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johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020) list
Notes: To be honest, it has been ages since I have seen this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point. After his first surreal experiment with Salvador Dali with ‘Un chien andalou’, Luis Buñuel was this time working on his own but he still managed to deliver another surrealist cult-classic and, from this poini, Buñuel would be the master of the genre through his whole career. At least, this movie had some kind of a plot but it was hardly what Buñuel cared about. Indeed, the whole thing was pretty much a succession of really weird and sometimes pretty messed up scenes and it is hard to imagine a major director trying to bring up something like this nowadays. David Lynch might be the most obvious exception but the fact that he has stopped making movies for already more than a decade shows how hard it is, even impossible, to make something truly surreal in the current movie business. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though it might be an acquired taste, I thought it was quite fascinating to behold. 5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Pete's Dragon
“Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I haven’t seen the original version but since it is also available on Disney+, I should eventually watch it at some point in the future. Anyway, to be honest, it too” read more
5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020) list
Notes: To be honest, I really had a hard time to connect with the damned thing after all. The fact that I saw a very poor copy on YouTube probably didn’t help but the issue went beyond that I’m afraid. I have to admit that I’m not really familiar with the old Soviet propaganda movies (it was only the 2nd movie I have seen in this genre). Anyway, I was rather amazed by how this movie was filmed and edited. Indeed, it is usually considered as a masterpiece but probably 90% of the shots were some close-ups which is such a weird way and, to be honest, rather uncomfortable way to shoot a movie. I thought it was even more bewildering since it was a silent movie. Indeed, most silent movies do actually the opposite, they focus more on wide shots showing the characters being more active to compensate the lack of dialogues. However, in this movie, you get instead a succession of faces constantly moving their lips but in complete silence. Considering the story itself, well, there was actually no real story and no characters involved, it was either a beautiful allegorical poem about the glory of the rise of the poor farmers against the landlords or some blatant Soviet propaganda, depending on where you stand regarding this matter. Anyway, it had been a while since I have struggled so much with an old classic so maybe I should give it another try at some point in the future.5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Miss Bala
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it was on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though there were some good ideas and the damned thing had some potential, it turned out to be pretty weak, I’m afraid. Above all, their approach to the mate” read more
5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to A Complete Review of various directors' s work list
5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020) list
Notes: I had heard of René Clair before but it was the first movie I saw directed by this guy. Well, I have to admit that I was so impressed by the damned thing. I have noticed that this movie has been heralded as a great satirical comedy but, in my opinion, it is also a fascinating political manifesto displaying so many Anarchist concepts and ideas. Indeed, it was against so many things such as Capitalism, working, productivity, money, wealth,… pretty much following the Anarchist dogma which was so neat. What was even more brilliant was that the fact it was tackled in such a light manner with some cute little longs along the way. These songs didn’t bother me at all, in the contrary, which was even more remarkable since I’m far from being a huge fan of musicals. Finally, even though it might all seem frivolous and superficial, I thought it was narratively actually quite strong. For example, at some point, Emile became head over heels in love with some random girl he met. Well, in most of movies, at the end, he would get the girl but, here, she actually rebuffed. It was really unexpected but it completely made sense because , well, she didn’t know him at all and it was so striking because it went against the most basic narrative conventions. Finally, at the end, the two main characters had basically nothing, no money, no job, no women, no possessions whatsoever,… They only had each other and, yet, they had both never been happier which was just so awesome and inspiring.5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Magnificent Seven
“I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, even before the damned thing was released, it did sound like a rather misguided project. Seriously, even after watching this movie, I still wonder what w” read more
5 years, 1 month ago
child actors then and now
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020) list
Notes: Mario Peixoto definitely delivered a strange movie here, that’s for sure, and I have to admit that I had pretty much no clue what the damned thing was actually about. Apparently, one woman had escaped from prison, another woman had left a bad marriage and there was a man in love with someone else's wife but, to be honest, it didn’t get all that at all. It’s also interesting that this movie would be Peixoto only directing effort but, even if the guy was only around 21 years old at the time, his movie would still manage to become one of the best Brazilian movies ever made, no less than that. Anyway, even if I didn't really get what it was all about or what the hell was actually going on, I have to admit that I really dug the beginning scenes though. Above all, I think I especially enjoyed the melancholic haunting score and, in combination with the surrealist visuals, it made the whole thing quite spellbinding to behold. Unfortunately, they didn’t stick to this score and, after 15 mins, they went instead for some generic violin tune which was not awful but this movie definitely didn’t have the same impact at all anymore. As a result, I had a hard time to keep my focus on the damned thing. Furthermore, even though I do appreciate a surrealist/experimental movie when it is rather short, 2 hours of this was just seriously challenging though. 5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Adventures of Huck Finn
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I haven’t read the book but it is a major classic in American Literature but, to be honest, I took me a while to get into this movie. Still, th” read more
5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe added 2 items to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020) list
5 years, 1 month ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Zookeeper's Wife
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jessica Chastain and since it was available on Netflix, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even if it was a really inspiring tale, it turned out to be only a decent watch and not much more than that, I’m a” read more
5 years, 1 month ago
