The French take on King Arthur... And it ain't half bad !

French director, actor and producer, Alexandre Astier just confirmed the beggining of the shooting for his medieval trilogy Kaamelott resistance. I know, he has been announcing this for ten years now but let's remain hopeful and trust him. To celebrate, I will attempt to spread the word on an european scale and have my international discover this gem of a serie.

If Monty Python’s Holy Grail and Uderzo’s iconic comic strip "Asterix" had a love child together that would be French Tv Series "Kaamelott".

As a French production this series is not well known abroad and it is a shame! It is, hands down, one of the best series I have ever watched (and as a student with no job or social life, you can say that I’ve seen quite a few). Since it is so underrated, I really felt obliged to talk about it and try and convince some of you out there to watch this wonderful series!

First and foremost, what is it about? In a nutshell the series follows King Arthur and his courts in their many adventures; quests, martial activities, diplomatic meetings, but also family dinners, requests from the register of grievances, and love affairs.

Basically the humour of the series remains on several comical elements:

• Anachronism and references to modern day or historical facts always wittily placed

• Play on words and the character’s difficulty to communicate with each other (for this part I’d encourage you to watch the series in OVST much like how the Monty Python films are watched in France)

• The situations often absurd and/or ridiculous

• The struggle of a character (King Arthur) dealing with simpletons who are either emotionally or intellectually impeded

The many different characters are all colourful and funny in their own way. From the loyal and naïve Percival to the fearful but sophisticated Bors, from the "potiche" housewife Guinevere to the clumsy and childish Merlin; the entire cast gives wonderful performances. They make it really easy to identify with the characters. It also allows for the diversification of jokes and situations.

The story, though quite simple, evolves through the 6 series as characters develop and change; the tone grows a little bit more serious as well. 

The format changes too. The first four series contains 50 episodes of 6 minutes each. The last two contains 8 episodes of 52 minutes each. If you really don’t want something deep and prefer to watch something light and funny, I advise you to only watch the first 4 series; however be aware that the last two series change really smoothly and despite being more serious and darker, remain as funny and witty as the first ones. 

Now, for the purist fans of King’s Arthur's original tales, do not get offended by the changes Alexandre Astier brings to the legend. Characters, quests and timelines do not follow the original Arthurian legend word for word, but as an adaptation the series takes its own liberties.

To sum up: this series is good. No - in fact it is great. The story and characters are well written, the settings are great, the effects are decent, the actors do an amazing job, the humour is always there. It is funny, it is witty and it is heart-warming.

My advise: try it. If you like it you will have found a serie that will keep you entertained at any time. If you don't like it (which I strongly doub would ever happened), you will have lost 10 minutes of your time, it is not as bad as watching an hour long episode before you realise the show is not for you.

Why every kid should see Finding Dory

First of all I love hyper violence in movie : I love splashing blood, limbs flying around and frantic music - Fight Club, Kill Bill, Sin City that’s my stuff- But boy I love Disney ! A part of me is a blood thirsty, violence craving monster and the other is a squishy pile of marshmallow which wants to cuddle under a blanket . Deep down we are all like this.

Yesterday I  sat in front of Finding Dory. It is hands down the cutest and  smartest movie I have seen in a while.  It is clever, heart warming (and heart breaking sometimes), funny and beautiful.

It gives acritical look on  human behaviour without pointing any accusing finger like a lot of environmentalist kids films and series (Fern Gully, "Captain Planet", Lorax etc..). In Finding Dory,  aquariums are shown in different ways. Its portrayal is very realistic- it presents an environment full of good intention ready to take care of sick fish and rehabilitate them while also underlining the harm and stress it can cause to fish and mammals. The “poke cove”  scene is very relevant of that – by letting young kids touch starfishes, sea cucumbers and sea urchins, stressing them out and terrifying them (most park have a "kid discovery" section like this) it contradicts the purpose of those place; to save and cure said animal.

Destiny’s case is also very telling- she is a near sighted shark whale; the dichotomy is very strong here as it seems logical that a sick animal would be taken care of in this kind of centre- the character says it herself, she is unfit for this world, can’t see a thing and bump into every walls. Billy the beluga’s reply challenges this assumption: “there is no wall in the ocean!”. And indeed it raises the question of wild life conservation: Better a sick animal in captivity so it can survive according to our assumptions ? Or better a sick animal in his own habitat, where he could die but also could live properly its life? 

This movie teaches a lot to kids. The beauty of this graphics helps a lot understand as well: We are confronted to a lot of beautiful but sporadic places within the oceanic reserve, divided into several area, with shops and human life in between. On the other hand the part in the ocean shows a homogenous place full of colour, differences in fish. Much like Finding Nemo back then, it shows the wonders of the oceanic world, its colours its vegetation it diversity. In Finding Dory there is a clear difference between the natural habitat and the artificial one.

It is wrapped up in a sweet story about roots and family that speaks to every children as, especially in the case of small children, parents are their whole world. As a result they can relate and get into the movie deeper.

To me this movie has an excellent environmentalist message for kids. It is not too judgemental, not too brutal and not too patronizing- It is a good complement to raise environmental awareness.

BoJack Horseman: from Full House to Trash House

Picture a show about the downsides of Hollywood and mass production media. Make the main character a washed up  sitcom has-been actor who is as cynical as alcoholic. Add a lot of dark and dry humour. To finish throw a bit of animal kingdom anthropomorphism in the dough and you got that messy cake which is Netflix originals animated series BoJack Horseman.

Launched in 2014 and created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg this  show is good... But so weird !

So to sum up; former actor Bojack Horseman (a horse) decide to revive its career. He is surrounded by his agent Princess Carolyn, his roomate Todd, and his ghost writer Diane. The show while remaining satyrical and over the top as a adult cartoon would be, is very critical of today modern mass media society and very realistic on that matter.

The show while being smart (not too much but not too little) feels a bit reused though. How many movies and series have we had about former celebrities who try to reconstruct there life despite of nowadays cruel and demanding media industry: Music and Lyrics, South Park episode "Britney's New Look" (2nd ep season 12), "Californication, and many more, tackle the absurdity of the showbusiness klenex fame. To my opinion the story in itself does not stand out. It is entertaining but not very innovative.

The character is not that new either; especially nowadays- most of heroes now are blasé and alcoholic assholes, especially in cartoon (Archer from Archer, Rick from Rick and Morty, Roger from American Dad). So, again well written and entertaining but not so new.

What stands out is the tone of the show. While a movie like Music and Lyrics ends on a positive note and a serie like South Park is very over the top in its charicature, here the whole atmosphere of the show is disturbingly realistic and pessimistic.

I swear, this series feels very real and I sometimes was surprised to see myself ending an episode and feeling down. It is dark and often sad. But not sad in a dramatic way. It is the depressive every day life sadness.  Those kind of day where you wake up and you feel blasé but you force yourself to go on but deep down you know it is going to be harder and harder. That is the show.

It is also a very acid satyre of shows like Full House or Another World who go on for years but do not really take care of their staff, especially the children. It takes a harsh look at this environment who can turn against you extremely abruptly. Again not a scoop but it is done with so much sharpness that it literally sting. 

Don't get me wrong it is smart and funny! But some episodes hit your feels real bad. It is even more impressive since it is a cartoon. And especially an anthropomorphic cartoon. The realism should be even harder to sink in given that we are following a horse in a sweater, but no it does feel real. It reminds me of  Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido's Blacksad in the way that half way in you forget that the character are animals.  Unless when sex scene come up and then it becomes strange to look and make you have a constant, weird and taboo vision of sex. Imagine  Britney Spears doing it with a horse? Exactly...

To conclude, it is a mix between Blacksad and "Californication". If you like those kinds of desillusioned characters with ambiguous moral, if you like cartoons, if you like dark humour and if you like horses, you will love the show. I'd advice not to watch too much episodes in a row though because it can get depressive pretty fast. Or maybe I am just too sensitive.

Also can anyone explain the whole deal with the anthropomorphism ? I don't dislike it but to this day I still don't understand it. If anyone has an answer I am listening. 

Overview release 2017

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my new page! Here, we are talking about cinema, animation, series, pretty much every thing that makes sounds and moves on a screen.

For my first article let’s have an overview of 2017 upcoming releases.

Concerning cinema, I am not really eager to see it… I am fighting very hard not to be judgemental before having actually seen anything. The highlights of this upcoming years so far; Superheroes, remakes, sequels.

Comic books: Great - Allan Miller: love him - Batman and  Doctor Strange: great heroes and movies. However, I am  tired of that trend. For the past 10 years Hollywood  has been producing a lot of these. I get it. People look up to heroes to regain faith and hope; same reaction than when the first comics were issued (40ies)- But it feels a bit overused- A lot of those movies have been disappointing recently, lacking a real effort in their  writings and character development. I mean the X-men franchise is so full of plot holes it became impossible to watch without being confused (and it hurts to say that, X-men  is love); same with the Suicide Squad movie which was more fan service than an actual movie- big potential, wasted by lazy writing. So I don’t trust the Justice League ,Wonder Woman or Thor Ragnarok… But I keep hope, thanks to Doctor Strange and Deadpool, which were good surprises meaning we can get more coming.

Even Xavier got headaches from all the twists from his franchise

 

I understand remakes. No, it is not lazy and yes, it is interesting to see the same movie from another perspective especially if the movie is a great one and enough time has passed  to remind people it exists. But the upcoming remakes, I’m not certain. Kong Skull Island is not really necessary as there was already a good King Kong remake in 2005 by Peter Jackson; the Beauty and the Beast; is  made by the exact same studio and I’m scared by the trailer, as they did not  renew the aesthetics. And I’m so afraid of  Jumanji. I just love the first one so much, it was perfect; please don’t screw this up Jake Kasdan! Here again I’ll remain positive as there were good remakes before.

Sequels are interesting and  are also good for the audience who can feel unsatisfied by the end of a film or just wants more of it. However, another Fast and Furious ? Another World War Z? Another War of the Planet of the Apes the Return 2 Reloaded Reuploaded 3D ?… Ok, I am unfair, those movies have probably an audience who is excited about them, and probably fill in a scenaristic continuity, but I don’t see it. Then again, we have been surprised before with stories we thought were over but turned out to have some more in them;  Toystory 3, Hellboy 2 the golden army, 28 weeks later etc…

Regarding series on the contrary, this years looks appealing; the upcoming seasons of  “Archer”, “Rick and Morty”, “BoJack Horseman” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” are announced and I can’t wait to have them back on screen. Drifting between sarcasm, and pure absurdity, with a humour  as dry; dark and stinging  as an angry bee who lost its yellow stripes; 2017 is going to be painfully funny.  Also very eager to discover “Santa Clarita Diet”, “Taboo” or “Mary Kills People” (yes that looks like a remake of Dexter, so paradoxical vibes on this one).

All of this to say, I will see those movie and series (not all of them, but I’ll try) and see for myself and let you know!

Let’s hope this year rocks. See you very soon !