ericmarseille Reviews

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

A very good sci-fi-adventure movie, better than the new star-wars franchise, with STUNNING visuals

[8/10 · 7 August 2017]

This movie is very, very good, just short of brilliant!

Don't listen to the incredible flak the critics have fired at this film, it's simply out-of-this-world stupid and mean.

My two cents :

1) Many people keep raving about the introductory sequence ; I think it was a very good idea, but one of the most perfectible technically and cinematically in the film, yet very good, which says it all

2) Many people say there is no plot : are they crazy? the plot is better than 99% of what Hollywood dishes out regularly, and there are no plot holes!

3) Many people say they felt hammered by the diversity and sheer number of different aliens in the movie and felt the film was too long...I for one would have asked for more, more!, and was entertained to the very end

4)True Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan were not acting brilliantly but frankly their act was OK

5)I was waiting for very thick humor and clichés but Besson managed to restrain himself to little touches that were sometimes very welcome

6)And yes, the ultra imaginative universe of the comics Valérian and Laureline is present in this film...The CGI is unbelievable,better than "Avatar" and way better than the "Star wars" franchise, and is now the standard to which a film will be rated.

In short : Hats off to Besson, hats off to Weta Digital, this is a remarkable achievement and a very entertaining film...I'll watch "Valerian (and Laureline)II" anytime!

And Yes, I also have been in love with Laureline from childhood on, but I'll stick to the comics version, sorry, she's more beautiful and feminine than you Cara!

Protéger & servir (2010)

Super-alternating hilarious or boring french police farce

[6/10 · 25 July 2014]

I have to say, this comedy is extremely characteristic of recent french comedies, like "beur sur la ville", "vive la France" or "mais qui a re-tué pamela rose?" etc.

They can be utterly hilarious at times, and dead boring at others...What they lack to date is a satisfactory DENSITY of cracking gags (that's why, by the way, old comedies like "Le père noël est une ordure" still rule...With a cult gag practically every minute!).

That said, the best gags in a french comedy make me laugh one thousand times louder than everything Hollywood is able to dish out! French films hold no taboos and ridicule just about everything in life and that's super refreshing (e.g., when Kad Merad shows his boss the photo of "his sixth one", an impossibly ugly little girl...Who would dare to do that in the US?)

I have laughed like I haven't for years (even in the best sequences of the above films)in two separate sequences of this film ; yet one of both, occurring in a Vietnamese restaurant, implies reading subtitles, even if you understand french, since the dialog itself is held in Vietnamese (there were french subtitles).

just for those two hilarious gags, and of course a few other ones, I so much wanted to give this film a 7 or a 8, but it would be utter nonsense...The rest is simply too plain boring and Kad, who generally makes very good, crazy characters, is totally out of his role...But Clovis Cornillac is very good in his over-stingy, womanizing, French-Vietnamese policeman role.

I think this film is worth watching once, be it for the face of Clovis Cornillac chasing (what? You'll know watching the film), up to the surface of the swimming-pool, silently shouting "NOOOOOOO!!!" while staring at his sweetheart of the day, or trying to reduce a restaurant bill to a minimum using his Vietnamese language skills(as an aside, you'll probably understand why so many French waiters are grumpy!):)))

The Red Inn (1951)

The darkest of all comedies, thrilling masterpiece derived from an authentic case

[8/10 · 30 December 2013]

The crimes of the Peyrebeille inn, in the Ardèche District, by the owners, the Martin couple and their servant Fétiche, horrified 1830 France, therefore earning the inn itself the nickname "auberge rouge", the "red inn".

This famous, horrific serial-killing case, taking place in an isolated and lugubrious inn, in that deserted part of France, was too tempting not to make it into a film.

The genius of Claude Autan-Lara is to triple it with both a Social and a religious critic ; and to put the icing on the cake, he chose Fernandel, then the undisputed French comical character, for the first role, the role of the monk...Yet one cannot find a darker comedy, and that is probably the greatest charm of the film itself.

Summary : in their isolated inn, during a winter snowstorm, the Martins just killed their uptenth victim, a poor barrel organ player, but his pet monkey managed to escape ; at the same time, a monk and a novice ready moving to their convent walk painstakingly in the snow, hoping to find a hospitable home in the way, just as the stagecoach to Privas, carrying eight people including the own daughter of the Martins, is forced to make a stop at the inn for a night.

The scenario would be all to familiar if it weren't for the fact that Mrs Martin is determined to confess herself to the monk ; but she does so only at the condition that the monk won't repeat a word she'll tell him, under the holy secret of confess.

From that moment, the film turns to an oppressive closed-doors drama, stuffed with tragic-comical situations, twists and turns, as poor Fernandel is torn between his duty to save his Christian brethren, and his duty not to reveal in any way the horrible truth, and the fate, not only of the stagecoach passengers, but most probably of his novice and himself.

It is said that Fernandel, who never refused any film but was a devout catholic, was so shaken by the film that he never spoke again to Autan-lara and gratefully took the role of Don Camillo, the good-doing Italian vicar, as a sort of expiation.

And it's true that everything has been put in place in this film to make it ambiguous, thick, oppressive despite all of its comical aspects...And that's what makes it a must-see!

Burnt by the Sun (1994)

A masterpiece of theatrical tragedy unfolding in one summer day.

[8/10 · 29 December 2013]

This masterpiece of a psychological drama done in the immediate post-soviet Russia is very hard to review, for fear of saying too much.

First let's say that the author clearly wants to give stalinist Russia its due. But there's much more depth to it than that ; this film is first and foremost about destiny, how fate can ruin even the most well-meaning and virtuous lives. It is also about guilt and remorse, in a very subtle way.

In 1936, in Soviet Russia's countryside, a Red Army Colonel, loving husband and father of a little daughter, a dignified and proud man, receives a visit from an eccentric, playful and handsome man, to the great joy of the other residents of the house, who know him well, for he had lived in the place many years ago.

Through the eyes of the little girl, in the span of one summer day, a drama will unfold...But who is the real culprit? The mysterious man (Oleg Menshikov, who gives a memorable performance!)? The stalinist system? And what about the immaculate Colonel (impeccably played by the Director, Nikita Mikhalkov)? Is he so really virtuous after all? Doesn't he have, he also, a dirty little secret which changes everything?

Once again, to say too much would be counter-productive...Just for the immense performance, of Oleg Menshikov, up to its heart-wrenching conclusion, this film is worth watching...A must-see.

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)

A masterpiece ; if you aren't moved by this film, please contact Area 51, for you're an Alien

[9/10 · 22 December 2013]

Summary : near the middle of the 17th century, Cyrano de Bergerac is the most independent-minded and talented poet, the most feared duelist, and, in the "Cadets de Gascogne" Regiment, one of the most valorous military men on the place of Paris.

Yet, secretly, he feels miserable...Deeply in love for years with his cousin, the radiantly beautiful Roxanne, he never confessed it to anyone, including the beauty herself, for fear of ridicule...For this hero has a terrible flaw : his hideous, overgrown, cartilaginous nose, destroying forever his chances to live a normal life.

One day however, Cyrano's routine of hiding his sorrow behind his pride is turned upside down : Roxanne wants to talk to him...Trembling with a mix of fear, hope and excitement, he goes to the rendezvous, only to learn that Roxanne is in love with a handsome young man, Christian de Neuvilette ; Christian is to incorporate the Cadets de Gascogne, and, not being a Gascon himself, she fears he may be roughed up or worse and is asking for Cyrano's protection, which he gallantly promises, accepting his defeat with secret despair.

But in those days to be handsome wasn't enough and to win the heart of a "precious" meant to master the art of eloquence, and Christian, as chivalrous as he is, not only has none, but doesn't understand that it should be needed so badly when a man an a woman are already inclined to each other, risking to lose Roxanne with his directness.

Cyrano decides to help Christian in wooing Roxanne, through his utmost brilliance in eloquence ; he'll be his voice at their secret rendezvous, his hand in writing his love letters...But won't he risk burning his proverbial wings getting closer and closer to what has been his personal sun for so many years? From then on you should watch the film without knowing too much, for it is a masterpiece on so many levels. The end, particularly, has drawn oceans of tears from hundreds of millions of eyes (the play book is a best-seller).

But before giving my own appreciation on the film, one has to know the following facts : - There was actually a Cyrano de Bergerac, in the middle of the 17th century, and, except for the love story, he was EXACTLY what he is portrayed in the film, and perhaps even more interestingly so, in that he is considered a precursor of the enlightment and perhaps agnosticism ; he composed also incredibly touching poems about nature, yet one just needs to know that the most historically accurate fact in the film is his famous fight, and victory, against one hundred henchmen at the Porte de Buci, which was related by many written accounts of the time, to understand that he was a larger than life, extraordinary character.

• The french play writer Edmond Rostand, by the end of the XIX century became engrossed with this almost forgotten historical figure, and decided to revive him in a play, adding a love plot, using the historically attested, enormous but not particularly ugly, nose of Cyrano, as the catalyst for the story. The play was instantly a triumph and never ceased so, despite a curious use of the metric and some arguably convoluted verses, but the emotion is so there that no one in his mind can resist it ; this play is almost entirely respected in the film, verse for verse.

• Now the film in itself : first, hats off to Jean-Paul Rappeneau for his recreation of XVII th century Paris : it isn't a film played in this era, it is a film LIVED in this era ; one must watch it to believe it! it's an absolute shock, never have I felt such an immersion in time! the costumes, the streets, the houses, the light, the settings, the people, everything feels (and probably is) authentic.

• But especially hats off to Gérard Depardieu, who has understood the character so well, turning his frustration into bursts of pure fury, yet showing the widest palette of emotions, the deepest gallantry, the deepest sorrow, with such delicacy...If it were just for his act, one should watch the film. it's not for nothing that this is considered his career's pinnacle.

I have only two negative remarks to make : First, Anne Brochet as Roxanne isn't convincing enough in my opinion, and she isn't as radiantly beautiful as I would have liked, but her role is difficult (who wouldn't be turned off eventually by such a pretentious lady nowadays?), and she acts magnificently during the end scene.

Second, the fight scenes with Gérard Depardieu are more reminiscent of his role to come as Obelix, rather as to the finest fencer of his day ; now, one has to understand that the real Cyrano was only twenty when he did all his exploits, before being gravely injured on battle at twenty-two, and that good old Gégé was probably well in his thirties in the film...

For the rest : a must watch, absolutely. If the end doesn't draw tears from your eyes, please contact Area 51 for you must be an Alien.

Fatal (2010)

Way better than your average french comedy! LIGHT spoiler included.

[8/10 · 26 October 2013]

I've read the other comments prior to add this one, and I feel exactly the same as so many viewers : this film has more style, more energy, better acting, scenario, substance and FUN than it merely suggests. Not mentioning the music, Mickaël Youn style (ah, that roaring "fous ta cagoule!")

In a nutshell : Fatal Bazooka has been for years the best, baddest, most adulated French rapper ; he's got everything : super-trophy wife (that body!), a monster truck to drive in ordinary traffic, an enormous estate... He wears the largest gold chains, the weirdest attires... But his producer, feeling a need for change, decides abruptly to dump him for another, new, fresh star in the making, Chris Prolls (Fantastic Stéphane Rousseau)...After a period of utter demise (hilarious), fatal goes back to his roots, which are in Haute-Savoie, in the Alps...From there he'll have to prepare his revenge.

In fact everything, every scene in this film is funny in one way or another...When Mickaël Youn is in his element, and he clearly is in this film, he is wonderful.

And the music, as usual with him, ain't bad either, just by judging the hit that "fous ta cagoule" has been.

A very, very good comedy...At the level of the best ones from the States.

Vive la France (2013)

Funny French comedy about terrorism, immigration, and (french) regionalism

[7/10 · 26 October 2013]

Okay, there are for now two reviews about this film, a raving one, and a dumping one...I'd like to insert mine in the middle, and say this is a good comedy, very unequal though.

First, the plot : in a little central Asian country no one has ever heard of in the West, Tabulistan, the Great Leader is exasperated by his country's anonymity ; but his son, Yafaraz Weshmagül, has had a fine idea : commercial terrorism! Just bomb the most visited monument in the world, the Eiffel Tower, and the world will know at last about us! Two shepherds, half-brothers are recruited as martyrs, trained in french (hilarious), and voilà,off they're sent to France! Only of course they'll have plenty of problems, leading them to visit a few regions before reaching the target under the protection of a young female journalist, who sincerely believes they're refugees, and eventually getting infected by a surreptitious change of mind about killing innocent people and dying in the process.

Now there are some absolutely sublime moments in this film : all the scenes in Taboulistan are fantastic, the "tawa", the villagers morning dance, is to die for, the way the two shepherds negotiate their heavenly reward : " virgins, firstly, one never knows! secondly, they don't know how make good love, they don't know how make good food! we want OLDER women!" ; warning, however, the jokes rely also for a good chunk on a fine understanding of the french language, i.e. when little leader Weshmagül (there's a pun in his name BTW), who has chosen the code name "Alain Houellebecq" for the operation, asks his men to repeatedly scream his new name(get it?).

I would also put in the best moments the rugby match and the scene with the psycho kid from the suburbs, who's in charge of supplying the explosive.

But there are also quite a lot of unbalanced, or simply too caricaturing, or just unfunny stuff...Too bad.

Anyway the best in this film is so good (really!) that it's worth watching it once at least.

Arab on the City (2011)

A very nice, fresh, surprise of a police comedy playing on contemporary racism and prejudice

[7/10 · 9 June 2013]

Warning : possible (quite light) spoiler When I watched this film I was expecting the usual stuff with French police comedy : actors overplaying their part (esp. knowing that Booder was the leading actor), plot so thick that it would have been refused by Besson himself, clichés, clichés and clichés again...The very start of the film, with the actors dubbing, just like children, the Paramount and Orange clips, let me fear the worse (although I found this rather funny).

Yet what a surprise! despite being clearly a comedy, the plot is very clever and serious (you'll need all your subtitle reading capacity to understand it in full I'm afraid, and a second viewing may be necessary to put everything in place), and one can almost see the transformation of Lieutenant Khalid Belkacem, aka Booder, from Arab buffoon lost in the French Police to real, serious police Officer, under the charm and influence of Captain Dianne Dardenne, aka Sandrine Kimberlain...In fact this film clearly oscillates between real police film and real buffoonery, but the mix is very neatly done (which is a characteristic of good french contemporary comedies).

The sets are very well chosen,the direction is very good, and the film has some emotional moments, particularly when Khalid believes he just saw in the latest, unidentifiable victim, Dianne herself, thanks to an element of her clothing.

Although Booder's 2 buddies, of which I didn't even tried to remember the names, are mediocre actors at best, there is a surprising gel between the rest of the distribution and these three ones...Sandrine Kimberlain really lifts this film with her charm...I hear and read over and over that same question : how can French women be so charming, even when they're not hot chicks? Generally I think it's a cliché, but look at her...She's simply wonderfully charming and sexy, yet she'd be expelled from any beauty pageant on the spot!

Now some details about the scenario : A serial killer, dubbed "the Friday killer" has killed three women in the vicinity of a mosque in a dreary, mostly Muslim French suburb of Paris.

At the same time, a young and clueless police intern has tense relations with his future father in law, the chief of the police station ; but fate is unpredictable : for affirmative action reasons, Khalid is named Lieutenant AND given the Friday killer case...Of course, no way in letting this clueless buffoon do it for real, so he is adjoined Captain Dianne Dardenne and her team, from the criminal police Dpt in Paris...But, as the investigation goes, Dianne understands she needs him, and he becomes more and more invested in his role, up to the conclusion of the case.

Trivia : If you want to watch Jean-Claude Van Damne having a small part, in French, and in a comedy, here you are!

Welcome to the Sticks (2008)

A charming and funny comedy which nobody explains in full : here it is!

[8/10 · 28 May 2013]

Warning : spoiler

Fact : this film has puzzled the critics, the international audience as well as the intellectual Parisian establishment with its phenomenal success (I mean, with the French public)...Why, but oh why, has this unpretentious, rather funny comedy, OK, been such a blockbuster?

Mystery revealed :

The French, who are sourpusses, egoistical, cold hearted, hypocritical people (I am one!), KNOW, all of them, that a gem of a people lives way, way up in the gloomy, rainy, barren north of the country : the Ch'tis. Up there, dire life conditions and the common destiny of working generation after generation in the coal mines (now closed) and textile mills (now also closed) gave way to the most humane, the kindest-hearted, the most equal of the French, and maybe of the Europeans.

All the French know at least the two first verses of this Enrico Macias -a North African Jew!- song : "People of the North have in the eyes the blue that their setting is lacking, people of the North have in their heart the sun that they don't have outside"

I've personally known a Ch'ti family who used to leave their door open all day in the worst suburb of Paris ; one of my wife's acquaintances told her how, when she was a kid, she and her friends, roaming the streets of their mining city, would simply enter any home, at random, through its already opened door, and just had to say "we're hungry" or "we're thirsty" to be regaled with waffles and apple juice, all of them, always (and remember that these people were the poorest)...Dany Boon himself describes how, as she moved to the North, one of his friends stopped passers-by who were picking her furniture up from inside the truck, in fear that they were stealing her belongings, when in fact they were spontaneously helping her...She just couldn't fathom that!

Oh yes, the Normands are cool, the Bretons are serious, the Alsacians are hard-working, the Southwesterners are tough, the Provençals are jolly, the Auvergnats are thrifty, and the Corsicans...Well, forget it. OK, OK...But the heart of gold belongs to the Ch'tis, although they live in the worst environment, the worst climate, the worst unemployment, everybody knows that in France, and this film lifts part of the shroud around this enduring mystery, hence its phenomenal success.

There! Fascination explained!

Now about the story : a small-ranking Manager from the French Postal Service, married to a disenchanted but beautiful wife and living in Provence, though not yet on the Riviera, understanding that only disabled employees can have a chance to move out there, tries to con his way by faking disability, gets caught (hilarious scene), and is sent, as a disciplinary measure, where nobody in France wants to go, the gloomy, desperate North...What region? Simply that : the North, it's the region name, a program in itself (Michel Galabru, hilarious as a Provençal who lived the northern freezing hell for a while in his childhood, simply states "ThaaaAAAt's the NoooooOOrr!") ; for fear of aggravating his wive's depression, he goes alone with the promise to return home on every week-end.

At first, everything fits in his gloomy scenario : gloomy climate, gloomy urban landscapes, incomprehensible people speaking a bastardized dialect, smelly cheese dipped in the (YUCK!) morning coffee (in fact curled endive decoction, one other northern specialty)...But little by little, he is tipped over by the kindness of the people ; only, this is a double-edged sword, for the more his wife believes he is living in hell, the more affectionate and amorous she gets...Finally, our hero is living the best of both worlds, happy at work and happy at home, by lying blatantly about his everyday life...Alas, alas, his wife, realizing how egoistical she's been until then, decides to join him in exile...And then...Ah, better let you see the film!

Overall : a very good film, sometimes emotional, sometimes funny, sometimes really hilarious.

Buffet Froid (1979)

Wonderful absurdist black comedy about loneliness and dehumanization of society

[8/10 · 12 April 2013]

This film is really one of those little unknown gems that one can find by patiently prodding into the universal filmography.

The plot is totally absurd, but this isn't the point.

The subject of the film is clearly the emotive loss that people go through living in cold, dehumanized societies.

Simply put : an unemployed young man, a killer, a disenchanted police inspector team up simply to find the most minuscule spark of what vaguely could resemble a human feeling in a modern, desolate town.

This is a joyously crazy film...The directing is top-notch, you just wonder what will be the reaction of each character to an oncoming situation ; I absolutely love the sets, that hideous concrete tower, the oppressing "hotel particulier", and that incredibly lugubrious country lodge, set in the most sinister country landscape that I've been able to see in my country.

The general tone is one of total indifference to despair, death and solitude, except maybe your own, but only when it's too late.

Also : the trio, Depardieu (young, still with this animal feel), Bernard Blier (simply wonderful), Marcel Carmet just works fine! if you love something that titillates, this film is just like savoring a glass of bordeaux wine from a good château...You'll just feel better after watching it.

Too bad the end looks botched and bungled...If not I'd have given it a 9!

Santa Claus Is a Stinker (1982)

Wonderfully funny, insightful, dark, cult Christmas classic

[9/10 · 18 December 2012]

Listen, each time I try to write about this film, I do it too long, too convoluted, too...Too! So simply : WATCH this film! It's a legend! It's insanely funny! It's insanely witty! The plot, the actor's play, the layout, the atmosphere, everything's top of the top! It's the best of the best of the best ever comedies! There...Feels better!

Now the plot : It's Christmas eve, a very special moment for French people (think of it as Christmas crossed with thanksgiving if you're from the US), in a parisian apartment doubling as office of a help line for suicidal people.

The staff are used to odd types, but only from a distance.

But this evening their quiet, narrow, petit-bourgeois lives will be totally upset by the intrusion of Josette and her former "boyfriend" Félix, two hillbillies (Felix is costumed as Santa Claus for he just took an odd job, advertising a Christmas peep-show on the streets).

To add insult to injury, Katia, a transvestite sick with loneliness, manages to sneak in, notwithstanding the usual intrusions of Mr Preskovic, immigrant from Bulgaria and neighbor to the help line, desperately trying to woo Thérèse, one of the female staff.

With all these conflicting characters the evening can only descend into chaos, and it will, of course, in a very dark and joyous way! Once again : WATCH THIS FILM! Ah, and please note that this is a DARK comedy...Therefore expect plenty of foul language, explicit sexual language, half-hidden sexual and implicit gore situations!

The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (1942)

Great old noir thriller from Georges Clouzot

[8/10 · 2 December 2012]

Warning : possible (light) spoiler

This wonderful noir thriller has the simplest of plots ; a serial-killer is ravaging Paris in the 40's, always signing his crime by leaving on the scene his card : "Mr Durand".

The population is in shock, the police powerless, as the killings are so unpredictable ; Commissaire Wens (Pierre Fresnay) has just been given a few days to solve the issue, when his luck turns suddenly : an ex-con, now a rag and bone man, whilst visiting a boarding house attic, has seen a pile of those famous "Mr Durand" cards...Now it's clear in the Commissaire's mind, "the murderer lives at the 21st"...But who is the murderer?

Wens, as an undercover Pastor, does his inquiry...Very soon, out of the colorful and quirky characters living permanently in the place, he brings down his list of suspects to three individuals, all equally creepy...Out of those three ones, there is the dreaded Mr Durand, a true psychopath.

Clouzot's great mastery shines in this film with the choice of the three suspects, whose balance in temper, personality, creepiness and sheer hate for each other is absolutely top notch, but also with his directing, for he's carefully, extremely skillfully, setting a trap for the viewer, and when the truth is suddenly revealed, one just bangs his forehead and says "How good can that guy be so that I didn't think of it yet?"

It could have been a very good film just with Clouzot's directing, but the three suspects(Noel Roquevert, Jean Tissier, Pierre Larquey), fantastic actors of a time when acting second roles was taken as seriously as being a star, make this a very enjoyable masterpiece.

A must-see.

Amélie (2001)

Magical

[10/10 · 16 May 2012]

Could it be that cinema touches us deep inside while depicting the most simple things in life? Yes is "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain"'s answer. I know of no other film capable of doing that. We all have to thank Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Audrey Tautou for that, and watch this film without restrain.

Touching, endearing, enlightening, refreshing, spellbinding, magical...A wonderful moment.

The scene when she is throwing pebbles in StMartin's canal, or when she is preparing the cake and the cat...Ssshhh, better let you discover the film

The Nest (2002)

Terrific action and suspense flick! don't disregard it because it's french!

[8/10 · 13 May 2012]

There's only one real drawback with this wonderful french film which is GUARANTEED to please internationally : it is slow to start ; so please take patience with the first twenty minutes because when action comes in, it will step up, and up, and up and UP NON STOP TO THE VERY END! And to what end! take lessons, Hollywood! For the rest, what can I say? This film is guaranteed to put you up to the edge of your seat, your heartbeat will accelerate, your tension will shoot up, rarely a film makes you participate so much.

The actors play the way we would like their Hollywood counterparts to play, the shooting is sharp, the settings and photography spot on ; everything in this film is nervous, edgy, hard-boiled yet credible.

Enjoyment and thrill guaranteed, if it weren't for the slow start i'd have rated it a 9

District B13 (2004)

Wanna know what ACTION means?

[9/10 · 13 May 2012]

I'll always remember how I discovered this incredible movie ; I was bored late one evening and tried to look for something watchable on TV because I couldn't sleep...And then, BOOOM! the introductory chase sequence! like a punch in the stomach! And then all the rest of the film, aaaaww..wonderful, just wonderful.

This film will leave you exhausted and relieved : AT LAST a REAL ACTION FLICK! bow your head in shame, Hollywood!

Definitely in my 10 best films ever list, no matter how good the rest.

Three remarks now :

• The only drawback of this film is, yes, that it slows a bit after twenty terrific first minutes, but such an explosion of action can just not last for the duration of one film, alas

• People regularly ask if CGI was used in this film ; as a fan of David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli, I've read the interview about the stunts : the only trick they used was a harness securing David Belle in the scene when leïto jumps from the window to catch the rope. NOTHING ELSE

• They are people who say all over IMDb that the plot twist in the end is unbelievable and stupid...Oh, really? Well I can tell you as a real Paris banlieusard -my first 39 years of life in Sarcelles and Les Ulis, this will legitimate me with the French readers-, that many many people in my country would feel VERY COMFORTABLE with that plot twist! And concerning the violence in the banlieues, just let me tell you that, if the violence isn't yet up to this film's, it is slowly but surely going up and up! so no, this isn't totally a fantasy, just a exaggerated image of a terrible reality.

Crooks in Clover (1963)

super cult french film noir spoof

[9/10 · 8 May 2012]

A gem, a gem, and again : a gem!

The most "cult" film of the french production, this film never gets old thanks to the fantastic dialogs of the genius Michel Audiard...

The only drawback? French, french and french as can be! to understand fully this film's incredible wit, one has to be able to recognize in full the subtle nuances of french language, from the rudest expressions of gangster speech to the most upscale diplomatic language, with so many intermediate stops that it's impossible to tell!

"Morons dare anything...That's how one identifies them!"

"Hey did ya see that? During a truce? He's singing and then he's punching my face? but he's totally loony, that guy...Only, loonies, I cure them! I'm gonna give him a prescription, and a severe one for that matter! one will find him scattered at the four corners of Paris, puzzle fashion! when I'm done too much I don't correct anymore, I dynamite! I scatter! I break down!"

"- Okay then, take the truck and make the delivery yourself! - One has to be able to... - So what's holding you back? - At night, in the middle of the road, a man in uniform waving a lantern and shouting "stop!", what do you do? - Well I'm stopping of course, not running him over! -Well, that's why you still are in possession of a driving license, Sir...I'm not! "

And so much more...A National Treasure, I tell you!

Don't Die Too Hard! (2001)

A great little french comedy

[8/10 · 22 April 2012]

THE FIRST AND VERY BEST OF ERIC & RAMZY FILMS.

Eric & Ramzy may be nobodies on the anglo-saxon planet but they are a very famous comical duo in France.

They're also a bit of a mystery : their shows are quite dull, their films bomb one after another, yet when they are invited as guests in any show they just steal it...It seems they can only be (very) funny when unleashed and natural. ; that's the wonder of this marvelous little comedy, to watch them play -maybe because it was their first film- in the same way they behave when unfretted.

The plot is simple yet good : on a Friday evening,in the deserted, lone skyscraper of inner Paris, the Montparnasse tower, a gang has taken hostage a rich CEO and his sons who came for their annual general assembly, in order to steal 50 million francs off their headquarters strongroom ; only two simple minds can help derail the plot ; two helplessly unintelligent, even retarded, impossibly goofy window cleaners ; and of course, in their own stupid way, they'll manage to do it.

Not only this movie is a big bowl of fresh and funny inspiration, but it is remarkably directed, in a near-Hollywood style ; the shooting, the photography, the music are all extremely professional, and the other actors, especially Marina Foïs as the Mischivious Stéphanie/marie-joëlle and Serge Riaboukine as the cold-blooded gang chief and anxious suitor are absolutely top-notch.

The absolute discrepancy between the professionalism, seriousness of the filming, Hitchcock-like, and the childishness of Eric & Ramzy, only adds to the feel-good factor.

This adorable comedy really deserves an 8.