Kiss Kiss Bang Bang & L'Argent

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the beginning of my "These two movies could not have been more different" minifest. This one is a post-modern crime thriller with gratuitous nudity (although some of it was completely needed for plot purposes, and I'm not even kidding), almost constant fourth-wall-breaking, and gratuitous violence. It's written/directed by Shane Black, writer of the Lethal Weapon films, The Monster Squad (no better film about classic monsters terrorizing a town, the wolfman being blown up by dynamite then reassembling, and of course, said wolfman having "nards"), The Last Action Hero (the supremely underrated Gov. Arnold film), The Last Boy Scout (horrendously terrifyingly bad), and The Long Kiss Goodnight, which I still want to see. This one is a film my dad would hate. All narrate-y and with almost constant winks to the audience about how smart (or stupid) characters are. I liked it, but certainly not a great film. Also, shouldn't a gag reel be, you know, funny?

L'Argent is Robert Bresson's last film, an adaptation of a Tolstoy novella, about a forged banknote and how it affects the life of everyone who touches it. It's in many ways, a completely typical film of his, with closeups of body parts, shots that signify some action while never showing it, and completely bland acting. It's not as good as Pickpocket, but certainly better than Au Hasard Balthazar. Mainly because there were no intimations of bestiality. Which doesn't make for a good film. The having of bestiality intimations doesn't make for a good film. Just making that absolutely clear.