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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 02:42
(A review of Caché)Since I'm a huge fan of Michael Haneke's work, I was really eager to check this flick. And I wasn't disappointed. Indeed, I thought it was a great thriller but totally different from what you would get from a typical commercial thriller. There were no shootings, chases, explosions or anything, it was all about the characters and what they are going through and I thought it was quite fascinating to watch. I remember it very well, I got this DVD from a colleague who didn't like it at all but that didn't surprise me. Indeed, Haneke is the specialist of the enigmatic thriller and even though he always create a fascinating and unsettling set-up, he never gives some simple explanations or answers, as a matter of fact, usually he doesn't explain anything at all which can be frustrating for the casual viewers who are used to the dumbed down commercial features produced by Hollywood. Personally, I love this approach, it creates a mesmerizing atmosphere and you have to make up on your own what is actually going on. So, the directing by Haneke was really sober but as usual very effective and Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil both delivered some solid performances. To conclude, even though it might be an an acquired taste, I really loved this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Haneke's work.
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A great movie
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 02:39
(A review of Camille Claudel)Even though I left France more than 10 years ago, I still try to catch a French movie once in a while and I'm especially interested in the winners of the César of the Best French movie. Fortunately, those are pretty often broadcasted on the Dutch and Belgium channels I have so that works actually pretty well. Eventually, I have to admit, I really loved this flick, probably one of the best French movies I have seen in the last 5 years. First of all, back in those days, Isabelle Adjani was probably the best French actress and, here, she worked with Gérard Depardieu, the best French actor of the last 30 years so if you love French movies, it doesn't get much better than this. And indeed, the acting was just great and the story was also really spellbinding. It did help as well that I have a weak spot for true stories dealing with artists. Indeed, I like those movies because, in the good ones at least, they show you how differently the mind of an artist work than most of us and how often destructive the creation of Art can be. This movie is a good example of this, I thought it was really fascinating to watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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A great movie
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 02:36
(A review of Amen. (2002))To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Still, I remember it very well and I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released. First of all, the poster was designed by Oliviero Toscani who became famous in the 90’s for the controversials ads he made for Benetto and the poster he made for this movie didn’t please everybody but I thought it was just really awesome . Concerning the movie itself,it is not as well known as 'Schindler's list' or 'The Pianist' but I think it's a pity because it was a great and spellbinding picture. Back in the 80's-70's, Costa-Gavras was one of the most influential directors around, I think it was the first time I saw one of his movies and, right away, I became a huge fan of his work. Nowadays, he seems to be rather forgotten but this movie displayed that he didn't lose his directing skills at all. To conclude, I think it is a great movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Costa-Gavras’s work.
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A very good movie
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 02:34
(A review of La Femme Nikita)I have always been a fan of this movie but since I hadn't seen it for so many years, I was really eager to check it out again. First of all, to be honest, I always had a hard time with Luc Besson's work as a director (without mentioning the even more underwhelming movies he has produced during the last couple of decades). I mean, visually speaking, he is actually a fine director and, in this area, probably one of the most talented French directors of the last 30 years and indeed his directing is always really solid. Unfortuntaely, I always struggle with his stories which very often turn out to be rather pretentious (in the best cases) and even seriously underwhelming (in the worst cases). This movie is however a big exception. Indeed, as usual, it looked pretty awesome but this time, the story was actually really entertaining and even quite spellbinding to behold. I shouldn't forget Anne Parillaud who was great here and easily delivered the best performance you will ever see in a Besson production. Finally, the soundtrack by Eric Serra wat just really perfect and managed to immerse you even more in this fascinating world. Anyway, to conclude, it is easily my favorite movie directed by Luc Besson (I seriously don't understand why the vastly overrated 'Léon' gets so much more credit than this superior feature) and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in some action-packed French movies.
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A great classic
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 02:28
(A review of The 400 Blows)It has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it whenever I have the opportunity. To be honest, in the same genre, I always preferred 'A bout de souffle' but this one is not far behind and it is definitely a huge masterpiece as well. By now, I have seen a bunch of the movies directed by François Truffaut’s movies and even though he had a more satisfying career than Jean-Luc Godard, it is definitely Truffaut's best movie by far. Indeed, even though he made afterwards some impressive movies, none of them reached the level of awesomness provided by this directing debut. Of course, Jean-Pierre Léaud was just really amazing and he easily gave one of the best child perfomances ever. Basically, nothing much really happen storywise but it doesn't matter as the whole thing is just spellbinding to behold. Indeed, even though this movie is more than 50 years old, it still has quite a modern perspective and I was really able to identify with the main character who was basically going through a rather messed-up puberty. To conclude, I’m a huge fan of this movie, it is a great classic and a must-see for any movie fan.
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A great classic
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 02:27
(A review of Breathless (1960))By now, I have seen almost 7000 movies. Among those, there are a few movies which I consider milestones in my movie watching history and this movie is definitely one of them. It is one of those movies which you keep hearing about and when you watch them, they basically hit you like a train. The first time I watched it, I must have been 15 or 16 years old, I thought it was just awesome and it became right away one of my favorite movies of all time. Basically, it is just a boy, a girl, a car and a gun, that's it, but because it is so simple, it became a really pure movie experience. However, even though those elements were quite simple, Godard did something quite revolutionary at the time which was stripping down many of the conventional narrative stereotypes (a core aspect of the French New Wave) making the whole thing even more spellbinding. Eventually, I re-watched it years later and I did lower my rating a little bit since there were a few dull moments but I absolutely remains one of my favorite French movies. Unfortunately, later on in his career, Godard will start to make really obscure movies and, in the process, more or less deliberately started to alineate his audience but this was his first directing feature and it became instantly a timeless masterpiece. To conclude, I love this movie, it is a great classic and a must see for any decent movie lover.
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An average movie
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 12:08
(A review of The Bucket List)When this movie was released, it received some really pretty good reviews (however, Roger Ebert really hated the damned thing) and since the ratings were pretty high, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I had some rather high expectations but, to be honest, I don't really get why this movie was so popular. I mean, sure, I always had a weak spot for Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and they both delivered some decent performances but I really had a hard time to care for this tale. Indeed, in my opinion, there was nothing really exceptional about this story and, above all, I'm pretty sure that most people with terminal cancer must get pissed off when they watch this movie. Why? It’s pretty simple, when you watch this movie, it seem like a walk in the park which is obviously not the case. Indeed, when you're terminally ill, not only you don't look that good but, above all, you don't make such trips around the world... Thanks to Nicholson and Freeman, I thought it was still fairly entertaining but the whole thing was sometimes rather difficult to swallow. To conclude, even though I believe this movie is vastly overrated, I still think it is still worth a look, thanks to the fine actors involved.
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An unknown jewel
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 10:24
(A review of Nothing to Lose )Since I have been living in the Netherlands, I have always been interested in Dutch movies but, honestly, most of them are not really good. However, there are some exceptions and this is, for example, a very good movie. Indeed, it is, at the same time, an exciting thriller and also a bleak realistic drama. I have watched many Dutch movies and not many did impress me as much as this one. Basically, it deals with TBS which is a controversial kind of punishment for criminals. When they get TBS, it means those criminals are supposedly psychologically unfit and will spend their time in a (closed) psychiatric hospital instead of a jail. At first, you would think that the movie does take advantage of the controversy (it still does eventually), but it stays on a neutral ground throughout most of the proceedings and you are left alone to make up your mind on this matter. The lead actor, Theo Maassen, is known in the Netherlands as a comedian, and here he is not funny at all but he gives an amazing and chilling performance. To conclude, I really enjoyed this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you're interested in Dutch movies.
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An unknown jewel
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 30 December 2010 10:19
(A review of Little Sister)Ever since I have been living in the Netherlands, I have tried to watch a lot of Dutch movies and I was especially intrigued by this one. Indeed, the funny thing is that, at the time, another Dutch movie ('Antonia') did win the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film and while it received international acclaim, it was actually snubbed in its home country as ‘Zusje’ eventually won the Golden Calf of the Best Dutch movie of the year. In fact, in my opinion, ‘Zusje’ was indeed a superior movie. Indeed, it is one of the few movies completely shot in POV shots and I thought it was quite fascinating to behold. I thought it was very original and there was also a very good performance by Kim van Kooten. It’s too bad van Kooten never really impressed me since then even though she has a pretty good status in the Netherlands. Anyway, the main issue I always had with Dutch movies is their obvious lack of guts, this movie definitely showed some balls and I thought the whole thing was really interesting. To conclude, even though this flick is pretty obscure (even in the Netherlands), it is actually definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.
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An unknown jewel
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 29 December 2010 05:24
(A review of I Don't Kiss)Basically, it is another rather obscure French feature that almost nobody on Listal has seen apparently. To be honest, it has been a while since I have watched this flick and maybe I should check it out again at some point. Anyway, I have noticed that while André Téchiné is probably one of the most heralded directors in France, he is not very famous abroad which is quite a shame since he has directed some pretty good movies. This one was, out of all his movies I have seen so far, his best one. Of course, there was the always dependable Philippe Noiret but I must say that I was actually really positively surprised by Emmanuelle Béart. Indeed, Béart is one of those actresses that is so gorgeous (at least, back in those days) that it becomes a distraction and you start to wonder if she is just another pretty face who's not really able to actually act. Well, in this movie, she definitely delivered one of her best performances. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though it is rather obscure and even though the whole thing is rather bleak and quite depressing, I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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