Additional blog

I've decided to start a new blog, which will concentrate my various movie experience ( and only the stuff related to movies ). I'll continue that one, on a more personal note.

The blog is : http://tofcinema.tumblr.com/

Cinema de quartier

This last few months, I've rekindled my love for the cinema bis, by organizing viewing of some forgotten gems.
Last week, the theme of the night was Japanese Gore, starting with the cult "Tetsuo: The Iron Man" from Shinya Tsukamoto. To be honest I could not quite remember the movie, and though I understand its innovation, I was more impressed by Tsukamoto later work.

We quickly follow by the bizarre and perverse movie from 2008: "Tokyo Gore Police", quite extreme and at the same time very juvenile.


So far we had quite few nights around those alternative cinema, see below the list of movie we entertained:

• Captain Orgazmo
• Tromeo et Juliette
• Surfer Nazis must die
• The chinese Feast
• Zu, the warriors of the magic mountain
• Once upon a time in China
• Machete
• Clercks
• Robotrix
• Plan 9 from outer space
• Troops
• Godzilla vs. Megalon
• The God of cookery
• Monster X vs the G8

2009 - A summary, top ten things....

A summary of the 2009 year in picture.



And to get in line with the annual top ten from Time, here's my personal top ten for 2009.

• Movie: Pixar Up
  The 10 first minutes are absolutely fantastic in term of story telling. And I got my quote of the year: "I hid under your porch, because I love you"....


• Galway Volvo Ocean Race
  In June, the Volvo Ocean Race visited Galway, fantastic atmosphere in town.
  
  


• Halloween in Mickey Martin
  
  One of the best party of the year.
  


• Irish seals
  2009, will be the year where I saw most seals, the first one were down in Cork in Union Hall basking in early march/april
  Then we saw one or 2 venturing regularly near Kilkee.
  
  


• 90 years ago, my granddad was born, just had to celebrate his birthday.
  
  


• Concert: Mick Flannery in Dolans
  
  


• Snorkel with Dolphin in Milton Malbay
  On of the most amazing encounter in the sea, as i was training for duck diving in Miltown Malbay, a curious dolphin came to see what i was doing...
  


• PS3 Game: Assassins Creed 2
  Finished it but still addicted to that game by now... have to wait for the third installment, now.
  


• Obama election / French politics
  Big hope from the USA with Obama election, and at the same time in France... the left wing are left arguing between themselves in front of a media omnipresent president.
  


• ASM 10th final... lost again....
  No comment. Congratulations to Perpignan.
  
  
  Demie_Finale_ASM_ST
  Uploaded by asm. - Basketball, baseball, pro wrestling and more sports videos.
  
  

Top ten Movies seen in 2009
1. Inglorious Bastard - Q.Tarantino
2. Up - Pete Docter / Pixar
3. Moon - Duncan Jones
4. (500) days of summer - Marc Webb
5. District 9 - Neill Blomkamp
6. The Wrestler - D.Arronofsky
7. Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Woody Allen
8. Fantastic Mr Fox - Wes Anderson
9. Where the wild things are - Spike Jonze
10. The Ugly Truth - Robert Luketic

Additinal interesting movies:
Bolt - B.Howard/C.Williams/Disney
The Men who Stare at goats - ??
A Serious Man - Cohen
Waltz with Bashir - Ari Folman
The imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Terry Gilliam

Pixar - Up Up.....

Just saw last night the latest Pixar UP. I know it's late, the Irish release is way behind the continental Europe one or the USA - actually the DVD is up for sale next month in the states, I can't really figure out why there is so much delay in Ireland ( off course the market is very small, but it's quite close from UK... )

As usual for Pixar, it's a very moving and great story, and so much focus is put on the characters, to enhance empathy. Technically, there is nothing to say, it's really on the story and the characters that the Pixar team is nailing it down.



Oh and i've seen in 3D, but it not used a lot in the movie, i think Toy Story 3 will make a lot more use of the technology:

Just have to wait 2010.
And there is more coming in 2011/2012 with "Newt" and "The Bear an the Bow", but i am not really looking forward to the follow on to Cars, as it's for me not the best pixar by far.



List of movies i am looking forward in the next upcoming months:
- Where the wild things Are by Spike Jonze ( see New York Times Article )
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus by Terry Gillian.
- A Serious Man by the Cohen Brothers
- Ponyo by the sea by H.Miyazaki
- Whip it by Drew Barrymore
- The princess and the frog ... another Disney

5 movies for a desert Island

Imagine you're alone on a deserted Island, with a DVD player and 5 movies.... on a rainy days what movies would you bring with you and why ?

1. Monthy Python Holy Grail
To keep the moral up, a bit of laugh, can be watch over and over again... especially to hear french swearing (Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries! )


2. Chung King Express (Wong Kar Wai)
A romantic stylistic movie, because i fall in love with Faye everytime i watch the movie.

(Full Movie can be seen there, and Quentin Tarantino talks about the movie here)

3. Mon oncle (J.Tati)
Another simple feel good movie


4. Once upon a time in the west (Sergio Leone)
A classic


5. MegaVixens by Russ Meyer
Alone, on an island, migt rise some tension, so here's the solution, more cartoonish than real erotic stuff.


Surprisingly, i did not put any pixar movie, nor Kubrick ....
Note: Based on a French Article on Ecran Large.

Surf surf in ... Eire

Waveriders Trailer from Waveriders on Vimeo.

The movie Waveriders (http://www.waveridersthefilm.com/) can be seen from the 3rd April in Irish Cinema theater. Time to go surfing....

Movies previsions for 2009

There is a couple of movies I'd like to see in 2009. Here's the list.

• Up
  because it is the next Pixar movie, directed by Pete Docter (Monster Inc). And the story already attracts me: Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming. But at age 78....


• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  a David Fincher (Fight Club) about an inverted life ( born old and finish dying young )


• Vicky Christina Barcelona
  because it's been a long long time since I've seen a Woody Allen, and I love Javier Barden. I know it's a 2008 movie but here in Ireland, there's some delay


• The Illusionist
  because it is directed by Sylvain Chaumet, which previous movie "Belleville Rendez vous" was quite magic.


• Synecdoche, New york
  by Charlie Kaufmann, his first movie (directed)


• Bolt
  because in those depressed times, I need a good Disney movie


I also wanted to see the last Darren Aronofsky: "The Wrestler", and I did and was quite happy with it.

10 movies I think frequently

Ten movies I think of, frequently, those images fill my mind.

Chung King Express (Wong Kar Wai - 1994)
No point of telling the stories of that movie, you just have to let the images drawn you. I prefer the second story with Faye, how can a man not fall in love with her ? Even if she's a little bit crazy.

Bringing up baby (Howard Hawks - 1938 )
Another strong woman (this time its Katharine Hepburn ) storming into the life of a nice old chap, with some devastating effects ( and love not being the least).

Moonfleet (Fritz Lang - 1955)
Another classic movie from Hollywood ( I should probably thanks Eddy Mitchell and his TV show "La dernière séance" to have me discovered those movies ), the photography is absolutely fantastic, in a very gothic atmosphere, all the scene with the young Mohune deeply impressed me (and still today).

La Jetee (Chris Marker - 1962)
A short movie, all created with still images and a voice over. The story is trong and is at the origin of a remake by Terry Gilliam: Twelve Monkeys.
I miss seeing short movies ( if you go in Clermont-Ferrand in february, you should drop by the international short festival, to see thousands of them).

Silent Running (Douglas Trumbull - 1972)
An ecological tale in space, by the man responsible of special effects in "2001", and "Blade Runner". I like the image, of giant domes containing forest, deriving through space.

Monster Inc (Peter Docter - 2001)
Pixar... oh pixar, I love their movies. It's not about the techniques, the fabulous things they can achieve with computers, it's more the fact that all those prowess are based and for the story. Pixar movies have a real strength in very good story-telling, and everything in the making come in support of that.

Joe's appartment (J.Payson - 1996)
A MTV movie, actually its a musical, about singing cockroaches.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (J.SHarman - 1975)
One day I might come disguise as Franck N'Furter...
Don't dream it, be it

Santa Sangre (A.Jodorowsky - 1989)
What a shock when i saw this movie, the first time. From the elephant death, till the puppet son, this movie is full of (somewhat disturbing) invention.

My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki - 1988 )
Another shock, but of marvelous amazement, every time i walk in a forest i wonder which wonderful creatures are there in hidding.

2008 Top 10 Things

The Time is publishing it's top 10 of evrything for 2008: Time Special Top 10 2008, so here's my personal top 10 for 2008

• ASM 9th french rugby union championship final. Against Toulouse, even if it was not the result expected, Auvergne is still lookking to win the Brennus. Actually if Clermont win against Munster next saturday, this might replace that entry.

• Radiohead "In Rainbows" in Dublin
  An excellent new album, distributed freely through the web (i know it's actually 2007).
  
  And on the top of that, i've seen them in a fabulous concert in Dublin, dreamy from the start with a double rainbow welcoming the group in Marlay Park.
  

• Wall-ee
  The last pixar marvel, absolutely enchanting, in particular the silent 1st part of the movie.
  

• US presidential campaign
  From Hilary raise, to Obama victory... it has been a quite exciting and over-publicized campaign. Change could not come at a best time ( or at a worst ? ).
  

• Bertie Ahern stepping down.
  Fascinating, a great political figure, which shape today's ireland, a finance minister who does not have a bank account (how did he get paid ? in cash ), a man who lead the peace process. He had an incredibly long career in Irish Politics, which is contrasting, when you compare to the american system: Obama political career only started 4-5 years ago, while Bertie started in his 20's... France is unfortunately no different.
  With all the afairs, he also did a lot for the raise of Irish stand up comedian.
  

• Large Hardron Collider almost start up
  The Large Hardron Collider, building is finished, and experiment will be able to start. A particular feeling about that news, as lots of my teachers in Clermont University worked ( and are still working ) on that project.
  

• Munster-All Blacks in Thomond Park
  What a game, makes you proud of living in Limerick.
  Everything, from the Munster haka to finsh was exceptional that night.
  

• Lisa Hannigan "Sea Saw"
  Some interesting things happen this year in music, from Portishead latest addition "Third" to MGMT "Kids", but i have a tender preference for Lisa Hannigan first album, and not only for her live show in UL.
  

• Basking Sharks in Kerry
  The first time, I saw so huge animals in the sea... I know it's not a big news, and they are quite frequent on the Irish Coast, but it's in my top ten...
  
  Next year I'll try to get closer, bigger picture of them.
  

• Crunch....
  This growth rate seems unreal, and crazy for most part of the year, and now it's gone, in less time than it takes to write it. How artificial has been our occidental capitalistic lifes ? We'll see if 2009 brings better alternatives

[FR] Nos Enfants...

un documentaire francais sur la nourriture, les dangers de l'agriculture industrielle reposant sur les produits chimiques.



Le website du film:
http://www.nosenfantsnousaccuseront-lefilm.com/

A ecouter en particulier, le podacst de Serge Orru a l'univeriste de la terre 2008:
http://www.actus-durables.fr/2008/11/podcast-de-serge-orru-a-luniversite-de-la-terre-2008/

Looking forward 2009

In those depressing time, where everybody's talking about recession, something to look forward in 2009, the next Pixar movie Up:



(From Trailer Addict)

Pixar 2008 to 2011

Some exciting news from Pixar last week, with the announcement of their upcoming movies:
2008 - Wall-ee
2009 - Up
2010? - Toy Story 3
2011 - Newt and The Bear and the Bow
2012 - Cars 2
Plus a new movie from Bard Bird: 1906.

I am quite excited by all these, and I am particulary eager to see Wall-ee:
Wall-ee trailer


See the Pixar Blog for updated information.

Cinema 08

I've restarted to go more regularly to the Cinema, as there's some good movies at the moment ( i am not going to talk about Rambo ).

Be Kind Rewind
The last movie by the every imaginative Michel Gondry, it's cheerful and very pleasant. All about the pleasure of making movie, watching movies, sharing through movies.

The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert ford
Slow drama, hypnotic at some point, about the murderer of Jesse James, forgotten by history.
Other interest, alongside B.Pitt and Casey Affleck, Marie Louise Parker plays from Weeds in that film.

Sweeney Todd
Tim Burton merging this story into his own Gothic universe. For a musical, the song are not great, but it's a strong story, visually impressive.

No Country for old men
The Cohen brothers at their best, based on a great novel by Cormac McCarthy.
May be one of their best movie since Fargo ( though I loved "Intolerable Cruelty", "The man who was not there", "O'Brother where art thou ?" and the cultissim "No Country for old men" )

Juno
Very refreshing and funny. Juno the girlfriend i would have love to have in high school.

Off course I could not resist buying the latest Pixar DVD Ratatouille.
And in the following months some very interesting movies are coming:

There will be blood by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Burn after Reading by the Cohen Bros

Indy 4 by S.Spielberg/G.Lucas

Fear(s) of the dark an animation movie made by some very talented comics authors (Blutch, Mattotti, Charles Burns)

And off course the next pixar Wall-e




Links

An interesting irish blog about movies: Confessions of a Film Critic John Maguire

In French: critic radio show Le Masque et la plume (France Inter)

Magnificent Seven

While waiting for the Sarah Silverman Program to begin, i had the pleasure to watch again The Magnificent Seven, and it's getting better everytime you watch it again and again... and there is such brilliant quotes, here's few:

Reminds me of that fella back home who fell off a ten-story building. As he was falling, people on each floor kept hearing him say, "So far, so good. So far, so good." Vin (Steve McQueen)
The same story is also used in "La Haine" from Matthieu Kassovitz.

You don't happen to have an older, grateful sister, do you? Vin (Steve McQueen)

Fella I once knew in El Paso, one day he took all his clothes off and jumped in a mess of cactus. I asked him the same question, why? He said it seemed to be a good idea at the time. Vin (Steve McQueen)

Once I rob a bank in Texas. Your government get after me with a whole army. Whole army! One little bank. In Texas, only Texans can rob banks. Calvera (Eli Wallach)

They are farmers. They talk of nothing but fertilizer and women. I have never shared their enthusiasm for fertilizer. As for women, I became indifferent when I was eighty-two. the old man ( loved the lookk McQueen gives him after hearing that...)

Harry, please don't understand me so fast. Chris Adams (Yul Brynner) aka the man with sea urchin in his underarms.

And after that one hour of absolutely outrageous, dark humour from Sarah Silverman, sleeping with black god, exploring her possible not so plausible lesbian part, on her comedy central show,

Just one example:
A couple nights ago, I was licking jelly off my boyfriend's penis. And I thought, "Oh, my God – I'm turning into my mother!"

Oh by the way just came back from a week of diving in the red sea.. lovely.

Ratatouille (2)

I've just seen last night, the last pixar movie: Ratatouille, as usual it's fantastic, Pixar is definitely so ahead of the other CGI animation studios. The story is great, but i also found myself dragged, into admiring the perfection of some details of the images, the motion of the rat, how their fur move , or all the work with the water, the copper ustensiles in the kitchen. It will definitely ends up in my DVD collection.And the movie is so full of details, from the Citroën cars (Ah la DS ... ), to the bread. The director is Brad Bird, already famous after The Iron Giant (1999) and The incredibles (2004), and which is called by A.Scott from the NY-Times the "the greatest living American filmmaker” .
You can also read the critic of the movie by John Maguire on his blog.

Just one thing: If France is certainly where you can fin good food, i would say Paris is the best place ;-P, and all French does not wear beret.

Very interesting article in the NY-Times, about why Republicans hate Al Gore, firstly because he's still here after the white house was stolen to him and to American voters, and secondly because he keeps saying the right things ahead of everybody.

Bergman death

Ratatouille

The next disney/pixar movie (in theater June 29th), looks fantastic all about cooking, i am already impressed by the copper casseroles, there is a 9 minutes preview on the website (enjoy).
Ratatouille Website

Cinema de quartier

Jean Pierre Dionnet dans ses oeuvres....

By the way, "El Topo" and "Holy Mountain" has been re-released in DVD.

Animation....

I love animated films, here's one of the first. 1908 created by Emile Cohl.

The fountain....

Quotations of the day:
"Fella I once knew in El Paso, one day he took all his clothes off and jumped in a mess of cactus.
I asked him the same question, why?
He said it seemed to be a good idea at the time." VIN [Steve Mc Queen] in The Magnificent Seven [1960].

Reminds me of that fella back home who fell off a ten-story building. As he was falling, people on each floor kept hearing him say, "So far, so good. So far, so good."
VIN [Steve Mc Queen] in The Magnificent Seven [1960].

USA - Democrats in da house
The democrats have won the latest election, what will change.... not much ... there will probably be more enquiry, the president will need to argue and defend more his policy... Rumsfeld already resigned... Eric Leser a journalist from Le Monde answers some of these questions in this chat[FR].
The war in Iraq will probably continue, the USA will lower their objectives... and Halliburton will gain less money ( or will it ? )

Meanwhile Olympia, Walsh is questioning through history, our emotional dependance on marriage in Too close to comfort (NY Times). Seems the marriage has taken more and more importance in the relationship ( in the last 50 years ) and other relationships have declined ( for example the number of people you discussed meaningful matters).

The Fountain
Darren Arronofsky [Pi, Requiem for a Dream]is due to release his new movie: The Fountain.
The New York Times ask eleven artists to give their view of the movie in picture.

The Eleven pictures.


[FR] Accents de France
A website about the different accent in french depending on the region : http://www.accents-de-france.fr.st/