Tlacuachote Reviews

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Boring and painful to watch, unlike the original

[1/10 · 19 July 2022]

"The Room" by Tommy Wiseau is actually an entertaining movie (for all the wrong reasons). This one is completely unnecessary and boring. The director casting himself as the main character looks much more narcissistic than Wiseau, and his impression of Wiseau is just painful to watch.

That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)

Buñuel's final film

[8/10 · 27 January 2022]

This is Buñuel's final film. It is much more straightforward than his previous work ("Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie" and "Le fantôme de la liberté"), but still has some subtle symbolic details. It tells a story of an aging French widower Mathieu pursuing a young Spanish girl Conchita... Or is it Conchita who follows Mathieu?.. It deals with the topic of romantic and sexual frustration. One remarkable detail is that the elusive Conchita is played by two actresses who alternate in different scenes.

Time of the Wolf (2003)

Post-apocalyptic film d'auteur

[8/10 · 27 January 2022]

The film tells a story of people surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. The title and plot remind me of the proverb "homo homini lupus est"; "a man is a wolf to another man". It is never revealed in the film what really happened, and things are left open to the viewer's imagination, there are only some hints here and there. It is a beautifully photographed, dark and depressive existential drama, but don't expect it to be "entertaining" and full of action. In this sense it's a realistic depiction of what would really happen in a post-apocalyptic world.

Marcel Proust's Time Regained (1999)

Epic adaptation of Proust's novel

[8/10 · 26 January 2022]

Overall it's a very ambitious adaptation of "À la recherche du temps perdu", covering various chunks of the entire novel. The costumes, camerawork, and acting are magnificent. Be warned however that if you didn't read Proust, you'll be quickly lost in the multitude of characters and storylines, and the film will be a pure stream of consciousness (which is inevitable for such a project).

Benedetta (2021)

Cheesy movie loosely based on real story

[5/10 · 26 January 2022]

What is interesting about this movie is that it is (loosely) based on life of Benedetta Carlini (1590-1661), an Italian abbess who was accused of having a relationship with one of her nuns. However, Verhoeven's version omits or alters some important details, so the outcome is rather shallow and cheesy. But then, it was clearly aimed at the average moviegoer, and I wouldn't expect anything different from Verhoeven...

99 Francs (2007)

Entertaining comedy about advertising and western consumerism

[8/10 · 24 January 2022]

Dark comedy about the world of advertising, full of cocaine-fueled madness, based on the eponymous autobiographical novel by Frédéric Beigbeder. It's a transparent critique of western consumerism, a bit naive and full of clichés and a bit cynical. A very entertaining film overall.

The Phantom of Liberty (1974)

Surrealist masterpiece, Buñuel's penultimate film

[9/10 · 23 January 2022]

This film came after "Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie", and it is similar to it in many respects. At the same time, it has less structure, being a sequence of surrealist vignettes, loosely tied together, that touch on a lot of different topics. Some parts are pure absurd or dream-like, others are rather transparent satire.

Le daim (2019)

Another great film by Dupieux!

[10/10 · 22 January 2022]

It is possible to compare this unusual film only to other works of Quentin Dupieux: completely surreal and almost nonsensical, but at the same time like a vortex that sucks you in and never leaves you bored. Very entertaining and with its own sense of humor.

Reality (2014)

Mind blowing surreal comedy

[10/10 · 22 January 2022]

A completely non-linear film about dreams and interaction between the reality and the subconscious. It reminded me of Buñuel ("The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie") and to some extent of Lynch, only it is absolutely fragmented (which makes it impossible to explain the plot), and much more comical. It also has a lot of inner jokes about movies and filmmaking.

Mandibles (2020)

Simple yet surreal comedy

[7/10 · 21 January 2022]

A story of two simple-minded losers who discover a giant fly and try to train it to earn money. It's a completely nonsensical film, but at the same time hilarious and captivating. The main actors (Grégoire Ludig and David Marsais) form the French comic duo "Palmashow".

Stranger by the Lake (2013)

Slow psychological thriller about gay cruising

[8/10 · 21 January 2022]

I'd classify it as a Hitchcockian psychological thriller. Not a mystery, since the murderer is revealed at the beginning of the story. It's a bit slow, and many scenes are there only to capture the atmosphere of outdoors gay cruising. The film has various explicit scenes, but it's not pornographic; just don't watch it if you get instantly offended by unsimulated gay sex... The cinematography is beautiful, and the sound as well: there is no music at all, only recordings of nature. A disturbing and thought-provoking story. Best film of 2013 according to "Cahiers du cinéma".

Clubbed to Death (Lola) (1996)

Rather lengthy and uneventful film d'auteur about drugs and 90s raves

[5/10 · 21 January 2022]

Young Lola falls asleep on a bus and ends up at a rave in the suburbs; there she meets a couple of drug addicts, Emir and Saida, and eventually they form a kind of love triangle. The film features good actors and captures some atmosphere, but the script doesn't tell much. For its 90 minute duration and very simple story, it feels a bit too long and uneventful.

Curiously, the eponymous trip-hop track "Clubbed to Death" features prominently; it was later used in "Matrix" (1999) and sounds a bit cheesy nowadays.

High Tension (2003)

Gory slasher with a twist

[7/10 · 16 January 2022]

It quickly starts off as a cliché slasher, very violent and gory, and indeed with some "high tension" to it, but otherwise not very remarkable. What makes it memorable is a huge plot twist that happens about ten minutes before the end.

Criminal Lovers (1999)

Entertaining and with ironic plot twists

[9/10 · 15 January 2022]

Among film's subversive topics are obsession with murder, sadism, cannibalism, rape, and Stockholm syndrome, and it somehow lies between a thriller and a fairy tale. I must admit that not one of the characters is likeable, and everything is just perverse. The film still has a clever plot with various ironic twists, so it doesn't leave you bored at any point.

Baise-moi (2000)

Packed with graphic content, but very sloppy and of little artistic value

[3/10 · 14 January 2022]

I checked this film out because it was classified as "new French extremity" by some sources. It was clearly made to shock the layman, as it's packed with sex and violence. Initially I thought this was the reason behind the negative reception, so I gave it a chance. However, for me the problem was with very bad directing and acting; I can ignore the shock value, I just find it a tasteless, sloppy, unmemorable, amateurish piece of work.

Caché (2005)

Captivating mystery

[8/10 · 11 January 2022]

Without revealing any plot twists, I'd just say that it's a captivating mystery; I was intrigued till the very last minute, and I was not disappointed by the fact that some important details were left open to interpretation at the end.

Mommy (I) (2014)

Not a bad movie; not without some flaws

[6/10 · 11 January 2022]

"Mommy" was unanimously praised by the critics, and it's definitely a film d'auteur, impressive for a director who made it at the age of 24, but I can't point out some of its flaws. It's way too long (2 hours 19 minutes) and has parts that could be easily omitted or shortened. In particular, it has various corny scenes with music, e.g., the one where Steve is skating (accompanied by "Wonderwall" by Oasis-what a fresh choice), or the dreamy sequence with graduation and wedding towards the end. It looks too cliché. At the same time, the film leaves some loose ends: Kyla is one of the main characters, yet her story, motives, and feelings are not fully explained. I'd say all characters are a bit cartoonish and unlikable. The 1:1 aspect ratio is an interesting choice, but it gets annoying, given the film's length. Overall it's not bad, but it's not a chef-d'oeuvre either.