Frances

 Frances 1982

• Director: Graeme Clifford
• Based on book: No
• Cast: Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard, Kim Stanley
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jessica Lange – Broken Flowers, Titus, A Thousand Acres, Rob Roy, Tootsie, The Postman Always Rings Twice
• Sam Shepard – August Osage County, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Pledge, Hamlet, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Pelican File, Steel Magnolias
• Why? Curious
• Seen: 13 May 2022      

       Frances Farmer (Lange) was an outspoken teen-ager in the 30’s and grew up to be an outspoken film actor as an adult.

       It starts out strong but falls into the ‘tragic fall of Hollywood star’ category. Other films have done it better, most recently the brilliant Judy with Renée Zellweger.

       With that said, it is quite gripping at times and especially disturbing are the scene in the mental hospital. Lange is good although she sometimes resembles Jennifer Jason Leigh in Georgia. Or maybe Leigh imitated her.      

3 ½ * of 5 

 

 

 

 

Les Visiteurs

 Les visiteurs 1993

• Director: Jean-Marie Poiré
• Based on book: No
• Cast: Jean Reno, Christian Clavier, Valérie Lamercier
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jean Reno – Léon, La Femme Nikita, Le grand bleu,  
• Why? Remembered it as entertaining
• Seen: Once before. Now 12 May 2022      

       The French nobleman (Reno) and his trusty squire (Clavier) are transported through witchcraft from the 12^th century to present day France. I don’t remember the humour as being this infantile and slapstick. In fact, it’s unbearable. Fast forward is in order.

       How in the world can this be the greatest box office success in French film history?

       Maybe I’m just not in the right mood.      

1 * of 5   

PS I bought Les visiteurs II at the same time. Sigh.

 

The Fault in Our Stars

 The Fault in Our Stars 2014

• Director: Josh Boone
• Based on book by John Green
• Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern, Nat Wolff, Sam Trammel, Willem Dafoe, Lotta Verbeek
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
• Laura Dern – Star Wars the Last Jedi, Wild, I Am Sam, Citizen Ruth, A Perfect World, Jurassic Park, Wild at Heart
• Willem Dafoe – Lighthouse, Murder on the Orient Express, John Wick, Fireflies in the Garden, Paris je t’aime, American Dreamz, Manderlay, the Aviator, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, American Psycho, eXistenZ, Lulu on the Bridge, The English Patient, Wild at Heart, Cry-Baby, Born on the Fourth of July, Mississippi Is Burning, The Last Temptation of Christ, Platoon, Streets of Fire
• Why? The book was quite good.
• Seen: 10 May 2022      

       Hazel (Woodley) is seventeen and dying of cancer. At a really awful support group where the leader sings about Jesus that she hates but goes to because it makes her parents happy, she meets Gus (Elgort), eighteen and supposedly cured of cancer.

       So, this could be a really sappy film, or it could be well done. The book was unsappy and quite good.

       Problem 1: Gus is really annoying, and Elgort is not right for the part. At least he doesn’t match my image of him from the book.

       Problem 2: It’s way too talky with too many clichés.

       Problem 3: Hazel’s dad (Trammel) is too good-looking (yes, I’m shallow).

       Problem 4: It’s sappy.

       Problem 5: At the beginning Hazel promised this wasn’t going to be sugar-coated and romantic but realistic. She lied.

       Problem 6: Rich American white suburban kids who have their own cars suffer too, even die. I get that. But they’re still so privileged compared to almost everyone else in the world.

       Problem 7: It’s just a love story. Not very believable at that. Zero chemistry between them.

       Woodley is quite good though. It could have been worse, I suppose.      

2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

Precious

 Precious 2009

• Director: Lee Daniels
• Seen by this director: The Butler
• Based on the book Push by Sapphire
• Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Paula Patton – Swing Vote
• Lenny Kravitz: The Hunger Games
• Why? Strong book. Strong film.
• Seen: Once before. Now 8 May 2022      

       Precious (Sidibe) longs to dance on MTV, longs to be married to her maths teacher, longs to be white, thin and beautiful. But she is sixteen, black, grossly overweight and pregnant with her second child. She fantasises about being a film star as her father rapes her. Her mother (Mo’Nique) abuses her, viciously, orally and physically.

       She is offered a place in an alternative school. She feels stupid bur her teacher (Patton) pushes her to believe in herself and learn.

       It’s painful to watch and I want to tell myself that it’s unrealistic and exaggerated. But I know it’s not. 

4* of 5.

 

 

 

Catch a Fire

 Catch a Fire 2006

• Director: Philip Noyce
• Based on book: No
• Cast: Derek Luke, Tim Robbins, Bonnie Mbuli
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Derek Luke – Antwone Fisher
• Tim Robbins – Then She Found Me, Tenacious D, The War of the Worlds, Mystic River, Human Nature, Mission to Mars, Cradle Will Rock, The Shawshank Redemption, The Hudsucker Proxy, Jungle Fever
• Bonnie Mbuliu - Invictus
• Why? The subject
• Seen: 6 May 2022      

       South Africa. Apartheid. The ANC. We’ve seen films about this before. This one is different because we are shown a young man (Luke) who tries to keep away from politics but is radicalised into joining ANC military training, as well as the private life of a white anti-terrorist cop (Robbins) who teaches his daughters to shoot, who tortures black prisoners and who believes he is doing the right thing.

       The historical conflict brings them together in a strong, dramatic, and well-acted film, based on real people.      

4 * of 5  

 

 

Cinema Paradiso

Cinema Paradiso 1988

• Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
• Based on book: No
• Cast: Phillippe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Phillippe Noiret – Il Postino
• Why? Curious
• Seen: 26 April 2022      

       This is a nostalgic story about a little boy who loves cinema, an old man who talks to him about life, and the Italian village they live in. It seems that everyone in the world loves the film and hails it as a masterpiece. I find it trite, far too long and essentially uninteresting. And I am most certainly a film lover.      

2 * of 5  

 

 

  

The Professor/Richard Says Good-bye

 The Professor/Richard Says Good-bye 2018

• Director: Wayne Roberts
• Based on the book: No
• Cast: Johnny Depp, Rosemarie Dewitt, Odessa Young, Danny Huston, Zoe Deutch, Devon Terrell, Ron Livingston
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Johnny Depp – more or less everything up to Murder on the Orient Express
• Rosemarie Dewitt – La La Land, Rachel Getting Married
• Danny Huston – Wonder Woman, Robin Hood, X Men Wolverine, Children of Men, The Constant Gardener, The Aviator, 21 Grams
• Zoe Deutch – Zombieland Double Tap, Beautiful Creatures
• Ron Livingston – The Fifth Wave
• Why? Johnny Depp
• Seen: 4 May 2022      

       Richard (Depp) is told he has advanced lung cancer and has only a short time to live. On the same day his daughter (Young) announces at the dinner table that she is gay which he applauds. His wife (Dewitt) ridicules the very idea. Then his wife tells him she’s having an affair and he laughs. He doesn’t tell them he’s dying.

       He informs his English students that he is no longer interested in teaching them so just leave and he’ll give them a C. The few who choose to remain are given special assignments, including having class at the local bar.

       His vulgar outspokenness about sex, drugs, alcohol, the school staff, and literature confound them, but they start to appreciate his basic decency and integrity.

       Finally. A role worthy of Depp’s acting skills. 

4* of 5.