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johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (1930's) list
Notes: To be honest, it took me a while to get into the damned thing. The fact that the copy I saw was pretty bad probably didnāt help but I also believe that the first half was rather slow. Indeed, it seemed that it was dealing with a frustrated teacher who entertained the same sexual fantasies that his pupils had and I thought the guy was actually rather pathetic and not really interesting. However, it all changed when the guy decided to actually marry Lola Lola. Indeed, it was such a surprising turn of events and it didnāt seem to be make any sense to everyone, his colleagues, Lola, her colleagues,ā¦ And thatās when the movie did start to become fascinating. Indeed, how could this decision actually make sense to Professor Immanuel Rath himself? Behind his stiff demeanor, was he actually some closeted romantic? Eventually, you never really found out why he made this choice but watching his downward spiral was so spellbinding to behold. It was definitely a strange character and the main reason why he actually worked was because Emil Jannings gave here such a strong performance. Concerning Marlene Dietrich, she got her breakthrough with this movie and she was, of course, pretty good but, in my opinion, her character was much more straightforward than Immanuel Rath and therefore less interesting.1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: To be honest, it took me a while to get into the damned thing. The fact that the copy I saw was pretty bad probably didnāt help but I also believe that the first half was rather slow. Indeed, it seemed that it was dealing with a frustrated teacher who entertained the same sexual fantasies that his pupils had and I thought the guy was actually rather pathetic and not really interesting. However, it all changed when the guy decided to actually marry Lola Lola. Indeed, it was such a surprising turn of events and it didnāt seem to be make any sense to everyone, his colleagues, Lola, her colleagues,ā¦ And thatās when the movie did start to become fascinating. Indeed, how could this decision actually make sense to Professor Immanuel Rath himself? Behind his stiff demeanor, was he actually some closeted romantic? Eventually, you never really found out why he made this choice but watching his downward spiral was so spellbinding to behold. It was definitely a strange character and the main reason why he actually worked was because Emil Jannings gave here such a strong performance. Concerning Marlene Dietrich, she got her breakthrough with this movie and she was, of course, pretty good but, in my opinion, her character was much more straightforward than Immanuel Rath and therefore less interesting.1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of The Blue Angel
“I wasnāt really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation (it is included in the ā1001 Movies You Must See Before You Dieā list, among other things), I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, it took me a while to get into the damned thing.” read more
1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies ... my own version (2020's) list
Notes: It must be hands down one of the very best legal procedurals I have ever seen and the damned thing was just to subtle, so cleverly put together, Iām not surprised that it also won the Academy Award for the Best Original Screenplay. Eventually, I was expecting that they would show some flashbacks so that you could get a better idea about who was this woman and this man and what was exactly their relationship but it happened only once because the victim had actually recorded this conversation. Anyway, this approach was just so effective because, as a result, you are basically on the bench during this trial, listening to the testimonials. On top of that, everybody from the defense, from the prosecution, the judges, everything they said did make sense which was just so refreshing compared to the black-and-white characters that you get in your usual Hollywood production. Sure, you might have some personal opinion about which theory might be correct but every character was so well written, the dialogues were razor sharp, it was just spellbinding to behold. Eventually, there were very little evidence and, at the end of the day, either you believe this woman or you donāt and if you expect this movie to give some easy answers, Iām afraid you will be disappointed. The fact that we, as a viewer, have to go through this process was difficult enough but to witness her son (by the way, the kid who played this character was just so amazing) going through this process as well was just so heartbreaking. I mean, in his case, either his father did commit suicide or his mother killed him, in both scenarios, the end-result will remain so tragic. 1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to 1001 Movies Chosen By Johanlefourbe list
Notes: It must be hands down one of the very best legal procedurals I have ever seen and the damned thing was just to subtle, so cleverly put together, Iām not surprised that it also won the Academy Award for the Best Original Screenplay. Eventually, I was expecting that they would show some flashbacks so that you could get a better idea about who was this woman and this man and what was exactly their relationship but it happened only once because the victim had actually recorded this conversation. Anyway, this approach was just so effective because, as a result, you are basically on the bench during this trial, listening to the testimonials. On top of that, everybody from the defense, from the prosecution, the judges, everything they said did make sense which was just so refreshing compared to the black-and-white characters that you get in your usual Hollywood production. Sure, you might have some personal opinion about which theory might be correct but every character was so well written, the dialogues were razor sharp, it was just spellbinding to behold. Eventually, there were very little evidence and, at the end of the day, either you believe this woman or you donāt and if you expect this movie to give some easy answers, Iām afraid you will be disappointed. The fact that we, as a viewer, have to go through this process was difficult enough but to witness her son (by the way, the kid who played this character was just so amazing) going through this process as well was just so heartbreaking. I mean, in his case, either his father did commit suicide or his mother killed him, in both scenarios, the end-result will remain so tragic. 1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 best movies 2023 list
Notes: It must be hands down one of the very best legal procedurals I have ever seen and the damned thing was just to subtle, so cleverly put together, Iām not surprised that it also won the Academy Award for the Best Original Screenplay. Eventually, I was expecting that they would show some flashbacks so that you could get a better idea about who was this woman and this man and what was exactly their relationship but it happened only once because the victim had actually recorded this conversation. Anyway, this approach was just so effective because, as a result, you are basically on the bench during this trial, listening to the testimonials. On top of that, everybody from the defense, from the prosecution, the judges, everything they said did make sense which was just so refreshing compared to the black-and-white characters that you get in your usual Hollywood production. Sure, you might have some personal opinion about which theory might be correct but every character was so well written, the dialogues were razor sharp, it was just spellbinding to behold. Eventually, there were very little evidence and, at the end of the day, either you believe this woman or you donāt and if you expect this movie to give some easy answers, Iām afraid you will be disappointed. The fact that we, as a viewer, have to go through this process was difficult enough but to witness her son (by the way, the kid who played this character was just so amazing) going through this process as well was just so heartbreaking. I mean, in his case, either his father did commit suicide or his mother killed him, in both scenarios, the end-result will remain so tragic. 1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Anatomy of a Fall
“Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick (it did with the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, among other things), I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I wasnāt disappointed, thatās for sure. Indeed, it must be hands down one of the very best legal procedurals I hav” read more
1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Ronny's Dutch Film Club list
chosen by Bea
Notes: Even though Jos Stelling is one of the most highly regarded directors from the Netherlands, I have to admit that Iām not really familiar with his work. Indeed, I have seen only his previous directorial effort, āHet Meisje en de Doodā which did win the Golden Calf for the best Dutch film of the year but, to be honest, I didnāt care much for it. Well, even though the rest of the film club was really enthusiast, I have to admit that I had a hard time to really connect with this (probably) last movie from the Dutch master. I mean, I have to admit that it was visually really neat and definitely from another level than your average Dutch production, thatās for sure. Unfortunately, the movie itself was just too cryptic for my taste and I would have a really hard time to tell what Stelling was trying to tell or to achieve here. Another thing that bothered me was the gimmick of the mute main character. In my opinion, it is a rather cheap trick to make your character deep and mysterious by having him saying nothing but he felt more like an empty shell than an actual human-being. Above all, I donāt think he was really interesting and this Russian woman who he met half way through was actually much more intriguing. The other tricky thing with this movie was that it was so random and itās as if Stelling created his own logic as he went along and, like the rest of the movie, I guess it is really a matter of taste if youāre going to appreciate this approach. Anyway, even if it didnāt really work for me, I gave it a few extra points for being so artistic and challenging.
(Mar. 2024)
x1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Ferrari
“To be honest, it has been at least 20 years since Michael Mann has delivered a great movie but, since I have always had a weak spot for his work, I was willing to give him once again the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, I have to admit that the subject matter did sound really cool. Well, even if i” read more
1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Drinking Buddies
“To be honest, I wasnāt really sure what to expect from this flick but, since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I donāt think it was bad at all. Indeed, there was something really genuine about these 4 characters ” read more
1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Always Shine
“To be honest, I wasnāt really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was starring Mackenzie Davis and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. While watching this movie, I noticed that the director, Sophia Takal, did sound familiar and itās only after” read more
1 year, 3 months ago
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1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe added 1 item to Top 10 worst movies 2017 list
Notes: The damned thing was so weak, the only redeeming feature was that it was rather short. Where should I start? Everything from the title to the poster, to the font used for the credits, the action scenes, the performances of the actors involved, seriously, everything felt so cheap. It also took forever to really take off and, even when it finally did take off, the concept barely worked. I mean, how was the main character supposed to investigate the murders of his wife and kid if he took a vow of silence? Seriously, it didnāt seem really practical. Eventually, the answer provided by the movie was that he only had to look someone deep in the eyes to get the answers to his question, without asking an actual question. Sure, it does sound ridiculous and it was probably even worse on the silver screen. At least, it was one of the very few vigilante features which didn't end up with the main character killing his target and I have to admit that it was rather refreshing. However, the fact that the alternative was to bring the perpetuator to justice didnāt seem to work either since Frank Valera himself used to be part of a seemingly rotten justice system which didnāt seem really efficient to provide the right punishment for people who really deserved it. 1 year, 3 months ago
johanlefourbe posted a review of Acts of Vengeance
“I wasnāt expecting much from the damned thing but, since it was starring Antonio Banderas, I thought I might as well check it out anyway. Well, as expected, it turned out to be one of these dreadful direct-to-VOD hack jobs. To be honest, I have to admit that it wasnāt the worst movie I have seen” read more
1 year, 3 months ago