He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (2002)

Based on the poster art one might misconstrue this French film for a passionate love story. And while passionate love may come into play, it is in fact a disturbing thriller. The title is a fitting representation of the story as it is segmented into a he said/she said format. The first half follows our free-spirited main character Angèlique (Audrey Tautou) as she falls hard for a married doctor who strangely never seems to return the same affection. The plot takes a real turn in the latter half as we are treated to the reality of the situation. Some may see the twist coming but it's handled in such a clever way that it doesn't matter.

3 Mr. Cats out of 5

Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)

A film loosely based on real killings that took place in 18th Century France but still feels like pure hokum for reasons I won’t spoil. Some awkward camera movements and jarring editing early on make it hard to settle comfortably into proceedings. The messy story, the frequent use of slow motion at inappropriate moments, the lengthy running time and Mark Dacascos being miscast as a Native American don’t help matters.
It succeeds in other ways. Some of the actors play their role well. There’s a narration that functions like a confessional and the lighting gives everything a rich, sumptuous quality. It's beautiful but dull.

2½ old prejudices out of 5

FRONTIERE(S) [2007]

 Xavier Gens' Frontière(s) has everything you've come to expect from the torture porn genre.  Annoyingly stupid kids, cannibals, neo-nazi's, big dumb fat guys with meathooks & pigs, crazy meal time with the family, deformed human beings, the one sympathetic freak, etc, etc.  It basically plays like a "best of the torture porn" genre as it draws from every other film before it and offers nothing new in itself.  Even if you like this type shit, it's still a complete waste of time.

1 stupid fuckin' kids do the stupidest things out of 5