maax48 Reviews

Glee (2009–2015)

Probably the worst thing I've ever been subjected to

[1/10 · 5 April 2011]

I just watched an episode of that as a make-weight to get the girlfriend to watch Empire Strikes Back. Not worth even that. That was comfortably the worst thing I've ever seen in my life.

The character are all massively unlikable and impossible to sympathise with, and the songs are so corny it makes me sick. They took songs I really like and butchered them mercilessly. Anyone who says it's getting kids to like older music, that's pure garbage - it's simply redoing them in a format which idiotic kids enjoy, with minimal referencing that originals ever existed. If a show ever wanted to get kids to be fans of older, classic rock and pop music, it would be about kids who enjoy older music in its original form (see Freaks and Geeks).

It's essentially just High School Musical on television. It's highly unimaginative, and extremely annoying to any self-respecting fan of real music. It is simply helping fat-cats stuff their pockets with cash from stupid tweens (and stupider adults) who are fans, and is yet another example of the fetid toilet that the commercial music industry has become.

The scourge is still upon us, music lovers. Hopefully people will come to their senses in coming years and give us something good once more. Alternatively we could have all actors, dancers, choreographers, writers and directors of Glee burnt at the stake to lift the curse on music and rid the world of their evil (just kidding.....)

The 400 Blows (1959)

French cinema at its best

[10/10 · 12 February 2006]

Truffaut has worked wonders here, creating a masterful tale of a boy confused, troubled, and unloved. Antoine Doinel (played superbly by Jean-Pierre Léaud in the lead role) has strict, unfaithful parents, and a harsh, oppressive teacher, and falls into delinquency because of his unhappiness. He lies, steals, skips school and runs away from home, and soon ends up in a juvenile delinquency centre.

Truffaut's inspiration for this film came from his own depressed childhood, so he bases Antoine on himself, including in terms of appearance. Being a 'New Wave' (a cinematographic movement of the sixties, involving directors who believed Hollywood films were too lavish and unreal) director, Truffaut always used a real location for the film, including breathtaking shots of Truffaut's native Paris. He also made a cameo in the film in the style of Hitchcock.

Delinquance is the key theme here. Antoine, who is a character who believes in liberty and freedom, and the way he is always locked up is repressive for him, and this provokes a constant need for him to be out.

Trying to make a realistic and moving film was Truffaut's aim, which, by watching this film, I realised that he had done amazingly well. Also, by combining humour and drama too, we have the defining French film of the 20th century. A black and white film that is full of colour. Bien sur, François Truffaut.