Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Tad Pole . . . (they're all moochers and thieves), new moms (they'll just ignore the baby monitor to pleasure door-to-door salesmen as soon as their husbands leave for work), Germans (stingy--"We have strawberries; take a BIG one"), farmers (road hogs and polluters), RV families (if they find you high and dry, they'll strand you in the drink), businessmen (can't spare a quarter for a panhandler since they don't have anything smaller than a twenty), sports fans (too sensitive to be exposed to "gimps"), recreational bikers (they rudely rev noisy machines while night-shifters are trying to sleep), karaoke singers (cannot even pronounce the lyrics), small business manufacturers (their products are death traps), Finns (they spend all day drinking), management (it keeps workers so busy their spouses are driven to cheat), parents (who stuff children's brains with misinformation) . . . Bottom line: don't watch AALTRA if you prefer your flicks to be politically correct.

bob the moo A commuter and a farmhand get in one another's way often, causing tensions and frustrations between them. When the farmhand causes the commuter to miss his train, lose his job and arrive home early to find his wife having an affair, the commuter and the farmhand get into a fight around the farm equipment and end up badly injured – both ending up paralysed from the waist down. Seemingly stuck with one another, they set out on a trip to Finland to seek out the manufacturer of the equipment that put them in this state.This sat on my harddrive for several months before I got around to watching it and, if you read the plot summary and know that it is a black & white and in French, you will perhaps understand why. Unsure of what to expect I settled down to it – thinking it unfair that I neglect it in favour of "easier" American blockbusters etc. What I found was an unspectacular but clever look at how disabled people are treated and viewed. The road trip aspect is not much more than a frame to allow this to happen and indeed even the conclusion is making the point in an amusing way. In regards narrative then it doesn't really satisfy because of this being the weaker aspect but I found the look at disability to be enough to cover this.The writer and director do well to avoid sentimentality or preaching and they are very even handed across the telling. We see people being overly kind, people ignoring them, people picking them and so on. Fairly we also seeing them taking advantage of goodwill and being just as big a pair of jerks as able-bodied people can be. It sounds simple to say it but the film does do a good job with this theme and, although not hilarious, it did produce some dark laughs along the way. Writer and director Delépine and de Kervern do a good job in the two lead roles and also work very well with a limited budget.Overall then not a perfect film but a cleverer one that I initially gave it credit for. The narrative is not a lot more than a frame to allow the dark comic look at the treatment of the two characters but in this regard it works well enough while the examples of treatment are fair and well delivered.

Danny Hartering AALTRA is a film that frequently brings a smile to your face and every now and than you will laugh out loud. As the humor is often pitch black, don't feel strange if you are embarrassed by your own laugh. The blackness of it all is underlined by the fact that the film is in black and white. It tells the tale of two men who are constantly at each other's throat, until they both get stuck in a no-perspective situation ánd with each other. The film is a bit of a slow starter, but once the two men are "on the road" more and more moments are either funny or hilarious. I especially loved the encounters with the Flemmish and German speaking well-doers. It is one of those rare films where a certain shot can be a funny shot in itself, I mean without further verbal explanation or build-up. And hey... you will never listen to "Sunny" with the same ears ever again.

sarbryt To me this film epitomises the surreal underbelly of everyday life. I don't think it constitutes a "spoiler" to say that the film portrays in a strangely endearing way the boyish pigheadedness of grown men and the strength this and their devotion to their obsessions can give them. It also portrays the bleak loneliness of the island each man can become if he's not very lucky and the unlikely ways in which this loneliness can be alleviated.Visually, I enjoyed the painterly quality of the over lighting of many scenes, which allows moments of reflection and, in the tradition of true art, encourages the viewer to see everyday objects or scenes in a new light. Again, I don't think it spoils anything as it's merely a brief passing scene, to suggest you look out for example for the tall thin man in the wheelchair at the railway station, disappearing into the light after passing one of the main protagonists in a doorway - it reminded me of the paintings of Francis Bacon among others. Even grim events can have a visual beauty, or at the least an arresting quality about them, and this is a film that has the courage to flaunt the fact and doesn't shy away from what is at first sight mundane or ugly. And as it highlights the hidden beauty of many ugly things so it also highlights the humour that can accompany the most unfortunate events. Even dreadful people have stories worth telling. As regards the humour, it is indeed black and cynical but at the same time, and as is reinforced by the ending, it actually leaves the viewer (or this one at any rate) with a warm feeling and a sense almost of admiration for the sheer dogged tenacity and survival instinct of the two main protagonists. Moreover, the humour marinated in my mind so that next day, when trying to recount some of the scenes to friends, I found myself crying with laughter so that I was barely coherent, and seeing even more humour than I had noticed at the time.This is not an unpolished piece of work; it is in fact skillful and deceptively subtle. A more obviously polished style would have sat uncomfortably with the spirit of the piece. It works on more than one level, rewarding anyone who can view it completely clear of any assumptions, prejudices or unnecessarily prudish criteria. It doesn't waste time being polite, it just tells it like it is. Remember you're just watching it. It's only fiction and art and you don't need to approve or disapprove. Just experience and hopefully enjoy. I can't wait for it to be available on DVD so I can share it with my friends.