Ne me quitte pas…

- Jacque Brel

Eu só espero que meus antigos professores de francês não vejam isso, pois, como parei de praticar a língua há alguns meses, erros podem ter ocorrido.

La poétique du cabaret

Nous sommes tout seul

Dans cette table, dans cet bar;

L’homme chubby regarda le ciel

Avec un rêveur.

.

Il, qui plante les fleurs prolixes,

Est en face de moi.

Les cigarretes brûlent, brûlent,

Et se defaire sur le cendrier

.

Pendant qu’il parle sur la beauté de chanterpleurer:

“C’est magnifique, je pense, la capacité

De chanter avec le face mouillé,

Mais avec une voix claire.”

.

J’étais sur le point de m’élever

Et partir san payer l’addition

Quand il a commencé a parler

De la Poésie.

.

Je suis resté, regandant l’hômme,

Qui, bien inutile pour la plupart des choses,

Avait une raison cristaline à ce sujet:

“La vrai beauté de La poésie

(dit-il entre les joues roses)

Est sur la liberté de création!

.

‘A bas les puristes!’

Vive le vers blanc puissant!

Sans rime, sans compteur, sans rigueur formelle;

Solement avec l’éssence de la mélodie!”

Aos que não sabem, fica aqui um claro exemplo do que é o chanterpleurer (cantar chorando):

Voilà une dizaine de jours que je rédigeais un article inhérent à une requête simple: la mise à disposition de conteneurs et bacs poubelle.

Le message est visiblement très bien passé puisque depuis hier, c’est chose faite à proximité de mon immeuble d’habitation.

Et pour l’occasion, ils n’y sont pas allés de main morte, pas moins de 4 gros conteneurs poubelle qui arrivent d’un coup d’un seul, à point nommé. Les riverains ne sont pas habitués à cela, car évidemment ils n’en ont jamais eu à disposition! Ils n’auront que l’embarras du choix, quel conteneur pourront-ils bien choisir pour déposer leurs déchets n’est-ce-pas?

Mais en tout cas, je m’en réjouis pleinement et c’était là tout le sens de ma requête, c’est plus de propreté dans les rues de notre ville et plus de responsabilisation des habitants, les invitant à non plus déposer leurs sacs poubelle sur les trottoirs mais dans les conteneurs prévus à cet effet.

If you happen to find yourself in NoLita (or even if you don’t), stop by LA CAVE DES FONDUS in the basement of JACQUES at 20 Prince St. The menu is simple, consisting only of La Fondue Savoyarde (Swiss, Gruyere, and Comté cheeses served with a bread basket, $21) and La Fondue Bourguignonne (steak cooked in beef bouillon, $21), as well as a Cheese Plate ($15), a Charcuterie Plate ($18), and Pâté ($10).

Apparently, owner JACQUES OUARI was inspired by LE REFUGE DES FONDUS at 17 Rue des Trois Frères in Paris, France, where wine is served in baby bottles so as to avoid taxes on wine served in stemware. So, go sip your Bordeaux through a rubber nipple, served “by the glass” (because “by the bottle” would just be misleading).

For more information on La Cave des Fondus, call 212.966.5073 or visit www.jacquesnyc.com.

EQB

Serge Pugeault se vante constamment de la rapidité de la majorité municipale à entamer la réfection de la Halle du Boulingrin, alors que par le passé ce dossier paraissait au ralenti.

C’est clairement de la mauvaise foi car si Adeline Hazan et son équipe ont eu la possibilité de lancer aussi vite ce dossier, c’est grâce aux travaux d’études réalisés par l’équipe précédente. Il serait bon qu’ils ne l’omettent pas!

M. Pugeault met en cause la lenteur du déblocage de l’aide de l’Etat à la réfection qui était bloquée depuis 1996…C’est aussi objectivement l’une des causes du non avancement du dossier par le passé !

Surtout, c’est la preuve que gouvernements de gauche comme de droite n’avaient pas rempli cet engagement, alors même que Serge Pugeault se répand partout en affirmant que l’enveloppe accordée dans le cadre du plan de relance n’est que le rattrappage de cette promesse non tenue.

Enfin et c’est important de le souligner, c’est Jack Lang qui a classé ce bâtiment pour des raisons politiciennes en 1985, alors que sa qualité architecturale est très largement décriée.

M. Pugeault a la mémoire bien courte et une lecture partiale et partielle de ce dossier, il n’a même pas le souci de la cohérence dans les propos qu’il tient, trop occupé à politiser à outrance et à vouloir discréditer l’Etat et l’Exécutif…

Every so often I’ve updated the list of films that I have already seen with brief reviews.  Call it the complete-ist in me, but when I’m done with reviewing each of the films in the book, I’d like to have reviewed every single film in the book.

Anyhow, here’s another batch for you to read.

Enjoy!

Shichinin No Samurai AKA Seven Samurai (1954)

The Seven Samurai is the first movie that I had the pleasure of seeing from the master director Akira Kurosawa, and it is also one of his most praised works. Without a wasted frame, the story takes place over the course of almost 3 hours. Kurosawa, as he does in each of his movies, explores more than just the action and injustice featured in the plot. He is a humanist first and foremost, training his lens on the interpersonal relationships of the characters, tracking growth across this epic. As good as this film is, I would have to say that Kurosawa has numerous films that are even better, check out Stray Dog, Rashomon, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and my personal favorite High and Low.

The Ladykillers (1955)

Existing as a special combination of dark humor, and slapstick farce, The Ladykillers is exceptionally funny and unsettling. Alec Guinness stars as the leader of a group of criminals staying at the home of a hardy, vivacious older lady under the guise of being musicians. The plan is simple, rob a bank, and utilizing the trusting nature of the kindly old lady, and the remoteness of her home to their advantage, get away with it. Easily my favorite of Alec Guinness’ films (thanks in part to the Star Wars prequels that is), The Ladykillers features a solid cast of great actors, including a very young Peter Sellers.

Bob Le Flambeur AKA Bob the Gambler (1955)

My introduction to the fantastic Jean-Pierre Melville, I was captivated immediately by the cool as ice gangster come gambler Bob. This film is filled with signature Melville-isms. Glorious post war street scenes in Paris. Trench-coats. Honor among thieves. And who could forget the caper. To talk too much about this film is to give too much away, and to do that is to ruin it for those who haven’t seen it. Other classics by Melville: Le Cercle Rouge, Le Samourai, and the recently released in the U.S. Army of Shadows. All are fantastic, and deserve to be in this book! Incidentally, Bob le Flambeur was recently re-made into The Good Thief starring Nick Nolte and directed by Neil Jordan, and while I’m not generally a fan of re-makes, I really, really liked this film. Not quite as good as the original, but it was one of my favorite films of 2002.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

The ultimate in hardboiled private eye crime stories, Kiss Me Deadly is a full on assault on decency. Kiss Me Deadly proudly presents itself as a grimy PI story, littered with bodies and intrigue. If you even have a passing interest in film noir, this should be your first stop. Violent, misogynist, brutish, and glorious, Kiss Me Deadly begs to be watched and dares you to look away. I myself, loved it!

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Apparently based on a book, The Ten Commandments is an epic in every sense of the word. Colored in bright explosive candy hues, and featuring huge sets, as well as a cast that number in the thousands, The Ten Commandments is more spectacle than great movie. Certainly not a waste of time, but not my first choice when choosing something light to throw in.

Det Sjunde Inseglet AKA The Seventh Seal (1957)

A classic, and well-loved film by Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal stars an extremely young Max von Sydow as a knight who faces Death at a game of chess to decide his fate. This film is filled with themes that find their way into each of Bergman’s works, ranging from courage in the face of death, religion, and humanity. The Seventh Seal still holds up to this day, with luminous black and white photography that, thanks to Criterion’s Blu-ray edition, has never looked better.

Note: Don’t be fooled by the similarly themed, but much worse, “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey”

Kumonosu Jo AKA Throne of Blood (1957)

Kurosawa’s retelling of Macbeth set in feudal Japan. Shakespeare has never looked better as it does in the stark black and white, twisting shadows and swirling mists as seen through Kurosawa’s camera. Toshiro Mifune doesn’t disappoint in the lead role, but the real stand out is Isuzu Yamada in the as Mifune’s opportunistic, poisonous wife. The plotting and scheming starts right from the get go, all the way up till the frenzied end of the film.

Touch of Evil (1958)

One of the many trouble spots on Orson Welles’ resume due to studio interference, and financing issues, still Touch of Evil remains as possibly the best B-Movie ever made. Iconic (and sometimes hilarious) performances by Janet Leigh, Charlton Heston (as a Mexican) and Welles himself as the crooked cop willing to do almost anything to ensure justice prevails (just so long as it’s his justice). The movie is almost as famous for its long tracking shot opening as it is for any of the performances, featuring a nearly 4 minute shot done in one take which travels around cars, actors, and buildings. The film The Player, payed homage to it by mentioning it a few times during a similarly complex shot in that film.

Vertigo (1958)

Flopping on its initial release, Vertigo didn’t gain the acclaim it deserved until much later after it was released on video. Vertigo visits themes present in each of Hitchcock’s other works, including the obsession with blondes, innocence tainted with corruption, and the schlub who get in over his head. Jimmy Stewart plays the schlub, Kim Novak plays the blonde, and gloriously technicolored San Francisco plays the innocence and the corruption. Vertigo has a twisty convoluted story with elements of surrealism, an interesting watch.

Mon Oncle AKA My Uncle (1958)

My favorite of Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot films, Mon Oncle was also the first of them that I had seen. Tati, playing Hulot, is a master of visual comedy, and not in the same way as the Three Stooges, or even Buster Keaton. Tati is an artist whose work is appreciated the longer you watch. The plot of the movie is not so much important to the film as it is simply a guide to get our characters into interesting situations so we can watch them get out. If you liked this film, check out other films featuring the bumbling Mr. Hulot, including Trafic, Playtime, and Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.

Les Quatre Cents Coups AKA The 400 Blows (1959)

My personal favorite of the French new wave movement was this small-scale film, personal piece from Francois Truffaut. Featuring the director’s alter ego, Antoine Doinel, The 400 Blows is the first in a series of movies, each about a different stage of life and the challenges that go along with them. The period from childhood to young adult is covered heart-breakingly here, following Antoine through the rough waters of his home life and his interaction with the outside world. Later chapters deal with finding love, getting married, having children, and growing old, but Les Quatres Cent Coups remains the directors most personal and his best.

North by Northwest (1959)

One of Hitchcock’s best, North by Northwest features Cary Grant, suave as ever, being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies. Just like in Hitchcock’s most famous works (of which this is one), the witty one-liners, suspense, and drama are heaped on generously. I can’t help but feel sad that a similarly themed, but better film featuring Cary Grant was left off this 1001 list. Charade, also featuring Audrey Hepburn, James Coburn, and Walter Matthau, is one of my favorite movies ever! Check out both Charade AND North by Northwest as a double feature! You won’t be sorry.

Some Like it Hot (1959)

Now this is an example of a classic, well-loved film, with actors that I really love (Jack Lemmon I’m looking at you), a premise that is more than suitable, yet the finished product never really caught me. It’s sort of like Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. I never really saw what all the hype was about. That being said, I didn’t hate it either. It never made fun of me when I had braces, or turned me down for a date, my affections and this film have just always been mutually exclusive. Perhaps it deserves another watch…then again maybe I should just watch The Last Boyscout again.

A Bout De Souffle AKA Breathless (1959)

Jean-Luc Godard is nothing if not a sacred cow of French cinema, and while I have loved some of his other films (Le Mepris, Bande A Part, and Masculin Femenine), Breathless or A Bout De Souffle never really did it for me. I can still rationalize why it was so revolutionary (use of jump cuts, editing, non-actors, and subscription to the aesthetic of the French new wave style), and see it’s importance, but I prefer other examples of New Wave cinema. If you are interested in seeing a Godard film, try Masculin Feminine, it is just as revolutionary and a bit more accessible.

Psycho (1960)

A prime example of Hitchcock in his prime. Psycho was so good, and so affecting that some of its actors were type cast just on the strength of this one film (Anthony Perkins, and Janet Leigh), so much so that without a little research it’s hard to think of what other films either of them has been in. Psycho may not be as visually shocking and gory as horror films of today, but it still manages to hold up over time and be just as unsettling as it was back in its day. Hitchcock has always excelled at making the comfortable un-comfortable (motels, birds, tea, dreams, the list goes on…), and the subtle touches in this film work perfectly. Consider for a moment that Perkin’s Bates is an amateur taxidermist of birds, and then that Janet Leigh’s name is Marion Crane a type of bird, or the fact before the crime Marion is wearing a white bra and a white purse, while after it she is wearing a black bra and purse. His attention to detail, and knack for foreshadowing is demonstrated in full force in Psycho and remains one of his best films. Despite all the uproar over the Gus Van Sant remake, I thought it actually did some justice to the original film and if nothing else brought it a little more deserved attention.

Note: This film also has the distinction of being the first American film to ever show a toilet flushing on-screen.

Peeping Tom (1960)

Released the same year as Psycho, and dealing with similar subject matter, Peeping Tom wasn’t received with the same acclaim and attention that the former was. On the contrary, Peeping Tom was seen as subversive, perverted, and generally too shocking. The story revolves more around the killer than the victim in this one, whereas Psycho is presented more from the victim’s point of view. Either way, Peeping Tom is a fine film, one worth watching, however it is so similar to Psycho that I’m not sure it needs to be on the list of 1001 films.

The Apartment (1960)

As far as light-hearted, touching movies about someone recovering from a bout of depression, this one is my favorite. Billy Wilder directs Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon in a sweet touching comedy without losing any of his trademark cynicism or the pointedness of his dialogue. The Apartment is another chance for me to champion the somewhat maligned talents of Mr. Fred MacMurray as Lemmon’s boss. MacMurray plays a fantastic creep who really defines the term “heel”.

Spartacus (1960)

Containing almost none of the trademark elements that make up a Stanley Kubrick movie as we know it (Kubrick apparently dis-owned the film before it’s release), Spartacus remains an interesting movie that isn’t great. It is, however, another example of a film that enabled an up and coming filmmaker to gain his voice, and define himself later on in his career. If only for that reason, Spartacus is a great film, but luckily for the studio, it has some other things going for it. Kirk Douglas plays the title role of Spartacus, and despite all the lavish set production, and concentration on spectacle, brings some heart to the slave who defied Rome.

Jules Et Jim AKA Jules and Jim (1962)

One of director, Francois Truffaut’s most well thought of films, Jules and Jim may be the Lost In Translation, or Juno of its time. Viewed from a certain angle, the plot is a completely moving and emotional story that you believe, so much so, that you can see yourself and those around you in the roles that these characters embody. Viewed from another perspective, it can seem a little precious or purposefully manipulative. Depending on what is happening in your life (I’m mostly thinking about whether or not you are in a relationship, and if you are happy), this movie can preach the glory of love and the pain of rejection. On the flipside, if you have shaken free the angsty, teenager-esque feelings everyone has had in their youth, you may feel like you’re being talked down to.

Cleo De 5 A 7 AKA Cleo from 5 to 7

Taking place, as the title suggests, from 5 to 7, we get a slice of the life of Cleo played out before us. Sometimes we, along with Cleo herself, are a voyeurs into the lives of people around her, and other times we are focused on her as she roams around Paris. By and large Cleo lives a carefree, spoiled life, yet we still sympathize with her when times are hard, and cheer for her when they are good. This is a small film in a lot of ways, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t impacting and beautiful.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

I have to admit.  I didn’t like Lawrence of Arabia that much.  Perhaps I was too young to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of Lean’s desert panorama camerawork, or just maybe it was the epic length that decided it for me.  One way or another, I didn’t appreciate it as much as everyone else seems to think I should. 

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Overly reliant on gimmicks and quick editing techniques, The Manchurian Candidate doesn’t flesh out the story nearly…wait, no that was the terrible re-make that came out in 2004.  The original 1962 version, is just as taught, and well executed today as it was at its release.  While the story between the two versions remained virtually the same, the consistent building of tension and anxiety, combined with the pitch perfect acting of Lawrence Harvey, Frank Sinatra (yes…Frank Sinatra), and the devilish turn of Angela Lansbury as the Queen of Hearts, makes for a fantastic film.

Lolita (1962)

It took me forever to finally see Lolita.  I have known the basic story (older man, younger girl) but had just never gotten around to seeing it.  And while I’ve been told that the book is much better, I thought the film was pretty good.  Not great, mind you, but definitely solid.  The shocking and controversial nature of the relationship was toned down a bit for the screen, and maybe as a result doesn’t seem all that shocking in today’s day and age.  Memorable turns by Peter Sellers, and Shelley Winters, not to mention it’s an early film of Stanley Kubrick.

The Birds (1963)

Despite being one of Hitchcock’s most popular, I actually think that The Birds is one of his most over-rated.  I think I owe it to myself to give this one another look someday, but right now I feel that it was too heavily based on the gimmick that had to rely on special effects.  Though it is not necessarily the fault of the movie, but the special effects seemed particularly dated and old fashioned.  Worth a watch, but not my favorite by a long shot.

8 1/2 (1963)

Federico Fellini is, by most accounts, a master of cinema.  One, that I have always had a little trouble getting fired up over.  It’s not that I don’t like his films once I’ve seen them, the problem comes in when it comes to motivating myself to see them.  I couldn’t tell you why, but his films consistently get pushed off when they come up on my Netflix Queue or when I see the one or two I have on my shelf.  I shouldn’t feel this way, considering I really loved the moving poetry, and soul baring passion in 8 1/2, yet it still happens.  One very definite reason to watch this film is the man-crushable Marcello Mastroianni, swaggering through as the alter-ego of Fellini himself.  Dealing with all the reservations with women, making movies, childhood, and the future that the director very famously dealt with himself, Mastroianni embodies a certain cool, yet believable character that begs to be watched.  Combined with imagery that leaves the audience wanting more, 8 1/2 is a fantastic film.

Well, that’s it for this time.  Thanks for reading!

Ne me quitte pas…

- Jacque Brel

Eu só espero que meus antigos professores de francês não vejam isso, pois, como parei de praticar a língua há alguns meses, erros podem ter ocorrido.

La poétique du cabaret

.

Nous sommes tout seul

Dans cette table, dans cet bar;

L’homme chubby regarda le ciel

Avec un rêveur.

.

Il, qui plante les fleurs prolixes,

Est en face de moi.

Les cigarretes brûlent, brûlent,

Et se defaire sur le cendrier

.

Pendant qu’il parle sur la beauté de chanterpleurer:

“C’est magnifique, je pense, la capacité

De chanter avec le face mouillé,

Mais avec une voix claire.”

.

J’étais sur le point de m’élever

Et partir san payer l’addition

Quand il a commencé a parler

De la Poésie.

.

Je suis resté, regandant l’hômme,

Qui, bien inutile pour la plupart des choses,

Avait une raison cristaline à ce sujet:

“La vrai beauté de La poésie

(dit-il entre les joues roses)

Est sur la liberté de création!

.

‘A bas les puristes!’

Vive le vers blanc puissant!

Sans rime, sans compteur, sans rigueur formelle;

Solement avec l’éssence de la mélodie!”

Aos que não sabem, fica aqui um claro exemplo do que é o chanterpleurer (cantar chorando):

Nota: Os pontos entre as estrofes são apenas para conter a fúria do wordpress contra a estrutura poética.

A Speaker Event with Jacques Semelin

26 February 2009 6:30-8:00pm in Room G108

Jacques Semelin is Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po Paris (Center for International Research and Studies), author of Purify and Destroy, Columbia UP (2007), a comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of 3 cases: the Shoah, Rwanda and Bosnia. He shows how it is possible to compare cases while respecting their specificity. Jacques Sémelin’s approach to the study of mass violence is multidisciplinary, relying not only on contemporary history but also on social psychology and political science.

Based on the seminal distinction between massacre and genocide, this conference will identify the main steps of a general process of destruction, both rational and irrational, made of a “delusional rationality”. It will describe a dynamic structural model with, at its core, the matrix of a social imaginaire which, according to its fears, resentments and utopias, shapes the social body, razing and eliminating “the enemy”. It will look at the different variable that can lead to a genocidal process, trying to explain how ordinary people can become perpetrators.

Jacques Sémelin is also Editor in Chief of the Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence. This project is based on a strong opposition to the political instrumentalization of the word “genocide” today, urging genocide research to take some distance with this legal and normative definition to allow it to emerge as a discipline of its own right in the field of social sciences.

The event will be followed by a reception and a distribution of the first issue of the ICCSN journal: “Issues of International Criminal Justice”.

“Sometimes I think we’re the worst family in town.”

“Maybe we should move to a bigger community.”

“Dad, the sad truth is all families are like this.”

This short conversation among Homer, Marge, and Lisa Simpson is, in so much as the longest-running comedy series in television history has one, The Simpsons’ thesis statement. In fact, the episode from which it comes, “There’s No Disgrace Like Home,” is really the ideological start of the series: The Simpsons do everything possible in 22 minutes to distance themselves from television’s traditional family, exemplified by the Cleavers, Waltons, Bradys, and Cosbys—and represented in this episode by the family of an unnamed coworker.

In “There’s No Disgrace Like Home,” the Simpson family resorts to juvenile rebellion, parental inebriation, sycophantism, and mutual beatings with wooden two-by-fours. The episode concludes with the family bonding; it’s just that they form that bond via all the above and their consequent ability to overwhelm even Dr. Marvin Monroe’s psychoanalysis (“earning” double their money back in the process).

First, what public school lets a second-grader dress up in a bikini for its Christmas Show? (And what public school has a Christmas Show?) Second, the whole dance routine doesn’t strike me as very Lisa: Inquisitive and didactic herself, Lisa would be more about conveying actual information about “the Santa of the South Sea” than about putting on some ridiculous performance.

And so, The Simpsons hits the wrong note in establishing some of its characters—and not just side characters, who it also struggles mightily to provide depth for*—but absolutely critical characters in Homer and Lisa.** Contrast this with a show such as Arrested Development, in which almost every character’s first scene is representative of their role through the entire series.

*The only two well-drawn secondary characters in Season One are Jacques and Sideshow Bob. The former appears in subsequent episodes only in the background; the latter is the show’s best secondary character. No character gets funnier as you get smarter than Sideshow Bob.

**The first impressions of Marge and Bart—the latter being seen in the second half of the above video—are more appropriate.

All this discussion of characterization leads us to what is really the biggest issue with the first season of The Simpsons: Homer. For as much as America (and England, for that matter) dived into Bartmania at the turn of the decade, Homer is the main character of The Simpsons. He has to be; the series defines itself as a foil to other sitcoms in which fathers were the focus (that list from above). If you want to argue this point further, simply go back and look at how many episodes focus on Homer as opposed to the other characters: He pretty much doubles the output of anyone else.

But in Season One, Homer is the toughest Simpson to pin down. Most of the time, he’s the local boob that gives Marge a bowling ball for her birthday and celebrates Bart’s absence in France. Other times, though, he melodramatically considers suicide (and not only considers; I mean, he writes the note, grabs a rock, and trudges to the nearest bridge), he becomes a crusader for safety,* and he cares far too much about the image his family presents. And sure, Homer’s impulsiveness is a large part of who he is, but a lot of his character in Season One just doesn’t make sense.

*The episode in which these first two events—the suicide and the safety crusading—take place, “Homer’s Odyssey,” is the worst of the series. End of discussion.

The problems surrounding Homer’s characterization are a big reason why The Simpsons’ first season isn’t that funny. As Ralph Wiggum once quipped, “It’s funny, but not haha funny.” There’s not that many standout lines,* and most of the humor derives from things that are more amusing than hilarious. It’s also why the show gets funnier toward the end of the season, when Homer starts becoming the Homer we know and love. “Life on the Fast Lane” is the first great episode of The Simpsons and the only one from this season that contends for a spot in the series’ pantheon. But other late-season episodes, like “Krusty Gets Busted” and “Some Enchanted Evening,” hint at the promise of what’s to come later; The Simpsons did indeed hit the ground running in the second season (with pantheon contender “Bart Gets an F”) before commencing its peak run sometime in the third.

*Exceptions include pretty much anything Jacques says in “Life on the Fast Lane” and this brilliant report on Jebediah Springfield:

TV REPORTER: Along the way he met a ferocious bear and killed him with his bare hands—that’s “B-A-R-E” hands—although modern historians recently uncovered evidence that the bear, in fact, probably killed him.

Overall, this seems like a pretty condemnatory review of the first season of The Simpsons. And yet I still liked it; I still derived plenty of enjoyment out of these 13 episodes. I’m inclined to think it’s nostalgically driven: that the enjoyment comes from the now, from knowing how these characters and this show evolved into parts of my personal maturation and everyday existence. In that way, it’s a bit like going back to watch something like the 3-13 rookie year of Peyton Manning: It’s weird to see something that we’ve come to conceive as so reliable struggle. I doubt very much that, had I been the discriminating twentysomething I am now in the winter of 1989 when The Simpsons made its debut, I would have stuck with it long enough to see it through to its success. Of course, I am the discriminating twentysomething I am now because I saw The Simpsons at its best.

And from the perch of the present, it’s tempting to look at The Simpsons’ thesis on family dysfunction as the modern American equivalent of Tolstoy’s from Anna Karenina, that “[a]ll happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The universe of The Simpsons, much like that of Anna Karenina, is virtually absent of happy families; it is, in fact, dysfunction that unites us all. For the sad truth is that all families are like this.

(…) haré un territorio
en el que amor será rey
en el que el amor será ley
en el que tú serás reina (…)

… ramenée de l’île aux moines et qui symbolise un autre voyage monastique

…. celui de st-jacques de compostelle qui selon la légende dorée* veut :

“qu’après la mort de Jésus, les apôtres se partagèrent le monde pour y prêcher la parole du Christ. Ainsi, Jacques partit évangéliser la péninsule ibérique, à l’extrêmité du monde connu. Puis, au bout de sept ans, il revint en Palestine où il trouva la mort. Son corps aurait alors été volé par ses disciples qui l’embarquèrent dans un bateau doté d’un équipage angélique et, après sept jours en mer, ils débarquèrent en Galice, près de Iria Flavia (actuel Padrón). La dépouille de l’apôtre fut déposée sur une pierre qui s’ajusta au corps du saint et se transforma en sarcophage. Les disciples se heurtèrent alors aux populations locales profondément anti-chrétiennes mais, grâce à une série de miracles, ils parvinrent à inhumer leur maître. Puis la tombe fut oubliée avant d’être redécouverte huit siècles plus tard : elle devint alors le lieu d’un pèlerinage.”

* légende dorée : ouvrage en latin du 13ème s. qui raconte la vie des saints écrit par … jacques de voragine

Brae and I were recently fortunate enough to see each other again (if only briefly). ‘Tis difficult to live so many thousand of light years apart but the visits are as often as we can arrange them. It came to our attention that Jacques Monod is in fact a SEX FIEND and so we have written him a gorgeous song if we do say so ourselves (and we do – it’s very good, you see). Enjoy, my darling ducks!

-Mlle Noleyn.

Leia e sinta meeeedo!
PS: É um documento oficial da polícia…

Temos o nosso próprio McCloud…. é do Brasil, sil, sil….

French filmmaker Jacques Audiard receives the honour of the London Film Festival jury for A Prophet, as the LFF grants a best film award for the first time in its history.

Original, arty, and captivating… such are the words that best describe A Prophet. The festival’s jury certainly made a great choice with this film. A Prophet is a brilliant work of fiction with an incredible realistic touch.

The film came out in theaters last august in France. It will be out in UK theaters on January 15th and on 12th February in the US.