1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2020's)

Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...

Notes: First of all, What a year for Chloé Zhao! She was supposed to release her first huge blockbuster with 'Eternals'. However, because of the Coronavirus pandemic, it was postponed until late 2021 but, in the meantime, she managed to make and release this much smaller indie feature which turned out to be one of the most talked about movies during the awards season. On top of that, I have always been fascinated by such alternative lifestyles so I definitely had some rather high expectations. Well, even though I thought it was indeed a beautiful movie with another pitch-perfect performance from Frances McDormand who’s apparently challenging Meryl Streep for the title of best actress alive, to be honest, it didn’t really blow me away though. Of course, you could argue that nothing much really happened through the whole thing but it didn’t really bother me. It might have to do with the fact that, even though McDormand was brilliant through the whole thing, even though her character went through some life changing events, she didn’t seem to really evolve after all. Eventually, the biggest issue was maybe the fact that every single person on the road was just so freaking nice. I mean, I have to admit that this lack of conflict was refreshing but, to be honest, it seems rather unlikely that none of them had a bad bone whatsoever. Eventually, even if it was unintentional, it did turn the whole thing into some kind of commercial for the nomadic lifestyle. Still, even though I wasn’t completely sold, it was quite fascinating to see these people taking some distance from our rather decadent capitalistic way of life and seeming pretty happy in the process.

Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...

Notes: It turned out to be a rather complex movie, that's for sure. Basically, in my opinion, during almost 3 hours of running time, they kept adding layers upon layers of meaning and I guess how much you will enjoy this movie will depend on how many layers you manage to uncover. The opening scene was a perfect example. Indeed, you get to see two characters in bed, obviously they just had sex. At some point, this woman starts to tell the story of young girl sneaking in the house of a boy at her school she has a crush on. The whole scene was quite beautiful as it was sunrise so it was a little bit dark. Anyway, you don't know who was this couple (at least, I didn't) and, at the same time, you have to focus on the story this woman is telling to her lover (and to the viewers as well). Eventually, there was quite lot of dialogues, fairly often mixed up with other stories and plays at the same time and you have to follow all this but, eventually, it was very rare that the characters actually said what they were thinking or feeling. However, there is a fair chance they didn't even know it themselves. It was like the play they were working on, instead of going for something straightforward, they mixed up several languages, even signs language as well which might seemed rather foolish but I liked that this guy took some bold artistical challenges. Still, even though there is something quite mesmerizing about sign language especially how it was done in this movie, I find it hard to figure out how you would manage to make it work with a theater audience though. Anyway, even if I probably didn't grasp half of the complex material displayed in this movie, I still liked it.

Notes: To be honest, I have to admit that I had actually never heard of the Harlem Cultural Festival that took place in 1969 but I’m not the only one. Indeed, while Woodstock became the most famous festival that ever took place, this festival was actually largely forgotten, at least, by the mainstream audience. What was even more surprising was that they actually did film everything but it took a staggering 50 years before someone finally released the damned thing. Apparently, back then, nobody cared about spreading this magnificent piece of Black power, love and creativity which was basically censored in spite of its actually very positive message. Concerning the festival itself, I have to admit that I didn’t know about half of the performers but it didn’t matter and they were all really good. The fact that appearing on this stage meant so much for them really transpired in their performances which were very often quite electrifying. Eventually, the only thing that prevented this movie from becoming really epic was the fact that they reduced 40 hours of footage to only 2 hours. I mean, the documentary about Woodstock was lasting 3 hours for a reason and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have had the same impact if it would have been shorter. In this case, with an extra hour or even more, they could have fleshed out even more some of the performances or some portraits of the artists and people involved. Still, it wasn’t a deal-breaker and the damned thing was really awesome to behold.

This entry is for both parts



Dune: Part One (2021)

Notes: Well, maybe I wasn’t in the right mood but I actually really struggled to get into the damned thing after all. It’s not that I don’t have any affinity with the material. Indeed, I did read the book (which I really loved) and I watched David Lynch’s version (which I didn’t hate) but it was at least 20 years ago which was actually pretty cool since I didn’t remember everything in details. I don’t know, I have always been rooting for Denis Villeneuve but it seems that his SF flicks are getting not only bigger but also more pretentious each time around and I hope he will finally go for some other genre when he is done with ’Dune’. I mean, the whole thing was visually really neat, I wouldn’t expect less from this director, it is still a fascinating world and there were tons of charismatic and interesting characters and, yet, the damned thing never really grabbed me. Eventually, you might wonder if such a straightforward adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic book was the best approach and, maybe, Alejandro Jodorowsky with his completely bonkers project was actually right. Of course, you might argue that I shouldn’t muse over a movie which was never made but it seems that turning this story into another SF blockbuster extravaganza only amplified the weaknesses of this story.




Dune: Part Two (2024)

Notes: Unfortunately, after a technical issue on this website, my review for this movie has been deleted. I might watch again this movie in the future and write again a review.

Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...

Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...

Notes: To be honest, even though I did like it, I'm afraid it didn't really impress me that much after all. In fact, when I think about it, except for 'Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi' which might be the best animated feature ever made, that's actually what I felt with all Miyazaki's movies after all. Sure, as expected, the hand-drawn animation was once again just amazing and only therefore it is worth watching the damned thing. My favorite part was when the main character was rushing through the fire trying to reach his mother which was just so evocative. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I never really cared enough about the story and/or the characters involved. I mean, as far as I was concerned, it all seemed to be some rather basic Miyazaki narrative tropes after all. Indeed, it was dealing with a young character moving to a new unknown place to live and this main character was apparently struggling with his parents negligence and/or absence but these are some recurring themes that keep coming back again and again in his work. As a result, this final movie didn't seem to tackle anything really new. Concerning this fantasy world in which the main character entered at some point, to be honest, I'm afraid I lost grip on it almost immediately. I mean, where did he end up to? Who were all these strange people and creatures? What the hell was going on? Above all, and that was the main issue, did I really care? Not really, I'm afraid. Anyway, even if it didn't really work for me, it was still an intriguing animated feature though.

Notes: When I heard that my filmclub would see it, I was quite disappointed because I was on holiday in France. Well, somehow, I managed to convince my mother in France to see it together so I still managed to watch the damned thing after all. Fortunately, it was definitely worth it out though. Indeed, I have watched all the previous movies from Jonathan Glazer but it was easily the best one he has made so far. Basically, it gave such a fascinating and chilling glimpse of the normalization of extreme discrimination. At the end of the day, if you keep hearing such ideas and seeing such behaviour, it will seem normal to most people and I think that's what was perfectly displayed in this movie. On top of that, Glazer and the cast did an incredible job to make sure that this is typical Nazi family was displayed as the most average family you could imagine. Indeed, they were kind to each other, they just wanted to enjoy life like any normal human-being, the fact that they lived next to the closest place to look like Hell on Earth was just an afterthought for them. The fact that, 80 years later, there is such a frightening rise of extreme-right politics all over Europe made the damned thing even more topical. On one hand, we are condemning such past events but, on the other hand, we are obsessed by our own comfort closing our eyes regarding how we treat foreigners, immigrants and refugees. Seriously, many people might argue that both situations are not the same but I think that they are actually extremely similar.

Notes: I haven't seen this one yet...

Notes: Visually speaking, it was definitely Yorgos Lanthimos's most ambitious movie so far, in fact, you can probably say that it was his most ambitious movie in general. Indeed, it turned out to be some kind of weird and messed up Frankenstein tale and most of it was actually quite fascinating to behold. It actually reminded me of 'Beau is Afraid', another movie also released in 2023, in the sense that both movies were some relentless feverish nightmares. However, the big difference was that, in 'Beau is Afraid', the main character was a pathetic loser who will never find any solace or redemption in our merciless world while, in this movie, the main character actually evolved and, even though she also had to face some incredible odds and hardship, she did actually enjoy herself with the occasional pastery or some good old amazing sex which was obviously much more satisfying to behold. Eventually, the only thing that bothered me was the fact that I do think that Lanthimos's approach did tend to be rather misogynistic. Basically, for a woman, to become who ever she wants to be, it seems that the only way is going through some serious degradation. It was above all obvious during the Paris episode during which Bella became a prostitute. I mean, she had already been treated as a sex doll by Duncan Wedderburn, was it really necessary that she had sex with countless of men without her consent and basically having her being violated over and over again during the process just because it might be after all, somehow, a 'valuable' experience? To be honest, they slightly lost me at this point and I'm afraid it did prevent this movie from becoming really great. However, a part from that, it was quite an incredible ride with an amazing performance by Emma Stone though. Indeed, what she did in this movie was quite incredible as she played a woman who was constantly evolving scene after scene and, yet, I was still convinced that it was the same woman. Basically, she was just mind-blowing.

Notes: Even if some people might be worried about the extensive running time, Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest masters, delivered here an impressive tale of greed and love. To be honest, I have to admit that it didn't know much about the Osage and the terrible tragedy that happened on them and you get the opportunity here to learn more about them. However, their tragic fate was not really the main focus here or, at least, in my opinion, it wasn't the biggest asset in this movie. After all, I was above all fascinated by DiCaprio who delivered here one of his very best performances. Indeed, his character was so complex, he was probably one of the most confused men I have ever seen on the silver screen. Basically, he was an average White male who was promised some easy money and, like every White American man at the time, he didn't care one bit about the Indians. And, yet, somehow, he actually fell in love with this beautiful sharp Indian woman who also loved him back. But, then, how could he possibly try to kill this woman, possibly the only person on Earth who actually cared for him, and wipe out also all her family if he loved her so much? On paper, it wouldn't make any sense at all and, yet, DiCaprio was always convincing. It was just so fascinating to see him going through a seemingly endless roller coaster of completely contradicting emotions. Of course, it was also a blast to see him facing Robert De Niro, another film icon, and some of their scenes together were amazing but De Niro's character was so much more one-note and therefore not quite so fascinating. Anyway, it was a great epic, that's for sure.

Notes: It actually reminded me of 'The Super Mario Bros Movie' which was also released the same year as both movies were dealing with some seemingly hopeless and lame topics but both movies turned out to be extremely successful. In this case, I have to admit that it was quite impressive how much Greta Gerwig managed to get out of this material. Furthermore, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, probably the best candidates to represent some really life Barbie and Ken, were perfectly cast. In fact, Robbie turned out to be rather bland after all but she wasn't helped by the fact that she had to play 'Stereotypical' Barbie while Gosling got to play some kind of unhinged frustrated moronic version of Ken and he definitely stole the show in the process. Concerning the rest of the movie, Gerwig tried to tie a seemingly deep critic of our sexist male-dominated world with a very generic tale of Barbie adventuring into the real world but, while it was a decent attempt, it was a little bit too much. Indeed, even though it was and still is the most famous doll ever produced, it is still only a plastic doll after all. Eventually, did it really deserve to be such a massive blockbuster success? Well, it seems that the audience got tired of all these sequels, reboots and remakes and we are apparently all yearning for something more original, even though, in this case, it was dealing with one of the most popular toys in the world so it was still some famous IP.

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, I’m 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 don’t and if you expect this movie to give some easy answers, I’m 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.

Notes: A usual with Christopher Nolan, this movie it was visually really neat and the directing was top-notch. Above all, Oppenheimer was such a fascinating character, easily one of the best characters Nolan as ever worked with. His quest to create the first atomic bomb was also so interesting because it would change our world forever and its impact is still topical nowadays. So, the story was great but I’m not sure Nolan’s approach completely worked. Indeed, at times, it felt as if you either needed to have read the book or have Wikipedia at all times open or that you had to be a massive history buff to keep track of everything and above all everybody involved. Concerning the cast, well, Cillian Murphy was rightfully praised, the guy was amazing and easily delivered one of the best performances of his career. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the cast though. It’s not that anyone was bad, I was more bothered by the fact that so many showed up for barely nothing. It was especially frustrating with Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh who all seemed to have some more substantial characters and, yet, they were given so little to do after all. Even Robert Downey Jr., after getting stuck playing Tony Stark for so many years, who was finally given the opportunity to do something else, didn’t really impress me because the focus on this conflict with Lewis Strauss was, in my opinion, a rather poor idea. Anyway, even though I might seem harsh, the damned thing was still really good though.