|
|
Friday, February 5
From Paris with Love
Chumps-É-lazy
Trailers & Mo | Official Website
Oh French film industry, what hath become of you? You used to fill our art house screens with precious lil ditties about life and love, straight from the deft Cahiers du cinéma critics turned filmmakers, and their proteges that followed in their footsteps, but now it seems like them notebooks are being written by a bunch of barbarians and neanderthals that keep on invading our multiplexes year after year! Oh the nerve! Oh the gall of Gaul! We blame (yet still love) Luc Besson for all this nutty shoot-em-up nonsense. His still vibrant (Le Femme) Nikita kicked off the madness, Léon: (The Professional) was the heartfelt caketopper (and unforgettable introduction to Natalie Portman), and from there the genre tumbled downhill, with Besson throwing around story 'ideas' to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who wanted to replicate his brief critical and commercial success. Now it's nothing but excess, and there's no excuse for that, or eggcuses for 19 Transporters, Taxis, Banlieue 13ses and a bunch of other turkeys
Besson's latest 'idea' has been handed off to director Pierre Morel, the dude who he teamed up with for last year's semi-broke the moldy-mold Taken, but lightening doesn't strike twice with their From Paris With Love. The crummy by the boo(k)s dialog (no thank you Adi Hasak) certainly doesn't help to elevate the loosey goosey plotting, and neither does hiring John Travolta as the head-shaved, goatee-ed prick of a CIA agent Charlie Wax (think Colin Farrell's Bullseye from Daredevil, but not nearly as comically horrific). We suppose he was given that name only so they could drop a 'wax on, wax off' joke, which they wrongfully do, and as you can imagine, it falls flatter than the fella who gets steamrolled in Austin Powers. Later that line gets redeemed, with the pseudo-creative reuse of a signature Travolta line that features the French name of a certain McDonalds hamburger. We chuckled aloud, and almos were ashamed for doing so. Even mo shameful, despite all the poo-pooed-edness of this generic flick, including a crummy American accent spoken by the tiny Jonathan Rhys Meyers, we didn't hate it. We'll always have Paris, even if this Paris has not much to it
FantKasia : we totally wanna kasia smutniak JRM's screen honey Kasia NSFW Smutniak!!
Verdictgo: Sum Merit But No Stinking Badges
Still Bill
Withers Blooms
Official Website & Trailer & Mo
You know who Bill Withers be? On name alone, probably not, but yer ears do, as he's the man behind such beyond classics as 'Lean On Me', 'Aint No Sunshine' and 'Just The Two of Us', juss to name a few mellow grooves he's gifted us with. Oh yeah, that guy, right? So what is his story and whatever became of him? The sunny and soulful doc Still Bill, by Damani Baker and Alex Vlack, fills in the gaps, from his humble West Virgina upbringing as a shy stuttering kid, to his landing on the music scene and the unwanted superstardom that came along with it, to his eventual complete withdraw from the limelight so he devote more time to his loved one. As a viewer, and fan of his music, we keep asking, why and how could he leave us behind? By the end, he's starting to ask himself the very same questions. Here's hoping that the answer leads him back on the road again
Screen But Not Heard: there are numerous screenings of the film all over the map, and if you don't see one in yer area, you can host yer own!
Verdictgo: Jeepers Worth A Peepers
Paris doesn't triomphe today at a theater near jews, while Still Bill continues only in NY, or at a screening soon to be near jews (see above). also, we LOVED Fish Tank, and you can too, in the comfort of yer own home, spanks to IFC on-demand!
and until next thyme the balcony is clothed...
|
|
