The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) (2015)

This is a gorgeous little movie that mixes traditional computer animation with creative stop motion animation. The animation is brilliant. That is by far the best part. I admit I didn't read The Little Prince. So I don't have the same connection to this story that other people have. But it is a touching story with an uplifting moral. There is this strange balance between English and French in this movie. The dialogue is in English but the text is in French. The production is French, but was supposed to be accessible to a wider audience. And yet it has had a difficult time breaking into the American market. I had to see it on an international flight. But I would highly recommend it to all kids.

It's Only the End of the World (Juste la Fin du Monde) (2016)

From what I've seen of Xavier Dolan at the closing ceremony, he is beloved by his fellow filmmakers, but derided by the critics. And he gets teary very easily. He cried even watching other people win awards. He's like the John Boehner of the Cannes Film Festival.

But about the film…in short, I didn't like it. There are some good things about it amidst a cluster of bad things. I appreciate Dolan's style. There is a great use of head-banging pop music accompanied by strong colors and quick cuts. There is an excellent wordless dream-like scene of stylish reminiscing. The cinematography is gorgeous. He makes use of a very shallow depth of field, focusing on one thing at a time, leaving the rest of the shot in a blur. There are very close-up shots of faces (often crying or teary eyed) that are kind of unsettling. The acting is very good but the script that they're dealing with is just too emotional. There is so much yelling and screaming and I don't think it's all justified. Because the script is so circuitous. It goes around in circles without getting anywhere and freaking Antoine just riles everyone up sometimes seemingly for the hell of it. And I'm just so sick of Antoine. He provides all the drama, but his brand of drama is just exhausting and excessive. 

Two Days, One Night (Deux Jours, Une Nuit) (2014)

The idea is simple and relevant in our time of economic recession. A blue-collar worker suffers a nervous breakdown and takes time off work, after which her management discovers that it doesn't need her.  She is to be laid off unless she can convince her coworkers to forgo their bonuses.  Marion Cotillard plays Sandra, the conflicted woman, desperate to keep her job but ashamed to beg and at times defeatist, balancing hopefulness and hopelessness beautifully. She masterfully gives the audience raw emotion.  These emotions range from tearful elation when she convinces one of her coworkers to vote for her to depressing sleepwalking.  Cotillard is outstanding in any language and was well deserving of her Oscar nomination. The film is engaging throughout.  There is a brilliant twist at the end that both highlights cruelty and humanity, both themes that permeate the whole film.  Finally in the end, one wins out.