syncopation Reviews

Armageddon (1998)

Worse than all the spoofs

[4/10 · 8 January 2007]

Half of the movie is is flashing lights and shaky camera. The rest is made up of predictable characters (think science vs. government, 'know-how' vs. authority, etc.)

What is the worst aspect about this movie? Is it the cars being thrown around in the first 5 minutes, is the horrible 'Russian' accent of the 'cosmonaut', is it the uninspired characters, the poorly integrated Top 40 hits, or the "US will save the world" vitriol? No. It's the fact that regardless of the "sad" ending - there is very little suspense in this movie - we basically know what's going to happen.

The one good part of this movie: "American components, Russian components: all made in Taiwan!"

Au secours, j'ai 30 ans! (2004)

A "feel good" movie composed mostly of meaningless series of events

[4/10 · 27 December 2006]

Three friends make a pact never to forget/leave the others. Then they move to Paris where the two women of the group, Tara and Kathy, promptly become unhappy. Meanwhile, Yann finds himself quite successful and happy with his boyfriend. Happy, that is, until he learns he has cancer.

The moving force? "Change your lives and be happy so I won't die". Unfortunately, it doesn't, cinema-wise, work. Changes of mood occur from scene to scene, certain development is completely unexplained. Scenes exist with no apparent purpose. Characters such as Yann's mother and brother don't serve any purpose in story development.

Perhaps, life does feel so disjointed - but that is certainly not the message of the movie. What is the message? Presumably: if you're unhappy, do something about it (or, as in Yann's case, have others do something about it).

The two good-looking characters end up together, while the less pretty woman is left ("happy") on her own. The ending was barely excusable for a Hollywood film, much less coming from French cinema! However, if you want to see a flaky movie that may make certain people feel warm and fuzzy at the end without having to think too much throughout, you could do worse.