Sarah: Wow, Ben. It looks like your blog is a hit!
Ben: Silence.
Sarah: Ben, come on! Aren't you excited?
Ben: Laughs.
Sarah: OK, so Ben's communication device is broken. That is why he's speechless.
So we've decided this week to reprise a review from his old Film Club days. This is one of my favorite movies. I love the music, personally. But I'm going to leave the reviewing to you, Mr. Living Room. (And thanks for not making me spell out every word of a new review with you!) Hopefully, we'll be up and running with a new one next week. Unless Ben is too lazy to write one.
The Triplets of Belleville 2003
Directed by: Sylvain Chomet
The fact that this movie lost the Academy Award to Finding Nemo is a crime. Apparently the Academy does not reward ingenuity, originality, poignant satire, and playful abandon. Instead it opts for stock humor and big budgets. Oh, well. The Triplets of Belleville doesn’t need a stinking Oscar anyway.
Is this movie a breath of fresh air, or what? I usually don’t go for cuteness, but that dog is simply terrific (though I did get a little annoyed at the constant barking). Actually, which character isn’t cute? Even the French mafia don with his big red nose is a little cutie, and you don’t get any cuter than the grandmother – with her club foot, always pushing on her glasses.
But the cuteness is counterbalanced very nicely by the bizarre and the grotesque. The satire on the French predilection for frogs is particularly gross (the half-dead frog crawling out the bowl, only to be mauled by the train), and the visual commentary on the obesity of Americans is both comical and disturbing (the Statue of Liberty holding up a hamburger is so appropriate it’s downright frightening!). Apparently, Belleville is supposed to be an amalgam of New York City, Montreal, and Quebec. Wherever it is, it is a land of pure delight.
Mr. Thimmes
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Wow Ben I love your critiques! The girls just said to me "No money no hamburgers"...that means they saw it I think. I am looking forward to getting this one. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThinking of you and Sarah and Sophie and Benjamin often..hope you are well and also that your electric has held out in this cold! Ours went out in the middle of the night until 3pm Sat. Had a long nights sleep! Glad you are doing this blog always so nice to hear from you and Sarah! Love, Terry
wow thanks mother for commenting for me (roll eyes) the triplts of belleville is a great movie. I saw it last summer when a local theater was doing some art thing for the college and anyone else had to only pay three dollars. So I went with some friends and ofcorse loved it. It is a really weird movie but wonderful. The frogs are gross but they have to be my favorite part, esecially the frog fisshing and the popcorn.
ReplyDeleteEek - Ben, I have to say that this movie tops my worst movie of all times list, along with Spirited Away. I believe that they both came out the same year. I found it to be very weird, and quite honesly repulsive. The frogs were weird, the bike rider was weird, and I really didn't get it. I am still disappointed that I lost 1.5 hours of my life to this movie. Obviously, I am one of few who feel this way, as it made several top movie of the decade lists... Lana
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to agree with the "Eek" commenter above. I heard NPR review this movie and also proclaim its greatness and so rushed out to watch it. I was extremely disappointed. I thought the artistry was good but not stunning. I found the satire heavy handed and overdone. Ooooh…they’re calling American’s fat, how original. The only redeeming feature I found was in the gambling den where the Mafioso had contrived the “peddle or die” treadmill for the bikers. That was original, but not revolutionary. I’ll take Dory speaking Whale and the Shark’s meat interventionist group any day!
ReplyDeleteDespite this, I look forward to the next review, and will most likely, give Triplets another shot if I find it on my Netflix viewer.
Hey Ben, what do you think of Terry Gilliam movies? I just saw The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus this weekend and am still thinking about it... I had NO idea what to expect, so I was in for a surprise! I loved all the imagery and symbolism. Next I'm going to try 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.' - Mollie
ReplyDeleteHi again,
ReplyDeleteI watched 'Triplets' last night and liked it because it was so absurb it made me laugh out loud. My favorite part was when the dog and grandma were chasing the freakishly designed freighter in the paddle boat they had rented for "20 minutes" (with the Mozart score in the background). Hilarious.
Lana's right about the biker being seriously weird, though.
Anyway, thanks for the recommendation! - Mollie