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thomasrumeau
Reviews
The Swimmers (2022)
Heartwarming even if a bit simplistic at times
Interesting movie showing all the dangers taken by immigrants who try to reach Europe illegally, Germany in that case, through the story of two sisters and their cousin. They left Syria during the height of the civil war while their parents, friends, and dreams remained in their home country to go to a country, Germany, where they knew nobody. Both sisters are talented swimmers helped by a father who was pushing them to excel at it. The story is sad, difficult to watch at times, but heartwarming at the end.
While watching the movie I couldn't help but to think that the director just portrayed all refugees are great people who all get along while all the smugglers and people they meet along the way as bad people, especially those who live between Greece and Germany. It seems the Germans were fine though for the most part. I thought that was a bit simplistic. We are talking about strangers from different countries with different culture going through difficult times. They are people who just don't get along. Anyway, overall I still felt that was a very decent movie.
La battaglia di Algeri (1966)
Almost like a documentary
The movie takes place during the Algerian independence from France. The director spent a good amount of time depicting the violence in the city of Algiers between both the French military and the Algerian National Liberation Army. It shows the tactics and strategies that both sides use to achieve their goal. Each one commits atrocities to each other. After Algerians kill random people in the street, the French retaliate by throwing bombs into random's Algerian's houses and vice versa. The violence just keeps escalating. Given that the city is neatly divided between both Algerian and French, both organizations can easily attack the other side by going to their enemy's neighborhood and randomly attacking them.
I was impressed by how soon to the events the movie was made - just a few years after Algeria was independent and the war ended so that made it much more relevant. This movie is something that should be watched by military and foreign policymakers. It shows that you can win a battle but not necessarily the war. This movie is in black and white and plays like a documentary. There is no sugarcoating. The dialogue can be pretty intense, and the hate between protagonists is on full display. Some of the scenes are disturbing as well. There are some moments that just feel the same as events that happened in the last few years. The movie feels new and yet it was made almost 50 years ago. I think it was so raw, and focused on the fight that I wished the director could have explored the characters more.
The Great Escape (1963)
Great epic movie
This movie is based on a true story about a group of mostly British soldiers with a few people from other nationalities who are brought in a super secure German prison for prisoners of war during WWII. Many of them have been trying to escape from several prisons several times, and therefore the German military decides to keep them all together in that facility. The first part of the movie is about the planification of the escape while the second part is the execution of the escape. The movie includes a great cast such as Steve McQueen, James Gardner, and Charles Bronson.
While this ends up as a heartbreaking story, the characters are determined, resilient, smart, and optimistic while facing horrible circumstances. I think the director and the actors did a great job at honoring the real POWs. The music and sometimes the scenes feel very light, which almost makes you feel like you are watching an episode of "Hogan's Heroes". However the director is quick at bringing you back to the seriousness of the situation by showing you the terrible consequences faced by the POWs for their actions.
The landscape was beautiful. When McQueen while riding his stolen bike stop to look at where he is. You can see a chain of mountains in the horizon that just looks stunning. All in all a great epic movie with an amazing cast.
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)
Breathtaking, surreal and yet felt rushed
The first thing that impressed me was how beautiful and majestic the Himalayas can be. Every time Nirmal was starting to climb a peak, the director would show the peak from afar so that you could see how incredible the landscape was. I was amazed by the number of people who are willing to risk their lives for this adventure. There were quite a few tragedies in that documentary. For me watching those mountains in a documentary or far is sufficient but to each its own.
The director really did an excellent job at showing how insanely superhuman Nirmal Purja was. In addition to his strength, courage and dedication, he was saving people's life and helped others climbed some of the peaks. The man was a force of nature no doubt. Yet sometimes he sounded like a prick who seemed resentful of Westerners. He complained that Nepalese mountaineers don't get the respect they deserve, that Western climbers do not tell the name of the Sherpas who helped them. Yet the 5 other sherpas who went on the adventure with him were pretty much extras in that documentary. It was all about him.
I think I would have given a much higher rating to this documentary if the director would have focused more on the struggles faced by Nirmal. There were several but as going through this 14 peaks it just felt rushed. He just brushed them so that viewers could see each ascension, which eventually just became a routine. Overall this documentary was still an entertaining experience.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
Very slow
Beautiful landscapes! The actors performed well. I just thought the movie was moving way too slow. There were also a lot of unanswered questions. Why did Phil hate his brother so much? Why were the parents so far and didn't seem to care? Why was Phil ending up in Montana after graduating from Yale? Why was Rose an alcoholic? Everyone was supposed to be scared of Phil and I didn't understand how. I finished watching the movie but it was just ok.
Cuba and the Cameraman (2017)
Cubans never stopped hustling and working hard.
Very good movie. It was interesting to see the changes as the years passed. I was sad when I saw the three brothers had passed away, and the reporter couldn't visit them. I think that was the most touching moment. I was happy when Luis was able to make his life better. He had a dream of owning his store, and selling construction goods. That was uplifting.
I wasn't sad when Fidel passed away. I was just intrigued by why so many people still liked the guy. I believe he really screwed this country's economy, and many people's lives. Here is a country that has free universal health care but is unable to provide drugs for its people. Even the three brother ended up working their entire life without any social security. Thieves were stealing their animals because these robbers couldn't eat. That's true poverty for you.
In some ways I understand why some people liked Fidel. In the documentary, when Fidel would speak to the camera, I saw someone who seems warmth, caring, and smart with his words. For some people that's all they care about. If someone shows that you have you empathy for them, they probably will support you even though your policies are destroying their livelihood.
Anyway this is a good documentary showing the evolution of Cuba, and how Cubans have dealt with it. I thought the cameraman did a fairly unbiased nice job.
The Last Dance (2020)
Great story about a fantastic team
The documentary was well made and great footages from the period. I loved that you could hear what players and coaches were telling to each other. It was nice to see behind the scene videos from most protagonists including adversaries such as Reggie Miller and Stockton. I wish I would have heard from Karl Malone as well. I thought that was great to see people reflect on the past. I was really impressed by the level of engagement and energy put by everyone. Finally, the struggle that Michael Jordan had to go through makes your understand that success in life is also based on who surrounds you as well as the energy you put in there. Eventually Phil Jackson, Pippen, Rodman and everyone else made a phenomenal team and for a great documentary.
Wasp Network (2019)
Great cast, average directing
The movie includes a great cast, the picture is fantastic, and the story is very interesting. A bunch of spies who work for the Cuban government to protect its interests. In addition you could feel that this was not a low budget movie. Despite all of that I was a bit underwhelmed by the whole movie. I felt things moved too fast sometimes, there were important aspects that were barely touched by the director. Important characters were only slightly explored. What made one of the characters plant bombs in Cuba? What was driving the main leaders of the anti-Castro movement? What was driving the spies? All of that was implicitly covered but barely explored. In addition the timing was hard to keep track. We did not know when things were occurring. At the end the story was disappointing because there were so much potential.
The Two Popes (2019)
A moving and informative story
At first I thought the movie was going to be a bad caricature of 2 important religious leaders for many people but as I watched it I thought the director and the actors really did an Impressive performance. Both Hopkins and Price showed how wonderful they can be as actors. They made me both like the real popes even though I am not a catholic and don't really follow the lives of these leaders. I still understood how important they are for others. Also I did not know much about Pope Francis past in the seventies when he led the Jesuit over there and had to deal with the dictatorship. This was a terrible experience and the movie showed Benedict's challenges and struggles. The director did not dig too much into the scandal of pedophilia and how both Benedict and Benoit dealt with that. Some people may certainly complain about it but I think that would have distracted from the main goal of the movie and deserve to be the main topic of its own movie. Overall I was very satisfied with the quality of this movie and the performance of the actors.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Best Spider-Man
I loved the movie. The Spider-Man franchise has become boring to me. This is always the same story. This movie though was a fresh look. Great music, colorful and tasteful animated movie and funny, flawed and interesting characters made this movie a great time to spend in a movie theater. I watched it in 3D, which generally means more money for barely more entertainment, however in that case I thought that was well worth it. I highly recommend watch it.