A breakthrough for Louis Malle
597971
This is a lovely early Louis Malle film that shows him beginning to find his own urbane and witty voice after the stylish noir homage Elevator to the Gallows.  Although not in a class with Le Feu Follet (The Fire Within - also on Criterion) or Lacombe, Lucien (to name 2 of Malle's greatest), it is a striking movie that begins as a kind of typical European satire of the bourgeois and then unexpectedly shifts in plot and tone to a dreamy romanticism that is both utterly fresh and un-maudlin.  As others have pointed out, the use of Brahms's chamber music does much to enhance the swooning beauty of the movie.  It boast a wonderful cast as well, including the beautiful young Jeanne Moreau and Alain Cuny (familiar to most as the tortured intellectual from La Dolce Vita).

The Lovers generated a lot of controversy on its release for its "frank sexuality" (to borrow a hackneyed term), and indeed it was the film that elicited the famous line about pornography--"I know it when I see it"--when Justice Potter Stewart ruled the film was not obscene after an Ohio theater had been fined for showing it.

The Criterion disc is splendid--a beautiful transfer and good supplements.  Although not Malle's best, it is a film well worth seeing and more proof of the consistent subtlety, humanism and grace of this criminally underrated filmmaker.
1524098
Penny is unique in the police genre literature: penetrating insight into how the mind works,
coupled with an exacting appreciation of the world of art. In this novel, painting is at the
center of plot and a masterful treatment of what makes paintings work and painters
paint is part of the joy the work provides. And, as usual, we see much of the world
disclosed here through the eyes of Chief Inspector Gamache, as unique a major
character as Penny is as an author. His art appreciation is at least as outstanding
as detecting skills. The locale is Three Pines in winter and as sharply drawn as
a snow filled Quebec landscape. Makes one long for a cold December.
2733066
This is an extraordinary film, an oneiric phantasmagoria capping Robbe-Grillet's career as a filmmaker.  If you're new to his work, whether as a director or as a novelist, don't worry if you start off thinking it's the story of the discovery of some lost Delacroix sketches, then change your mind and see it as the story of a frame-up, and then change your mind again and take it for a psychological thriller, and then see it as a retelling of Madama Butterfly.  (If you're not new to his work, you'll be expecting something like this.)  It's all those things, and, while you won't be able to lay out the cause-and-effect relationships of all the pieces on graph paper, it nonetheless all coheres.  The realism of classic storytelling--the Dickensian or Balzacian plot--has never had a place in Robbe-Grillet, but he offers instead a vision of reality beneath what we've trained ourselves to see day-to-day.  In this he shows himself an heir of the Surrealists, and it's not for nothing that Gradiva's male lead is named John Locke.  Indeed, one rather droll way of reading the film is as a critique of the sort of rationalism the flesh-and-blood Locke espoused.  So approach this as a cinematic dream.  (Indeed, pay particular attention to the little scene in which we learn all about the profession of dream acting, including how the government, while banning a great many things, still permits murders and sexual crimes to occur in dreams; Robbe-Grillet's sense of humor too often goes unnoticed.)  The film does contain a good deal of sado-erotic imagery, but it's of a curious type, with none of that Dickensian realism to it, but rather the stuff of dreams, at least certain ones.  Make of it what you will, but Robbe-Grillet never was a respecter of convention, and I suspect there is at least an element of pater le bourgeois to be had here.
1260484
For those who fell under the spell of Alessandro Baricco's novel SILK, a meditation about love, desire, and conflict, this cinematic transformation adapted as a screenplay and directed by Franois Girard will not disappoint: reservations about making Baricco's poetry visual are for the most part put to rest.  The resulting film, SILK, is supported by a sensitive cast, wondrous cinematography by Alain Dostie, a  haunting musical score by Ryuichi Sakamoto, and is an appropriate extension of the beauty of Baricco's short novel.

Set in France in 1862,  Herv&eacute; Joncour (Michael Pitt) is following his family tradition of military duty until a somewhat mysterious man named Baldabiou (Alfred Molina) approaches Herv&eacute;'s father Mayor Joncour (Kenneth Welsh) with an idea to increase the tiny French town's revenues by capitalizing on the manufacture of silk. He talks the town council into fortifying his project and in a short time Baldabiou has several silk mills running.  A problem arises when an infection attacks the silkworm eggs and threatens to destroy the business.  Baldabiou convinces Herv&eacute; to travel to Africa to buy silkworm eggs to solve the dwindling supply. Herv&eacute;, meanwhile, has met and fallen in love with the beautiful H&eacute;l&egrave;ne (Keira Knightley) who is loving enough to encourage Herv&eacute;'s travel to Africa for the eggs, a trip Herv&eacute; makes and returns with eggs that make the town's mills thrive, allowing the prospering relationship between Herv&eacute; and H&eacute;l&egrave;ne to result in marriage and hopes for a happy future.

The eggs are again attacked by disease and this time Baldabiou sends Herv&eacute; to Japan where the perfect eggs can be smuggled out of the country: the trip is arduous, long (through Europe, Russia, China to Japan), and while Herv&eacute; succeeds in securing the precious eggs, he also loses his heart to the seductive eyes of the baron's concubine (Sei Ashina).  Upon returning home the town prospers, Herv&eacute; and H&eacute;l&egrave;ne try to have children, but Herv&eacute; is again forced to travel to Japan for more eggs - and to fulfill the longing to see the concubine again.  Japan is now at war and the trip is far more harrowing than before and while Herv&eacute; doesn't satisfy his desire for the concubine, she gives him a note in Japanese as he departs for France.  Upon returning to France, Herv&eacute; has the note translated: 'Come back or I shall die'.  His love for H&eacute;l&egrave;ne remains strong and he shares the experience he had in Japan.  A letter is delivered to Herv&eacute;, a beautiful love letter, and it is at this point that H&eacute;l&egrave;ne becomes ill and the events that transpire bring life to the real meaning of love in an unexpected way.

There are problems with the film: the Japanese conversations are not translated by subtitles (perhaps the director wants us to feel the alienation of a Frenchman in a strange land) making the viewer feel that chunks of the story are missing; the emphasis of the film is more concentrated on the beauty of the various locales than on the character development; Michael Pitt is a fine actor but the inner conflicts of his character are not explored well.  But these flaws are minor when the scope of the film is viewed in full.  It is a beautiful work and one that will satisfy the readers of the novel from which it was adapted.  Grady Harp, February 08
2495162
I was hoping that more of Harry Langdon's films would come to be seen (after fearing that time & neglect had ruined most of his work). Kino Video has already released his three hugely successful feature films (the ones which built his reputation as a serious rival to Chaplin, Keaton & Lloyd). But his shorts with Sennett have never been spotlighted until now.
While Langdon's success is partly owed to prodigies such as Frank Capra, there's no doubt that Langdon himself was these film's genuine treasure, using his comic timing & pantomimic skills to make them special.
I'll be anxiously awaiting the release of this DVD package along with many others who want to see more of this neglected silent film clown.
2326392
An engaging and penetrating adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's brilliant memoir of the same title.  Jean-Do was the handsome young editor of Elle magazine, with the house, the car, a beautiful wife and adorable children, and of course, the other woman.  While enjoying the accoutrements of the good life he suffers a massive stroke that leaves him paralyzed from head to toe, but for the ability to blink his left eye.  He is afflicted with what is termed locked-in syndrome. He retains the faculties of memory and imagination and, with the help of his devoted carers, is able to complete his memoire by blinking yes or no in response to a particular letter of the alphabet.  With the aide of a patient scribe, Jean-Do retraces the defining moments of his short life from the fresh perspective of this unique predicament, inside what he metaphorically describes as his diving bell - the world beneath his skin containing all of his subjective thoughts, his reflexive response to what appears real externally, and what he retains of his past. The aesthetic is represented as a butterfly that wanders at will, and graces the things its touches with its beauty. He sees the faces of his loved ones: his wife, lover, children, and adorable carers, and appreciates what he has lost - the capacity to fully express his love for them with a gentle embrace. It is a multi layered film that explores the emotional responses of others to Jean-Do's loss as well.  This is one of those rare films that can change your way of seeing. I found it profoundly moving and performed by an outstanding cast.
325108
With just about zero fanfare, one of the most magnificent of movies ever made has appeared in the past 24 hours on Amazon in a previously unreleased version that is astonishing. The black & white (aka black & chrome) incarnation of Mad Max: Fury Roadwhich director George Miller considers the best versionis already streaming on Amazon as you read this. The theatrical release isn't until Nov. 1 and the Blu-ray box will come after that, so this is quite a surprise.

You must see it. It takes the already masterful film to places that make it a fresh and thrilling viewing experience, elevating the film in ways that actually surpass the color version. Like mono versions of records that sound more present than their stereo counterparts, MM:FR has an in-your-faceness that is searing in its detail and dimension. The geometry of space in MM:FR is a hyper-real b&w dream world that recalls Cocteau, Fritz Lang and Bergman. Can a black and white movie be psychedelic? Absolutely!
3641252
Here is a spectacle that never fails to disappoint even in spite of certain imperfections.  Visually, it is flawless.  McTeigue certainly knows his craft and manages to use the camera in a manner that is perfectly befitting the content.  The production design is idiosyncratic but also accessible and believable, which further mesmerizes and intrigues.  The script by the Wachowskis further exemplifies their talent: they now how to use words, they know how to use ideas, they know how to build a story.

And what a story it is.  I was uncertain how to feel the first time I viewed the film.  Certainly, the movie must breed controversy, and I didn't know which side of that I fell on.  I've come to endorse the film but only after careful reflection.  The issues are contemporary and touchy, but the movie offers enough ambiguity to permit the viewer his own interpretation.  Certainly, one cannot mindlessly interact with this film; only catastrophe could ensue as a result.  Patience and contemplation are required here, and I fear that in the wrong hands, this form of content could be inflammatory.  But then all good art is.

There's nothing to complain about with Natalie Portman, but it's a sheer miracle that Hugo Weaving can continuously steel the show from behind a mask--what a voice!  Another component on which I must comment is the use of editing and music.  Dario Marianelli's score is superb, and listen to the way he subtly incorporates Tchaikovsky into the quieter moments!  Scattered throughout the film are several intriguing and wonderful montage sequences that create a marvelous flow to the narrative and are wonderfully accented by the pulse of Marianelli's music.  At times the film makes awkward pauses, the dialogue waxes melodramatic, and the pacing seems forced, but these faults are inconsequential to an overall brilliant film.
637894
Finish watching another criterion collection - Au revoir les enfants. A film by Louis Malle base on his childhood actual memories & events. (with some fictionalized).

The film has winning the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, also earned Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Louis Malle). The film also won seven Cesar Awards, including Best Film and Best Director.

- Movie - 4 Star
- PQ - 4 Star
- AQ - 4 Star
- Extra - 4 Star
- Overall - 4 Star

The extra includes an interview with Film Critic - Pierre Billard talk about the director - Louis Malle and shows some footage of the director others film. They is also a short interviewing with Candice Bergen, Louis Malle widow. The Director is dead on year 1995, age 63.

Also, not forgotten a complete version of Charlie Chaplin's 1917 short comedy - The Immigrant featured in this film was included in the extras as well.
3953531
Unlike most of the reviewers, I don't believe that this movie is about freedom of expression versus religious or political oppression.  Ironically, de Sade would find it amusing that this argument even exists.  As a pretend revolutionary who was proud to be an aristocrat in a time when revolutionary thinking was equated with how many aristocratic heads you could lop off, de Sade spent his life dodging the bullets that contradictory viewpoints tend to bring. His work was designed for two purposes only: to see how far he could push his imagination into the dark regions of lust, and how far he could take others with him.  This movie perfectly expresses that, and does with brilliance, wit, and horror.
4467223
I like the first RUSH HOUR. It was a great idea and film. Immediately you will notice that RUSH HOUR 2 has had its budget increased over the original RUSH HOUR. The cinematography and camera movements alone give you a sense of fluidity that transcends into the films plot for a more visual style of storytelling. The action, humor and plot are all more effectively woven into a cohesive and pleasantly conceived film. The two main heroes look more comfortable in this one as their camaraderie allows them to grow into their roles and develop their characters. Even the villains of the piece are more dark and dangerous which makes them perfect adversaries and not just villainous cardboard cutouts to be reckoned with. The daring-do and fight choreography are also much more matured and sophisticated. One key feature that really keeps this film moving and upbeat is the incredible score by Lalo Schifrin. Its like Schifrin had been locked away in a closet for twenty years and suddenly he emerges with unbridled intensity and drive. Hes been working all the while but never with this demonstration of incredible genius and energy bursting onto the screen. This is definitely several notches above the original.
4859788
Another great read from the Malloren world.  You will not be disappointed.
911076
This is a really lovely film. I remember liking it when it first came out (I was about 12 years old) and I still like it today. Some of the dialogue feels stilted -- perhaps Louis Malle could not write convincingly in a working class idiom. But let that go and watch the story unfold... and enjoy.
3598319
It starts describing the feelings of one male being, but was he human? It was the first question I asked myself, only to be thrown into a  in a Parisian fashion boutique a few sentences later, where Mme Fabron converses with customers on one hand, but also has the gift of Second Sight. So, is The Devourer just another ghost story?

Nothing as simple as that! Chelser took me into a Paris that no longer exists, into a society with 19th century attitudes, into the citys narrow streets and alleyways before Baron Haussmann had completed the public works program for which he had been commissioned. The background of this novel - be it fashion, codes of conduct or locations- was very well researched. If I had merely wanted that, I might as well have turned to a plethora of books on the trials and tribulations of that era, but the writer did not stop there.

Within a few dozen pages I witnessed customer service of a fashion shop, a marriage of broken dreams, a grieving mother, a murder and received a first glimpse into a world of which the citizens of Paris were mostly unaware. And that was where the mystery started, where nobody and nothing was as it seemed, where Chelser lead me to pity a monster, feel compassion for a beast and in the end smile at a major character death even when having tissues nearby. What lies between is something I would heartily recommend any prospective reader to find out for themselves, including trying to figure out the tiny nod to one of Victor Hugos novels at the end. Btw, the scene works well without that knowledge.
For me, The Devourer is one of the books where one reading is not enough as it offers so much to discover.

The book merits five stars. I thought of deducting half a star because at the beginning it is not easy to follow the changing povs. To appreciate the difference in the description of two different worlds takes some concentration, but that was very much my personal thought. So do not let yourself be deterred.
2020256
A return to the classic heist genre made famous by films like "The Thomas Crown Affair" (the original with Steve McQueen) and "The Sting," "Flawless" is enjoyable if a bit predictable. Set in 60s era England,  with an English diamond cartel masquerading as DeBeers, and it's protagonist Laura Quinn played by the well cast Demi Moore, the film  captures both the period, and the glass ceiling misery of a woman working in 'a man's world.'

The atmosphere of the film is spot on, with gorgeous bank interiors, rainy London nights, and even Quinn's wood-paneled, smoke filled office. Perhaps it's strongest element, the viewer feels immersed in the secretive and foreign world of the diamond broker from the very opening scene in which an African diamond miner unearths a collection of stones, and as the viewer watches a series of vignettes, the largest of them is cut, polished, and mounted in a ring which is then shown on a newly engaged woman's finger. This provides a grounding for the action to follow, and even a subtle hint at the politics of 'conflict diamonds.'

The acting is engaging and for the most part spot-on with Moore turning in an especially enjoyable performance as she teeters between supreme self confidence and despair. She is both sexy and intelligent, aptly capturing Quinn's bold ambition and masked with a carefully controlled demeanor and appearance. Michal Cane is also delightful as the night janitor who has selected Quinn as his accomplice, taking advantage of her frustration with watching men inferior to her be promoted repeatedly.

The heist itself is not lavish or complex, and fails to capture the imagination until it's true nature is revealed. Unfortunately, it also strains credulity, and when all secrets are revealed, left this reviewer feeling a bit put upon. Another flaw is that the theft and it's subsequent dialogue between between Cane and Moore reveals a cheesy, moralistic and even contrived reason for the theft. This leads into the final conclusion, in which a desperate attempt to re-portray Quinn as a hero, instead turns the film on it's head as the action returns to present day England, and a conversation with a newspaper reporter interviewing Quinn. Quinn then reveals what she has done with the money, in all it's horrid, forced morality.

Aside from the last fifteen minutes or so, the film is excellent if a bit slow, and fans of the caper or heist genre owe it to themselves to watch it. The movie is nowhere near 'flawless,' but it isn't a failure either.
4375109
If you're fond of reading spy novels from such luminaries as Ian Fleming or John Le Carre, then you "get" why Derek Haines' `Louis' can be a "jarring" experience--it does not pander to our need for a cheap thrill ride, but instead elevates the spy novel genre into something more well-rounded.

`Louis' tells the story of a half-Egyptian, half-British spy who happens to be more "born" into the role than merely picked to train for it. What sets `Louis' apart, however, is its humanity--you don't see a spy with all the awesome gadgets or the deadly martial arts expertise, or even the cunning tricks that keep a spy alive as long as possible. Instead, what you'll find in this book is a deeper treatment of the subject, with a more pwoerful emotional anchor.

`Louis' somehow carries a few genetic strains of John Le Carre's `The Spy Who Came in from the Cold', although this one is definitely more laidback--with the author taking time to flesh out the milieu in which the main protagonist, a person compelled by his birth to serve as a spy, moves and makes his decisions and fulfill his missions. Louis does not hurry to build up--his background, his circumstances and the import of his royal Egyptian blood is painted one painstaking piece after another in order to give the reader a more comprehensive vision of what makes the main character the way he is.

`Louis' is a good read. I found it after reading Derek Haines' other work,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/One-Last-Love/dp/1475051921/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">One Last Love</a>. But while One Last Love is a literary romance of some sort, Louis is not easily boxed in any neat genre. I consider it as some sort of a `literary spy novel'--it's beyond the usual thrills of a typical spy novel, as the author makes it a point to get under your skin and, ultimately, inside your heart. Pick up a copy of it or download it if you'd like a thoughtful book with enough excitement in the right places to go with a peaceful weekend. I'm betting `Louis' will not disappoint.
4861745
Its advisable to pick up the first volume before getting this one, which in my oppinion is superior (and that's saying a lot)

The main story is basially about an Alien invasion, which the League has to stop. Unlike the first volume there are major shake-ups and ramifications and even one betrayal. The story is witty, sexy, action-packed and intelligient. Alan Moore proves once again that he is a master of the artform.

If you are not already familiar with it, the League of Extraordinary Gentlmen is Moore's attempt to put together characters from various classic novels as if they lived in the same world or "universe". This concept is amazingly simple and its a surprise that no one had thought of it before. It had aparently been brewing in Moore's mind for a long time since he mentioned it as an absurd concept in his introduction to the collection of his very first Swamp Thing stories. He was commenting on the comic book convention of shared universes which incorproate vastly different characters in teh same world. Interesting that years later he actually accomplished it with characters from these literary masaterpieces.

The discription abobe states that the book contains a short story in the back, which is not exactly true. Its more of a mock travel almanac written several decades after the events of the main story. The almanac contains a discription of the world in which the League operates, incorporating elements of classical lititurature, pop culture, myth and fantasy. In addition to the main characters based on the novels The Invisible Man, Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 2,000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Allan Quartermain books, this volume also touches on elements from Gullivar's Travels, The Island of Dr Moreau, Conan the Barbarian, the Elric novels, the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, Gabrel Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Robinson Cruso and many others which I can't recall right now or didn't understand the references to.

He also provides an interesting and tragic back story to Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, which I thought was really clever.

This book, and its previous volume, will be good to go back to in a few years when I've read a few more of the classic sources. Its not essential to have read them, but it does help you to appreciate it more. And then I may go back to it a few years after that because it will take years to cover all the ground that is touched on in these two volumes. It shows just how well-read a person Alan Moore is also.