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Effie Gray (2014)
This is a typical English historical costume film
This is a typical English historical costume film. The screenplay is by Emma Thompson.
The fact that it's based on a true story is irrelevant. Truthfulness is no guarantee of good dramatic subject matter.
Richard Laxton's background is in television movies. Here, he takes advantage of that experience to create highly crafted cutaways and transitions, with vegetation, fog and silhouettes looming over hilltops. And with plenty of dark imagery (in keeping with the historical period).
The film is interesting for its historical component, in which the character of Greg Wise, unsympathetic as can be, is a well-known author and art critic who writes books. He is revered by his family and noblemen. Intellectual capacity and the ability to write books were something rare and celebrated. But we know that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
This art critic has another flaw, linked to his status as a husband, which will be his undoing. We're grateful that the film doesn't explain her sexual situation.
It wasn't easy to make this film, we imagine, for Dakota Fanning: she spends all her time pouting. But the character's story is interesting. Married more or less by force (as was the case in those Victorian times) to this art critic, and finding herself locked up in the house of her in-laws, who idolize their son. The misery and mediocrity of the nobility. Although she makes the viewer tense, in the end she turns out to be more twisted than we imagined, and manages to take revenge on her husband and adopted family.
His Three Daughters (2023)
A good story that takes us right to the end
A sensitive film depicting the journey of three sisters who find themselves caring for their father, who is about to die. Of course, the three sisters have very different personalities and have followed different life paths. One is very pragmatic and down-to-earth, with problems with her teenage child. The other is high and out of touch with reality. And the third spends her time drinking beer and smoking cannabis or an equivalent substance. They are invited to an end-of-life protocol at home, with a dedicated coach and nurse.
The director-writer composes a story with professionalism, where historical liabilities, animosities and other shared moments resurface as the story unfolds. The screenwriter is careful to focus only on these three characters, meaning that we never see the other characters for a good part of the film.
In other respects, we never see the father, except for the final sequence. A final sequence that dispels some of the dramatic choices that preceded it, which surprises the viewer, but is a good idea, as the conclusion of the sequence is in keeping with the dramatic line built up previously.
A good story that takes us right to the end. For a dramatic pattern that's already been seen, but which here captures the viewer, who forgets that he or she may have seen equivalent stories before, but wants to know how this one will end.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
A magnificant slaughtery in space
The film offers several pleasant surprises. The first is an overture to space opera. This seventh in the franchise contains more space openings than usual, both because it takes place in a spaceship and not on a planet (apart from the prologue), and because the sense of emptiness and the space environment (the nearby planet, its rings) are very strong.
Another pleasant surprise is that the film takes its time setting up the characters, who admittedly have little charisma, but things get serious after thirty minutes. Secondly, and this too is one of the pleasant surprises, this is a real horror film, which builds to a crescendo right to the end, even if it doesn't contain much suspense. But it's full of shock sequences, whether predictable for those familiar with the franchise, or new: the body temperature sequence, or the use of gravity, two good ideas that give the film its purpose.
The film is extremely faithful to the franchise, incorporating elements from all previous episodes. It's an anthology of things we've seen in the six previous films, but also a horror story in a confined environment where humans are decimated one by one, respecting the precepts of any good horror film (which generally makes it implausible, but that's not a problem, because everything is implausible here).
The set design is impressive. Some action sequences may lack a little legibility. The technique is not garish and is well blended: whether it's the sets, CGI porn, make-up and dolls, sculptures and other animatronics.
The cast is the film's weakest point: actors and actresses are tasteless, smooth, and arouse neither empathy nor hatred; we don't care what happens to them, and wait patiently for them to be slaughtered by the nasty beasts. And all this in sublime packaging (sets).
Year of the Dragon (1985)
Michael Cimino demonstrate his mastery to serve a charismatic Mickey Rourke on oversighting the war between three communities
It's always surprising to see Michael Cimino's recurring preoccupation with the communities that have immigrated to the USA. Here, it's the Chinese in New York, and the Poles (Mickey constantly refers to his community). As a policeman, Mickey Rourke is in charge of countering the Chinese mafia, which is corrupting the police force and the city. He uses expedient methods to push the new generations of this mafia into crime.
Another element is that the main character is no hero. He's selfish, he cheats on his wife, he has no consideration for others. He's totally unsympathetic and doesn't inspire any empathy.
Time accentuates the film's artificiality. We don't know whether it's documented or based on real events. The form is brilliant, even impressive, with moments of directorial bravura, but we don't get away from the permanent impression that we're dealing with abstractions. It's the form that impresses, particularly the direction, which saves the film.
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Impressive work of art to tell the impact of Vietnam war on a group of people of the same community
We know that subtlety is not Michael Cimino's strong suit. He does, however, excel at staging collective sequences where multiple characters interact, whether in a bar, at a ball, in a city setting or in a mountain setting. The destiny of this group from the same community before, during and after their tours of duty in Vietnam during the famous war is, in some ways, fascinating. Despite the collective, it's the interaction between two people that interests Michael Cimino, whatever the link between the characters: friend, girlfriend, buddy, executioner, buddy in misfortune, hierarchy. It doesn't matter, but in the collective dimension, it's the individual destiny of each character that interests Michael Cimino.
The film comments on and presents the effects of the Vietnam War on this community. And as such, the film contains no heroes. As is often the case with Michael Cimino, the main character is not particularly sympathetic: Robert de Niro, in a good role, between his more or less hidden love for his friend's wife and his hotheaded stance in Vietman, which has collateral effects on his friends. Then there's Christopher Walken's ghost-like persona; John Savage excels as a skin-deep character with multiple physical and psychological stigmata. And let's not forget Meryl Streep, George Dzundza and John Cazale. The acting is extremely effective, without being particularly subtle.
Michael Cimino achieves multiple moments of bravura, staging sequences of anthology, including the final sequence where they start singing. It's an impressive film, in the first sense of the word, i.e. One that makes a vivid impression, that we retain images of, and that provokes reactions. A work of art in a way.
Kali (2024)
Standard action feature with impressive Sabrina Ouazani
In the mass production of B-grade action films, this one stands out from the crowd thanks to its heroine - a woman, convincingly played by Sabrina Ouazani - and an exotic set (in South America). The dramatic canvas is standard, with past trauma, false friends who betray and a hierarchy that betrays, a motivation that compels our hero or heroine to carry out his or her actions of vengeance (as usual, someone close to the hero must be suffering or dying to motivate him or her), and of course our hero, in this case heroine, is a master of weapons and fighting techniques. All this is used as a pretext for a series of spectacular, well-cut, fast-paced action sequences.
As far as the action sequences are concerned, and the film in general, we're all about efficiency and simplicity. No revolution here. The film is to the point, but not slapdash. There's a sense of cutting and a sense of setting. The story is very schematic and tightly woven. The direction of the actors follows suit: we're not into subtlety. Technically efficient, the story is more or less predictable, but what sticks in the mind is Sabrina Ouazani, who bursts onto the screen. A good example of the genre. Given that we're dealing with video streaming for the Internet, it's likely that there will be a sequel. We'll be there.
Larguées (2018)
Nice tragi-comic, for the love of the three main actresses
A mother and her two daughters go on a trip with their mother to help her forget a recent separation. It's a choral mini-film, where different personalities exchange, bicker and experience events together, only to hate each other and find each other again. A theme seen many times before.
Elements of comedy are in place within the misfortunes of the three characters. It works quite well, and a certain empathy ensues. These three women are, in their own way, lost at this point in their lives. And this vacation will of course help them (it's a foregone conclusion from the outset) to take stock and consider what's next. The film doesn't surprise - we know how it's going to end from the start - but the paths it takes work.
As for the cast, Camille Cottin is just as we've come to expect (and in line with her recurring performances). Camille Chamoux has the most difficult character, and she pulls it off very well. Miou-Miou is on autopilot and, as is often the case, serves as a foil for the other characters, while being indispensable to the film's dramatic scheme. The film is conventional in its genre, yet capable of maintaining interest over the long term.
Kono sekai no katasumi ni (2016)
A way of telling history
It's a film about life around the city of Hiroshima during the Second World War, where we follow the life of a young girl exploited by her in-laws (forced into marriage). This is the everyday life of simple people.
The film is not about the militaristic stupidity of the Japanese government of the time and its inability to recognize defeat. It's about the regime's internal victims. Indirect victims linked to the war effort (rationing, for example) or direct (bombing with conventional weapons or bombing using nuclear weapons). As such, the film can be seen as a tribute to the civilians who lived and survived the horrors of war. Without being a documentary, the film contributes to the memory of these events and to a better understanding of the impact of war on the daily lives of ordinary people.
The film's aesthetics are carefully crafted, with a slow, contemplative pace that ultimately manages to evoke empathy for this young girl.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
Delightfully old-fashioned
All the chromos of the Axel Foley franchise are present. It may seem old-fashioned, but it works, because it's all meaningless, and we know that Eddy Murphy will get out of any situation the scriptwriters throw at him. Admittedly, it's all a bit faded, but finding Judge Reinhold, John Ashton or Bronson Pinchot, is nice, as is the character of Axel Foley, aka Eddie Murphy. There's a faded, old-fashioned feel to it, while retaining a certain charm, not of nostalgia, but of the satisfaction of rediscovering these first-degree chromos that were harmless, for example with shoddy villains, where the bad guys are defeated, without second degree, without excessive darkness. It's an anachronistic form in 2024, where hysteria, darkness and irony are basics. And for that reason alone, without being an artistic monument, the film works.
But the film works, because it introduces the character of Axel Foley's daughter, as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character, who are well seen, and enrich the script. The credited writing professionals (Will Beall, Kevin Etten and Tom Gormican) have done a good job of interweaving the various characters from the franchise plus the new ones, while remaining in its spirit, but updating it slightly.
Extraction (2020)
Routine actionner with nice Asian exotism
The director is a former stuntman and stunt manager. The script follows the pattern of John Wick: a retired, depressed (due to past trauma, of course), alcoholic ex-something is called in by an organization to retrieve hostages. There are a lots of plot schemes like this. But the fact that our hero is depressed helps to set the scene for some suicidal sequences. And Chris Hemsworth obviously loves it. The film is also set in various Asian countries, providing exoticism and spectacular scenery.
All in all, this set of schemes is only as good as the action sequences: brutal, bloody, spectacular, often at human level.
Sisu (2022)
A total spectacle, hyper-violent and exhilarating
Sisu is the confrontation between a lone Finnish soldier and a group of defeated German soldiers. The year is 1944, in the wilds of Lapland. The Germans have the bad idea of stealing the soldier's gold (which has turned him into a gold digger). A mistake. The legendary soldier (supposedly immortal) pursues the Germans at all costs to get his gold back.
The film has very little dialogue (the main character only has one line in the last shot of the film). It also has a lot of violent deaths (landmines, cannon, machine-gun, knife) and fights, all original and very spectacular, bordering on the comical, but we understand that this is an important component of the film's artistic gesture.
All in all, it's a total spectacle, hyper-violent and exhilarating, which evolves into an unreal dimension that we soon forget.
Prey (2022)
Respect for the franchise and true originality
This latest instalment in the Predator franchise comes as a pleasant surprise. The film takes up many of the elements of the original film, adapting them to the North American Indian milieu, i.e. Fearless hunters who have to face up to a new animal, a new beast that looks bigger than a bear.
The film takes advantage of this to introduce elements of feminism, building dramatic intensity and driving the film from the point of view of a young Indian girl, who understands that abnormal things are happening, and who would like to become a hunter like the men, and who of course ends up facing the beast (like every episode in the Predator franchise).
In the end, the film's success lies in making a film that is indeed a survival film, where humans, in this case Amerindians, have to face a different kind of wild beast. And the film works perfectly. In fact, it joins ipso facto the top 3 of the franchise, and is no different from the first Predator. Moreover, the choice of the young Indian woman, whose physique is the opposite of Arnold Schwarzenegger's, is also a very good idea. A great success.
Cry Macho (2021)
More subtile than it seems
With Cry Macho, it might be possible to see the film in the vein of The Mule, Grand Torino or Heartbreak Ridge. But no, here we are in the vein of The Outlaw Josey Wales or A Perfect World or even Honkytonk Man, i.e. At least two masterpieces.
But it's impossible to understand this film without knowing the whole body of work created by Clint Eastwood.
Macho is about a teenage rooster that the old cowboy has to bring back from Mexico to his father in Texas. A road movie, then, with its adventures involving encounters with more or less sympathetic characters, and a long forced passage through a small Mexican village, which will change the life of our cowboy, but also that of the teenager. These are the film's most successful sequences, evoking the theme of family at the heart of the aforementioned films.
Clint Eastwood plays this old cowboy, a character the same age as the director-actor. It's hard to evaluate this film without thinking of Clint Eastwood's body of work, in particular the aforementioned films. And as such, the film is a thing of beauty. With its magnificent photography. With its limpid yet simple style, which never lapses into pathos, whatever the characters' situations.
Paul Sanchez est revenu! (2018)
Standard plot with original treatment
With this film, Patricia Mazuy composes a story that still remains mysterious. Laurent Laffite thinks he's Paul Sanchez, or maybe he is Paul Sanchez, which means he's constantly on the run from the police, committing robberies, living in the mountains and running away from everyone else. Because Paul Sanchez is wanted by the police for murders committed in the past, and he hasn't been caught.
A young policewoman is fascinated by this Paul Sanchez character and investigates this reappearance played by Laurent Laffite. She investigates alone, to the point of obsession, and to the point of not respecting investigation protocols, and no longer obeying the orders of her hierarchy.
All these people come together to form a story that is always intriguing, never needlessly explanatory, and that keeps the film a permanent mystery and a climate of absurdity bordering on the comical, almost unreal as we fail to understand what Laurent Lafitte's character is up to.
A truly original success on very common themes.
Super (2010)
A very nice super hero, and pathetic too
Super is a poor, miserable guy whose girlfriend has left him for a bad boy, whose life he's not happy with, and who, out of frustration, decides to become Super, the delinquent killer with a wrench. He tackles everything from the smallest delinquents (someone double-crossing in a cinema queue, for example) to the biggest (a drug dealer).
The film is surely a message about superheroes and their role in the psychology of individuals. Has James Gunn based his work on psychological studies? No matter. The film is a success, because this character is pathetic (special mention to Rainn Wilson, who plays Super) and endearing at the same time, and also thanks to his partner, Elliot Page, who proves to be more deranged than he is in his character as Super's partner.
Augure (2023)
A real signature with an original ambiance
The film has an original tone in keeping with its setting in the Congo, as well as with its theme of beliefs and superstitions, which are a mixture of Christian superstitions and local tribal beliefs and superstitions. As usual, superstitions only impress those who believe, and the film seems artificially dramatized. Even if our character suffers greatly from it. But it has to be said that the script integrates all these elements perfectly. One regret as a viewer is that Marc Zinga's wife has no place in the second half of the film.
Nonetheless, the film has its original features, in particular the atmosphere, the settings of the places where it takes place in the Congo, and the various cultural elements it brings to the fore. It's worth noting that it's not an advertisement at all, but rather a repudiation of this country, where people don't seem to have any free will and, above all, are caught up in the shackles of superstition.
Nonetheless, the film has a real signature and hysteresis.
Damaged (2024)
A top-notch piece of dreck
It's a top-notch piece of dreck on a crime-movie canvas about murders several years apart that have to be solved.
The film is ugly and framed for television or mobile phones. Not surprising, since Terry McDonough has only worked with this format. The script is artificially convoluted to maintain interest. It's all the more appalling that three screenwriters are credited...
We have very little faith in the story of any of the characters, whether Samuel Jackson, Vincent Cassel or the local cop. We can't tell whether we're leaning towards the ridiculousness of the characters or the ham-handedness of the actors (who probably do what they can with the dialogue they're given).
It's still a dramatic canvas in which we are presented with the moods and psychological or family backgrounds of each of the police officers. And we don't care.
If we take the culinary metaphor, the film resembles a cake that doesn't set and that's a failure, despite perhaps interesting ingredients at first glance, i.e. In this case, confirmed actors and a dramatic framework of several murders that must be solved. A very bad crime film.
A Family Affair (2024)
Routine romcom, but it works
Zac Efron is a superhero movie superstar. He behaves like a diva. He has one female conquest after another. He crosses paths with the mother of his assistant, played by Nicole Kidman. She's older than him, and a love affair begins, much to his assistant's dismay.
In the romantic comedy genre, we have an example that works, without being revolutionary in form or script. As for the cast, we're delighted to welcome back the all-too-rare Kathy Bates.
Richard LaGravanese is an established screenwriter and no newcomer to directing. Cinematography is by the equally experienced Don Burgess. The film is very professional, solid - perhaps a little too much so, in the sense that it lacks a little craziness and doesn't break out of the patterns we might imagine. The cast is solid. All tech credits are at the top. The film doesn't surprise. But it works, and the viewer is drawn in to find out how it will end.
Blood & Gold (2023)
The thirst for gold
It's a war film set during the German rout around Dresden in 1944. The Allies are approaching. A group of SS troops returns to a small village to search for gold ingots belonging to a Jew who has been deported. Some of the villagers knew about the ingots, and don't take kindly to this.
The climate of the end of the war and the debacle, where everything is permitted, and the lure of gold, will lead all the protagonists to kill each other, betray each other or create alliances. With its share of violent deaths and bloodshed.
The film is a minor success, thanks to its no-nonsense script, with no phoned-in twists and turns, allowing the viewer to follow the adventures without a hitch.
This is a rare war and costume film of a very high standard, in which all the technical elements are perfect. Acting is sometimes lacking in finesse. But perhaps the subject doesn't lend itself to this.
Dalva (2022)
A success on a difficult subject
Dalva is a twelve-year-old girl who dresses like a woman to please her abusive father. This is the starting point of the film, which immediately draws us into the story. The film begins with her father's arrest. The viewer doesn't immediately understand. Dalva doesn't understand. For the rest of the film, we follow Dalva's evolution in this situation and her perception of things. The film evokes her relationship with children her own age in the institution where she is placed, her relationship with her mother, her relationship with her father, her relationship with her educator (Alexis Manenti). Her relationships are often based on seduction.
Emmanuelle Nicot has chosen a difficult subject, which is dealt with justly, i.e. Without unnecessary pathos, without judgment for the little girl, in small touches. And it's true that Zelda Samson, in the role of the little girl, is a real eye-catcher. A film with a strong subject and a strong form.
Rien à perdre (2023)
A dense and fearsome tragedy
Delphine Deloget composes a poignant film in which a mother has her young son taken away from her because the state considers her incapable of raising him. The son is disturbed. The mother works evenings in nightclubs and is financially precarious. The elder brother is independent, but looks after his younger brother in the evenings. She is helped to a greater or lesser extent by her two brothers, who are not the solution - quite the contrary for one of them. The film also highlights the difficulties faced by state employees who find themselves in the position of having to take a child away from a mother.
Deloget's film succeeds because it does not descend into excessive pathos, even though all the scenes could lend themselves to it. With Virgine Effira, who powerfully embodies this mother, who goes all the way, who has nothing to lose, as the film's title suggests, to get her son back. Even if the mother's character isn't all white, the viewer empathizes with her, and the dramatic progression builds on this.
The film contains very little music, which makes the images and Virginie Effira's turpitude and tragedy all the more powerful.
Le syndrome des amours passées (2023)
Well written and both light-hearted and profound
This film is a great success on a difficult subject. A couple who are unable to have children, find themselves looking to sleep with their former partners. This is the therapy advised by their doctor. We don't know if this is based on a real medical-psychological protocol, but it's obviously a good idea for a film script.
To their credit, Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni succeed in making a film that is both light-hearted and profound about what unites and defines a couple. It's never boring or scabrous. The film is very well written, and each of the secondary characters is portrayed quickly and effectively. The search for these past loves won't be a simple one: what's become of them? Will they agree? Will it have an effect on the couple themselves? The strength of the script lies in its serious treatment of this argument, which may or may not seem far-fetched! Even if many sequences contain humorous elements.
The use of slightly esoteric montage sequences is a good idea and adds a dimension to the film. Just like the wall of past loves in front of which our couple take stock.
A light-hearted yet serious comedy, brilliantly carried by the duo Lucie Debay and Lazarre Gousseau.
The Black Book (2023)
Nollywood revigoriting the genre
Nollywood appropriates the screenplay canvas of the retired ex-killer or mercenary who must return for revenge (e.g. John Wick and Equalizer, both from 2014, for recent franchises, but there are many other films). Here it's Richard Mofe-Damijo, very good, all pent-up rage, who is a deacon, but whose son is mistreated, to say the least, by the local police. Corrupted police, as the film seems to suggest to many. Police, media, a retired mercenary, a journalist looking for a sensational story, and women - these are the film's ingredients. Because women play an important role in the film: journalists, police commissioners, soldiers. It's the women who will have the greatest impact on our hero as he seeks to avenge his son.
The film works thanks to its setting - Nigeria, the city of Lagos - its rich plot, its well-articulated screenplay and, of course, Richard Mofe-Damijo's charisma, all of which keep viewers curious about what's to come next (we wait for the sequel). A film that reinvigorates the genre.
Silent Hours (2021)
A masterpiece of nonsense
It would appear that this turnip is a montage of several episodes from a 2017 mini-series. So much for recycling images to make a new film from existing scenes. The porn industry has been doing it for years, so why not series for streaming?
The film is a breviary for the phallocrat's apprentice. All the women are obsessed and want nothing more than to have sex with the hero. The hero is as unsympathetic as they come, not to mention his folding-chair charisma. It makes you wonder if the creator(s) aren't living out their fantasy of sleeping with all women.
The television origin (a miniseries) results in flat images, devoid of any artistic sense. On the other hand, its use of gore (severed heads and limbs) regularly wakes up a sleepy viewer. The plot: murders, a serial killer and a private detective (the main character, the hero). Uninteresting.
Stöld (2024)
Nice drama with documentary elements
We're in the reindeer herding region. These are the Sami, an indigenous people of Sweden, who make their living from reindeer herding. They have to cohabit with the locals, who want the region to be developed for mining. There's also a non-Sami native who enjoys killing the reindeer. But the police are not investigating. A young Sami woman tries to move the investigation forward against the police's will.
We're constantly in the cold, in the snow. The pace is slow. So is the pace of the film. But the plot, simple on the face of it, contains twists and turns (the mistreatment of women is mentioned, for example) that mean we're not in an investigative film with a false culprit to distract the viewer. The culprit is known very quickly, the plot being that the police never manage to catch him. So this is not a detective film, but a drama. With little vignettes of local life in the Sami community. The film has a realistic tone, which makes it a little slow. But it's coherent. Rather than being slow, it takes its time to develop the plot, articulated with local life.
Note that the music is far too present. It insists in a heavy-handed way to make the film seem suspenseful.