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TheAlgonquin
Reviews
The Watcher (2022)
The Watcher - don't watch!
There is only one justification for this predictable farrago of nonsense: it gave some actors and technicians income. At various points a red-herring* would show up, leaving this viewer screaming, 'No, it's not him...it's HER!!!!'. The two leads are SO gullible, I sincerely hope that they won't get typecast in future productions as idiots! With Mia Farrow, and the implicit reference (for me at least) to Rosemary's baby; then the country club ambience of Stepford Wives, it just seemed an insider joke on the part of the director and producer.
Spoiler Alert - It Was Not The Dumb Waiter!
* As far as spoiler alerts are concerned: Agatha Christie used red herrings in as leaden a way, in the good old days, in London, a group of us would saunter by the queue waiting for the matinee performance of The Mousetrap, and tell them who did it!
However, I confess - I confess to being an idiot for wasting seven hours of my life watching this rubbish!
Kunstneren og tyven (2020)
A lesson in humility and an example of substantial artistic genius.
Firstly, Barbora Kysilkova is a truly remarkable artist. Her ability is profound, she has skills that Rembrandt would have admired. Her work echoes that by Caravaggio, both in its depiction of light, but also in her forensic exploration of the dark tones of human existence. That she can also construct the stretcher for her canvasses and prime them professionally is pretty rare these days (I am an artist).
Her humility and generosity throughout this film should be a lesson to all who profess altruism, empathy, and all the other charitable graces that are unjustifiably flaunted these days by the self-appointed social media personalities.
The makers of this film uphold the finest traditions of documentary film making, never intruding, allowing the silences to speak for themselves. Their film is an uplifting rarity in so-called 'art films' where the weirdness of the (so-called!) artists is the theme and not their art. I will not mention Tracy Emin or Damien Hirst.
I hope that it gives Barbora Kysilkova the recognition and sales that she deserves, to allow her to continue making images that elevate humanity as a whole. My one criticism is that the paintings themselves should have enjoyed more screen time. Congratulations, and every success to you, Barbora!
Dark (2017)
Scientific proof that Einstein was right. Or wrong.
Dark is not fiction at all. It proves that time travel is possible, I sat down to watch it aged 40 and when it had finished I'd lost 35 years of my life and woke up in a parallel universe where Donald Trump had taken over the world, moved to North Korea and was married to Sarah Palin.
It is typical Teutonic drivel. Like Götterdämmerung, without the Götter. Or the dämmerung. Of course the actors might sue the producers for abusing their human rights, their dignity and intelligence, and for insisting that so many scenes are shot in the pouring rain.
Major goofs - the producers having that liquid lunch and thinking that you can fool all of the people all of the time! The arrival of the extra-terrestrials in episode 4 of series 3 was an unexpected twist.
Strange that the years 1933-45 are given a miss!
Summary: Watched the lot - lost years of my life!
Dix pour cent (2015)
C'est magnifique!
This wonderful series is the apotheosis of the golden age of French cinema and the years leading up to and including the Nouvelle Vague. It is a masterpiece of writing, as operatic as Beaumarchais (and it doesn't come greater that that!), with an ensemble cast who embrace the farceur aspects with joyous and consummate skill.
Writer Fanny Herrero deserves the gratitude of every cineaste, for her creation and script. Call my Agent fizzes with joie de vivre, with poignant references to the great autuers, Besson, Godard, Lelouche, Malle, Resnais, and Truffaut - an example being the use of Georges Delerue's glorious Chorale, that Truffaut used in La Nuit Americaine, underscoring death, and the riotous scene of birth in season 3. Then there's Andrea's receding footsteps on the pavement that recreates Ardant's in Vivement dimanche! The only jarring notes are the several sequences where Laure Calamy (Noémie) appears nude (not that I complain - she is exquisite!); this is slightly gratuitous when the other actor's sex scenes are shown with coy reserve, especially as a previous episode had focussed on the problem that actresses face with nude scenes. Incidentally, the two characters that one ends up caring for are hers and Nicolas Maury's, playing Herve. As an actor Calamy is astonishing.
The inclusion in each episode of actual stars of the industry, Adjani, Baye, Gainsbourg, Huppert, Reno, Weaver, etc., each giving a pantomime of their screen personalities, is often hilarious, however their fictional counterparts often out-act them all.
But the real star of this series is Paris. Vive la cinéma!