because I had some rather low expectations but, to be honest, I didn’t think it was so bad at after all. At least, the materi” read more
4 years, 6 months ago
