My Favorite Movies

Surely the best foreign movie I've seen in my life. In this movie, Roberto Benigni proved me that he's one of the best actor on earth. He also directed this italian piece of art. The story is delightful. This movie shows us how to make a comedy about the holocaust...

And I have two words to say : ' BUONGIORNO PRINCIPESSA !'

Jim Carrey in a "real" role ! This movie is my personal favourite. Really really great story, well done by Peter Weir. I just can't get tired of it.

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOM !!!!!!!!!

i'll review this one soon...

Hubert: Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: So far so good... so far so good... so far so good. How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!

Seen 2 times.

Second viewing much better than the first one. 5 stars out of 5.

Seen 2 times.

A review should come soon, if I have enough time to write it.

[i]Los Angeles Tower, this is Transworld 22 Heavy. We are going down! Repeat, engines two and... L.A. Tower, this is... Mayday! Mayday![/i]

Visually stunning, Garden State is one of the most charming movie I've seen in my entire life. You don't need the greatest idea of all time to do the greatest movie, you just need to be Zach Braff. Sincerely, he's awesome. His work, by saying that I mean writting, directing and acting, in Garden State, is so well done that the movie leaves you speechless... Well, it is the case for me. I mean, the screenplay of Garden State is clever, and the actors are astonishing (Braff and Sarsgaard are great... And, I actually felt in love with Nathalie Portman. What a good looking girl she is. She plays her part perfectly, and her character's personnality is smart and very interesting). Garden State is the kind of movie you can't be disappointed of. Because it touches a lot of "style". It is sad, it's charming and touching, and it can be funny in some parts. So, I find it hard to determinate if it is a drama or a comedy (I think "they" call it a dramedy).

Even if the storyline may look quite simple, but it isn't. Because of a lot of things. For me, the reason why Garden State charmed me that much is that I found myself in it... I mean, I needed this movie at this moment of my life, simply to show me how much life can be great even if there are many bad things. We all have to forget bad sides of life for a moment, and just have fun. That's why I found myself in Garden State. I mean, this movie IS me. Maybe the content doesn't look like me, but it touched and charmed me in a way that words wouldn't be enough to describe how much it did. And, by saying that, I don't exagerate.

I'm glad I bought this movie, even if I hadn't seen it before. And now that I've watched it once, I'd like to watch it over and over again, for Braff's smart directing, Portman's acting and for Garden State intimacy.

[i]Safe... when I'm with you I feel so safe... like I'm home.[/i]

(Watched 2 times)

A cult movie. The story is awesome ! One of my favourite of all time.

Et puis merde, j'me laisse aller. Une note parfaite. Sergio le mérite bien, après tout. Ai-je dit Sergio? J'aurais dû dire Bertolucci, Argento, Fonda, Bronson, Cardinale et... Morricone. Car oui, ce qui fait le succès d'Once upon a time in West, c'est TOUT. TOUT dans ce film est remarquable, des personnages jusqu'aux péripéties incroyablement bien ficelées, jusqu'au jeu de ces grands acteurs, tout ça, entremêlé par le génie musical d'Ennio Morricone. Après mures réflexions, ce film renferme possiblement ma trame sonore favorite, devancant The Good, the bad and the ugly ainsi, Cinema Paradiso ainsi que Rocky. Ennio me fait vibrer, tout simplement. Sa musique, même si elle est vieille de quarante ans, reste toujours aussi touchante, et tappe toujours dans le mille.

Et la réalisation. Mr. Leone. Wow. Tout est si beau. L'Ouest, c'est violent, oui, mais c'est trop beau. Et la caméra qui fait des miracles. Tout simplement un chef d'oeuvre cinématographique.

Comme le dit si bien la pochette du film : "Magistralement réalisé par Leone, ce film extraordinaire a redonné au western ses lettres de noblesse dans l'art cinématographique".

Painful to watch. I liked the way the movie is shot, but I just don't know if the "Memento-style" was necessary... But, backward or not, this movie is an original french masterpiece. And all the scenes last about 10 minutes each !
This movie simply left me speechless.

Following, or How to make a masterpiece without any budget. This should be the title of this movie. Because I sincerely think that Nolan did something clever with the only thing he had... his mind. He proved that he's a genius. Some people may think that Memento was a luck, that he just had a good idea, that Nolan is a one-hit wonder, but... every movie Nolan does are great ! Following definitely worth a see.

Seen two times.

I'm not a big fan of Tim Burton's work, but I have to admit that [i]Big Fish[/i] has something special. In my opinion, it is the best movie of Burton (according to what I've seen of him..).
It is in this movie that I began to like Ewan McGregor. His performance in the movie is awesome. Albert Finney also did an incredible job!
I really like this kind of "fairy tale", with a lot of creativity, imagination and originality. It is sad, charming, funny. Love it. One of my fav.

Seen 4 times.

One of the only movie that I'm not ashamed of crying during it. The story is so beautiful and Tornatore tells it to us in a perfect way.
I miss Philippe Noiret a lot, he is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, french actor of his time.

Greatest score of history? Nope. With, Cinema Paradiso, Ennio created the second best score of cinema... Just after The good, the bad and the ugly. ;) Ennio is the best.

THIS is what I call a true masterpiece. The way the movie is presented is so ingenious.

One of the greatest movie of all time ! The whole cast give awesome performances ! This is the kind of movie that you can't get tired of... One of my favourite.

One of the best movie ever made.

A charming movie. One of my best.

If you ask me if I liked Snatch, I would, without a doubt, say that Guy Ricthie is a fucking genius, and blablabla... Because, everybody will agree with me, Snatch is really something! Personnally, I don't know anybody who hated Snatch. I believe there's two kind of "Snatch lovers" : the ones who totally loved it, because it was funny and smart. And the others, who loved it, of course... But, the thing is that this second group are the one who have seen Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels. And believe me, it makes a huge difference. I'd never expect that Guy Ritchie would make something better than Snatch, surely not his debut film. But he did. And I admire him for that. I don't hesitate, or lie, when I say that Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels hits a perfect score, and is better than Snatch.
But one thing is funny, if you ask me why I prefered this one to the other, I wouldn't know how to explain it. Because there's no answer. Both are gangsters movie, both have an amazing story perfectly written, both are extremely well acted (Statham is a god), and finally the most exciting thing of Ritchie's movies, they are filled of british humour. What would have been these movies without this humour? Simply not as good as they are with it. Is there anything funnier than british humour? If yes, I've never heard of it. It may be the funniest movie I've seen...

Absolutely fantastic.

Plank: Ah! They fucking shot me!
Dog: Well, fucking shoot 'em back!

I guess it's hard to believe that a movie that last 293 minutes(4h53) isn't slow-paced at all. I can understand people who think that. But those people haven't seen this gem, I'm pretty sure of it. I admit, I was one of them before I watched it.
But after five hours in this german submarine, I really felt like if I was a member of the crew. Wolfgang Petersen created a monster, bigger than any other movie about boats.
Of course, a long movie like that, which only take place in a U-boat must have remarkable characters that we can admire and be fascinated of... And that's one of the advantage that a movie like this one have... Because, we are expose to the mentality of the crew, we are expose to how they deal with each situations, how they evolve from the beginning until the end.. All the tension, the pressure they have to face, we can feel it through the screen, we jump and scream at each grenades and torpedos launched... Each characters are fascinating. And the excellent acting of all the cast clearly helps.

I'm not necessarily a fan of Petersen works (except maybe The NeverEnding story, which is one of my cult classic), but Das Boot, even if you hate what Petersen directed these years, you can't deny you loved it. It's a great movie about courage and perseverance, but also about 'giving all that you've got'.

And then, after you take the DVD out of the DVD player, we all have one word in mind : Masterpiece.

A review will come soon.

Seen 3 times.

Interesting fact : Lola Rennt is the first movie I watched in 2007. I watched it on January 1st, at approx. 00h30. Watching Lola Rennt was a totally magic moment that I couldn't forget. And I remembered that. That's why I decided to watch it again, to "close" the year 2007 on a great note. To close this year on Lola Rennt, as I began it.

Lola Rennt may be the most refreshing and original movie I've seen in my entire life. Divised in three parts of twenty minutes, Run Lola Run is, as the title suggests, a fast ride. I couldn't get my eyes off the screen, watching redhead Lola trying to find 100,000 grand in twenty minutes.

Lola Rennt's concept grabbed me from the beginning until the end, watching the three alternate stories offered by Tykwer, the director of this modern masterpiece. In fact, what makes Lola Rennt original is its editing. Because there is 1581 transitions in the 71 minutes of action (excluding the credits). The way it is edited gives to the movie a fast and entertaining style. Also, seeing Franka Potente's character running during 80 minutes wouldn't be as great if there wasn't the techno music playing during the whole movie. If I'm not mistaken, I think Tykwer composed it himself!

All things considered, the editing and the techno music give the impression of a video game. Some of Tykwer's shots are similar to what we can see in a videogame (the animations per example).

So, Tom Tykwer created a modern masterpiece. This movie is not a movie. It is a marathon, the amazing adventure of the running redhead girl. Lola Rennt is definitely one of the most important movie of its decade. And that is saying a lot.

Good work by Pedro Almodovar, very good writting.

Léolo (1993)
Directed by Jean-Claude Lauzon
Starring Maxime Collin, Ginette Reno, Gilbert Sicotte(voice)

Seen two times.

I always loved poetical movies. I truly felt in love with Ki-Duk Kim?s four seasons declaration of love. That one was visually poetic. I don?t know if it?s me but I can?t think of a lot of movie that use poetry in a narrative way. In fact, when I try to find some, there is only Wong Kar Wai?s 2046 coming to my mind. Well, Léolo does too. And it uses it perfectly.

Jean-Claude Lauzon?s second movie is about a young boy named Léo Lozeau (magnificent Maxime Collin), who is firmly thinking that his mother (scene stealer Ginette Reno) got pregnant when she fell on tomatoes sprinkled of Sicilian sperm. Yeah. Thus, he wants his dysfunctional family and all the people he knows to call him Leolo Lozone (to pronounce with an Italian accent).

Everybody thinks I?m French Canadian. Because I dream, that is not what I am. Because I dream, that is not what I am.

The entire movie is about this little boy dreaming of Italia and the beautiful Bianca, his neighbour. For those who love to watch a movie with a story, this one is not for you. Some would say that Léolo is slow paced and that there is no plot. It might be true. But these people do not have any imagination. In fact, Léolo is a unique tale about a little boy dreaming of escaping his dysfunctional family. He doesn?t want to be with them. Because he dreams, that is not what he is.

I often mention the atmosphere in movies. It is something really important for me and Léolo is the kind of film perfectly defining what is, for me, an authentic atmosphere. The movie is surrealistically and dramatically funny. It is hard for me to put words on what I think about this movie, because it simply magic. It was the same with movies like Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) which was a magical tale. So is Léolo.

I wrote earlier about the narration in this movie. The story is told by Gilbert Sicotte, a well-known French Canadian comedian. His voice fits perfectly with the tone of the movie, and Lauzon?s writing as well. In fact, the narration is based on the book L?Avalé des avalés, written by Réjean Ducharme. I haven?t read the book but I know that the script written by Lauzon the director is closely related to that book. I just don?t know how much close it is. What I know is that in the movie, Léolo finds the book in his house, and it is L?Avalé des avalés. We all know that anyone who love to read love to write, no? That is what he does. Thus, the narration we hear during the movie is Léolo?s writings. My only interrogation is that the quality of that narration is a level that a young kid wouldn?t be able to reach at that age. But that is not something we care about while watching and hearing that movie because it is just too amazing.

It only takes three words to write: Bianca, my love. I took the shortest way.

Léolo is played by newcomer Maxime Collin. He actually did an astonishing job, knowing that he is the main character and that he is in almost all the scenes of the movie. His mother is played by well-known singer Ginette Reno. At first, I didn?t know she was able to act. But she does. In overall, acting was great, except for the bodybuilder older brother which is actually quite bad. Nonetheless, there is a scene where he, even if he has big muscles, gets bullied by an average man. In that scene, the actor gets a nearly perfect acting. Plus, that scene shows us that Léolo is not only a dark humoured movie, it is, above all, a drama.

The first time I watched Léolo, there is nothing that I didn?t care about. It is the soundtrack. The original score is actually quite enjoyable, but there is the wonderful song sang by Tom Waits, Cold cold ground, that I can?t get out of my mind. I think it fits perfectly with the movie. The soundtrack also features a song from The Rolling Stones.

All things considered, Jean-Claude Lauzon?s second movie is a masterpiece. His debut film, Un zoo la nuit, was a good start, but he proved all his talent with Léolo, five or six years later. What is shocking is that Lauzon died in a plane crash with his girlfriend. As Krzystof Kieslowski and some other directors, he tragically died too young. It is sad, knowing that he could have brought to us so many other wonderful movies.

Well, I may be wrong.

Maybe it is better like that. Lauzon will stay the man who wrote and directed this mystical masterpiece and then disappear in a plane crash. Who knows.

All I can say is that Emir Kusturica is one of the most talented director alive.

I'm speechless for the moment.

Tellement original. C'est un film de science fiction, une comédie ainsi qu'un drame.. Ce film renferme tellement de belles choses qu'il mériterait quelques visionnements supplémentaires. Plusieurs scenes sont à couper le souffle et restent inoubliables!
On peut même remarquer une certaine ressemble avec l'univers d'Amélie. Delicatessen n'atteint cependant pas la beauté d'un film comme Amélie, mais néanmoins, Jean-Pierre Jeunet a signé ici une première oeuvre du tonerre.

Je ne peux que me plier devant ce colosse, devant cette grandiose oeuvre cinématographique... Das Leben der Anderen a été pour moi une expérience indescriptible. Étant intrigué par tout ce qui se passe en Allemagne, puisque je considère l'histoire de ce pays comme étant très riche (XXe siècle), je n'ai pu qu'admirer cette histoire de trahison et de confiance, d'amour et de haine, d'Est et d'Ouest. Le personnage joué par Ulrich Mühe m'a complètement bouleversé compte tenu de ses agissements. Bref, un film à voir.

Mérite son Oscar pour Best Foreign Language? Je me plie, et je dis oui. Quoique Pan's Labyrinth reste mon favori.

Indescriptible. Original. Pratiquement parfait.

Chef d'oeuvre. Rien de moins qu'un chef d'oeuvre. Le film a été fait en 1950 et encore aujourd'hui, 99.9% des gens sur Terre n'arriverait pas à écrire un film qui possède une telle force et une telle influence. Kurosawa m'intéresse vraiment, puisqu'il semble s'attaquer à des problématiques tout à fait originales. Rarement je vois une oeuvre du genre, qui nous jette par terre avec son excellent débat sur la vérité (Qui dit vrai? Qui dit faux?). Il y a aussi la façon de raconter quelque chose qui joue un rôle important (L'objectivité existe-t-elle réellement lorsqu'on en vient à raconter quelque chose?). Ajoutez à cela un peu d'overacting japonais, laissez mijoter et vous obtenez l'un des plus grands films du siècle.

La Tigre e la neve, c'est avant tout une formidable fable d'amour (Benigni le spécifie dans les Special Features), qui mélange avec une aise époustoufflante la comédie et le drame. Le talent poétique de Benigni m'épate, que ce soit la façon dont il raconte l'histoire ou l'histoire qu'il raconte. Dans les deux cas, j'étais sur le cul. Évidemment, ce film amène en moi un brin de nostalgie, car je me souviendrai toujours de ce jour d'école, il y a déjà 8-9 ans, lorsque ma professeur nous avait fait écouté La vita è bella. Que d'inoubliables moments. Et La Tigre e la neve ne fait qu'augmenter mon appréciation envers Benigni, que je considère comme l'un de mes idoles. Très touchant.

Si quelqu'un me proposait de mettre sur papier les performances d'acteurs ou d'actrices qui m'ont le plus touché ou impressionné dans l'art cinématographique, celle d'Al Pacino dans Dog Day Afternoon serait sans doute en tête de liste, ou pas trop loin de là. Mais rien de tout cela n'est bien surprenant, surtout lorsque le nom de Sidney Lumet est attaché à la mise en scène, tellement il a un don pour diriger ses acteurs (John Cazale brille aussi dans le rôle du mystérieux Sal).

Je suis loin de connaître la filmographie complète de Sidney Lumet (et encore plus loin de l'avoir vu au complet), mais ce que j'en retire pour le peu que j'ai vu, c'est qu'il a une maîtrise hors norme du huis-clos, qu'il avait auparant expérimenté dans le grandiose 12 Angry Men. Encore une fois, malgré les limites d'espace, le film parvient à accrocher le spectateur au sujet de ce qui adviendra aux deux malfrats (le sont-ils vraiment?).

Le film est un peu long, mais le récit est tellement humain (d'autant plus que l'histoire est vraie) et l'énergique performance de Pacino font en sorte que les minutes passent en un clin d'oeil.

Dog Day Afternoon se veut être un des rares films de l'époque à pouvoir être qualifié d'engagé. En effet, pour l'époque, il s'agit d'une grande preuve d'audace que de montrer ouvertement l'homosexualité de son protagoniste principal (bien difficile de trouver film qui en a fait tout autant, avant 1975). De plus, le contraste entre la mauvaise préparation des deux voleurs et la préparation sans faute de l'autorité policière est franchement intéressant, d'autant plus que le film - notamment en faisant référence aux émeutes de la prison d'Attica - critique ouvertement le système policier ainsi que toute la couverture médiatique entourant ce genre de tragédies.

I thought this one would be boring from the beginning until the end.

Haha. I am laughing at myself, because Jean de Florette was actually quite good, and maybe more than that.

First of all, because of the story. Berri, the director, adapted the epic novel written by Marcel Pagnol. I never read anything of Pagnol, but I know the name and how famous he is.

I read that some thought it was a slow movie... I don't think that way. Every scenes bring something different, we can feel every emotions that the characters feel. Talking of characters, Ugolin is played by Daniel Auteuil and he simply gives his career's best performance in Jean de Florette.

Well, everybody have to see it. Jean de Florette is the first one of two films. The second one is Manon des Sources.

Exercice d'un style époustoufflant, La Antena nous plonge dans l'univers expressioniste allemand des années 20. À commencer par de nombreuses références à des classiques comme Metropolis, Nosferatu ou Voyage dans la Lune(uh, très expressioniste), La Antena possède son lot de sous-titres, puisque ça fait parti de l'histoire. Il se trouve que Mr. TV ait volé la voix de tous les habitants d'une ville, et que depuis ce temps, ils vivent dans le silence. Les sous-titres sont donc parti intégrante du film et de l'action, aspect très intéressant laissez-moi vous dire. Par ailleurs, La Antena a son lot d'idées géniales, innovatrices et originales.

Ce qui m'a le plus rejoins est certainement la musique. Intense mélange de piano et de cordes, alliant ambiance et mickey mousing, la trame sonore ajoute de la grandeur à l'oeuvre sud-américaine.

Another excellent movie written by the Coen brothers. I can't wait to see The Big Lebowski