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pierre.gautard@free.fr
Reviews
Breaking Point (2009)
A good thriller underrated, and by whom?
Giving this film a 4.8 out of 362 spectators: is this some kind of bad joke?
This is a good gripping thriller with good acting especially by Busta Rhymes who is really frightening in his scenes. Well done.
I am not a rap fan, don't know nothing about rap, etc... don't like it too much, maybe I don't understand it, I don't know these people, so my appreciation is straightforward. Deserves a 7 minimum of minima.
Well done.
Giving this film a 4.8 out of 362 spectators: is this some kind of bad joke?
This is a good gripping thriller with good acting especially by Busta Rhymes who is really frightening in his scenes. Well done.
I am nota rap fan, don't know nothing about rap, etc... don't like it too much, maybe I don't understand it, I don't know these people, so my appreciation is straightforward. Deserves a 7 minimum of minima.
Well done.
Simpatico (1999)
Underrated by far
What is this 4.4 rating by 2348 users? Where did this come from? Not enough car chases?
This is a good movie, well written. One could criticize a bit a sort of awkwardness or heaviness in the technical aspect of movie making, due to a first film or an approach maybe too theatrical, but the directing is good. It plainly deserves a minimum of 6.5 for its artistic value. Maybe Matthew Warchus is more a stage director and too keen on good directing than finding a picturesque way with images to illustrate something he has already staged.
If films about horses are to be considered, "Simpatico" is much better than "Dead Heat" (rated 5.3), different from "Seabiscuit" (rated 7.3) because it does not carry hope against odds being more of a drama about betrayal, and better than the totally unrealistic "Hidalgo" (rated 6.6) who has never been in the Sahara, but it does show a chase.
Why consider it as a film about horses? Because it also is a film about a horse, magnificent as opposed to human behavior in this story, as far as the only pure character in this movie, named by its title, is the horse Simpatico, and maybe this is the side that should have been enhanced more in opposition with the corruption of all this human horse-racing scam, since human perversion finally kills him, and what's more, because he his becoming sterile.
Maybe the overall realism, that had to be detailed more in the movie than the play, brought too many necessary plot details that might have obscured the existence of the character Simpatico, although every time we see him, his beauty reminds us of his existence as metaphor, metaphor that might have been more powerful on the stage, just by being permanent but never visible.
I suggest a 6.5 as a minimum.
Al di là delle nuvole (1995)
One of the 50 Best ever
Some people do not catch Antonioni. He is one among a very few - less than 50 - capable of magic, even, as he likes to do, when "nothing" happens, or so little. In a way he is very close to the Japanese masters. In fact, since he left neorealism in the 60s, he has ever since shown us the deep fabric of reality that is, the artistic core of every situation, where even the smallest most insignificant detail can open the door to what is really happening. He shows us what really rules in telling a story, what really matters.
In very short, you have to be a kind of genius to privilege eye contact and building a relationship over "knowing" (having the information) this young woman killed her father; and you have to be a wizard to make it shine this way. I can understand the joy of Wim Wenders producing this: after all he made "falsche bewegung" in search for something near. To those who don't get Antonioni yet, one must say: get better first and look closer!
Maybe you can find just as good in another genre,etc, but his film needs a 10/10: in its kingdom, one cannot go higher, or better.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Failsafe or Stangelove, no doubt!
There is no possible comparison between the two films. One (Failsafe) is a flat "historical" movie made like a thriller (but did not survive time) and has no point of view, the other introduces with expressionist techniques what really matters in the story as a POV, the inside madness of these people in power, and could be connected with "Wag the dog". Although at first there were two good directors, time has judged what film will survive, and it is Strangelove. The difference is a point of view. A real point of view makes all the difference - for the themes (deterrent, madness of power, hubris, etc) - for the style (black comedy) - for memory (ask people what they can remember in each)
Fail Safe (1964)
FAILSAFE or Dr STRANGELOVE, why ask?
There is no possible comparison between the two films. One (Failsafe) is a flat "historical" movie made like a thriller (but did not survive time) and has no point of view, the other introduces with expressionist techniques what really matters in the story as a POV, the inside madness of these people in power, and could be connected with "Wag the dog". Although at first there were two good directors, time has judged what film will survive, and it is Strangelove. The difference is a point of view. A real point of view makes all the difference - for the themes (deterrent, madness of power, hubris, etc) - for the style (black comedy) - for memory (ask people what they can remember in each)
Ordinary People (1980)
What Ordinary People is really about
OP is about the "social behaviour" against self. Beth (the mother) does everything as she has been told, she is a social robot: she does not have any insight or questions about herself. Thinks love is about "behaving like
" (like you're supposed to).So OP questions that (through Conrad and Calvin). So the opinion of the crowd about OP (or another film) is not important. What's important is you make your own opinion. Beth (the mother) is not just cold, she is sick. That's why she is cold. Calvin (the father) goes over the mother taboo and makes the right decision. He saves his son, and their love. ------- People who don't like this film don't want to be contradicted, stirred in their feelings and confronted to taboos: for instance, they think they believe Movies are to be an "outside entertainment" with "outside feelings". This does not mean OP is not entertaining: it is, in another way. It is a different entertainment from "Raging bull" and we can like both of these films. There is no contradiction in this. -------- People who don't like this film are faced with the same kind of problem Beth is up over the head in. Love is superior to taboo. Being a mother (with all the taboos of innocence linked to it) does not free you from this responsibility. Thinking the contrary would be Narcissism (in the sense of a well known borderline mind disorder). This is what happens to Beth and we must praise again the magnificent performance of Mary Tyler Moore!