It's all about the journey

Laugh once a day

2009-12-05T12:22:40Z

Hilarious parody. Take a look.

Cool guys and explosions

Maybe hilarious when you're drunk, actually.

overthinking this

2009-12-02T17:45:16Z

Seriously, why don't I have friends living in Orleans, France? We're talking Shane West here!

SPN these days

2009-11-07T22:11:16Z

Can someone please wake me when something anything will happen on this show ?

Jensen wasn't kidding when he said Kripke would pull the reins on where the show is going if they got a fifth season.

at least I didn't pay to see those

2009-10-17T18:32:19Z

Fly Me to the Moon

So boring. So slow moving. Characters and story flavorless. Wasn't even nice to look at. And all the funny lines/situations just felt fake. In fact, everything felt fake.

Mia et le Migou

No script. Inexistant directing.

Where are the good animation movies nowadays?

old & new

2009-10-05T18:43:57Z

I got asked to share my thoughts and opinions for all movies, not just the ones from film festivals. So I added a new tag and edited old entries consequently.

District 9

Gamer wanted to denounce something and the movie was terrible. District 9 is denouncing so many things (repression, Apartheid, war...) and the movie works. Okay, there are two major plotholes (that probably won't disturb you as much as it disturbed me) but things are entertaining and thought through, and I would love to see the first version before it was cut by the studio (I don't know that for a fact, but it's always the case in the US). Usually I like when a movie stays "unique", but this time there is so much material to do a kick-ass sequel! Bring District 11 already! (You have to see the movie to understand why the sequel would be District 11, not District 10)

I'm not saying "Go see this movie right now!", I'm saying if you go I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The Happening

Oh my god... How can the mastermind of The Sixth Sense be behind this horrible, terrible, ridiculous movie? Static shots after static shots, is that technical directing? Certainly not in my book. Okay, so maybe this guy is more gifted when it comes to actors' directing, the other side of the job. But nothing to save here either. Mark Wahlberg is ridiculous each time he's on screen, as is his female costar, and all the other characters are useless in the story arc.

Run from this at any cost.

Surely I read that wrong

2009-10-05T14:44:02Z

From Entertainment Weekly

"any show that inspires people to want to continue the heroes' adventures on their own time qualifies as cult"

***

Tell me I'm not the only one thinking this statement is bullshit.

SPN weekly comment, I guess

2009-09-25T10:31:44Z

No cut for spoilers, because I actually don't say anything.

15 minutes in and I was that close to stop watching the episode altogether this week. Ridiculous is the first word that comes to mind. I just don't know if the reason is "Hey, we love you fans, and we decided to give you (or rather some of you) a little something. A present to show you how grateful we are", or the other option "We showed you how stupid wincest was by hammering it over and over again, so now we're just gonna do the same thing with 'this other obsession'". Whatever the reason, they really should stop butchering their own show.

I guess I'm glad I sticked around, for the last scene actually. Because I can NOT believe I didn't see this coming! I'm sure Jared Padalecki is thrilled with where it's going, or at least what's hinted at. I kinda am too.

Don't know about the how and why but Lucifer will eventually have his way with Sam and use him as his vessel, and then Dean won't have a choice. He'll have to agree to become Michael's vessel, because this will be the only way to stop Lucifer. The Apocalypse will become Michael-vs-Lucifer in the shape and form of brother-against-brother.

Middlename: matchmaker

2009-09-23T20:29:10Z

Four and a half years ago, LD & MJ met and worked on their first stage play together. One and a half year and another play later, I was telling them, with passion, that they were meant for each other, at least professionally speaking. That their chemistry on stage was incredible. I remember I was talking to MJ and telling her this, and I spotted LD who was talking to a few of his friends, and quite possibly his girlfriend at the time, and I kinda called him over to reiterate and have them both hear at the same time what I thought of them working together, basically saying "You two together on stage is just perfection. I've never seen so much chemistry between two people working together. This is really incredible."

That was three years ago.

And they're getting MARRIED next month!

I am so so so happy for them!!!

I'm seeing LD next week, and boy am I tempted to tell him I told you so! *g*

- their second play together, and basically when things changed between them and they became more than friends/coworkers -

What would rock but won't happen

2009-09-18T16:34:27Z

It's only the second ep of the season, so maybe we'll get to see the Four Horsemen. I mean, we saw War already. Now the BEST.THING.EVER would be for Peter Wingfield to portray Death. And then I would say "I love this show!", and I would even go as far as write a letter to Kripke and the casting director to thank them for this choice. *nodsnods* But it won't happen anyway.

Better late than never, definitely (or hopefully)

2009-09-18T09:31:34Z

Depends on how it's gonna be handled.

Dean's reaction is exactly what it should be, so it's a good start. Clearly the whole amulet backstory and purpose haven't been revealed yet (I'm guessing we'll know more next week, or in two weeks), but I've been waiting for that for 3 to 4 f*cking years!

Finally.

It happened in 2009

2009-09-17T08:44:57Z

Is this the beginning of a revolution? The kind where in years from now we'll look back and say "Yeah, we saw it happened"?

First you have the Supernatural episode "The Monster at the End of this Book" where half the episode is about the SPN fandom and acknowledging the existence of the fandom (fans getting the tattoo, having their favorite character), and if that wasn't enough they state "Yeah, we know a lot of you are Wincesters and we make it common knowledge for everyone". I honestly think it was brilliant to have it work so well with the mythology of the show. Going even further in the season premiere last week, a fan is writing on screen a wincest fanfiction. This is mindblowing (and I'd love to know if regular viewers - as in unaware of fandom in general - were freaked out by that).

Same remark, different show. Last night one of the Glee characters said that his wife writes Desperate Housewives fanfictions!

Granted I don't watch a lot of TV-shows so maybe this has been going on for a while now, but still those two direct references happened in an awfull short period of time.

Deauville, take 2

2009-09-13T13:35:24Z

Loved it last year, loved it this year.

Anyway, long post ahead. 17 movie reviews.

The Doors - When You're Strange
Clearly a must see in film school in terms of editing. This is basic/level 1 editing, in how the narration (told by Johnny Depp mind you) matches what happens on screen. Or mostly anyway, seeing that the only material is actual Doors footage. The film stays nice because it's not too long and also thanks to the almost omnipresent Doors music. But more would have become boring.

Harrison Montgomery
The main asset of this movie is definitely the dynamic between the characters. It's very important in a movie, and this one has it. Other than that the story is nice enough, just not extraordinary (even if the ending tends towards some kind of fable).

The Big Knife
Is it honestly that difficult to make a movie so good nowadays? Contemporary directors clearly didn't understand a thing. Go watch this movie. It has everything current movies should have.

Like Dandelion Dust
Drama. Good interpretation. When those two things are combined, it's usually for the best. That's the case here. Before the screening started the director told us "I hope you'll cry". Well, I almost did. Maxwell Perry Cotton, the kid actor, was that good.

Shrink
So so good. Directing, photography, interpretation. The beginning credits only are a masterpiece. About 3 or 4 shots by characters, and that's enough to define them at this point of their life. By the time the title appears you can start with the actual story because no exposition is needed anymore; you already know what there is to know.

Humpday
If I hadn't seen it I would have thought this wasn't possible. Talk, talk, talk. Then talk, talk, talk. And talk some more. Without getting boring. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that. I was pretty scared during the first 15 minutes because it just looked like a movie you would see in our school, done by students. That feeling eventually disappeared though.

Gamer
Just pretend you never heard this title. Did Michael C. Hall had a blast playing this character? Probably. Did the director want to denounce a certain ungoing war, and how people are becoming more and more depraved with video games and reality shows? I suppose. But there was surely another way to do it. Anything but that!

Me And Orson Welles
I got nothing to say. Watch it, don't watch it. Your life won't change either way. Flavourless.

The Messenger
Definitely worth watching. Really thought through, especially in terms of sound. Spotless directing, casting well done. The actors simply shine. I was especially impressed by some fascinating single shot scenes.

The Killing Room
Cube. Only so much worse. I didn't get the point of the movie, and beside the editing (interesting in a professional way) there's no reason to watch this. Carry on, nothing to see here.

The Open Road
Cliched. Nothing terrific here. Justin Timberlake is not the next DiCaprio, but the guy is trying. You have to give him that. Even if it stays flat, like everything else in the movie.

The Informant!
I'm not a huge fan of Soderbergh. I think it's fair to state that right from the start. I just have a problem with his movies as a whole. This one was no exception. The guy just doesn't know the meaning of the word simple. But I think ultimately the problem here is that it was too ambitious. Even for Soderbergh. Trying to show the bipolarity of someone is a huge challenge. If the whole movie had been treated like the last 15 minutes, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

World's Greatest Dad
Well, that was... interesting. Different. Interestingly different? I don't know, I wasn't that moved by the movie. A few interesting directing/editing ideas, but not much more.

Sin Nombre
Frist feature film for the director, and a very very good piece. In every aspect. Nothing is too laboured and the result is extremely enjoyable. Also I LOVE how the movie ends.

Wonderful World
Another first feature film, but contrary to the previous one you can feel it. Things are still clumsy, and even if the actors are trying, there's nothing wonderful here.

Youth In Revolt
I suppose it was intended for the movie to be sweet and funny but it goes in so many different directions that it totally loses itself. The main theme of the movie is one of those overdone ones: a teenager's first time. Granted they tried an original approach but I guess they just had too many ideas.

Precious
Good movie, way too much voiceover time though.

***

And to sum up.

Shrink
The Messenger
Sin Nombre
The Big Knife
Like Dandelion Dust
Precious
Harrison Montgomery
The Doors: When You're Strange
Humpday
The Informant
World's Greatest Dad
Youth In Revolt
The Open Road
Wonderful World
Me And Orson Welles
The Killing Room
Gamer

***

ETA Awards

Grand Prize The Messenger

Jury Prize (ex aequo) Sin Nombre / Precious

Cartier Newcomer Award Humpday

International Critics' Prize The Messenger

Sooo happy Sin Nombre and The Messenger got awards! Two movies you definitely have to keep an eye out for!

Avatar Day

2009-08-21T20:34:53Z

Short and to the point:

- I went to see the free screening of 15 minutes of James Cameron's movie Avatar and I was expecting way more people to show up.

- The 3D aspect is pretty good, and seeing that it's the first movie produced like this the future looks extremely promising. It's a very very good starting point, even if it's not OMFG!!! *dies*

- This way of promoting the movie worked for me, because I kinda want to go see the whole thing in December when it will be released.

- After 15 minutes I can totally see why it took so much time for this project to be brought to completion.

To go or not to go is not the question

2009-07-26T16:56:43Z

The Deauville American Film Festival is coming up in a few weeks, and the official selection was announced a few days ago. Am I pissed movies with Tim Olyphant aren't part of it? Yep, kinda. I wasn't really expecting A Perfect Getaway to show up, but why isn't High Life part of the list? That was *two* possible movies to show and a possibility for him to come in France. *pouts* But I really *really* don't get it seeing that Personal Effects is part of the selection. That doesn't make sense to me in any way. And Harrison Ford being guest of honor feels weird too because I'm pretty sure it's not the first time that happened.

So no reason to star-stalk anyone, but the festival is truly a drug for me now. I only went last year, but I desperately want to go this time around too. I don't know yet if the friend who worked there last year will be part of the staff in a few weeks, but the answer to that question will only determine the number of days I'll spend in Deauville. If I can save money thanks to a priority access card, then I'll stick around more than if I have to pay for it. The plan for tomorrow is to call hotels to see which ones are already full for the festival.

Harper's Island - No spoilers

2009-07-11T13:46:22Z

Remember this post?

Okay, so maybe I didn't exactly call it. I honestly wasn't that far off, but my theory was based on what I thought was a very clever directing move in ep 02. Turns out it was the opposite: bad directions given to the actors. I think. I would have liked to be there to be able to hear it. I do like the fact that it came full circle in how it ended where it all originally started.

I'm not being specific on purpose, because I don't want to spoil people. I honestly think it was a good story overall (I mean it was entertaining), and I'm probably saying this because I watched the whole thing in about 2 days. I would probably have lost interest in no time if I had had to wait 3 months for the conclusion. Which is I think one of the main reasons the ratings weren't that great. It totally should have aired like In Treatment. HBO has it all right.

I hate summer

2009-07-05T11:26:25Z

It was supposed to start raining on Thursday night. It's Sunday afternoon now, and still no sign of rain.

Is it July, 11th yet?

2009-06-30T20:29:48Z

I can't wait till the season finale of Harper's Island, so I can finally say I SO CALLED IT!

*clears throat* Story is, I had no intention of watching that show (didn't even really know what it was about actually), and then two days ago when I came back from work on Sunday I was in the mood for something new so I went for the pilot to see what the story was. I've now watched the eleven aired episodes and am waiting for the last ones because I have a theory since ep 02, and so far nothing has happened to prove me wrong.

I'm not hooked on the show, despite having watched all the eps in a couple of days, but I see this as some kind of mystery/suspense novel. Once you've read chapter one it all becomes about one thing only: who's gonna die, and who's the bad guy.

That said, the writers of that show don't know the first thing about giving out information to the audience; it is so scripted it's indigestible. It acutally would have worked as a book, but this is not the same medium here, and they clearly didn't realise that when they were writing those scripts. Another bad point was ep 07 - Thrack, Splack, Sizzle. When you have a story happening so fast (talking days here), you don't make an episode totally out of rhythm with flashbacks in the middle of the show. It stands out in a bad way when that kind of show should really be seen as a whole.

Yes, I do have a couple of good points for you. The way they handled having people getting killed off one after the other without friends/family noticing did impress me. My favorite moment of the whole show is the Cal/Chloe discussion from ep 06 - Sploosh about the engagment ring, ending with Chloe saying "I don't think so." And the best cliffhanger was the ending of ep 05 - Thwack.

Anyway, I'm waiting now (I'm kinda pissed because I thought all the episodes had aired already).

Prison Break finale

2009-05-17T14:27:59Z

I tuned back in to watch the last episode. I'm happy I stopped watching months ago. Because I was so bored during this episode! 15 minutes into it I wanted it to be over already. Anyway it felt like a finale episode. All (almost everyone that is) the original characters "reunited". T-Bag who's always been around, Sucre back from... somewhere, C-Note back from I don't even know where (and since when is he a killer BTW?), and KELLERMAN BACK FROM THE DEAD. FOX, where all television becomes sci-fi television.

The ep could have been sumed up in one sentence "Hey, let's go shoot at everybody, we don't care, we'll be exonerated anyway!"

And what's with this stupid joke? Michael and Lincoln are not brothers after all?! Sucre, and not Lincoln, getting through Michael? Lincoln pushing Micheal to kill someone? What the hell?

Okay, epilogue four years later: I wasn't expecting that. How does Prison Break gets an epilogue four years later when the story itself lasted something like four months?

I don't think the ending is fair on Lincoln. Don't really care if it's fair on Sara or not, or on MJ (come on, you know that's how he'll get called), but I feel for Lincoln.

I totally called it!

2009-05-15T18:05:43Z

The episode was a major BLAH but I got what I wanted. They're the Brothers of the Apocalypse now.

Shows ponderings

2009-05-08T11:23:06Z

Friday Night Lights

It looks like I managed to convert issuegirls to Friday Night Lights! Go me! It's her own fault though; she could have played it safe and pick a movie she already knew or something. We watched the pilot of the show together about a week ago. I think last time I watched it was probably when I discovered the show, meaning almost 3 years ago. And I was blown away with how much things changed in 3 years! I didn't even remember Riggins and Smash couldn't stand each other at the beginning. Crazy. Makes me wonder if I ever watched another show evolving so much in 3 years, in terms of characters.

Damages

I feel a little stupid for being so excited with Timothy Olyphant and Glenn Close's single common scene in Damages, as short as it was, because I just realized they were in a movie together back in 1991. And again, they only had one scene together, even shorter than the one in Damages! Funny. Also with the news of Timothy Olyphant getting his own FX show next fall, Wes' storyline in Damages is probably gonna be left in a corner.

Supernatural

You gotta love how this week's episode ended! I cannot imagine how everyone in the fandom is probably going crazy and screaming bloody murder right now! I can totally picture Kripke in the writer's room being ecstatic over the prospect of making things so complicated for his characters. Because feeling good about things going well for the characters in the end is nothing compared to the giddy feeling of all the obstacles you throw at them on the way, at least in my own experience. Like I said before, it's all about the journey, not the end result.

Hands down, my favorite scene tonight was Sam hallucinating his younger self. Both actors totally nailed it! All the hallucinations scenes were great, the best ones being young Sam and Mom. And of course you gotta love Dean's torn expression hearing his brother scream. And the Sam and Booby 'shoot me' scene was also very nice. All in all a very nice acting piece. Technically speaking though, one scene felt off in terms of continuity (where was the script supervisor?) and I know I wouldn't have gone back to the master shot but sticked to the close-up one in at least a couple of places, had I been the editor.

it's like they're asking for it

2009-04-25T18:40:41Z

I find it funny how the french network airing Supernatural promotes the show as much as the CW.

french movie, american product aftertaste

2009-04-17T21:27:04Z

LD's new movie? A mix between Sliders' "The Last of Eden" and Supernatural's "The Benders".

I'm just back from the movie premiere and I'm wondering if the first edited draft wasn't twice as long as the final movie because there was so much more to say in every aspect, so much more that needed to be said.

My first thought was that the production had probably asked for a lot of things to be edited out (for whatever shitty reason), till I remembered that it was a french film and that the director has the final cut in France.

Not sure what to think.

out in the open

2009-04-05T11:37:46Z

Jared at the 09 LA Creation Con
"You know, a movie I loved was The Shawshank Redemption. Really cool characters, amazing story, beautifully made."

It's official. I love Jared Padalecki.

SPN again headdesk

2009-04-03T17:53:26Z

Thank god the show won't air for a couple of weeks. Because I can't keep posting SPN related stuff. It's not healthy.

I'm not sure how I feel about this week's ep. Yeah, I did laugh (how can you not with the whole making-fun-of-the-fandom-in-every-aspect thing), and some parts were oh-so-clever (but others kind of easy). But in the end it did leave me with an aftertaste of... atonement. Doesn't feel right or wrong, just maybe off-key. But in a way, I guess it's clever to do this kind of stuff inside an episode rather than with an interview.

And the ending? I totally called it from the moment we were first introduced to Chuck. How he would wake up at the end with THE vision and basically go "Oy my god." Feels good to be right from time to time.

Couldn't resist a little screencap. Totally love the look of challenge in Sam's eyes here!

I won't comment on the best parts of the ep, I'll just write down my favorite lines.

"The things I put you through, the pysical beatings alone. (...) I toyed with your lives, your emotions for entertainment." (This one was totally directed at you, Steph. Yeah, I personnaly called Kripke so he would add that line for you)

"Writing is hard." (added to Dean 'Yeah, right' doubtful expression)

"The demon storyline is trite, cliched and overall craptastic. Well, screw you, Simpatico. We lived it."

"Are you- It... frustrates me when you say such reckless things. / Well, it frustrates me when you'd rather hide than fight." (that is hilarious couple therapy)

And the best of the best?

"Although for fans they sure do complain a lot."

Just proves once again that creator and writers know about every.single.thing going on in the fandom.

ETA I'd be EXTREMELY interested to watch this ep with someone who watches the show on a regular basis without knowing anything about the fandom.

What are the Damages?

2009-04-02T17:26:09Z

Wes is not dead and his storyline is all but resolved. Which means that Timothy Olyphant will probably be back for season 3, except if he's too busy with other projects. But for now, that's good enough for me, even if season 1 was A LOT better than season 2.

Also I'm very happy for him because he finally had a scene with Glenn Close. As short as it was, I think he was pretty happy about it nonetheless.