Lucy (1/5, Horrible)

What to expect from Luc Besson? The Michael Bay french version is actually worse than Bay himself. Why? Bay recognizes publicly that he doesn't do philosophical films or neither tries to give complexity to a film when such complexity makes the movie worse than it was. He simply seeks to entertain. What about Besson? He wants to blow it.

What we can tell you about "Lucy" is that there isn't much of a story. Lucy (Scarlet Johansson) is accidentally exposed to substances that increases her use of brain capacity. The clock is ticking before she gets to its 100%. What will happen then? There are bad guys and there are good guys. Explosions, fights with a Scarlet Johansson becoming more and more a robot with no expressions than a real person.

Luc Besson, despite a very promising debut in the 1980s with the mute film "The Last Combat" (1983) and a great movie with "Léon" (1995), has only been able to make soulless movies. He seeks to develop stories embedded with philosophical depth. The terrible thing is that most of his stories (he actually wrote more screenplays than directed them) have a great potential for becoming good films. Joan of Arc (2000) is an example: an interesting historical character but too much focus on intense  quick cuts with special effects and hallucinations. The result? A main character with no life, no personality whatsoever." Lucy" is not far from this latter. They are just caricature.

There's only one thrilling scene and that is a car-chase! You can imagine what kind of film to expect. We knew from the start that it wouldn't be a brilliant film, we were looking for a pop-corn movie. However, we just left the room saying one thing: this was crap.


Trailer:

 

M83- Un nouveau soleil (A new sun)

We share with you a beautiful piece written by french electronic band M83. It was written for a peculiar movie "You and the Night" (Rencontres d'apres minuit). The story of different characters that greets one night to have an orgy. However, sex won't be the reason that will tie these characters together and that will change them forever.

Classic movie of the month: Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

A satirical version of the "Phantom of the Opera" and also an homage to ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' and ''Faust''. How can that fit into one movie? It needed the talent of a young filmmaker called Brian De Palma. He was only 33 years old when he made this masterpiece.

It tells the story of Winslow Leach (William Finley) ,a musician who sells his soul to the satanic record producer Swan (Paul Williams). Winslow composes his greatest music for a highly anticipated musical directed by Swan. Among the artists in that show, a beautiful back-up singer catches the eye of Winslow, Phoenix (Jessica Harper). Whilst Winslow's face and voice are more and more degraded, his love for this seductive woman grows. Hidden in the backstage curtains of the "Paradise", he can only dream for her to be the main star of the upcoming musical. However, Swan has a terrible plan for Phoenix. Secrets will be revealed, music will rock the stage and tragedy will close the curtains.

The film relies on the incredible music written by Paul Williams for telling interweaving classic plots (Faust, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Phantom of the Opera). We are clearly set in the 1970s where the sound is clearly influenced by hard-rock bands of the period (Led Zeppelin) but also more pop (references to Simon & Garfunkel and Janis Joplin are notable). This collaboration between Paul Williams and Brian De Palma gives prestige to the "Comedy Musical" genre.

Even if the plot is predictable and known, De Palma puts a satirical tone without dismissing drama and comedy. He wants to entertain us and to invite us to "Paradise", kingdom of music and infinite pleasures. It was a box-office flop in the 1970s and was panned by critics. Nevertheless, today it is considered by many as one of the best movies from De Palma. Masterpieces never get old, that's something important to remember.