Sacre bleu, I hope so. The middle is some of my favorite stuff.

The Flick Filosopher has a rather negative review of Black Dahlia that is well-written in her usual clever way. (Read her review of Memento for more clever reviewing.) I like the end:

I could see that he might have the right moves, that he had a spark of something classy and classic in this De Palma disaster, too, but he just wasn’t man enough yet to finagle the disaster around to his own benefit. This Hartnett kid, he let himself play the victim, walked right into a slaughterhouse of bad, seduced by the De Palma name, maybe, did okay for a bit before the knives came out at the laugh riot of the ending -- where the shouting ramps up even more and De Palma goes nuts -- and he got chewed up and spit out...

He stared at me like the white light coming out of a projector with the tail end of celluloid on the reel flapping around.

“Okay, look: you know that dead Dahlia girl?” I said.

“Sure,” he said.

“You get how it’s supposed to be sad that she was so desperate for fame and fortune that she’d do anything?” I said.

“Sure,” he said. And then the paparazzi bulb flashed over his head. “Oh.”

I waived my fee. He seemed like a nice kid. But I made him buy me another popcorn on the way out.

Bob le Flambeur is very enjoyable. Le Samourai is colder and more severe, but beautiful in its way and a fascinating late noir.

I've seen both of these, and found Le Samourai to be visually interesting, and an historical document on Asian influences in western film, but ultimately it's a big pile of stylish nonsense. Pretty nonsense, but.

(If you want hot Alain Delon, where he actually speaks more than 3 lines of dialogue, go see Purple Noon -- in French, it was called Plein Soleil, but I am pretty sure that neither of those words is "purple" -- it is an early adaptation of i The Talented Mr. Ripley, of all things, adapted to a very French worldview.)

Bob le Flambeur is a little less ridiculously in love with itself, and it's got a sense of play (and a great sense of postwar Paris), and has the enthusiasm of amateurism on its side.

Upon checking my Netflix queue, I can assure y'all that there is one French film in my top ten (Band of Outsiders, which my wife has inexplicably never seen), another in the next ten (Rififi, same reason), another in the 20-30 range, two in the 30-40 range, three in the 40-50 range, and that's as far as I ever organize the list. I suspect that one of the problems with the Slate article is that the joker who wrote it doesn't have great taste. Why else would he consider Deliverance a movie unworthy of a good rating? Or balk at the equivalence of Casablanca and Chicken Run, both of which seem to be similar in scope and seriousness (albeit, the former has a better reputation, but we're talking a five-point rating system, so there's not much room for nuance)?

I've seen both of these, and found Le Samourai to be visually interesting, and an historical document on Asian influences in western film, but ultimately it's a big pile of stylish nonsense. Pretty nonsense, but.

Yeah, definitely. A lot of the images stick with me, but the plot itself has long since evaporated from my brain.

Wait wait wait, Casablanca IS Chicken Run. Just, with different-looking actors and a lot less smoking.

No wait, I mean The Great Escape. If you can handle the idea of Richard Attenborough and Steve McQueen being played by female English chickens.

Yeah, sometimes it is hard to know... because it's not exactly true that if I really laugh at a comedy and give it the same rating as Deadwood, that I like it in the same way I like Deadwood. Apples and uh, peaches right? But I really enjoyed it the day that I watched it, so I feel inclined to give it the high rating. And I only give one if I can't stand to finish or something. I probably look like the cheapest Netflix date in the world.

Yeah, definitely. A lot of the images stick with me, but the plot itself has long since evaporated from my brain.

Which makes sense considering the gaping holes in it. It's best not to think about it. I focus on Alain Delon = pretty.

Also seconding the Purple Noon recommendation. Although, if bad dubbing bothers you in any way, I'd avoid it getting it through Netflix.

"En plein soleil" means "in the heat of the sun".

Why did I see the words "Purple Noon" and think I was seeing "Purple Rain"? Although, that would be a good movie to see with French dubbing.

Can anyone translate "Darling Nikki" into French?

Can anyone translate "Darling Nikki" into French?

"Nicquie, Cherie"