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CollectionsA very good movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 11:30
(A review of Rocco and His Brothers)To be honest, it has been while since I have seen this flick but like everything directed by Luchino Visconti, it was quite fascinating to behold. I have to admit that, when I was a teenager, I thought that Alain Delon was a rather lame actor (at the time, he certainly didnāt have a stellar reputation in France or else where so give me a breakā¦) and I had no idea that, in the 60's and the 70's, the guy was actually one of the best actors around. Itās just too bad his career went downhill in the 80's and it has been probably a couple of decades since he has done anything really worthwile. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, many might argue that it was the best movie directed by Visconti and it is probably my favourite one so far but I still have to watch more than half of his work. Anyway, this was quite an amazing movie. Indeed, everything from the directing, the mood to the actors was just top notch. To conclude, I thought it was quite an impressive feature, it definitely deserves its reputation and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Italian movies.
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A great movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 11:19
(A review of Accattone)To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie so maybe I should re-watch it at some point. Basically, when I started to discover the great treasures of the motion picture history, I became interested in the Italian masters and I saw at the time many movies directed by Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti but, somehow, only 2 movies directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, this one and 'Teorema' . I really loved 'Teorema' and it had a massive impact on me but this directing debut was also really strong as well. Indeed, it was much more straightforward but still quite spellbinding and it could be considered as a late neorealist feature since it had many trademarks of the genre. For example, the whole thing was seriously bleak and if you think that they tried to glamorize the life of a pimp, well, that was definitely not the case, that's for sure. And yet, even though it was certainly a gloomy affair, there was still something quite poetic about the damned thing and this mix was just quite spellbinding to behold. Basically, it was the start of a promising career and it's too bad I have never managed to watch anything else from this director ever since. Anyway, to conclude, even though it seems to be rather forgotten nowadays, I actually really loved the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Pier Paolo Pasolini's work.
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A very good movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 11:12
(A review of Dear Diary (1993))To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. Anyway, I remember it quite well when it was released. Indeed, it was a critical success when it was released at the [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]and I was really eager to check it out. In fact, somehow, the whole thing did remind me of Woody Allen in the sense that it was very talkative but also very smart, at least, thatās my opinion. Basically, there was no plot whatsoever and, instead, the characters just kept talking, talking and talking again and it either bore you to death or it fascinates you. Well, I thought it was rather fascinating. Eventually, 8 years later, Moretti would come back to the Cannes Film Festival and would win this time the prestigious Golden Palm with ā[Link removed - login to see]ā which was really good as well but I still preferred this movie though. Anyway, surprisingly,I have noticed that, after all these years, I havenāt seen many movies directed by this director which is too bad. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Italian movies.Ā
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A great classic
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 11:02
(A review of Ossessione)I wonder if it was the first movie directed by Luchino Visconti that I managed to watch. Anyway, I remember it very well the first time I saw it. Indeed, back then I was studying in England, in Cambridge for a year, and I managed to follow a course about movies which was easily my favorite course. Every week we would watch a movie and talk about it, starting from the silent era going up to the 90ās. I think this movie was one of the first we watched and it had a great impact one me. At the time, I wasnāt familiar with this story (I hadnāt seen yet both versions of āThe Postman Always Rings Twiceā respectively from 1946 and 1981 but Viscontiās take was still the best) and I thought it was quite fascinating. What was even more impressive is that this movie was Visconti's directing debut. For a first time director, the guy definitely displayed some skills and, just like Godard and Truffaut with the New Wave, he pretty much managed to launch a whole movie genre in the processĀ which was, in this case, Italian neo-realism.Ā To conclude, it is pretty much a classic and it is definitely worth a look and a must see for any movie lovers.
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A very good movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 10:48
(A review of Il Sorpasso (1962))To be honest, I wonder how or why I actually ended up watching this flick. Indeed, it is in fact a rather unknown and forgotten feature and itĀ was definitely pretty obscure. My best guest is that, at the time, there was a very good critic about this movie in our TV magazine. Anyway, I thought it was eventually a very nice surprise. I don't know why exactly but I thought the whole thing was quite rather fascinating. Maybe it had to do with the combination of sweet and sour as it was filled with joy and but also with some huge sad moments. Even though I knew both Jean-Louis Trintignant and Vittorio Gassman, I must admit it, I'm rather oblivious about their work but they were both really good in this movie. I know, the whole thing was eventually not really original but I really loved the execution. The way they played with the stereotypes and the characters was quite spellbinding, at least, that's my opinion. To conclude, even though it is rather obscure and nowadays pretty much forgotten, I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Italian movies.
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A great movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 10:36
(A review of Das Boot)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. The second time around, I watched the director's cut which last more than more than 3 hrs which was slightly disorienting as it gave me the feeling that I had forgotten most of the damned thing. Anyway, it is still quite amazing and it was much better than anything directed before or after by Wolfgang Petersen (what happened to this guy actually? He seemed to be pretty much retired nowadays). Anyhow, I always thought that there was something fascinating about movies dealing with submarines and this one is by far the best one. Indeed, since then, it has been imitated numerous times but this feature remains the reference in its genre and I will remain so for a long time. Basically, the directing was impressive and, like I said before, you could argue that Wolfgang Petersen never reached these heights again in his career. Eventually, the mood was just so intense, there was a completely nail-biting tension and I was on the edge of my seat from the beginning until the last seconds. At the end of the day, it is not only a great submarine movie, it is basically one of the best war features ever made. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved this flick, it is a classic and a must see for all movie lovers, especially if you like the genre.
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A great classic
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 10:18
(A review of M)Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point whenever I get the opportunity. The point is that this flick is just a massive masterpiece and it really blew me away the first time I saw it. Basically, in my opinion, it is the ultimate psychopath movie and during the last 80 years(!), they have tried to improve the formula but they never improved on the blue print developped in this feature. The funny thing is that I have always been a little bit dismissive towards the serial killer sub-genre. Indeed, most of them, even such massive classics like āThe Silence of The Lambsā and āSevenā, are so far-fetched, so over the top, I always have a hard time to really connect with them. This one is different though. Indeed, there are no chases, no shootings, no explosions like you see in your typical US thriller. What you have instead is just a frightening and fascinating psychological study of a sick mind and I thought it was much more interesting to behold. To conclude, I think it is a great flick, a tremendous classic, and it is a must-see for any decent movie fan.
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A great classic
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 10:01
(A review of La Strada (1954))I have seen this movie a very long time ago but I was very impressed and I never have forgot it. To be honest, even though I have watched many other movies directed by Fellini, very often, it didnāt really connect with them, even some massive classics like āLa Dolce Vitaā and ā8 Ā½ā. I mean, I did like them and I could see why they were considered masterpieces but they simply didnāt really blow me away. This movie is an exception though and it remains my favorite one among his work. Indeed, with this movie, you still have the poetic side of Fellini but this feature is also pretty realistic and I just loved this combination. In 2013, I went to see it again in the theater with some uncles and aunts who have formed a film club and I had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I had a bad night sleep the night before and I could barely stay awake during the last 30 minutes but still what a great picture. This time, I was above all impressed by Giulietta Masina. I mean, Anthony Quinn was really good as well but Masina really stole the show portraying some kind of female Charles Chaplin character. To conclude, even though it is almost 60 years old, it remains a great classic, it is absolutely worth a look and a must see for any movie lover.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 09:42
(A review of Best Laid Plans)Honestly, I wasnāt sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Reese Witherspoon, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, Reese Witherspoon and Josh Brolin are both some very watchable actors and they both delivered some decent perfomances. Concerning Alessandro Nivola, I'm not so crazy about the guy, I mean, he is not really a bad actor but he never really impressed me in anything. Concerning the story, I thought it was alright and quite entertaining, even though they couldn't avoid some annoying twist at the end which was rather disappointing. Indeed, basically, it is one of those thrillers which build up a nice mood and a nice sense of mystery, pretty much like a neo-film noir but, then, at some point, they had to explain more or less what was going on and thatās when the whole thing fell apart. In fact, Roger Ebert thought it was even really underwhelming but I thought it was still fairly well made and rather enjoyable. To conclude, it was nothing really great whatsoever but I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 May 2011 09:38
(A review of Slow Burn (2005))Even though it is a really obscure flick, since there was a rather nice cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I thought that the whole thing was quite underwhelming and a big waste of time for all the talented actors involved. Indeed, the cast was pretty (Ray Liotta, LL Cool J, Mekhi Phifer, Taye Diggs, Chiwetel Ejiofor,) and they did what they could with this material but the story was just too weak, in my opinion. Indeed, basically, it is one of those very convoluted thrillers which keep you in the dark for as long as possible but then, at some point, to solve most of the issues/conflicts, they just throw one preposterous twist after the other but I stopped to care way before the end was reached. The only positive thing in this flick was maybe to discover Jolene Blalock who looked quite charming and she maybe hoped that this movie would really launch her career but since it was a huge flop, she didnāt get much attention eventually. To conclude, I have seen worse but it still remain a seriously underwhelming thriller and I donāt think it is really worth a look, even if you like the genre.
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