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Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages (2005)
One of the best for children that I have seen
I cannot compare with the first film which I have not yet seen (see previous review that liked it better). I hesitated to give it a 10, but I cannot point to a fault in this animation for children. My grand children love it, and have seen it repeatedly: I would say it can be watched from two to seven (I have not yet tried older). From my point of view it teaches a lot that is important, including cultural differences, respect, empathy, among many other things. Tasteful and non violent, though not escaping conflictual situations. The quality of the drawing and the animation is simple and aesthetically pleasing, especially regarding colors.
Age of Tomorrow (2014)
Being that bad requires dedication
One good point about this movie: it made me learn about Asylum and its mock-buster movies (thanks to IMDb). So now I know I have an excuse to add that unnamable thing to my SF movie collection, if I can find a copy for about $1 (I do find some on the legal market).
I watched it to see how far they would go. To be honest, no one can be that bad by accident, whether acting, script, dialog, whatever. Not by accident: it has to be intentional and one has to work hard at it. So abysmal that it made me laugh on occasion.
I guess it is interest in this attempt at breaking barriers and setting new records of outrageousness that won the participation of actors we have seen in better context.
Spoiler (though spoiling this movie is hardly possible): Another good thing about this movie is that all the characters get killed: they all deserve it.
Given that the film was actually trying to be bad, I must consider it a real success. I must logically rate it at 9. I actually hesitated between 9 and 10, but I want to encourage them or other filmmakers to try even harder to see whether they can do even worse. I actually read from other reviews that Asylum can do worse. So my guess is that 9 is the right rating.
Bunker Palace Hôtel (1989)
All atmosphere and aesthetics, with a tension.
I do not easily rate a movie at 10. It is not even the cast. Their excellent play does contribute to the overall creation. But what matters most is the atmosphere of the film and its incredible density, held by a persistent though unidentifiable tension. Nothing is granted, reality least of all. It is a kind of allegory of a crumbling world ... in an improbable setting. Probably to be followed by a rebirth, as hopeless. It is also pure cynical aesthetics. Enki Bilal is a painter and an outstanding comic books author, and his very personal aesthetics pervades all his works. I cannot compare this film to anything else I have seen, but it is my favorite movie.
Earth's Final Hours (2011)
Unwittingly funny
Not much to add to other reviews. Regarding SciFi, it is clearly fiction, but the science part is worse than questionable. I watched only some 30 to 40 minutes, after "missing" the beginning, and particularly the sequence from "Death becomes her".
Still, I give this movie 2 stars because it made me laugh. Here are two approximate excerpts from the dialog, from memory :
Son: "dad, there is a report that says this is the end of the world." - Dad: "it is much worse than you think."
Agent: "The earth stopped rotating. The sun won't set". - Reply: "do not tell anyone."
Le réveillon des bonnes (2007)
A Christmas story ... in history.
A tale for Christmas following the laws of the genre ... all is supposed to end well at Christmas. Interesting for the historical setting and details: a typical building in Paris, with a different family on each level (in increasing order of wealth) and the maids who live together in rooms on the last floor, 3 weeks after the end of the first world war. The point of view is mostly that of the maids, and a variety of plots intertwine, while some still hope for the return of the missing men, mourn the dead or reorganize their lives without them. Lively conducted, even though characters are on the average (but not all) a bit too nice and concerned to be true. The hidden motherhood aspects of the story were too common a fact of those times, and I have known one such maid, some 40 years later. We learned of her son (then aged fifty) at the opening of her will. A pleasant story, watchable by all, extremely well served by an excellent cast of (mostly) theater actors.
Asteroid (1997)
No plot, no characters, no reality, no nothing
There is just nothing but people screaming and moving without purpose or direction. Plain silly, with lots of fire.
Apparently, I saw only the second half on TV. Lucky me. I could not really watch it continuously (kind of painful, even though I can swallow a lot of stuff when it comes to SciFi), so I watched a rather interesting documentary on dinosaurs at the same time. They had clearly more emotions than the characters in this film.
Just one question : if an asteroid breaks, what are the chances that two pieces will fall on the same spot. Close to zero. What are the chances more than two will ... Now, given that the planet rotates quite rapidly, what are the chances that several will fall on the same spot at different times. This is just one example of the utter technical nonsense of the thing (then ... what is to be expected with the kind of pseudo-science taught in too many schools). But the rest (acting, dialog, scenario, ...) is on the same level.
I would give it a 1, but I still give it a 2 on the odd chance that there might be something in the first part I did not see.