benjaminknox Reviews

L'hôtel de la plage (1978)

25 years ago and still remember some of the gags..

[28 June 2004]

Hi I saw this film late one night with my parents and sisters. I don't think any of us expected it to be what it was, as I recall, and i was only 13 when i saw it ( first and last time too) but I do remember laughing my **** off all the way through it. Now obviously for a 13 year old I probably missed the proper jokes and only saw the sight gags ( as it was not even subtitled as I recall). But one which came to mind recently was when Shell on the current Big Brother (UK) show was cooking and turned around to show that she has no keks on under her chefs apron....much laughter in the house, but it brought to mind a similar scene in Hotel De La Plage when one of the lads is doing the BBQ on the beach(?)does the whole scene and then last minute, turns around and hey presto, no keks......now that..to a 13 years old was damn funny!

I'd love to see this film again, but no-one ever knows what the hell I'm talking about....

Read the summary by j hailey as it sums it up really well, it's a really good french farce with a very summery feel good factor.

Be nice to see it again at 39..

Something's Gotta Give (2003)

A Perfectly Wonderful Film

[21 June 2004]

My better half saw this in the cinema and went on about it for weeks. So $5 in hand I reluctantly hired the movie expecting a worn out retread of a chickflick with tired jokes and amusing sight gags of wrinkly oap's aplenty. Couldn't of been more wrong folks. I haven't seen a film with such an acutely well performed or smartly delivered script in 20 years. Sure Jack and Diane were on familiar ground, sure the dodgy sight gags were all there, the requisite babe as Jack's entry level love interest etc etc...but it gently turned into what most folks would likely call a coming of age comedy...older age that is and with all it's terrors...it touched on many nerves and carried the watcher ( this watcher anyway) away on a breezy romantic tide of good ole fashioned romantic nonsense. Forget the cynics, go get a glass of wine, settle down by the fire and watch a film bereft of 'twists in the tail', CGI wonderment ( except the intro car ride) or any power house visual technobabble, just a nice easy unfolding love story between two people who thought they were too old for love....it's a great film. And to add insult to heart tugging injury?...check the score by Hans Zimmer, a wonderfully unmodern, almost french jazz style theme permeates the whole film giving it a sense of being slightly out of true time and set in it's own period.A beautiful piece of scoring and a marvelous accompaniment to the scenes it helps create. 10/10 Ben