quibbling

one of the advantages of having lived in Paris means that you get to see "your" city on the big screen a lot. Countless films have been shot there, and to the knowing eye there's always a small detail waiting to be recognized (mostly so you can bore other viewers with your stories about how you once bought a poulet-croudités from that boulangerie). Recently I watched Paris Je T'aime, a collection of 18 shorts about Paris made by 18 different directors in so many neighborhoords. While the movie itself is more of a novelty project than a truly interesting oeuvre, some of the segments are decent enough for this to be a pleasant viewing. However, in the part with Nathalie Portman, which takes place in my old stomping grounds of the 10e, she goes to the Conservatoire du 10e for some acting classes. You see her boyfriend drop her off a few times in front of the place...except it really isn't. It's actually the town hall building, which is located just in front of the street where the Conservatoire is truly found. I should know, I partied at the Cons' after-hours, which to those in the know holds as much indie cred as saying you once shared a banana-split with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (you decide). I wonder how and why such a mistake could be made in a film where location, admittedly, is everything. It's not major, but it's the stuff you notice when you "know". Of course what I'm really mad at is that apparently Nathalie Portman filmed scenes all over my neighborhood (including pre-renovation Gare de l'Est, O how I miss thee) and nobody bothered to tell me. Just another classic example of Parisian rudeness, hmph.