Love Me if you Dare review

 Number 535 on the top 1000 films of all time is the French romantic-comedy Jeux D'enfants or Love me if you Dare.

Eight year old Julien Janvier's (Thibault Verhaeghe) mother is dying of cancer. He finds solace in his neighbour Sophie Kawalsky (Josephine Lebas-Joly) a girl bullied because of her Polish heritage. The two of them fall in love over a series of dares they ask each other to do. These dares continue into adulthood and threaten to rip their lives apart. Guillame Canet plays the adult Julien and Marion Cotillard the adult Sophie.

This film had the artistic style of a Wes Anderson film a la Moonrise Kingdom but it had none of the heart. It had a unique colour palate and quirky cinematography but really annoying characters.

I didn'[t like either Julien or Sophie, either apart or together. As this is a rom-com, I'm expected to root for the two to get together, but I found no reason to do this. This was down to the central story of them playing childish pranks on each other. These start out as harmless, but turn into cruel especially when they affect innocent bystanders.

One prank sees them bully a classmate, another sees the destruction of Julien's wedding and humiliation of his would-be bride. It was reminiscent of Youtube pranksters causing trouble and then going "it's just a prank bro."

I also didn't understand what was keeping Julien and Sophie apart. Why couldn't they be together? They both liked each other - the actors had both on and off-screen chemistry evidenced by how they later went onto have a long-term relationship. Julien's dad never liked Sophie and thinks she is a bad influence on his son, yet he doesn't do much to stop them from being together.

Finally, can we talk about that ending? Spoilers

As the ultimate dare to prove their love to each other, Julien and Sophie voluntarily decide to be encased together in a block of concrete. Yes, you read that correctly. They chose to be buried alive in concrete. How was this romantic? This is something you would see in a horror movie. Not a romance.

I really didn't like Love me if you Dare. Tonally it was all wrong. And it was all style over substance.

A Very Long Engagement review

 Number 533 on the top 1000 films of all time is the French romantic war-drama: Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles or A very Long Engagement.

The film begins in the trenches of WW1 where the dreadful conditions lead to five French soldiers perform self-mutilation to escape the front lines. Instead they are all released into No Man's Land to die. However, Mathilde Donnay (Audrey Tatou) the fiancee of the convicted soldier Manech Langonnet (Gaspard Ulliel) is convinced that her beau survived the war. She resolves to find him partially assisted by Tina Lombardi (Marion Cotillard) lover of another of the convicted soldiers.

A Very Long Engagement was released in 2004 only three years after Audrey Tatou received international recognition in the romantic-comedy Amelie. She easily took to the more dramatic role of Mathilde with ease. She played a woman determined to find her fiance at any cost. Tatou was rightly nominated for a Best Actress Cesar award.

However, I think it was Marion Cotillard who stole the show in her supporting role of Tina Lombardi. To avenge her lover's death, she resolves to all the people responsible for his murder. She layer lays her soul bare to Mathilde in a scene that must have bagged her the Best Supporting Actress Cesar. It's no surprise that only three years later, she won an Oscar for playing Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose.

Speaking of Oscars, I was surprised to learn that A Very Long Engagement wasn't nominated for the Best International Film Oscar. Although it was in the running, the lesser film the Chorus was chosen as the French nomination instead. Although this went onto to lose to The Sea Inside.

However, the Academy did recognise A Very long Engagement for its art direction and cinematography. Much of the film was cast in a hopeful, sunshine hue while the cinematography could match any world-war epic. The war sequences were difficult to watch.

A Very Long Engagement was a great film which received a well-earned host of awards, most notably, a Cesar for Marion Cotillard.

Mysterious Skin review

 Number 534 on the top 1000 films of all time is the coming-of-age drama 'Mysterious Skin.'

Neil McCormick (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Brian Lackey (Brady Corbett) are two seemingly unconnected young men. However, they were both victims of CSA. The films sees them coming to terms with their childhood trauma.

Last year, I wrote two separate lists detailing the films that are too traumatic to watch again. If I were to write another list, Mysterious Skin would surely feature at the top. It was a deeply unsettling look at he lasting effects of CSA. This theme is explored within the two central characters of Neil and Brian.

Firstly, we have Neil whose experience with CSA has led him to become a hedonistic sex worker selling his body to the scummiest of men who rape and beat him senseless. Compared to his rom-com roles in Ten Things I hate about you and 500 Days of Summer, this was a sharp departure for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. However, it was also a deliberate departure as he was actively seeking more adult roles in independent films. Gordon-Levitt was great in the lead role as he brought humanity and vulnerability to an emotionally shut-down character.

On the other hand, Brian grows up believing that he has been abducted by aliens in a desperate attempt to repress the truth. Although Brady Corbet hasn't gone onto have the same momentous film career as his co-star, he was every bit as good as his Levitt especially when the truth started to become clear.

There is no doubt that Mysterious Skin is a powerful film. There is also little doubt that it is a deeply traumatic film addressing uncomfortable topics which should be discussed.

Waking Life review

 Number 530 on the top 1000 films of all time is Richard Linklater's animated surrealist drama 'Waking Life.'

Wiley Wiggins plays an unnamed protagonist who undergoes an existential crisis. He has a series of philosophical conversations before he realises that he is in a lucid dream that he must wake up from.

I don't think I've seen such pretentious Oscar-bait since Megalopolis. Don't get me wrong, Waking Life was beautiful to look at. It had a unique rotoscoping animation technique, but beyond that, the film was about as interesting as any of the films mentioned on my list of films that will put you to sleep. It was an arthouse film that was all style and no substance.

It's a shame as this was the same Richard Linklater who directed the brilliant Before Trilogy and the hilarious School of Rock. Yet Waking Life lacked the same humour and heart as Linklater's other efforts. This is despite how the Before Trilogy similarly had a lot of talking and little action.

The difference was that this talking occured between interesting characters who I actually gave a damn about. I couldn't say the same about Waking Life. Whereas the Before Trilogy had sparkling dialogue, Waking Life had the most boring philosophical discussions ever. Interestingly, the two leads from the Before Trilogy: Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delphy) also cameo here in one of the many scenes that are tangential to the main plot.

Rather than one continuous film or dream in this case, Waking Life was a collection of unrelated dreams that you forget as soon as you wake up. Although I can't ever remember dreaming about pseudo intellectual discussions a la Woody Allen. Also what was with the Alex Jones cameo? Apparently Richard Linklater just dismissed him as funny quack. Little did he realise how consequential Alex Jones would be in later life.

Maybe I just wasn't clever enough to understand the true genius of this film, but I also didn't care. Never mind Waking Life, this was a bad dream that I couldn't wait to wake up from.

The Station Agent review

 Number 528 on the top 1000 films of all time is the comedy-drama 'The Station Agent.'

Finbar Mcbride (Peter Dinklage) is a reclusive locophile dwarf who works in a train model shop. His only friend is his manager Henry Styles (Paul Benjamin.) However, after henry dies, Finn is bequeathed a closed-down train depot he owns. Fin lives here with every idea of having a quiet life. Cue the arrival of chatty hot dog seller Joe Oramos (Bobby Canavale) and grieving mother Olivia Harris (Patricia Clarkson.) The three form an unlikely friendship.

The Station Agent was the directorial debut of Tom McCarthy who went onto direct the superb the Visitor. That was a brilliant film which told a real story about real characters. It was a funny and heartwarming tale. I would definitely recommend it.

I would recommend the Station Agent too. It contained the same style and story. You had the terrific Peter Dinklage who wanted nothing more to be left alone. Then you had Bobby Canavale and Patricia Clarkson who wanted nothing more than to be with other people. Despite all three having literally nothing in common, except for being incredibly lonely, they find a spiritual kinship with each other.

Yet the actors all had great chemistry. Canavale was likable as the chatty Joe who gradually wears down Finn with his eternal optimism while the latter starts a budding romance with Olivia. Sure Joe's optimism became a bit irritating, but he was still an enjoyable character to watch. It's amazing to think this was the same actor who later terrified audiences as the fearsome Gyp Rosetti in Boardwalk Empire. 

Patricia Clarkson, who has also had a long and varied career, was great as the emotionally troubled Olivia. She brought the damaged character to life without making her maudlin. The same can be said for McCarthy. He crafted an emotional, funny and relatable story without becoming overly-sentimental.

However, the film was far from perfect. It is short at a paltry ninety minutes. It could have used an extra thirty minutes to explore its themes and relationships in more depth. Without going into spoilers, a good example would be Joe and Fin. Despite a rocky start, the two become good friends. That is until they have a big argument and go their separate ways. That is until they have an off-screen reconciliation which didn't feel very earned.

A subplot saw Fin having a separate romance with the town librarian Emily (Michelle Williams) creating a weird love triangle between Fin, Emily and Olivia. I much preferred the Fin and Olivia storyline, as Dinklage and Clarkson had much better on-screen chemistry. It was also more consequential to the plot. I wonder if McCarthy was trying and failing to add a final spanner into the works especially when Emily's dickhead boyfriend enters the scene.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the Station Agent. It was a quiet, but powerful film about human connection and friendship with great performances from the three leads.

Delicatessen review

 Number 527 on the top 1000 films of all time is the French, post-apocalyptic, black-comedy Delicatessen.

Delicatessen is set in a ruined apartment building over a butcher shop. A mysterious apocalypse has occurred and food is in short supply. Don't ask what type of meat the butcher/landlord Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfuss) is selling. Hopefully, it won't be new tenant and circus clown Laison (Dominique Pinon) or his beau Jane - Clapet's daughter (Marie-Laure Dougnac.)

In the US, this film was released as being presented by Terry Gillam. Although I'm not sure why as I couldn't see any evidence of him having anything to do with the making of this film. Perhaps it was because this film was purely Terry Gillam.

Once being part of the legendary Monty Python comedy troupe, he has gone onto direct the famously surreal and incomprehensible Brazil and Twelve Monkeys. Delicatessen was similarly surreal and incomprehensible. It was all far too weird and zany for me.

Perhaps I'm just not clever enough to truly understand the true genius behind the film, but it seemed weird for the sake of being weird. From the firey colour palate to the strange cast of characters, it was all so strange. I could follow the main story well enough - the clown and his girlfriend are trying not to become dinner. As for everything else? Not a clue.

If you want to say this is a bad review, I wouldn't blame you. But can you critique a film that is so difficult to understand? It was all too weird for me.

Serpico review

 Number 521 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1973 crime-drama Serpico.

Based on a true story, Serpico tells the tale of real-life NYPD Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) and his struggles to expose corruption in the police department.

Serpico certainly isn't the first whistleblowing film Al Pacino would star in. he also appeared in the 1997 film The Insider where he plays a TV producer helping to expose corruption in the tobacco industry where the Insider was slow-paced with not much happening, Serpico was far more interesting.

We are thrust straight into the action along with Al Pacino as we see him being rushed into hospital after being shot in the head. Who shot him? We don't know. Maybe one of his corrupt colleagues who he tried exposing. Yet it remains obvious that Serpico is the only straight cop in a severely bent cop stop.

He soon comes to odds with his fellow police as he refuses to take bribes or follow the crooked rules of his colleagues. Serpico goes onto embrace the countercultural attitudes of the time further alienating himself form the other coppers especially high command who are as bent as the rest.

As always Al Pacino was impressive. He was great as the dark and brooding Frank Serpico. The seventies was definitely a great decade for Pacino. He starred in the Godfather films, Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico.

Due to my previous experience with whistle-blowing films, I was not expecting to enjoy Serpico. I'm glad to say I was wrong.