Les brigades du tigre (The Tiger Brigades)

I've never seen The Untouchables and I didn't like this film. While the performance of the cast was okay, I just didn't like the idea to have a film that briefly documents what the Mobile Brigade did without much context and explanations. Hopefully, Diane Kruger plays in the film.

In 1907, a new wave (and kind) of crimes becomes part of the France's from the Belle Époque. This is why Georges Clemenceau, the French Minister of the Interior, creates the mobile brigades. However, the public opinion calls them the Tiger Brigades. In Paris, Inspector Constantin must fight a group of anarchists and corrupted civil servants and Constance (Diane Kruger), the wife of a Russian prince, in 1912. As his investigation progresses, Constantin will come to wonder if the signature of the Triple Alliance will contribute to France's national security.

Honestly, many won't have a problem with the fact that Les brigades du tigre plays fast and loose with History. Obviously, there's no doubt that the film is quite entertaining. Besides, the cast - especially Clovis Cornillac - delivers a fine performance even though their characters seem a little bit cartoonish. In fact, while the villains are well played, the "good guys" are played with the correct amount of toughness.

However, as a historical film, Les brigades du tigre lamentably fails. While the film gives us a day-to-day presentation of the brigades work, it fails to bring us back in the historical context. In fact, we just never feel the need for the French government to create the Mobile Brigades. This is mostly due to the presentation of the crimes and they just don't look as "innovative" as the real crimes were. Besides, add to that the fact that director Jérôme Corniau throws in the event of the signature of the Triple Alliance without knowing what to do with it. All in all, this goes without saying that the film is way too preoccupied with the entertainment factor.

Finally, I've some good French commercial films. However, Les brigades du tigre is just not one of them because of many plot holes. Hopefully, if the cast's performance was so bad, I'd have dumped the film in the first 30 minutes. In short, Les brigades du tigre is just a bad combination between the conventions of art films and commercial films.

Rating: 2.5/5

Origin:	France (2006)
Length:	125 minutes
Genre:	Police drama
Screenplay:	Xavier Dorison, Fabien Nury and John Kaylin
Director:	Jérôme Corniau
Starring:	Clovis Cornillac, Diane Kruger, Édouard Baer, Olivier Gourmet and Stefano Accorsi

Read more

Preview: Jackie Chan's Next Film

After he's said that democracy might not suit China a few months ago, it's surprising that Jackie Chan still interests Hollywood producers. Now, let's leave aside politics, dear readers, and focus on the next film from one of the world's leading action stars (but for how long?). After he had missed the opportunity to play in The Pacifier, Chan has nabbed the role of a... babysitter in a film called The Spy Next Door.

Synopsis:
Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) is a top-spy. One day, his neighbour (Amber Valleta) asks him to babysit her three children (Katherine Boecher, Alina Foley and Will Shadley). However, it appears that Bob has to fight mysterious spies after one of the three children under his supervision had inadvertently downloaded secret codes.

***

Further informations:

Release date: January 15, 2010.

Filming location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Budget: Unknown

Other upcoming films from Jackie Chan: Big Soldier; Shaolin; and Kung-Fu Kid.

Read more

TV Review: The Big Bang Theory (Season 1)

Honestly, the reason why I've gone through the first season of The Big Bang Theory is because an old friend of mine (who studies for a Major in Atmospheric Science and a Minor in Environment) recommended it to me. With that said, I got to admit that the show is likable despite a few plot holes.

Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Hofstadter), an experimental physicist, and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), a theoretical physicist, are two Caltech prodigies in their twenties. Besides, they share the same apartment. One day, Penny (Kaley Cuoco), an attractive blonde with showbiz ambition who works at a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, moves in the apartment across the hall from Leonard's and Sheldon's apartment. Unlike Sheldon, who seriously lacks social skills, Leonard manages to develop a friendship between Penny and him. However, Leonard has a crush on Penny.

Obviously, The Big Bang Theory doesn't reinvent the wheel of sitcoms. This means that each episode just aims to make you laugh as much as possible. Furthermore, don't expect to see something as deep as a dramatic TV series, because the relation between the characters don't seem to evolve that much throughout the season.

Therefore, we're left with this question: why is The Big Bang Theory a must-see? Like The Tournament - a brilliant mockumentary series that tries "to do for minor hockey what Spinal Tap did for dino-rock" - manages to use in a balanced way some of the stereotypes (in this case scientific nerdness) related to the story. Indeed, the characters of Sheldon, Howard (Simon Hellberg) and Rajesh (Kunal Nayyar) embody the stereotypes to our great pleasure. As for Leonard, while he has the flaws of some real-life nerds, he brings the balance. Obviously, this is because the script always manages to make us cling to the hope that the future holds good things for him regarding his relation with women (namely Penny).

Besides, although The Big Bang Theory doesn't have the dramatic depth of - let's say - Six Feet Under or Terminal City, there's nothing to reproach to the cast's comedic performance. For that matter, my two thumbs up go to Simon Hellberg and Jim Parsons for being too hilarious in their own way. As for Kaley Cuoco, I think my English vocabulary is not broad enough to describe you how much I find her so gorgeous. Besides, liking her performance, I also was happy to learn that she plays tennis. Anyway, I'm digressing. In short, The Big Bang Theory is not my cup of tea, but had it not been because of the cast's collective performance and the balance in the script, I'd have dropped the show earlier.

Rating: 3/5

Read more

Movie News: Hollywood to Remake 'Le dîner de cons'

No, you read this post's title correctly and you don't need to purchase a new pair of glasses. After ridiculing itself in its attempt to remake Asian horror films, Hollywood (I don't remember the last time I saw an outstanding comedy from Hollywood) will try to remake a film that is considered as a classic of French comedy. The film in question is Le dîner de cons (The Dinner Game), a hilarious comedy which won the 1999 César Awards for best screenplay (original or adaptation).

First of all, the Hollywood version of Le dîner de cons will be titled Dinner for Schmucks and directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Fockers). As for the script, it's described like this on IMDB: "An extraordinarily stupid man possesses the ability to ruin the life of anyone who spends more than a few minutes in his company." Moreover, the cast will include Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Zach Galifianakis, Ron Livingston and Lucy Punch.

Finally, the film will be released in July 23, 2010. Besides, I'll leave you with this question: who, in the Hollywood version, would you like to see playing the American counterpart of the characters played by Thierry Lhermite (character: Pierre Brochant), Jacques Villeret (character: François Pignon), Francis Huster (character: Juste Leblanc), Alexandra Vandernoot (character: Christine Brochant) Catherine Frot (character: Marlène Sasseur) and Daniel Prévost (character: Lucien Cheval)?

By the way, in case you haven't seen the original version (what a shame if you haven't!), here's the trailer:

Read more

Drag Me to Hell

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of horror films. Nonetheless, it was impossible for me to ignore this film which benefited from a big buzz during its release. As a film about bad spirits, Drag Me to Hell is more likely to make you roll your eyes rather than amaze you. Of course, the movie will sure find its audience, but I'm not part of it.

Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), an ambitious loan officer, wants to be an assistant manager at the bank where she works. In order for this to be reality, she has to prove to her boss what she can do. When an elderly lady (Lorna Raver) asks Christine a third extension on her mortgage, Christine says no despite having second thoughts. However, since the elderly lady can't take no for an answer, she passes on a terrible curse to Christine. If Christine doesn't get rid of her curse within three days, a spirit will come to her and drag her in the depths of hell.

Director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) came back to what brought him in the movie industry: the genre of horror. I haven't seen Evil Dead, which is regarded as a cult film by many, but it looks like Raimi wanted to have fun while making Drag Me to Hell. Obviously, if your stomach is a bit weak, you may be impressed by Raimi's mastery of the special effects and his ability to keep you in the film's story so that you can see the amazing plot twist.

However, any praise for the film stops there. Between the beginning and the plot twist at the end, Drag Me to Hell looks like a complete parody of horror films. Despite being relatively entertaining and rightly acted, Drag Me to Hell, in its execution, looks a little bit dumb and amateurish. This is because the accumulations of incredible situations seem unnatural, so to speak. For instance, in the parking scene, many would be surprised to see that Christine still hasn't gone out of the parking while she thinks that the old lady is dead... All in all, the problem of this film is not entirely due to the way it's written; it's mostly its execution.

Finally, despite the obvious efforts the cast put in (especially the lovely Alison Lohman), Drag Me to Hell is definitely not going to enter History as one of the greatest horror films. Indeed, with the right dose of entertainment, Drag Me to Hell is a film that you watch if you're willing to turn your brain off for a while. However, the film is just worth watching for the spectacular ending.

Rating: 3/5

Origin:	USA (2009)
Length:	99 minutes
Genre:	Horor
Screenplay:	Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi
Director:	Sam Raimi
Starring:	Alison Lohman, Justin Long and Lorna Raver

Read more