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johanlefourbe added 5 items to Listal's 100 Films To See Before You Die (2019) list
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: After hearing many great things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Personally, I was more familiar with Lean's later work, composed of great epic adventures such as 'Doctor Zhivago', 'Lawrence of Arabia' or 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. Here, it is something quite different entirely, in fact, it is the complete opposite. Indeed, it is in black and white and it deals only with two characters, a man and a woman dealing with some rather mundane predicament. However, if the scale was smaller, the whole thing was nonetheless quite fascinating. Indeed, basically, it is a very simple story about love and adultery but so human, so recognizable and so relevant. Honestly, I can't pretend I was really familiar with the actors portraying the two main characters but they both did a really good job. Above all, I was really impressed by the directing by David Lean. Indeed, like I said before, we are here far from his epic work but he still managed to share with us the tormented life of those two lost souls and it was quite something to behold.5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Mama
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Jessica Chastain, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, I ended up with some mixed feelings about the damned thing. Indeed, even though there were some interesting things, in my opinion, it w” read more
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Ronny's Dutch Film Club list
chosen by Bea
Notes: What I liked the most about this movie was that there were just so many interesting layers. First of all, even though you might feel nothing about skateboarding, you'll have to admit that there was something quite spellbinding about watching these guys dashing through such a ugly urban landscape doing some incredible tricks. Indeed, in such a socially and economically deprived environment, they still found a way to push themselves creatively, honing their skills through hours of training, delivering something artistic while their relatives completely ignored them. But, of course, the whole thing went just way beyond skating. It was also an intimate look on these skaters and the fact that the director was one of them was something that you rarely get to see since, most of the time, a documentary maker is basically an outsider. As a result, the whole thing was just as much about Bing Liu himself than about his two friends. Concerning his buddies, it did help that they were both really charismatic. Eventually, as far as I was concerned, I was mostly intrigued by the way he handled Zack. Basically, the guy was/is one of his best friends but also a destructive loose cannon who happened to be also abusive with his girlfriend, something Bing Liu clearly struggled to deal with, especially with his own past as a victim of domestic violence. Anyway, I could go on forever, basically, it was a really strong documentary and the best one we have seen so far with the film club.
(Mar. 2019)5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 3 items to Listal's 100 Films To See Before You Die (2019) list
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Free State of Jones
“To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Matthew McConaughey, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it was a really interesting story with some great potential but it turned out to be only a decent watch at best, I’m a” read more
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: To be honest, with such a title, I was actually expecting something rather cheesy. Well, I have to admit that the end-result turned to be not so corny after all and, eventually, I wonder what they actually meant with this title. Still, even though they did give an interesting look on what it meant, and probably still means, to go back home for many soldiers, they didn’t cut really deep into this sensitive subject though. Indeed, not one of these soldiers suffered from debilitating PTST, not one of them did beat up their wife or girlfriend, not one of them became an alcoholic or a drug addict and not one of them went on a shooting rampage. Still, I still have to admit that they didn’t complete sugarcoat what they went through and their portrayals did feel truthful and convincing. The fact that these 3 men were basically some average guys and not some kind of perfect super-beings also really helped. On top of that, it was definitely courageous to take some distance from all these movies displaying war as such a great and honorable endeavor for all involved, especially only a few years after WWII ended. It was also a master move to cast Harold Russell, an actual wounded soldier, to play Homer Parrish and you can imagine that, nowadays, they would hire instead a famous actor and use some CGI but this approach was obviously much more naturalistic and simply better.5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of My Journey Through French Cinema
“From the 3 DVDs my sister recently gave me as a gift, this was the one I was the most excited about since I am a big fan of Bertrand Tavernier’s work and of French cinema in general. Pretty much like Martin Scorsese did with the Italian cinema with ‘Il mio viaggio in Italia’ (even the titles o” read more
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
5 years, 10 months ago
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: To be honest, I have to admit that I was slightly worried while watching the 1st episode. Indeed, even though the girl playing Carmela, apparently a non-professional and illiterate actress, was fine, the actors playing the American soldiers were just really weak. Fortunately, it didn’t bother me much during the rest of the movie which turned out to be really strong after all. Indeed, I really liked the approach chosen by Roberto Rossellini. Basically, instead of a having a main character, a hero, he gave various episodes, each time focusing on different people involved in various situations but it actually gave a much more accurate depiction on how war actually works. Indeed, war impacts everyone and it’s never really about the acts of one courageous individual. On top of that, It’s interesting that, even though this episodic approach might make the whole thing seem random, it was actually surprisingly effective. Indeed, there was a clever narrative thread as each parts chronologically followed the historical events that took place during the war (the arrival of the Allies in Sicily, how they progressed in the main land through Naples, Rome and Florence and the final battle in the Po delta a few months before the end of the war). It was also impressive that Rossellini managed to deliver this movie only a few years after the war ended, especially since it was quite ambitious with many characters coming from various countries, with many locations and plenty of army gear and equipment involved. 5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of C'est la vie
“To be honest, I didn’t know anything from this flick so I had no idea what to expect from it and I actually ended up watching the damned thing because my sister bought me this movie on DVD. Well, first of all, even though ‘Intouchables’ is a decent flick, I still think it must be one of the mo” read more
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a video
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 5 items to Listal's 100 Films To See Before You Die (2019) list
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 3 items to Listal's 100 Films To See Before You Die (2019) list
5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2023) list
Notes: Before watching this flick, I had already seen two other versions of this story ('Ossessione' (1943), 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1981)) and this version turned out to the best one I have seen so far. There is apparently a 4th version ('Le dernier tournant' released in 1939) but, by now, I think I'm pretty much done with this story... Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though you didn't have the explosive sex scenes from the Jack Nicholson-Jessica Lange version, John Garfiel and Lana Turner had together some very nice chemistry and they made together one of the best doomed couples I have ever seen. Basically, they were not really good, they were not really bad either, they were both continuously fighting the feelings they had but they couldn't get rid off each other. Even though it was already the 3rd time around I watched this story, it was just spellbinding and it is definitely one of the best film noir I have seen so far. It did tend to drag a little bit towards the end but it might have had to do with the fact that I already knew the whole thing by heart at this point. 5 years, 10 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Best 2nd Directorial Effort from 1923 until 2023 list
5 years, 10 months ago