Change Your Image
LateNightBrain
Reviews
Le roi de l'évasion (2009)
Disturbing, strange, and hilarious!
After my first experience with this film I really didn't know how to feel about it. I laughed a lot, but felt guilty because a lot of what I was laughing at was quite disturbing, and would make the average viewer appalled. With that said, this film is not for everyone, but boy, after multiple viewings, it never ceases to make my eyes water, and belly ache.
A rather large and overweight 40-something gay man living in the French countryside has an affair with a teenage girl, only to be pursued by the town authorities and the girl's belligerent father. They run away together, evading everyone however they can.
The most lasting visual I have from this film is the overweight gay man spending much of his time running through the countryside half naked. And just because he's overweight doesn't mean he can't pull it. This man can run.
I won't tell much more. Get this film if you can. Like I said, it's strange, it's disturbing, but if you have a sense-of-humor that journeys to the left of center, I'm sure you'll get something out of it.
Great cast. Well directed. Beautifully shot. Ludovic Berthillot and Hafsia Herzi shine in the two lead parts.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
One of Paul Thomas Anderson's best!!!
Could there be a more unlikely romantic comedy film than Punch Drunk Love?
(Warning! Long sentence below!)
Be it the central character's obsession with pudding and frequent flyer miles, his constant lying (and not being very good at it), his awkward disposition and unease with himself, the battle with getting his words right, his sudden outbursts of rage due to years of repressed feelings and bullying from his seven obnoxious sisters, his unusual trade as a distributor of gimmick toilet plungers, the trouble he lands himself in after a late night call with a phone sex operator, or his quest to find love in a world that presents itself more bizarre and chaotic by the minute... this movie is just pure magnificence.
Yes, it may not be for everyone. But, for those who are open minded and like their films with a more unconventional touch, do yourself a favor and watch Punch Drunk Love. Watch it at night when you've got 90 minutes to spare.
The acting, the camera work, the soundtrack/score, the colors, and most importantly the heart it comes from is a piece of work that has no rival in the vast land of cinema.
One of the 10 films I will take to my grave.
xo