Login
Home
585 Lists
7766 Reviews
Collections
Notes: I have to admit that I had no idea that these Betty Boop cartoons were so old and I was also quite surprised that I enjoyed this one so much. Indeed, for a movie made almost 100 years ago, the animation was actually quite impressive but I think I enjoyed the tone even more. Indeed, back then, there was no real censorship yet, these guys really went wild and it was so refreshing to see an animated feature miles away from what Disney was already making at the time. This short was also the first of three collaboration of Cab Calloway with this cartoon series and the intro featuring Calloway and his band was already a delight. As a result, the music was also top-notch through the whole duration and there was a really nice jazzy vibe combined with some really spooky stuff. The only complaint I might have was that the whole thing was finished so quickly, there was really no time to develop an actual plot and, as a result, Betty Boop got pretty much nothing to do, I'm afraid. Still, it was a minor flaw and the end-result was actually really neat.
“To be honest, I can't remember the last time I saw a Betty Boop cartoon and I thought it was a good opportunity to check one of those on YouTube. Well, I have to admit that I had no idea that this character was already so old and I was also quite surprised that I enjoyed it so much. Indeed, for a mo” read more
“I have noticed that many classic movies starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are available on YouTube and since I loved these guys so much when I was a kid, I thought it would be the opportunity to rediscover their work. Well, according to IMDb, it is the most popular movie they have ever made so m” read more
“To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it did win the Best Picture Academy Award back in those days, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, while this movie started, I suddenly remembered that I actually read this book maybe 30 years ago when I was a kid” read more
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a really strong cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even if it definitely had some potential, to be honest, it didn’t really impress me after all. The first really bewildering thing about this movie was the fact” read more
“Since this short was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. I thought I already saw the damned thing but it was apparently not the case. Anyway, even if Disney had already released other cartoons before, this one really stood out because it introduced Mickey Mouse, their most ” read more
Cinematic Firsts
chosen by Eric
Notes: I had been complaining that, instead of the usual super heavy dramas, we should see something funny for once so, at least, I finally got what I asked. Well, even though I have to admit that it did turn out to be fun and entertaining, to be honest, it didn’t really convince me though. I mean, Louis Garel who directed the movie and played the main character, managed to gather a really strong cast and they all delivered some solid performances. I above all enjoyed Roschdy Zem who made his character so complex and charismatic. After the movie, some members of my film club described it as a feelgood movie but I don't really agree. In my opinion, it was more complex with many layers but, at some point, Garrel should have stopped piling up his ideas and develop instead what he had so far. There was also some pacing issues. I mean, for maybe half of the movie, the main character was trying to figure out what was his new step-father up to and, then, pretty much out of nowhere, he decided to help him out with his next heist which was maybe fun but it didn't really add up with everything that happened before. To make it even more convoluted, during this heist, he basically confessed that he was actually in love with his (deceased) wife's best friend which was another massive U turn. Eventually, its messy aspect made this movie fairly unpredictable but it definitely had its downside. Indeed, as a result, even though you laugh because the situations were funny, you also stop caring about the characters because what they were going through was more about entertaining the audience than actually telling something about them. Still, we definitely had a good time though.
(Feb. 2023)
