laurent-saletto Reviews

Marriage (2022)

11 out of ten if I could

[10/10 · 22 August 2022]

This is not for everyone, heck, not for most. It is all about what is NOT being said, NOT being seen, NOT being pointed out. Just like life really. Every nuance, every shade, every breath matters. If you get it you get it. If you don't well.. there's always ITV and formulaic crap to fall back on. To enjoy it, just immerse yourself in it totally. Phone off, kids to bed, conversation and comments for later. But utterly amazing. Blessed that we still have the Beeb to comission such brilliant drama, without the ever present need to please all.

House of Gucci (2021)

House of cards

[2/10 · 5 February 2022]

No need to add to the hundreds here on plot etc. Film is way too long, the acting in general is awful, I have seen better soap actors. Not sure that's entirely down to actors as the lines and action are equally underwhelming and just downright childish at times. Considering this is based on real folks every character is 2 dimensional at best. The soundtrack is so misplaced with 70s stuff in the 90s etc... A whole disco scene has only Donna Summer tracks on... Blurgh. Awful in every way.

Joy House (1964)

Charismatic leads, mess of a movie.

[4/10 · 23 July 2021]

Plein Soleil, this film ain't. The problems abound here. From awful accents to lack of chemistry between all 3 protagonists, bad editing, choppy scenes and almost incomprehensible actions from all involved render Les Felins almost unwatchable considering the main plot is really quite simplistic, this is not a film I would choose to see again.

I think it would have benefited from a few rewrites and less awareness of how cool it is (it aint). Lalo Schiffrin's score is shrill, way too loud and sub Mannix. Rene Clement generally assured, if safe, direction is not in evidence due to an edit job that a trained monkey could have improved upon. Nothing here to look at, full debacle. 4 out of 10 for the beautiful people in it!

Lupin (2021– )

Fun, fun, fun

[9/10 · 23 June 2021]

I am French. I grew up in 70's France and I was thrilled to hear Jacques Dutronc's song "Gentleman Cambrioleur" on the last episode of this series as an homage to the TV series then based on Arsene Lupin. Most won't click to the wink and nod but I did. I was 13 or 14 and loved it then.... It was as far as I recall closer to the book but eh... things change.

I loved this new Lupin, it is just fun. The villains are villains, the goodies are goodies, boys' own adventure stuff. The fun is in the working out of the latest coup de theatre... much as in the original books. If you want realism go elsewhere.

Just embrace your inner child and return to a more innocent age.

'Gentleman cambrioleur est un grand seigneur'... indeed he is!

Nomadland (2020)

No man's land

[1/10 · 27 April 2021]

Dear Lord... where to start. I love McDormand but that ain't enough. I dont quite understand where this film wants to take its viewer. Hard reality? Never feels like it, all too serene. Advert for alternative life? Nope, that dont work either, unless eating burgers by the minute and crapping alfresco are your life's ambitions.

As for the music.... oh that damned soundtrack was like Richard Clayderman on speed, it is constant and annoying, trying to fill the void of the images blandness by adding more bland into your ears. The whole thing is all syrup and made up reality, nothing happening and lines that are soooo cliched.. I could have wept had I not been yawning so much.

I love slowwwww movies, love'em. But they have to move. Just a little bit. Like there's a point to make?? This was just watching nothing. Could have seen a 5 minute montage of deserted landscapes, inside a van and outside and a picture of McDormand looking out soulfully. That would have been 1hr43 off my life saved for better use.

Imdb asks whether a review contains spoilers. Would be hard in this case to find anything as spoilers.

I am guessing this will be a film that will be forgotten very quickly.

Hollywood (2020)

Preposterous. A bit insulting. Fluff disguises itself

[2/10 · 30 May 2020]

Where to start with 'Hello'wood. This series is as far removed from reality as Hello magazine is today. A melting pot of cheap thrills, liberalism, gay rights and racial abuse denouncements. No cliche is left unturned. It is played very much with over the top acting, all flared nostrils and 'faces' a la Norma Desmond. What's lacking is a sense of realism and the whole thing is Dynasty on steroids, totally unbelievable and just as vacuous as it gets. I also think it ultimately is an insult to all. Rock Hudson was not a thicko, spent his life in fear of secrets, Hattie McDaniels worked so hard all her life for racial rights, etc... the characterizations are so far off those people, it is sad to maybe think someone will buy all this nonsense at face value. Hope there wont be a sequel.

The Irishman (2019)

Scorcese's greatest hits

[2/10 · 4 December 2019]

If you have lived under a rock and never saw Goodfellas, Casino, Raging Bull etc, then The Irishman will come as a revelation. As I have seen all those listed and others, I lasted 90 minutes. Nothing new, too self indulgent and My God, those leads are way too old CGI or not. Beautifully created,filmed and directed but to me a snorefest. Sorry, not the swansong some claim it to be.

Mythomaniac (2019–2021)

Terrific...

[8/10 · 2 December 2019]

To the reviewer who thinks it is okay for a french film, wow. How superior of you? And it is a series, not a film... As for Ann Frank, it is hardly making fun of her at all. Tis the book and the child's anxiety (caused by the shenanigans around her) that the mother decides to make disappear ... not the story. This series is a delight and a cross between comedy and drama, very well put together and a lot of fun. Great soundtrack... as for the cancer thing, the ploy was far stronger in Breaking Bad. I get it that for some people it wont work because it has subs, it is of a different culture viewpoint and doesn't fit into the usual series. But if you like quirky, charming and fun give it a try. Oh, and it helps if you are a bit more open to 'different'.

The Laundromat (I) (2019)

Stopped it after 45 minutes

[1/10 · 4 November 2019]

What a mess. Okay, we all know bankers, insurance people and certain lawyers are bad news. Hardly noteworthy if you have watched TV or been to the cinema in the past 50 years. So what. Money makes the world go around, the song goes. Yet stories like this can still be entertaining and interesting. But this blooming thing? Noooooo.... why on earth is this expose sung and danced and talked by two figures representing money evil and stopping the simple narrative every 5 minutes. Why do we have titles about secrets like Secret 1 screw the meek stopping is predictable action? WE KNOW! Add to that, I, for one, am sick and tired of Ms Streep playing the dotty old dear act she has been doing for some time. I realise she is supposed to be USA best acting chops but in reality, she is a one register decent actress. Judi Dench or Maggie Smith she ain't. In short, I hated this thing. I didn't watch it totally but no doubt it all ended as predictably as it began, even with the interrupting goons and oh so witty titles.. yuck.

Dames (1934)

Mad about Dames

[10/10 · 31 July 2018]

Okay. I am 61 years old so this film is way way before me. However I am also a lifetime fan of movies and movie makers who never should be forgotten. Thirties musicals were never that fantastic with their stories, it was always an 'excuse' rather than a reason for dance routines. Boy met girl, boy lost girl, boy found girl again or boy/girl want to put a show on/or be in a show, they can't get in and by a twist of fate it all happens in the last 4 minutes! We know.... None of the Astaire/Rogers movies are remembered for their sparkling story and Dames is actually a little bit better than those. Whether you laugh (I did) at Hugh Herbert today is down to you. I find him hilarious and yes, the comedy is way over acted but so is today's (Will Ferrell anyone?)... I like the persona of Dick Powell, his voice and renditions of songs are not my cup of tea though again in the context of the film absolutely fine. Blondell is gorgeous as she was in those early Thirties films and Keller is well... Keeler....but the real star is the man you can't see. Yes you guessed it I am referring to Busby Berkeley. It does take a while before his magic gets on the screen but when it does it keeps on coming. The very end bit which goes from geometrically moving bodies to freeze frame to Dick Powell's head tearing it apart as if it were a wallpaper is so ahead of its times in terms of technical accomplishment I was dumbfounded. If you love cinema, you need to see a Busby Berkeley number (preferably in the film context) once in your life at least because THAT man changed the way images were made and we still see an impact of his amazing work today. Men like Berkeley are seldom mentioned now, people, if they remember anything, remember directors and a body of work. Though Berkeley did direct, he will always be the man who created those amazing routines at a time when CGI and computers were scifi. So yes, loving cinema as an art form needs a Berkeley vieweing and you could do a lot worse than watch Dames!

Succession (2018–2023)

Fantastic new series

[10/10 · 2 July 2018]

Do not listen to the haters... this is a brilliant, literate, clever and I can imagine at that level of money probably close to the truth. So what if no one is that likeable? It did not bother me with 'goodfellas' or 'mad men'. No, it isn't warm and fuzzy, but i avoid that like hell and for once in a US series no one is unbelievably pretty or handsome. Apart from the fact you feel you are watching a pond of piranhas, the struggle of an old man forced into retirement by ill health, his eldest son desperate attempts to do a good job in spite of his inadequacies and siblings are all very real. Crackling dialogue, tension you could cut with a knife, this is an intelligent series with long scenes, lots of talking anf brilliantly drawn characters. The soundtrack is fab and the credits say it all with footage reminiscent of old family movies with one last shot of a young boy, presumably eldest son Kendall, giving his dad a look of wanting acceptance and anger as his father leaves him abruptly... excellent in every way

The Post (2017)

Perfect Oscar fodder

[2/10 · 4 February 2018]

Whilst no one can take away the talent at hand here, whoever decided this was a two hour story worthy of production must have thought of Oscar day. For the Oscar folks LOVE worthy films that everyone will forget in a year or so (and I am being generous). Many people here have given very valid reasons as to why this heavy handed, old fashioned, ponderously pompous film is ultimately a borefest. But the one person I totally agree with is that the story (if there is one) is not this but how the NYT who did uncover the whole thing first was stopped in its track by Nixon and his foes. I, at least, may have found this side of the story more interesting. 2 out of 10 for talent involved....

Feud (2017–2024)

A show for an adult audience

[7 April 2017]

And by that I mean, for those who can enjoy scenes longer than 10 seconds at a time... I love Feud for many reasons. All of my life I have been the biggest old Hollywood fan and the book 'The Divine Feud'by Shaun Considine from which this series is taking its cue is a masterpiece in studying two characters at a certain time in Hollywood where glamour and elegance (at least superficially) counted for something. I generally have real problems with biopics when actors look nothing like the people they portray but here I managed to get over that. Sarandon is very close to Davis at times though I would say more of a 1950's Davis than the sixties. As for Lange her physical resemblance is miles away from the real Crawford. And yet. They are both utterly believable and utterly exciting in those roles. Other reviewers suggest this is more of a study in fear and in a way it is. The reason it is so fascinating is because that fear still exists. As women age the screen abandons them. And what once was the hottest ticket in town has no chance in making it in the new world. There is also that sense of not really understanding that new world and fighting against it. Someone once said that the real problem between Crawford and Davis stemmed from the fact that they were so similar. And I guess that was true as well... My advice would be to read the positives and ignore the negatives in those reviews. Some folks are simply not understanding that they need to read between the lines and look at the bigger picture. But everything about Feud is elegant and amazingly well judged. And oh! those credits!!!!!!