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umacooter2
Reviews
Une aventure (2005)
Dazzling Sagnier
Very little separates the exquisite Ludivine Sagnier from a Raphaelite oil rendering of a classic angelic innocent in the bloom of adolescence. Also a fine actress, she lights up the screen as no other beauty in recent film history. This dark tale of a sleepwalker unaware of her nightly roaming is a good example of Sagnier's immense glow and not a bad story, either. Age 26 at this time and the mother of a daughter by co-star/then-boyfriend Nicolas Duvauchelle, she still looks fourteen and likely will even when when old age sets in. Anything Sagnier appears in is instantly enhanced by her radiance, beginning with LES MARIS, LES FEMMES, LES AMANTS in 1989 when she was just ten. Perfectly at home in front of the cameras clothed or unclothed, she displays a fairly wide range of roles, but always emanates a natural presence that is quite breathtaking. The best examples of her extraordinarily seductive work can be seen in WATER DROPS ON BURNING ROCKS (2000), LA PETITE LILI (2003) and SWIMMING POOL (2003), while a fine command of more stately character ability is demonstrated in such productions as MOLIERE (2007), A SECRET (2007) and A GIRL CUT IN TWO (2007). Do yourself a favor and take 20-minutes off to view the otherwise rather pointless short LES FRERES HELIAS with Duvauchelle, which has been posted online at Vimeo for at least two years. Single with two children and nearly fifty films since 1979, Sagnier has restricted herself mostly to the more credible European movie industry and has rightfully risen to top billing level. With the call of the West becoming louder and louder, one can only hope that Hollywood won't affect her continuing career adversely. Currently administering to a pair of Muslim lookalikes in THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE (2011), my humble advice is...don't miss any film she appears in.
All Hell Broke Loose (2009)
Worst in the west! Or the East!
Possibly the worst video ever made. Who financed this crud? Criminal use of equipment and bozo talent from the director, down. Even Carradine looks bedraggled and embarrassed for the five or so pointless minutes he's in this bomb. The actors are so amateurish as to be embarrassing. The post-production voice dubbing makes characters sound like they're in a recording studio. The script is simply phenomenally and unbearably childish. Even the costumes are bogus...made-in-china versions of a smattering of different periods, mostly Dollar Store. The buildings are cheap facades or obviously your uncle's vacation cabin. Everyone wears biker's vests...no collars! A few of the sidearms are big and bulky, but this pathetic director has made the saddest Leone attempt in history with enough time, gear, money and people to make at least one blade of grass watchable...and nothing is. Some adults should have manned the equipment and allowed a class of first-graders write and act exactly as they pleased and it would have been "Once Upon A Time In The West" in comparison to this donkey. Actually...maybe it was a bunch of first-graders. Even the beards were stupid looking. Message to director Christopher Forbes: you've managed to make every error in the film world and then some. Learn IMMENSE amounts from this or look for another line of work.
Standing Room Only: Sherlock Holmes (1981)
Quick, witty and live! Langella's great Sherlock filmed closely on stage
FRANK LANGELLA beats the majority of Sherlocks by kilometers in this live onstage five-act production that even features 12-year-old Christian SLATER's debut. I have the archive and watch it repeatedly just to take further note of how assuredly it demonstrates that an excellent cast with theatrical experience can nearly always show most film actors where to get off when it comes to long line memorization and beautifully controlled delivery. Plus, it's a fine script and what breathtaking set-changes on a single stage! Also known as "The Strange Case of Alice Faulkner, this is even more unusual in that it is a stage play, yet filmed so well. Deerstalkers off to the whole crew! umacooter2@charter.net