johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, before watching this movie, I didn't even know 'The Band' but I did know Martin Scorsese and it was a good enough reason for me to check this flick. For years, I had heard that it was the best concert movie ever made and after watching it, I must say indeed that he does deserve its reputation. Indeed, back then, music was really about actually playing some music with some real instruments. Nowadays, most of the work is actually done by some producers in the control room and you can never be sure that what you hear is the real thing or someting coming out from some computer. The other thing that impressed me was that even though those guys were separating, you could feel that they still enjoyed playing together. It was just so refreshing compared to other bands which kept playing for decades together for no good reasons or other bands where everybody got to each other's throats in some ugly split. Furthermore, the list of guests (Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood,...) was just really impressive as well and the whole thing was just downright impressive on a music level.
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2010's) list
Notes: I have been faithfully following Ken Loach for more than 20 years and, to be honest, I has been a while that the guy delivered something so impressive. Indeed, Loach managed to deliver one of his best movies which was rather unexpected as many including myself thought that his best movies were already behind him. Anyway, once again, he gave us another socially relevant and really powerful tale and, in this case, it was even more heartbreaking as it all felt terribly familiar. Indeed, my wife has been terribly ill for already 8 years and, even though we live in the Netherlands and not in the UK, she had to face the same fight with the bureaucracy to have her invalid status acknowledged and approved. Like Daniel Blake, she had a similar interview with a so-called 'insurance specialist' who asked her if she could raise her arms and other ridiculous things like that and, just like Daniel Blake, their conclusion was that she was fit to work when at least 5 specialist doctors testified that she was in no condition to work. This battle lasted at least 4 years and what's so outrageous is that such organisations should be meant to help people but, in fact, there are in place to make sure the government's budget doesn't get red. As a result, you have some seriously sick people who spend hours, days, months dealing with this matter which eventually turns into a huge battle when they should be in fact focusing on their recovery. Well, in this movie, Ken Loach completely captured this social nightmare, the realism was just uncanny and it is not hard to believe that some women would choose to get into prostitution as ruthless gangsters and pimps might seem to be eventually more helpful than the so-called social welfare system.
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Slaughterhouse Rulez
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but there was a nice cast involved and the title was pretty badass so I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I wasn’t really impressed by the end-result. Indeed, there were a couple of interesting ideas and a few nice jokes” read more
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: I have been faithfully following Ken Loach for more than 20 years and, to be honest, I has been a while that the guy delivered something so impressive. Indeed, Loach managed to deliver one of his best movies which was rather unexpected as many including myself thought that his best movies were already behind him. Anyway, once again, he gave us another socially relevant and really powerful tale and, in this case, it was even more heartbreaking as it all felt terribly familiar. Indeed, my wife has been terribly ill for already 8 years and, even though we live in the Netherlands and not in the UK, she had to face the same fight with the bureaucracy to have her invalid status acknowledged and approved. Like Daniel Blake, she had a similar interview with a so-called 'insurance specialist' who asked her if she could raise her arms and other ridiculous things like that and, just like Daniel Blake, their conclusion was that she was fit to work when at least 5 specialist doctors testified that she was in no condition to work. This battle lasted at least 4 years and what's so outrageous is that such organisations should be meant to help people but, in fact, there are in place to make sure the government's budget doesn't get red. As a result, you have some seriously sick people who spend hours, days, months dealing with this matter which eventually turns into a huge battle when they should be in fact focusing on their recovery. Well, in this movie, Ken Loach completely captured this social nightmare, the realism was just uncanny and it is not hard to believe that some women would choose to get into prostitution as ruthless gangsters and pimps might seem to be eventually more helpful than the so-called social welfare system.
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe voted for list
Favorite Games - A Year by Year Review (120 games items)
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1920's) list
Notes: This movie is almost a 100 years old... How awesome is that! It is black and white, it is silent and yet it is totally spellbinding. I wonder how many so-called horror fans still have to watch this masterpiece? Basically, it is simply the first and ultimate vampire flick, no more no less. In my opinion and a view shared by the gross majority of the film community, it is still an amazing feature and all the vampire flicks made after that became its legacy. On top of that, not only is it a great horror classic but it is also a fine example of German expressionism. Furthermore, who was this guy Max Schreck anyway?!? He gave here one of the weirdest performances you'll ever see but it totally worked. He was so convincing that there was even this legend is that Schreck's otherworldly performance as Nosferatu was due to the fact that he was in reality a vampire. Willem Dafoe portrayed him as such, playing the vampire Count Orlok in 'Shadow of the Vampire', another movie that you should absolutely watch.
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: This movie is almost a 100 years old... How awesome is that! It is black and white, it is silent and yet it is totally spellbinding. I wonder how many so-called horror fans still have to watch this masterpiece? Basically, it is simply the first and ultimate vampire flick, no more no less. In my opinion and a view shared by the gross majority of the film community, it is still an amazing feature and all the vampire flicks made after that became its legacy. On top of that, not only is it a great horror classic but it is also a fine example of German expressionism. Furthermore, who was this guy Max Schreck anyway?!? He gave here one of the weirdest performances you'll ever see but it totally worked. He was so convincing that there was even this legend is that Schreck's otherworldly performance as Nosferatu was due to the fact that he was in reality a vampire. Willem Dafoe portrayed him as such, playing the vampire Count Orlok in 'Shadow of the Vampire', another movie that you should absolutely watch.
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Judge
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a nice cast involved and since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I was surprised by how little I actually cared about the damned thing after all. I mean, sure, t” read more
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1920's) list
Notes: What can be said about this movie that hasn’t been said so many times before? Basically, it is pure and simply another impressive piece of cinema coming from Charles Chaplin and it is probably even better than 'The Circus' which I also loved. In fact, I have actually a nice story about this flick. Many years ago, I showed this movie to my step-children because I thought it was important for their education. Back then, Nick, my step-son, was only 8 years old but, suddenly, out of nowhere, 7 ears later, during one of our endless conversations about movies, Nick started to precisely described in details the famous scene when the Tramp eats his shoe. Seriously, it was quite something and it shows the huge impact of this movie (but it could be said about anything done by this guy). Myself, I started to watch this movie when I was just a kid and, already then, I thought it was just fascinating and completely hilarious.
4 years, 4 months ago
4 years, 4 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2020 list
Notes: As usual with Charlie Kaufman, it turned out to be an extremely challenging movie. Basically, it is the kind of movies where nothing seems to be what it might seem to be. For example, something as simple as the name of the main character was changed various times on purpose. On top of that, the whole thing started pretty much as a rather bleak and gloomy affair and there was at first not much chemistry with this couple. However, the fact that they were both extremely articulate and much smarter than me slowly made them quite appealing to me. And who was this girl Jessie Buckley?!? I had never seen her before, she pretty much came out of nowhere, but she really impressed me and I will definitely check her other movies whenever I have an opportunity. Eventually, sometimes, this movie did feel like watching a very long episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’ and to be honest, I don’t think I understood half of the damned thing. Especially during the 3rd act, when they started to dance in this school, they pretty much lost me. Eventually, what was Kaufman trying to achieve with this tale? However, even if I never fully grasped the damned thing, the fact that it made me think and wonder was well worth a few extra points from me.
4 years, 4 months ago