Thursday, March 08, 2007

Movie Watch! - The 400 Blows, Garcon Stupide and Babel

What movies have I seen lately?

1) The 400 Blows (1959) - An old French movie about a 13 year-old who tries to run away, but finds that life is much harder on the street. Not as lovely or complex as any of the other French movies I've been watching, and really not all that enjoyable to sit through, but it wasn't too terrible either. I don't think I could do it again though. Black and white hurts my eyes. 5.5/10

2) Garcon Stupide (2004) - Another French tale of an extremely promiscuous French male who kinda puts his body up for sale while his real relationships fail. Or something like that. Kind of derivative at times, and the story isn't particularly interesting or logical (does any French film have a good plot?), but the absolutely wondrous, dreamy cinematography makes up for it, and you really get to see a beautiful side of France (namely locales outside Paris) that rarely ever get screen time elsewhere. 6.5/10

3) Babel (2006) - From the same intense director of 21 Grams, Alejandro González Iñárritu, comes an equally intense trio of intertwining stories revolving around the theme of communication and the way that it fails us. When the weakest performance comes courtesy of Cate Blanchett, you know that the cast is amazing. Every actor is touching, poignant, and incomparably skilled at communicating all the subtle frustrations their character encounters. The locations are beautifully conceived, and everything feels just a little less hopeless than in 21 Grams. Definitely worth watching. 9.5/10

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