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Reviews
Past Lives (2023)
One of the best and most beautiful movies of this century
Yes, the critics were absolutely right: this is a true masterpiece. For all the media it was the best movie of 2023, but I only saw this film now in January 2024. In my top 3 of best movies in 2023, it would be in the top 3 together with 'The Quiet Girl' and 'Le Bleu Du Caftan'.
The love story in 'Past Lives' reminded me a bit of 'In The Mood For Love' of 2000, perhaps this last one still superior in depth and quality.
The Past Lives it is a very mature and recognizable love story, so much better than the classic Hollywood romcoms, and very realistic for a romantic soul and bachelor like me. I especially also liked the slow pace and the emotional expressions on the faces of the actors. The three main actors (Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro) play very spontaneously and naturally, with Teo Yoo in a starring role.
So hurry to the cinema, because there you can witness a true masterpiece together with all the other admiring viewers. Everybody was moved in the theatre, and left in a quiet way realizing they all saw an instant classic masterpiece.
For me it's very obvious: Past Lives is one of the best and most beautifil movies of this century.
An Cailín Ciúin (2022)
Best movie I have seen in 2023, and of the best of this century
I am a true cinephile, who likes to watch the better films in the smaller cinemas.
I have already seen some very beautiful films this year in the cinema, much better than in recent years.
'Le Bleu du Caftan' was already a masterpiece. And 'Living' and 'Rose' are also memorable movies.
'The Quiet Girl' is a timeless gem. This movie could have been made a lot of years ago. This is true cinema, with the power of the sound of silence.
Undoubtedly, this film deserved the Oscar for best (foreign) film.
I entered the theater with high expectations after all the wonderful reviews, and they were more than exceeded. It proves you dont need big Hollywood budgets to make a classic.
The dialogue is mostly in Irish, a language I barely knew anything about. Set in 1981, the film follows a withdrawn nine-year-old girl who experiences a loving home for the first time when she spends the summer on a farm with distant relatives. Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennett play fantastic and are very believable in their roles as wife and husband.
Director Colm Bairéad beautifully creates the tranquil atmosphere. And my God, how I adore such calm and nostalgic stories.
However, I must give a special mention to lead actress Catherine Clinch, making her debut. She seemed to be dropped just like that in past and impressively played the silent girl. Without speaking a lot, she still manages to touch all viewers. Everyone remained in the room until the last letters of the generic disappeared from the screen. Everyone knew afterwards: this was a true masterpiece. Why aren't more moving and beautiful stories like this made anymore?
Le bleu du caftan (2022)
One of the most beautiful movies I ever have seen, a masterpiece
As a Belgian I feel proud to have an actrice as Lubna Azabal, one the best actrices in the international movie world. I will never forget the movie 'Incendies', for me still one of the best movies of this century, where she was also the leading actrice.
And this time again, Lubna and the other two leading actors were fantastic in their roles. The script is beautiful and very emotional. And the love and tenderness between the three very different characters is pure and very profound.
Le Bleu du Caftan puts all national feelings and international religions aside. It's a timeless story. Director Maryam Touzani has a very bright future ahead, what an achievement.
I fell in love with the tenderness and delicate sensuality of 'Le bleu du caftan'. Rarely does a movie maker so poetically depict the many facets of sincere love and sorrow. Surrounded by colourful fabrics and brilliant threads all viewers could admire the pure essence of touch, intimacy and devotion, but also the cutting pain of loss and grief.
Everyone in the movie hall was very quiet and in full admiration of this wonderful movie, and some had to reach for their handkerchiefs.
So, go to the cinema and be witness of a true and realistic masterpiece.
Close (2022)
Not as good as I hoped and expected
I do not share all the positive comments on this movie. Yes, 'Close' is not a bad movie. I did like it a lot more than 'Girl', also a picture of Lukas Dhont. But Close could and should have been a lot better.
The character drawing of the parents leaves much to be desired. I am so much more touched when I see the movies of the brothers Dardenne, the best directors of Belgium. For example 'Tori et Lokita', the latest movie of the brothers Dardenne, is so much better than 'Close'. No, not an Oscar winning movie for me... And the storytelling is not good enough for me.
I hope that the next movie of Lukas Dhont will be more mature and elaborated.
Un beau matin (2022)
Simply wonderful
This is the best movie I have seen in the cinema so far this year, followed by 'Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom' and 'Piccolo Corpo'.
The story looks simple, but because of the wonderful acting performances of all, especially of Lea Seydoux (much better in this genre of films than in all her Hollywood period), 'Un beau matin' is - in my opinion - already a timeless classic drama.
It's the kind of film that only European countries can make, and it's even more a typical French film. 'Un beau matin' is a very honest and beautiful movie, not bound by time or space. It's a timeless story.
The movie is especially good because the storyline is disarmedly strong and honest, with restrained emotions.
The film is made even more beautiful and stronger by the many silent moments between the dialogues. There is also not too much talking, which I always like a lot.
The expression on Lea Seydoux's face, who plays Sandra (a widow and mother of one daughter), says a lot more than some emotional tantrum.
And then there is the wonderful music of Schubert and the recurring beautiful music of Jan Johansson. Many thanks to director Mia Hansen-Løve for letting me get to know this Swedish pianist, what a discovery!
In the small hall of the small cinema everyone sat full of admiration and listened to the music till the last letters of the final credits were gone.
Piccolo corpo (2021)
A wonderful trip
This is the best movie I have seen in the cinema so far this year, together with 'Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom'.
One is sucked in with the story of the desperate young mother. It's a timeless movie. The two main characters do an excellent job and seem to come from another world, a fairytale world that seems real. The beautiful music and the splendid scenery are two big assets, that complete the dream world. In the small hall of the small cinema everyone sat full of admiration till the last letters of the final credits were gone.
La place d'une autre (2021)
Very good drama
I am very surprised to be the first one to write a review about this beautiful French drama.
It is beautifully told story with very performances of the leading actresses. Also a very believable history drama with nice shot scenery round the first world war.
I could only recommand this movie, the best one that I have seen for a while, better than Licorice Pizza, C'mon C'mon and Un Monde.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Not more than 7 stars
With all the positive reviews I had expected more of this movie.
I did not mind that there was not much going on and the pop songs we're very nice as well, but there was some stuff which I did not like at all: Sean Penn, Tom Waits and Bradley Cooper did not add something substantial at the story. And my main point of criticism is that I did not care much about the love story. There was never any dept or serious talking between the two leads. I still wonder why they e're attracted to eachother.
Not more than 7 stars worth.
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (2019)
True masterpiece and best movie of 2019
What a wonderful movie. In my mind I am still walking on the beach with Marianne and Héloïse... The acting performance of the two leading actrices Noémi Merlant and Adèle Haenel is superb. There are also very beautiful woman to look at, especially Merlant is one of the most gorgeous looking actrices I have ever seen.
Although I am a hetero man, I was totally involved with the moving love affair between Marianne and Héloïse.
I did read a lot of reviews about this film, which were almost all very praising. And I was already enchanted after seeing the trailer at the cinema.
I went to see the movie in a very small theatre of a small cinema. But there was no seat anymore left for this true masterpiece. The public was very quiet during the presentation of the film. This is always a good sign. It is actually a shame that these kind of movies are not shown on a big stage. However, it is perhaps even better to see 'Portrait de la jeune fille en feu' in an intimate environment.
I was moved the whole way long, and especially the end was so strong and left me and a lot of people in tears.
This is by far the best movie that I did see in 2019.
My personal top 20 of movies that I all have seen at the cinema:
1. Portrait de la jeune femme en feu
2. Green Book
3. Dolor y gloria
4. If Beale Street Could Talk
5. The Wild Pear Tree
6. Roma
7. Hors normes
8. The Irishman
9. Arctic
10. Ad Astra
11. Nuestras madres
12. Parasite
13. Jinpa
14. Le jeune Ahmed
15. Stan & Ollie
16. Wild Rose
17. The Old Man & the Gun
18. Pájaros de verano
19. Martin Eden
20. Once Upon A Time ... in Hollywood
Just out of my top 20: 21. Colette; 22. Marriage Story; 23. Les Misérables; 24. The Favourite; 25. Duelles.
Not at all in my top 20: Der Goldene Handschuh; High Life; Gloria Bell; Joker; Teen Spirit; Border; Midsommar; Sunset.
So leave your house and try to see this marvellous painting of a movie at the cinema, because the cinematography and beautiful 'painted shots' are so much better to admire there than at home.
Girl (2018)
Boring and soulless
I am from Belgium but I don't agree that Girl deserves an Oscar nomination. Rundskop (Bullhead), another Belgian movie of 2011 for example, was so much better and did deserve an Oscar nomination.
I was so dissapointed after having seen Girl. Apart from the transgender theme, there is not much moving the story forward from a dramatic point of view. A lot of scenes show the ballet classes, and after a while they don't offer anything new to the story. To add a bit of dramatic evolution into the screenplay, there is a shocking incident at the end. But this felt forced, and at that moment, I could really not care anymore what happened with 'the girl'. The lead actor, Victor Polster, never shows any true emotion at all. We also never know why he wanted to change from a boy into a girl. I must also say that I was getting dizzy after all that ballet dancing.
Again, there is a lot of hype, around the 'transgender' theme, and this movie just not deserves all the positive critics. The movie is boring and has no soul.
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Excellent realistic drama and one of the best movies of this century
I really cannot believe and understand why some viewers give a score of only 1 or 2 out of 10 for this movie. Have they seen another movie than I have? Together with Moonlight this is the best movie that I have seen at the cinema in 2017. Casey Affleck gives a stunning performance as Lee Chandler, a handyman who spends his days painting, doing minor plumbing work, repairing leaks and so on or just giving advice while making sure to avoid any social interaction with the people he is working for. He is a very silent man and we only learn later on why he is such a person. The younger brother of Ben deserved the Oscar for this role more than anybody else in the last ten years.
With the magnificent classic music of Albinoni and without any dialogue the cruel truth is revealed later on. I will never forget this scene, so beautiful. I like the slow pace of the movie, the quiet dialogues without shouting to each other and the beautiful classic soundtrack gives the movie an ultimate 10/10. There are just no flaws in this very realistic drama.
The movie is very real and strangely raw to be filmed so beautifully. It's just not fake like a lot of movies are usually. It's all the real emotions people go through.
Excellent movie and one of the best movies I have seen in the last ten years, and an amazing performance by Affleck.
A must see. What are you waiting for to watch this excellent drama?
Alba (2016)
Beautiful drama
I like Alba from the young director Ana Cristina Barragán very much. There is almost no dialogue, but still you know everything that you have to know when you look at Macarena Aria, who gives a stunning performance as Alba, a 11 year old child.
Given that Macarena Arias is playing a very shy character who is all about isolation and solitude, her performance is amazingly communicative. With her large and doleful eyes and her frail body that seems to want to avoid all human contact, she still manages to give a high variation of nuances thanks to director Barragán.
Alba needs a lot of love, but her sick and dying mother cannot give her that anymore and her father, whom she does not know very well after her parents had divorced, is a shy man who has had a lot of problems in his life (as a drugs addict) and whose house is in a very poor state.
Alba flees away in making her puzzles and her father helps her to make a painting out of her puzzles, a symbol of love.
This unsentimental and truthful drama moved me a lot. I would like to recommend this picture of Ecuador to everybody who likes beautiful movies.
Jackie (2016)
Fantastic Natalie Portman
Wow. Natalie Portman does it again. After The Black Swan she must receive another Oscar for her breathtaking role as Jacqueline Kennedy. Together with Rachel Weisz she is, in my mind, the best actress of the last ten years. And the storyline is also daring, but beautiful. I enjoyed every minute of this movie. Director Pablo Larrain from Chile is an innovative moviemaker (No, El Club, Neruda, ...) After Moonlight this is the best movie I have seen in 2017. You will not be disappointed if you are going to see this movie at the cinema.
Moonlight (2016)
Best movie of the last five years
Can I give this movie 11/10?!? Finally a movie that really deserves the Oscar for best movie.
I saw Moonlight almost one week ago and I am still mesmerized by this movie. Everybody should go to the cinema to experience this masterwork. Moonlight is one of the most beautifully told stories of this century. The film has a brilliant and beautiful way of using it's camera as a character. Every member of the cast gives a beautiful performance, as if they knew that they we're playing in a masterpiece. The three talented actors that play Chiron are all equally brilliant in their own ways of playing the character of Chiron.
And what I liked the most of the movie is the slow camera work of director Barry Jenkins, the dialogues without much words and above all the captivating music of Nicholas Britell. I am seriously thinking about going to see this movie again within a couple of weeks. I have not done this since The Deep Blue Sea (of director Terence Davies), which is still the best movie I have seen the last ten years at the cinema.
Some people say that the pace in Moonlight is a bit slow, but I like this so much and I have only one minor criticism actually: the pace is sometimes to fast, some characters deserve even more dialogues!
Nevertheless: there aren't enough words I can say that will do justice to this film, so check it out at your nearest theater. You will not regret it, because Moonlight is a movie for real movie adepts.
Hardcore Henry (2015)
Worst movie that I have seen in 2016
This film tells the story of a man who is resurrected from the dead by technology. There is a lot of buzz around 'Hardcore Henry' being the first film to be filmed in a first person perspective. To me, the film looks more like a video game, and I don't like video games. The contrast between Hardcore Henry and Frantz, the best movie that I have seen in 2016, is very big. Frantz is a quiet movie with a nice story line and Hardcore Henry was a complete waste of my time and money. Magallanes was on the second place of my list an An on the third place. I never will go to such a movie as Hardcore Henry again, it was just awful. And I felt already sick of dizziness after 10 minutes. It is the first time that I give just one star to a movie. The Shallows, another very bad movie that I have seen in 2016, got two stars of me.
A Quiet Passion (2016)
Excellent quiet drama
Whatever happens in this crazy and fast and digital world, Terence Davies remains the director of slow pacing dramas. Also his latest movie is another masterpiece of 'A Quiet Passion'. You have to see this movie on a big screen because every shot is like a painting. I did not know the actress Cynthia Nixon at all, but she is marvellous as the poet Emily Dickinson. All the members of the family - Jennifer Ehle as Lavinia 'Vinnie' Dickinson (Emily's sister), Duncan Duff as Austin Dickinson (Emily's brother), Joanna Bacon as Emily Norcross Dickinson (Emily's mother) and Keith Carradine as Edward Dickinson (Emily's father) are excellent. I must say that I want to read some poems of Emily Dickinson after seeing this movie.
So Terence Davies remains one of my favorite directors with his unique slow pacing style that I like so much. I must say that I liked The Deep Blue Sea, another movie of Terence Davies, even more. That picture with Rachel Weisz and Tim Hiddleston is still the best movie that I have seen at the cinema in the last five years (2011-2016).
But A quiet Passion is surely in my list of top ten movies that I have seen this year at the cinema. This is my personal top 10 of movies that I have seen so far in 2016: 1. Frantz; 2. La Pazza Gioia; 3. A Quiet Passion; 4. Tanna; 5. Juliana; 6. Magallanes; 7. An; 8. Les innocentes; 9. El Olivo; 10. Carol.
The Deep Blue Sea (2011)
best movie of the last 5 years (2011-2016)
Whatever happens in this world where everything goes or has to go fast and more and more digital, Terence Davies remains the same director with his slow pacing style which I like so much.
Everything in this movie works excellent: the first ten minutes with the magnificent music of the Violin Concerto of Samuel Barber brings you immediately in the right mood of the movie. Also later on in the movie the strong and beautiful voice of Jo Stafford with her most famous song You belong to Me turns you back in the fifties.
But for me the strongest scene of the movie is the long tracking shot in the underground Railway: with one long movement of the camera Davies brings alive the sphere of the city during the world war. I do like the scene where everyone sings in the bar also a lot.
Rachel Weisz, in my opinion one of the best and most beautiful actresses of the last 10 years (The Constant Gardener, Agora, Youth, ...), is in this movie at her very best. With one blink of her sad eyes you can feel her broken heart. Tim Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale are also superb.
I can only recommend this movie to everyone. I have seen this movie already four time (even twice at the cinema...).
Thank You, Terence Davies, for giving us from time to time movies of this quiet caliber.
The Deep Blue sea is still the best movie that I have seen in the last 5 years (2011-2016) at the cinema. THe movie should at least have a rating of 8,3 instead of 6,3.
Frantz (2016)
brilliant melodrama
I go to the cinema to see often - two or three times each month - 'the better movies and no so commercial movies' and in 2016 Frantz was the best movie I have seen so far this year, by far! The brilliant narrative structure of this movie in black and white and the use of colour just at the right moments is something you should see for yourself. I like also the fact that the German people really talk German and that the French people really speak French. And with the black and with images you can feel yourself dropped back in 1919. François Ozon is such a diversified director. I have seen already his movies Sous le sable, Swimming Pool, 8 femmes, 5x2, Le temps qui reste and Jeune & Jolie. These are all very different movies. And as in all movies from Ozon he always tries to surprise us - viewers - with a twist in the plot. So the story line is never predictable, and in Frantz you never know what will happen next. All the actors we're splendid, and you really could feel yourself back in 1919. And the melodrama is the genre of movie I like so much.
This is my TOP 20 of (new) movies that I saw at the cinema in 2016: 1. Frantz; 2. Magallanes; 3. La Pazza Gioia; 4. An; 5. Juliana; 6. Tanna; 7. Hell Or High Water; 8. Les Innocentes; 9. L'Économie Du Couple; 10. El Olivo; 11. 45 Years; 12. Truman; 13. Carol; 14. Spotlight; 15. The Idol; 16. Slow West; 17. Eye In The Sky; 18. The Handmaiden; 19. The Hateful Eight; 20. The Revenant.
The Shallows (2016)
such a disappointment
Well, This movie is the worst movie I have seen this year. I just saw Blake Lively in Cafe Society, and there she really could show what she is capable of. In The Shallows the director only showed us what a fine figure she has for her age. I was never afraid of the shark and sometimes laughed because it all was so ridiculous. With sky-ping and speaking to a camera the director wanted to give a modern touch to the movie but that was simply to fill the gaps of the story and nearly make me walk out of the theatre. I had to think a lot of Jaws, the movie of Steven Spielberg of 1975. Why are the old movies so much better than the new movies? Please stop with these nonsense and show us the old movies. I felt very sorry for Blake Lively that she had to appear in such a bad movie, where nothing happens. What a disappointment. The only good thing about the movie was that it not lasted more than 80 minutes.
Umimachi Diary (2015)
beautiful humane drama
Just at the very end of 2015 I saw, in my opinion, the second best movie of this year (1. Loin des hommes; 3. Phoenix).
After Still Walking (2008) and Like Father, Like Son (2013) Our Little Sister (2015) was the third movie that I saw from director Hirokazu Koreeda. Each time Koreeda did almost the same thing and then again not really the same thing. But the bounds between one or two families are each time the principal basis on which he delivers his masterpieces. I am in love with his work because you can get very emotional after watching his movies. I also like the quiet camera-work. You are getting at ease after watching so many other movies with fast camera-work. And the beautiful and spirited music gives the movie a magic two hours of admiration and awe.
MY FAVORITE LIST OF 2015 of the new movies that I have seen at the cinema (what strikes me is that there are no English spoken movies in my top 5): 1. LOIN DES HOMMES; 2. OUR LITTLE SISTER; 3. PHOENIX; 4. COMING HOME; 5. THEEB; 6. BRIDGE OF SPIES; 7. SICARIO; 8. LA ISLA MINIMA; 9. A MOST VIOLENT YEAR; 10. RAMS; 11. YOUTH; 12. WHIPLASH; 13. EVEREST; 14. RELATOS SALVAJES; 15. SON OF SAUL; 16. THE LONGEST RIDE; 17. THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.; 18. GOOD KILL; 19. SPECTRE; 20. THE MARTIAN ...
Loin des hommes (2014)
excellent drama
The movie is timeless, with a great story, breathtaking landscapes and Viggo Mortensen - as always - excellent, and he speaks at least three foreign languages in this French movie. A must seen movie and the best one I have seen all this year 2015.
You have in this feature the sad and beautiful story of a short and poignant friendship during war in Algeria. Two very different men who will have to fit together, against all odds. I think Viggo Mortensen does well to play in 'little movies',his acting is getting better and better as he is getting older.
I saw the movie with only 15 people in a little cinema. What a shame that big cinema buildings don't show this one. But I don't mind, then all the people are at least interested! Everybody should go to the cinema to see this excellent drama!!!