Ticky Holgado Movies

When diminutive soccer player Tibor (Lorant Deutsch) is placed in a prison cell with dimwitted giant Manu (Samuel Le Bihan) the duo soon begin to forge a friendship based on their mutual love of soccer. Agreeing that upon their release Manu will serve as Tibor's manager, Manu attempts to use his newfound position to reap revenge on those who wronged him in the past. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

One woman decides to change the world by changing the lives of the people she knows in this charming and romantic comic fantasy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Amelie (Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who had a decidedly unusual childhood; misdiagnosed with an unusual heart condition, Amelie didn't attend school with other children, but spent most of her time in her room, where she developed a keen imagination and an active fantasy life. Her mother Amandine (Lorella Cravotta) died in a freak accident when Amelie was eight, and her father Raphael (Rufus) had limited contact with her, since his presence seemed to throw her heart into high gear. Despite all this, Amelie has grown into a healthy and beautiful young woman who works in a cafe and has a whimsical, romantic nature. When Princess Diana dies in a car wreck in the summer of 1997, Amelie is reminded that life can be fleeting and she decides it's time for her to intervene in the lives of those around her, hoping to bring a bit of happiness to her neighbors and the regulars at the cafe. Amelie starts by bringing together two lonely people -- Georgette (Isabelle Nanty), a tobacconist with a severe case of hypochondria, and Joseph (Dominique Pinon), an especially ill-tempered customer. When Amelie finds a box of old toys in her apartment, she returns them to their former owner, Mr. Bretodeau (Maurice Benichou), sending him on a reverie of childhood. Amelie befriends Dufayel (Serge Merlin), an elderly artist living nearby whose bones are so brittle, thanks to a rare disease, that everything in his flat must be padded for his protection. And Amelie decides someone has to step into the life of Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), a lonely adult video store clerk and part-time carnival spook-show ghost who collects pictures left behind at photo booths around Paris. Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain received unusually enthusiastic advance reviews prior to its French premiere in the spring of 2001, and was well received at a special free screening at that year's Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The son of actor Bernard Blier, director Bertrand Blier is known throughout France for his documentaries and dark depictions of sex and its impact on society. Though his influences and personal opinions clearly shine through, Les Acteurs is a satirical take on the ups, downs, and numerous implications of life in showbiz as told by a variety of real-life French actors. Among the featured cast are André Dussollier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jacques Villeret, Claude Rich, and Pierre Arditi, all of whom play themselves. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The debate between gender roles and the nature of masculinity and femininity in the '90s provides the basis of this romantic comedy. Dan is divorced and designs ladies lingerie for a living. Sarah is a powerful business executive. She and Dan spend one night making passionate love and then lose track of each other. This is unfortunate, for each is interested in knowing the other better. Sensitive Dan spends much of the film discussing his plight to macho married-man Simon while career-oriented Sarah shares her thoughts with Michelle, a young beauty who allows herself to be abused by her married lover. As the four converse, they offer insight into the plight of modern men and women in a modern society. In the end, a pleasant twist of fate reunites the lonely Dan and Sarah. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A genteel teacher finds himself out of his element when his request to be assigned to a Parisian school lands him in an impoverished, multi-cultural ghetto suburb outside of Paris. There Laurent Monier (Gerard Depardieu) finds himself forced to live in a project apartment and teach classes full of underprivileged, tough and troubled youth. His former spouse is also a teacher, but she got a plumb job in an upscale part of Paris while Laurent -- who moved to Paris to be near her -- struggles to keep his car intact and to stay alive on the dangerous streets. Still, he does his best in the schoolroom and eventually earns the respect of his students. Trouble brews however, when school gossip gets out of hand and threatens to destroy his career. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Tommy Fawkes (Oliver Platt) is a struggling stand-up comedian who has tried for years to get out from under the shadow of his father, George Fawkes (Jerry Lewis), himself a famous humorist. Tommy finally scores a showcase spot at a major resort in Las Vegas, but when opening night rolls around, Tommy's act is an unqualified disaster, with the failure made even more painful by his father's presence in the audience. In search of a fresh start, Tommy heads to Blackpool, England, where he was born and raised, to look for a new act. Hoping to buy material from local performers, Tommy auditions a large number of acts, most of whom are utterly hopeless, until he sees a hilarious vaudeville team, the Parker Brothers. Their act seems more than a bit familiar, however, and Tommy soon realizes that they're doing his father's old material. But they have every right to be doing George's schtick -- it seems George stole his act from the Parkers ages ago. What's more, the younger and more eccentric of the Parker Boys, Jack (Lee Evans), is actually Tommy's half brother, the product of a fling with a Blackpool showgirl years ago. Veering between comedy and drama, Funny Bones has more than its share of effective moments on either side of the fence, and features fine supporting performances from Oliver Reed, Leslie Caron and Harold Nicholas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Not a strict adaptation of the oft-filmed Victor Hugo classic, director Claude Lelouch's ambitious epic instead focuses on the story of two men, a father and a son, whose life stories bear striking similarities to Hugo's character Jean Valjean. The father is Henri Fortin (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a chauffeur (in 1900) wrongly accused of his employer's murder. Like Valjean, he is subjected to a harsh and unfair prison sentence. While Henri vainly attempts to escape his unjust fate, his family suffers, with his wife forced to raise their young son alone. The film jumps ahead several decades to show the adult life of this son (also Belmondo), a former boxer turned furniture mover who agrees to help smuggle a Jewish lawyer (Michel Boujenah) out of France during the Nazi occupation. Along the way, the lawyer reads to the younger Fortin from Les Misérables, and Fortin begins to imagine himself in the role of Jean Valjean, on the run from the obsessive Inspector Javert. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Though this is billed as a combination drama and comedy, but the storyline gives no clue as to the humorous elements of this Algerian picture. In the story, a brother and his sister are orphaned when their father accepts a challenge to fight a trained bear and is killed by it. Two decades later, the Algerian war of independence is underway. The siblings have had an incestuous relationship, but the sister falls in love with a French officer in charge of their village, and the brother leaves for parts unknown. After the war is over, the brother returns to his village, only to discover that his sister did in childbirth. He has brought back a Russian wife, and for some reason the villagers elect him to be their mayor. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

If such a thing as gentle humor can be wrung from murderous misogyny, this all-star comedy is the embodiment of it. The basic point of the film seems to be this: unattached men long to live with women, and once they do, they long to live without them. In this story, Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) is upset about his wife's having left him. He can't stop thinking about her, and eventually decides that he'd be much happier if he knew she was dead. Then, he thinks, he could put an end to his obsessing. His uncle, a judge (Phillippe Noiret), knows of a man who killed his wife more or less on purpose, and got away with it. Paul and his uncle get together with the lucky killer, Vincent (Richard Bohringer), and, on their way to visit Paul's wife, discuss how Vincent managed to kill his wife and get away with it. Along the way, the aggravations women bring to men are pretty thoroughly (and humorously) hashed over. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide