Daniela
30Dec11
Ouch.
Wall
Displaying all 30 wall posts
Howard Fritzson
21Feb12
Weirdly compelling. I could not stop watching. Filled with dislikable people whom you could relate to somehow.
Graeme Higginson likes this
Michael Harbour
17Jan12
You suspect if they'd lay off the drugs (alcohol and tobacco) they might all be physically and emotionally healthier. Just a thought.
Pierre Andre
24Dec11
A tale about guilt, grief, and grudges, but filmed with grace. Not my mother's typical Hallmark channel Christmas movie. Outstanding performances by both Mathieu Amalric and my belle de toujours Catherine Denueve.
AntioneOscar69
10Dec11
A strange hybrid of The Ice Storm, Ozu, and a rowdy French farce; extraordinary film
Saloniste likes this
Sefer Taslı Sapık
29Oct11
Enough of these unfortunate roles which were chosen for my own private Catherine Deneuve. Not the very thing.
Caden Cotard
5Feb11
A poorly acted, obnoxiously edited, unfocused, pretentious French piece of shit that justifies its ridiculous running time and hyper-stylized dialogue with random close-ups of the ever-lovely Catherine Deneuve.
Josefine
29Dec10
So I finally got around to watching this. I think I'm repeating myself, but I love how the French make their movies so REAL and bitter-sweet. They don't force happy endings and they don't need them, because the films are perfectly rounded off. Queen Catherine was stunning as always!
Inner Pattern
24Dec10
This is far from a perfect movie and I'm not entirely convinced it justifies its 152 minute running time. It's kind of all over the place like many have already stated but it's still an interesting and at times touching portrait of a very flawed family. Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Roussillon's relationship felt very genuine and added some needed heart to it overall. A solid watch
Erik Gregersen
28Nov10
In the 45 minutes I endured of this, I was reminded of James Wood's essay on "hysterical realism," a sub-genre of novels in which "there is a pursuit of vitality at all costs." However, Desplechin never grasps vitality; there is only the wearying pursuit.
Clayton Godby
8Jul10
Very very good. You could feel every line. The supreme honesty of the characters toward each other seemed a bit unreal to me. Also everytime I thought we had cut to a new scene and I was just adapting to the new aesthetic and feel there was an almost after-thought cut back to the previous scene which I found a bit off-putting. But i still loved it a lot.
Samurai Panda Poetry
11May10
Remarkable. No other film I've seen has tackled the complexities of family so starkly and honestly. Invasive yet intimate and with that something else that resembles but isn't quite what you'd call grace or delicacy. This film is timeless and deserves a revisit at every new stage of life.
Saloniste and Umut Yüksel like this
Daniel Romero
2May10
i enjoyed it alot but that scene with Ivan playing the dj was COMPLETELY unnecessary.
Daniela likes this
Carim James
27Apr10
Thanks for Stella Artois advertising campaign I got a free film to watch, and without a doubt the French film does not dissapoint, a real good aspect of play in French cinema I really loathed it.
Pierre
22Mar10
I loved the unpredictable and unconventional tone, style and narrative. I never felt lost in the directors hands, mostly because of the luscious and galvanising score. I really wish I didn't read the Royal Tennenbaums comparison before I watched it though, that's all I could think of during the whole thing! (and to be fair there are quite alot of similarities.)
Brad S.
14Mar10
Sometimes when there’s too much going on in a movie, it becomes a horrible mess. Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale is a wonderful mess. A plot involving illness and bone marrow donors is really just an excuse to explore darker edges of family dysfunction. By avoiding solutions or payoffs, character takes center stage, and while the general plot may seem familiar, it’s the details that are unique and compelling.
Aaron Wiederspahn
8Dec09
Found this to be quite disappointing. First act, thought I was going to love it. Second act, wasn't quite sure where it was headed, took the ride, hoping. Third act, thought it fell a part completely. Overall, I found it to be tonally indecisive.
Vincent Bergeron
13Nov09
Arnaud Desplechin is a really sensitive and intelligent filmmaker, but this movie feels like a throwback to Denys Arcand movies like Les Invasions Barbares. Well done, in style, but conventional and too derivative of several of Desplechin other movies. Like Good taste new wave cinema. To watch about his only movie not linked to a similar characters, try Esther Kahn.
Night Butterfly
25Jul09
Disappointing work from one of my favorite director; a far cry from 'Roi et Reine'... I felt unable to feel anything toward any of the characters and though of them as distant creatures in a puppet show. Uninteresting, unimportant and pretentious.