Tag: Adele Exarchopoulus

SMOKING CAUSES COUGHING (2022)

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Editor, Cinematography, Written & Directed By: Quentin Dupieux

Cast: Giles Lellouche,  Vincent Lacoste, Anais Demoustier, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Oulaya Amamra, Adele Exarchopoulos, Tanguy Mercier 

A group of vigilantes called the “tobacco-forces” is falling apart. To rebuild team spirit, their leader suggests that they meet for a week-long retreat, before returning to save the world.

I keep watching the films of Quentin Dupieux because I really loved his first film RUBBER and keep hoping that each new film of his will be as good as that one. While I usually love the soundtracks/score I am A fan of the surreal

Absurd dry humor and the ideas used seem to be there. 

The film is never quite seen to rise to the occasion of their potential some are better than others but most end up somewhat disappointing until Now.

As this is one of his films that seemed to have the silliest and most ridiculous plots and I thoroughly enjoyed this throughout. 

Maybe because the wraparound spoof of Power Rangers shows their cheesiness and spreads morale or message and somewhere in there the film becomes an anthology of short stories or ideas the director seems to just pull out and try out with no rhyme or reason.

The tobacco force is where each member represents an ingredient in cigarettes. Together they produce a vapor that makes their enemies explode from the cancer they give them. They also have a robot sidekick and a mentor who gives them their missions shown to be a womanizing rat puppet who always seems to have green slime coming from his mouth. 

That somehow works as you keep wondering where the film Or stories that make half the film that is being told as a group bonding exercise are going, if anywhere 

By the end, I actually wanted more and was disappointed the film was so short. Which Is usually the opposite of the effect some of his films have had. 

The films can be hit or miss thought they are original and Definitely memorable. The film humor tends to be deadpan and dark  

I wish he was still doing the scores for his own films. As he had done when he made his early Films. Which made them a bit more worthwhile overall. 

Viewers beware his films aren’t for everyone and are not  Like anything most have encountered they are experimental, absurdist, and surreal that employ practical effects, and can be a bit disgusting at times they are usually comedies

He is a filmmaker I will always be interested in what he is working on or is coming out but it seems the stars have to align or he has to be on a certain random wavelength for the films to truly work to his advantage as well as the audiences.

Though I won’t lie and will admit Oulaya Amamra being in the cast certainly helped convince me to watch this. 

Grade: B 

MANDIBLES (2020)

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Written, Edited, Cinematography & Directed By: Quentin Dupieux

Cast: Gregorie Ludig, David Marsais, Adele Exarchopoulos, India Hair, Romeo Elvis, Coralie Russier, Bruno Lochet, Raphael Quenard

When simple-minded friends Jean-Gab and Manu find a giant fly trapped in the boot of a car, they decide to train it in the hope of making a ton of cash.

This film should have worked. One really wanted this one though unfortunately can only point out a few highlights that help the film stay watchable.

It’s a buddy comedy along the lines of DUMB & DUMBER with a little crime narrative of THE BIG LEBOWSKI and involving a gigantic fly that the two friends try to use as a pet and a way to riches.

Somehow doesn’t exactly connect with an absurd plot element that should have been the highlight of the movie.

Instead, the saving element of the film is actually the performance and character played by Adele Exarchopoulos who is hilarious and only in the movie for 30 minutes. Even though the movie is under 90 minutes. Once she arrives she is what the movie needs and once she leaves she is definitely missed. The energy of the film seems to go with her. You wish that the film had mostly been based on her character 

Which shows that the movie’s humor is more character-based. That should be more the inspiration, though that feels like the only genuine spark of originality of that kind. The main characters are boring and the one fantasy element becomes common so fast. That it feels cheapened. 

The film then seems to settle into punchlines of Jokes that were set up earlier.  

You can tell the movies the film was influenced by. As truly the comedic elements here are the more out-there elements such as the big fly and the brain-damaged woman. Who is suspicious of them? Yet the so-called regular characters believe they are stupid but okay.

In the final act, the only true comedy is their delivery and what it ends up being. That feels like much ado about nothing.

Grade: C 

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (2013)

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blue-is-the-warmest-color-movie

 

Directed By: Abdellatif Kechiche
Written By: Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalia Lacroix
Adapted from: the comic book “Le Bleu est une couleur chaude” by: Julie Maroh Cinematography By: Sofian El Fani
Editor: Sophie Brunet, Ghalia Lacroix, Albertine Lastera, Jean-Marie Lengelle & Camille Toubkis 


Cast: Lea Seydoux, Adele Exarchopoulus, Salim Kechiouche, Aurellen Recoing, Catherine Salee, Benjamin Siksou, Alma Jodorosky

*Please note that some trivia and facts have been republished from imdb among other sources In this review

Adèle is a high school student who is beginning to explore herself as a woman. She dates men but finds no satisfaction with them sexually, and is rejected by a female friend who she does desire. She dreams of something more. She meets Emma who is a free spirited girl whom Adèle’s friends reject due to her sexuality, and by association most begin to reject Adèle. Her relationship with Emma grows into more than just friends as she is the only person with whom she can express herself openly. Together, Adèle and Emma explore social acceptance, sexuality, and the emotional spectrum of their maturing relationship

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