Thursday, December 06, 2007

"La Vie en Rose" and "Idiocracy"

The awards season has started which means Oscar screeners. I watched "La Vie en Rose" the bio-pic about Edith Piaf. Amazing. I was talking about it with my bosses yesterday and I got choked up thinking about it. Marion Cotillard who looks nothing like the 4'8 Piaf, rocked it. I can't believe this is the same actress from "A Good Year." Marion transformed herself. She better get an Oscar nomination. The movie was released in the U.S. over the summer and is now out on DVD.

I knew a little about Piaf but had no idea her story was so intense. There is something that is explained late in the third act that upset me so much I yelled at the TV. The movie is non-linear which might annoy some people. Given all the things that happened to her during her short life and her influence, a traditional bio-pic would not have worked. The movie looks gorgeous and of course the music is beautiful. Even if you know nothing about Piaf the movie stands alone...you do not have to be a fan to appreciate it. The movie is sad. If you are depressed you might want to follow up the movie with something light.

Here is the trailer:
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I finally saw "Idiocracy". For some reason the blogsphere and several people I know have been talking about this movie recently. Fox dumped this movie, no ads, it played in only a couple of theaters and there was hardly any press about it. The movie is from Mike Judge who created "King of the Hill" and directed "Office Space." Satire is tough to pull off but there are several laugh loud out moments in "Idiocracy".

The premise is Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph play two of the dumbest people on earth circa 2007. They are in an Army experiment that goes wrong and instead of jumping one year into the future they jump 500 years. Society has become so dumbed down by then, they are now the two smartest people in America. The production value is horrible. The movie does look like it was made for two cents. However, some of the digs about the state of our culture are so dead on it's a little scary. Actually, very scary.

10 comments:

Liz Dwyer said...

That's so cool that you get to watch these in advance. "Idiocracy" sounds like it had a cool premise so too bad it didn't get more pub. I'll put both on my list to check out in the future.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Liz - Both are out on DVD.

After several mentions on Nat Turner's blog I had to check out "Idiocracy".

Jen said...

I loved the performances in Piaf. I did have some trouble with the non-linear story, and so many things made me so sad.

Cotillard's performance was nothing short of genius.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

jen - I agree her performance was just incredible. I really felt like I was not watching an actor but Piaf. Wasn't her story heartbreaking? Certain scenes I still think about and I get sad all over again.

Anonymous said...

l heard a little about the movie. Have you watched Dalida its similar?

Anonymous said...

I never saw "Idiocracy' but the premise that people actually get stupider in 500 years than they are now is scary. There are a lot of dumb people out there. I couldn't even choose only 2.

Anonymous said...

I just saw La Vie En Rose on Monday, curious, what made you yell at the tv?

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

confessions - no I haven't heard of the movie. I'll check it out.

j. doe - I know. ha.

anon - not to give out any spoilers...but in the last act when she is flashing back we learn that another person in her life died. I yelled "oh no" as in how much more could this poor woman take.

Michellanea said...

I just watched La Vie en Rose this weekend - really great movie! I knew there was an Edith Piaf movie out but didn't connect it with the title until I saw it on your blog. I then realized they had it on DVD at the supermarket. Yeah! Thanks for the tip.
Michelle

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

michellanea - glad you enjoyed the movie. Marion as Edith was amazing.