TSC 6: The Depature (Skolimowski, 1967)

After being virtually unheard from for the past 20 years, legendary Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimoski has been enjoying a comeback of sorts recently, highlighted by the re-release of his landmark 1960s work in Paris theaters this year. The Departure tells the tale of Marc (a splendid Jean-Pierre Léaud, as manic as ever), a young hairdresser's assistant who has 48 hours to "find" a Porsche for a big car race. The film is bursting with creativity, containing shots both playful and meaningful, while a great jazz score keeps up the tempo. Like a good driver, Skolimowski knows exactly where he's going, always staying close to the edge between speed and loss of control. And as such, he also knows when to slow down to allow for contemplation.

****

TSC 5: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (Wyatt, 2011)

Like most red-blooded teenagers, I first got into movies by the way of the action genre. The Rock, Independence Day and Twister were some of the blockbusters that first got my thirst for the silver screen going. And while my tastes have since progressively evolved to more diversified fare, I still like to indulge in cheap thrills once in a while. So after a week filled with Iranian melodrama, psychedelic partying and tugs at the heartstrings, it seemed appropriate to cap things off with a good old Hollywood blockbuster.
Picking things up in a prequel setting, ROTPOTA (that title is so off, even the acronym is clunky) explains how said apes came to take over the planet, as seen in the 1960s sci-fi series of films. The explanation is fairly acceptable, but the acting so strangely wooden (James Franco bravely taking the lead in that department), that the CGI monkeys end up being the most believable characters. Not a bad thing per se, since the goal of the movie is to make us understand their progression, but overall not a great thing either if you're looking for an all-around solid flick. And if, like myself, you're not the biggest CGI fan, then you might want to go in with your irony meter at 0 and go along for the ride.

**

TSC 4: The Party (Edwards, 1968)

Here's a very simple rule: if you ever get the chance to see one of your favorite films on the big screen, do it. Doesn't matter how many times you've seen it, you'll enjoy it. And if, like me today, you've only seen it on a TV until then, you might just enjoy it even more than you thought you could.

****1/2

TSC 3: Putty Hill (Porterfield, 2011)

Like a (much) more naturalistic Paranoid Park, Putty Hill shows the aftermath of a young man's death from overdose on his family and friends. Porterfield uses interviews recurrently, blurring the line between fiction and documentary, but mostly lets the images speak for themselves. There is a pervasive wistfulness felt through the images of a middle-class Baltimore that looks like it could be the basis for a prequel of The Wire, if only you took out all the activism of that show (which means it really wouldn't be The Wire) and replaced it with Sofia Coppola's view of the suburbs in The Virgin Suicides.

***

TSC 2: La Guerre Est Declarée (Donzelli, 2011)

One of the clearest critical successes of the last Cannes festival, Valérie Donzelli's second feature film manages the exploit of telling a minefield of a story (a young couple's child is diagnosed with cancer before his second birthday) without making it feel exploitative or over-filled with drama and pathos. Partly that is based on her talent as a filmmaker, always making the right choices to hold back or lean in to show what her characters are going through. Another factor is how good she and her costar Jeremie Elkaim are, making us feel with them not for them. This actually happened to them in real life, and you can feel the honesty pulsating through the screen throughout. This is a story both very small (one couple's love story) and very big (the remarkable job done by the public healthcare system in France), and Donzelli manages to express both with tremendous aptitude.
****

TSC 1: A Separation (Fahradi, 2011)

This being day 1 of The September Challenge, it was key that I get off the right foot, and actually go see a movie today. September is often when a lot of the Cannes movies get released, i.e. flicks with a little more cachet than what typically gets released during the summer (no offense, Pirates of the Caribbean 7: Skulls v. Bones). But since I have a whole month to get to these new releases, I thought I'd play a little catch up first, and go see this Iranian movie I've been hearing a lot about since landing back in France. Focused on a couple whose would-be divorce causes untold complications within their family and beyond it, it's another example of the tremendous vitality of contemporary Iranian cinema. The acting is fantastic from top to bottom, encompassing thespians old and young alike. But the story is where this film really shines, going through many iterations of what at first seems like a simple event until the idea of truth gets shaken to its core. And thankfully it does so without resorting to a Rashomon-type structure or manichean shenanigans, thus showing a trust of the audience that is sadly too often lacking nowadays.
****

the old old thing

Lots has happened since my last post on here. Some mundane, and some less so. To cut it short, I left my job in Houston in July, then moved back to France since my visa was tied to the job. A fantastic trip in Norway, a wedding in Spain, and lots of relaxing with the family have filled my days until now. The initial plan was that I'd drive back to Paris in September and start looking for a place of employment then. But in the meantime I got offered a job....in Houston. So the new plan is to (hopefully) wait for a successful visa application this month, then fly out to New Zealand for two weeks in early October. That trip's two years in the making, if not four, so you could say I'd sort of like for it to work out as planned.
Until then, since I'm in the City of Lights, with most of my friends and family working during the day, looks like I'm gonna have myself a decent chunk of free time. And because one of the main things about this city I've missed since moving away 4 1/2 years ago was the quality of movie theaters, I've decided to set myself a challenge. Let's call it the September Challenge (TSC). It goes thusly: I will try to see 20 movies in the theater while I'm here, i.e. just about one month. Can be any type, new releases, reruns, whatever. And since diversity is the greatest asset the Paris movie scene possesses, it's unlikely I'll get bored anytime soon. I will follow up each notch with a quick review, and possibly add general updates on life back in Paris if my brutal schedule leaves me enough time.
LET'S DO THIS!

little queen

so, the cycling... Nearly 6 months in, and it's become such a daily part of my life I can't remember why I never tried it before. Although knowing me it's not that surprising that it took a move to a city that lives by the car to get me pedaling. 1,200+ miles into it, I can probably count on one hand the number of fellow commuters I've seen (hobos on busted bikes and Tuesday-night cycling clubs don't count), but there's some sort of reassuring gratification to being the odd one out. Odd as in how 99.9% of your coworkers will view you as they ask you for the hundredth time if you cycled in today. Then again I've got a friend who reacts with horror when I tell her I'll walk to her place, which takes all of 10 minutes, just to give you an idea on the typical thought process about commuting by your own physical volition.

Safety-wise it's been fine, drivers seem to be over-cautious to the point where if they get to a crossroad before I do they often still wait to see what I'll do. I'm guessing many of them might have never seen a cyclist before, so they don't know how to react, like when you come across wildlife on a hike. I've had a couple of accidents, none serious, which according to what I've read online is par for the course. One of them was a stupid fall all on my lonesome, while in the other (just two days prior) I got hit by a car at low speed. The driver was doing a U-turn without looking, so she never saw me coming up from behind, and her lack of us of signal lights didn't help. Got off the ground after it happened (bike took most of the hit, in fact the back wheel had to be changed) and instinctively yelled "what the F*$K are you doing?!" at the driver, and immediately realized I was shouting at a car of middle-aged people, including a lady driver who must've been 65. Felt kind of bad about that on the hobbling ride home, and even more so when I found out the next day that the lady in question was a nun. I never did get the money back for my wheel since I got too busy to follow-up with her insurance company, but hopefully got some karma points out of it. Especially since she lied about having her signal lights on. Are nuns allowed to do that? The main lesson I learned from my two crashes was that it's always better to stick to routine, since both of them happened on a road I don't usually frequent. And my coworkers gained many joking opportunities out of it ("any rabbis on the road today?"), so really it's a win-win.

I still get the occasional honk, and mild close-calls, but overall it's been much safer than I thought it would be. And the benefits have been so plentiful that the drawbacks seem very minor. Now if only I could prevent those stupid River Oaks joggers from running on the road...
On the weekends I frequently see people going for strolls on their bikes, and it always seems like a very relaxed and enjoyable activity, but for me biking is purely utilitarian now. I do it every weekday (or at least 90-95% of the days by my estimate), and by Friday I feel fine just putting the bike away until Monday morning. I've mostly stopped running, which I loved to do, but in exchange I've gained a workout that literally blends into my day's routine. I wouldn't mind to see a few more fellow cyclists out there in the morning/evening traffic, but if a risk-adverse person like me takes to it so eagerly, I figure it's bound to catch on in Houston sooner rather than later.

Battle: Los Angeles (Liebesman, 2010)

The very moody and effective trailer (highlighted by a great use of a Johann Johannson track) had me thinking the movie ifself was bound to be average at best. And indeed it's formulaic and kind of stupid, but also very badass. This is where it helps to have low expectations. Great action, and for once the aliens weren't completely all-powerful like in every other alien movie.

**1/2

top 10 movies of 2010

1. Somewhere (S. Coppola)
2. Winter's Bone (D. Granik)
3. The Social Network (D. Fincher)
4. Black Swan (D. Aronofsky)
5. Inception ( C. Nolan)
6. Mother (J. Bong)
7. True Grit (E/J Coen)
8. The Fighter (D. Russell)
9. 127 Hours (D. Boyle)
10. Please Give (N. Holofcener)