Franck Magnier Movies
- 2008
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's internationally popular cartoon characters Asterix and Obelix take on the world of athletics in this live-action comedy-adventure. It's 50 B.C., and short but wily Asterix (Clovis Cornillac) and his rotund sidekick Obelix (Gerard Depardieu) hit the road for Rome, where they hope to compete in the Olympic Games. Obelix figures he's a sure bet for a weight-lifting medal until he learns his special strength elixir is against the rules, and Asterix is soon distracted by the behind-the-scenes chicanery. Princess Irina (Vanessa Hessler), a beautiful member of the Greek royal family, is being wooed by well-meaning Lovesix (Stephane Rousseau), who is using love poems stolen from Obelix to win her heart, and untrustworthy Brutus (Benoit Poelvoorde), whose father is the Roman emperor Julius Caesar (Alain Delon). Brutus is eager to take over the throne from his father, and keeps trying to kill Caesar off to speed up the process. Asterix Aux Jeux Olympiques (aka Asterix At The Olympic Games) also features cameo appearances from a number of European sports stars, including Zinedine Zidane, Michael Schumacher and Tony Parker. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clovis Cornillac, Gérard Depardieu, (more)
- 2008
A man born and raised on France's Southern coast is exiled to the Northern territories in this comedy from actor, director and screenwriter Dany Boon. Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) helps run the post office in a picturesque small town in the South of France. Philippe's wife Julie (Zoe Felix) has been down in the dumps, and he thinks one way to lift her spirits would be to relocate to the more glamorous surroundings of the Cote d'Azur. However, Philippe's attempts to finagle a transfer fail, and he ends up demoted -- he's sent to Bergues, a village in Northern France stuck between Belgium and England. Philippe is appalled at the news, and matters only get worse when he has to learn the local dialect, a strange bouillabaisse of French, Flemish and Latin dialects. Julie opts to stay behind, and as Philippe drowns his sorrows in beer on his first night in town, he nearly runs over a man while driving home drunk -- who turns out to be one of his new colleagues at the post office, Antoine Bailleul (Dany Boon). But Philippe finds to his surprise that he enjoys life in Bergues, and he becomes infatuated with Annabelle (Anne Marivin), a beautiful letter carrier. Philippe is pondering just what he should do about his feelings for Annabelle when he gets word from Julie that she's decided to join him in the unfashionable North. Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis was a major box office success in France, grossing over $80 million in little more than a month in theaters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Four prisoners sharing the same cramped cell make a discovery that could help them escape from even the most high security prison if it doesn't split their world wide open first. Carrere is an ambitious company director serving time for fraud, Marcus is a thirty-five year old transsexual on course to becoming a real woman, Daisy is a mentally deficient servant, and Lassalle is a sixty year old intellectual who murdered his wife of many years. Together, these lawless misfits do their best to serve their time without losing their minds. One day, after discovering a loose stone slab in their cell, the four incarcerated convicts unearth the diary of a former prisoner named Danvers who occupied the exact same cell at the turn of the century. According to the diary, there exist magic formulas so powerful than any prisoner could use them to escape. Later, when the men attempt to decipher the formulas, the entire prison becomes a terrifying cauldron of bizarre phenomena. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérald Laroche, Philippe Laudenbach, (more)
