8 posts tagged “movies”

I've been told today that my English is very good and that I don't have to be afraid of leading some conversations in English on the phone. Even if I'm convinced I can be a good deal more spontaneous, it's still nice to hear!

A little treat for Scrat fans (say that quickly several times): you're gonna love the... "Scratchette".

"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, not small, but valuable. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void."

I saw Infamous and was amazed. This movie made me want to read the book, even if I'm not sure at all I can appreciate Truman Capote's style. But the way the movie slowly unveils some of his supposed feelings when working on this story was gripping, so I wonder if I can find some of this in the book itself.

The way I felt reminded me of A History of Violence. I can't completely put the finger on why right now...

First time I'm going to a movie just because of the poster. I thought it looked good, with amazing pastel colours. The movie is the same range of colours, light browns and greens and soft blues like the inside of an Ikea store. It takes place in King's Cross, London and it really, really, made me want to go there for a walk.

All characters are very right, a modern architect (Jude Law), a Bosnian taylor (Juliette Binoche) and her burglar teenage boy (Rafi Gavron), the fighting Swedish mother (Robin Wright Penn) of an autist acrobat (Poppy Rogers), a humorous hooker (Vera Farmiga), all are part of a cosmopolitan London. It's one of these movies that don't look like anything you've seen before and are too full of stories and details to be able to tell them, movies that feel like books. Let's say people cross each other's paths and maybe help each other to the next step. But just maybe. Like Amira, the refugee from Sarajevo, keeps saying: "It's more complicated." Complicated and beautiful, just like life.

What's on Casino Royale in Language Log. I noticed that in the movie (yes, I've seen it at last!) another character introduces himself the same way: "Mathis. Rene Mathis" says James's contact in Montenegro.

No more answer found about the "e", but it would be irrelevant to push the subject further. Not after the amazement of rediscovering the character, as if it was the first Bond movie I was seeing. I had the exact same feeling 20 years ago, when I watched Dr No on the little black-and-white telly of my grand-parents's house. The first minutes of the movie are polished so that you don't doubt for a second that Daniel Craig is James Bond. Ian Fleming's James Bond, the dark and cynical spy who can take it hard from his enemies and from life. Icing on the cake, the scenario and picture are full of unexpected delightful details. From the astonishing pre-credit scene to the last "My name is Bond. James Bond.", I've been carried away.

I've started the second book in the Tales of the City series, by this author I can't properly write the name without googling it first. And I have the same feeling I had about the first volume - which I enjoyed enough to want to read the second one, don't get me wrong: I need an American friend who was around 20 in the seventies to give me lectures about it. Because seriously, sentences like "I will not cry when Mary Tyler Moore goes off the air" are completely lost on me. How frustrating. I need a crème de menthe to cheer me up.

You've noticed I like talking in this blog about movies I haven't seen yet (as opposed to my French blog, where I only write about movies I've actually watched), so it's time to ramble about the question asked in all (French) cinema forums: why is there an 'e' in the title of this new James Bond movie? I've already read several different explanations, from the basic "it's a proper name" to the "in the book, the action is set in the French fictional town Royale-les-Eaux". Some enlighten people even tell that the answer is in the movie itself, which proves I should go to the movies instead of ridiculing my dragon online.

The actual debate amongst film buffs is... scented. Can you, thanks to the motion picture, live up to the masterpiece of literature that is Das Parfum? The book was supposedly unadaptable, because of the wonderfully detailed descriptions of the fragrances felt by the hero's over-developed nose.

Why would that be? After all, you're not actually smelling the scents while reading the book. You're making your own mind impression, transcribing Süskind's descriptions into a mental feeling. Words can bring this to your brain, why wouldn't images? In Chocolat for instance, I could almost taste them. It's mainly because I love chocolate and know the smell very well. But I don't know the scent of a tannery, so despite all the descriptions of the book, I can't really imagine what it's like - pretty horrible, it seems.

Through words, the experience of smelling is quite personal, and it must be the same through images.

I haven't seen the movie - yet -  but I heard that Tom Tykwer did a tremendous job, and that the feelings of Grenouille are well rendered thanks to the talent of Ben Wishaw.

This chronicle is to be continued... after I've seen the film, to bring more objectivity to my argument.

I was watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again the other day. As brilliant as it is, this movie has the power of making me feel weird. Those geeks erasing people's minds with their artisanal equipment and their home-made programs are far from what we could expect from such anticipation techniques - which would be worthy of a futuristic universe à la Johnny Mnemonic.

But it's not a cyberpunk kind of movie, it's a poetic one.

It's not advertising tech of the future, it's bringing imagination to our world.

It's not intented to make us fear technology, but our own selfishness. Because when you think about it, one don't need computer devices to clean one's mind. Those of you who've been keeping a journal for several years, go read some of the first pages and see how much of the facts you actually remember, and how your subconscious has diddled you.