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William Friedkin recommended Belle de Jour (1968) in Movies (curated)

Belle de Jour (1968)

1968 | Drama

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"A thriller wrapped inside an enigma, this is my desert island disc, the one I’ve watched  more than any other on this list. The psychology of the characters is revealed  slowly and ambiguously. Each time I see the wheelchair (the husband’s fantasy) and hear the sound of the horse-and-carriage bells (the wife’s), and the way  the two achieve harmony in the final scene, I’m reminded of Luis Buñuel’s ability to  fuse reality and illusion in his characters and for the viewer. He performs this  magic in plain view, like the best magicians. This is the film that illustrates that  Catherine Deneuve is not only one of the world’s most beautiful women but a  fine actress. Belle de jour is truly subversive in its satiric depiction of middle- class society, the church, and our social mores. If a ratings board ever understood  this film, it would receive an NC-17, though there is no sex and little violence."

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Kudos

The Spearman

Games and Entertainment

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

"The Spearman" is a new timekiller based on ragdoll physics. The spear is a throwing, piercing or...

Time of Contempt

Andrzej Sapkowski

7.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Geralt the Witcher has fought monsters and demons across the land, but even he may not be prepared...

The Scarlet Gospels

Clive Barker

7.5 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The gates to Hell are open and something beckons...The last of Earth's magicians are living in fear....

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician Trilogy, #1) in Books

Nov 20, 2019

Trudi Canavan has been on my 'to read' list for a long time (far too long really). I finally found the time to read The Magicians' Guild - book one of the Black Magician trilogy.

The story revolves around Sonea, a girl living amongst the poor and near-poor of Imardin. The city is home to the titular guild, where the greatest magicians in the world learn and teach.

Those showing magical talent only come from the ruling classes. But Sonea has magical talent so the guild need to either break tradition and train her or block her powers as unless she is trained they will unleash themselves and kill her. The problem is that Sonea (along with the rest of the less privileged city dwellers) distrusts and fears the guild.

The book is in two parts - the first involves Sonea hiding from the guild and their attempts to find her. This is quite a clever strategy from a story telling point of view since the world and characters can be gradually introduced. We meet Sonea and her friends, and also the Thieves that control the slums. On the magicians' side we find some are sympathetic towards Sonea while others are outraged at the thought of training a slum girl - some for more personal reasons than others.

The second half involves Sonea's initial training at the guild. I do try not to give away major plot direction in these reviews, but I don't think it's much of a spoiler that she does end up in the guild, given the name of the book. In this part we find out more about magic and the guild, plus the plot that forms the core of this book moves forward and is resolved in a satisfactory - and dramatic - style.

Canavan's writing is focused firmly on character, although the world around them is fully realised, with the slums suitably dingy and grubby and the guild grand and opulent. The characters are allowed to develop through the pages. I found the start a little slow going, but I think that was mostly because the previous book I read was for more action based. There is also very little dramatic tension about Sonea ending up in the guild, but I don't think that is the purpose of the first half of the book anyway.

This story is clearly there to set up the characters for the trilogy as a whole - and as the plot progresses Sonea discovers some things that are clearly going to be important in her future. The way the ending is left is therefore very finely balanced between the resolution of the main plot and leaving the threads for the next book, and Canavan is spot on in delivering this.

Overall I really liked this book and will read the other installments as time allows without hesitation. If you are looking for some brutal anti-hero cutting a swathe of destruction through his enemies this is not the book for you. If you want some careful characterisation and a personality driven and human-scale plot, pick up this book. It is also refreshing to have a female main protagonist in the traditionally macho world of fantasy. Recommended.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Now You See Me (2013) in Movies

Aug 7, 2019

When you were little and you saw your very first magic show, you were probably amazed just by the simple action of a magician waving his magic wand and pulling a rabbit out of his hat. The only explanation you needed was that it was magic.

Not knowing that “the closer you look, the less you see as you become older you become less and less convinced that magic exists.

From French director Louis Leterrier who has brought us films like “The Transporter” and ” Unleashed” comes an “Ocean’s Eleven” style film about four magicians who pull off one of the biggest heists the world has ever seen by using magic.

Calling themselves The Four Horseman, four magicians with very different abilities come together as one to pull off something no other magician has ever attempted.
The leader of the pack is J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), who is a master at sleight-of-hand and blatant arrogance. A mentalist who specializes in hypnosis and is no stranger to being devious himself is Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson). The very talented pickpocket Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) not only steals the audience’s hearts but also can pick a lock blindfolded if he had to.

Last but by no means least is Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), the sexy escape artist who can even escape a tank full of piranhas without a scratch.
The story follows The Four Horseman embarking on a journey of teleporting and robbing a Parisian bank and reining it over the cheering Las Vegas audience at their first venue.

They don’t stop there. There show takes them from Vegas to the renewed city of New Orleans and then to New York where the grand finally takes place whilst spreading the wealth of their heists to the deserving audience members in grand Robin Hood fashion.

This film is excellent! It doesn’t leave you hanging and answers all your questions. The elaborate tricks performed proved to be very entertaining and exciting!
A neat touch was adding a woman to the mix as you don’t really see any women magicians out there other than the assistants who get sawed in half.

The cast was great and had great chemistry however I would have liked to see a bit more of character backstory. Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Mark Ruffalo are also a part of the seemingly big cast. The special effects were not only entertaining but extremely appealing to the eye.

Though the storyline is a little scatterbrained it is anything but a bore and leaves you wanting to experience more. After seeing the film, I had an overwhelming need to watch other magician movies like “The Great Houdini”, “The Prestige”, and “The Illusionist”. It also brought back those same feelings I had as a child experiencing the magic and mystery a true magician can provide. This film left me wanting to see it for a second time.