Le Grand Restaurant Jacques Besnard (1966) Still in my De Funes phase, I’ve re-watched a movie I haven’t seen many times (for a reason). Septime, head of a high-end restaurant in Paris, gets in a lot of trouble when the president of a foreign country is kidnapped during dinner. The Bad: The story is not… Continue Reading
L’Aile ou la Cuisse Claude Zidi (1976) My current obsession for Louis de Funes continues with another movie I have seen a lot of times when I was young. Watching it again after a few years I was again pleasantly surprised. Charles Duchemin, editor of a prestigious culinary guide, is near retirement, and wants his… Continue Reading
Le Gendarme et les Gendarmettes Jean Girault (1982) Three years after the worst episode in the series, France’s favorite gendarme is back for a final movie. I hadn’t seen it in a long time, and I feared this one would follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, fortunately for me I was pleasantly surprised. Four… Continue Reading
Le Gendarme et les Extra-terrestres Jean Girault (1979) Nearly a decade after the previous episode, most of the team returns for a movie that really stands out from the rest, but not in a good way… The brigade of St-Tropez encounters beings from another planet. Ludovic Cruchot is soon hunted by his own comrades while… Continue Reading
Le Gendarme en balade Jean Girault (1970) This is probably the episode I’ve seen the most. I used to know the dialog by heart (not anymore haha), it was great to watch it again after several years. Forced into retirement, the brigade of St-Tropez has trouble adjusting to civilian life. When one of their own… Continue Reading
Le Gendarme se marie Jean Girault (1968) We continue our viewing of the classic French comedy series. I enjoyed the first two episodes, but I knew the best was to come. In this third episode, Gendarme Cruchot meets Josepha, a charming widow. His daugther worries about this new relationship. The Bad: The pacing slows down… Continue Reading
Peau D’Ane Jacques Demy (1970) I feel like I’ve known this movie all my life. but watching it recently I was able to really appreciate how much of a classic it is. Jacques Demy adapts Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, where a widowed King plans to marry his daughter. With the help of her fairy godmother,… Continue Reading
Ridicule Patrice Leconte (1996) I like a good period movie. Especially for those set in pre-revolutionary France, there really is no comparison between popular american attempts (most are just horrendous) and a movie like this. France in the 18th century, Baron and engineer Gregoire De Malavoy travels to Versailles in hopes of improving the poor… Continue Reading
Le Gendarme a New-York Jean Girault (1965) Growing up, for some reason our parents never showed us this particular episode in the Gendarme series, but we’d seen the rest of them many many times. After watching it a couple of times as an adult, I see why… The Brigade of St-Tropez is chosen to represent… Continue Reading
Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez Jean Girault (1962) The French cinema I was raised on mostly consists of popular comedies made between 1960 and 1990. I certainly have missed out on a lot of good movies, but fortunately for me a lot of these comedies are really good! In Louis de Funes’ most famous role, we… Continue Reading
