Visiting the Cannes Film Festival

The weeks have just been flying by like crazy here. I've hardly been able to write as I've been busy cleaning out my old apartment and moving into a new one with my boyfriend while also trying to maintain two blogs.

Now that I'm fully settled, I hope to finish the book I'm writing about Avalon, move forward with a (still secret) new movie project, and publish all the exciting new posts I have in store for you.

Today I'd like to share with you the images I shot at the Cannes Film Festival in May. I didn't have time to share those with you yet, although I really love them!

Reading / watching / listening to...

Source

Reading:

* Ru by Kim Thuy. When I came across a description of this award-winning autobiography that read: "A little book that feels more like poetry than prose," I knew I had to grab a copy. The delicacy of Kim Thuy's writing compells, but her experiences as a refugee from war-torn Vietnam don't. Therefor, the book is too concise. With its minuscule chapters that never exceed two pages, Ru is so terse it's almost in note form.

* With Palo Alto, James Franco proves he has the makings of a new Jay McInerney or Brett Easton Ellis. His style is conversational and easy, yet I ended up having one big problem with his short story collection: all the characters are alike and I could scarcely differentiate whether it was a girl or a boy speaking. I don't doubt Franco's next book will be brilliant, though.

* The horror manga I Am A Hero volume 1 by Kengo Hanazawa isn't very known yet in the US, but in Japan and France it's a big hit. Not sure why, though? Scenes such as opening a door or eating a ramen meal drag on for pages, probably as a means to show the boring life of the main character, a down-on-his-luck manga artist. Apparently it's with zombies, but I haven't seen much of those. Maybe in the next volumes.

* Plum: Un amour de chat volume 1 and Plum: Un amour de chat volume 2 by Hoshino Natsumi. Similar to the cat manga Chi's Sweet Home, Plum is equally charming. It's so easy to fall in love with Plum, a cat who brings home a hungry kitten in order to provide food and shelter for the night. Little does he expect, however, that his family will keep it and that the newcomer will badger him all day long. Cute, cute, cute.

* Also heart-warming are the children's books KeeKee's Big Adventures In Rome, Italy and KeeKee's Big Adventures in Paris, France which I received for review from its author Shannon Jones. I can't stretch enough how excellent these are. Apart from being adorable and fun, they're also informative as the feline main character takes us on a trip through each city, showing us the cultural and architectural highlights. If you aren't purchasing KeeKee's Big Adventures for your kids right now, you're committing a crime.


Watching:

* Never Tear Us Apart: The Untold Story Of INXS. The information we get through this mini-series about the life of INXS singer Michael Hutchence is mainly what we already know from the press (lots of lovers, drugs, and professional pressure), and I wish the story would have dug a little deeper into his personality. However, I did have an enourmous amount of fun watching Never Tear Us Apart, and the mini series flew by as if it were only an hour and a half.

* In Fear. I never really got into this recent horror movie about a couple that becomes lost in the Irish backlands and is set upon by a tormentor with an unnknown motive. In Fear does have some hidden potential in terms of suspense, but it's generally a pile of contrived dialogue and story arcs.

* The Pit. I watched this eighties horror flick for the first time about fifteen years ago and I always wanted to see it again, though more out of nostalgia than for the story. What did I remember? A solitary boy with a teddy bear who lures the people into the woods where he pushes them into a pit full of man-eating monsters. The Pit is most of all a weird little film. Not scary, but definitely entertaining.

* Death On The Nile. Of all the Agatha Christie adapatations, Death On The Nile is my favorite. I watched it for the first time when I was a child and the 'bloody' scenes in the third act (at least, I thought they were bloody) gave me nightmares for months. Of course, seeing it again as an adult, I'd rather call Death On The Nile cozy instead of traumatizing. The cruise visits to Egypt, the luxurious evenings on the boat, the way Hercule Poiraud examines all the suspects... They all contribute to the lingering warm feelings the film procures.

* Ms. 45 is another film I've seen a dozen times before. It's the best Abel Ferrara, in my opinion, as well as one of the better rape-revenge movies. Its visual style and atmosphere are simply mind-blowing. Fun fact: I know a close friend of late actress Zoe Lund who updated us on many interesting tidbits after the film: Lund died of pneumonia at the young age of 37. She co-wrote the screenplay for Bad Lieutanant. And she was so fond of drugs that she even gave them to her pet rats.

* Impulse came as a recommendation by director Fabrice Du Weltz, but it wasn't as good as he pretended it to be. The idea intrigues (people behaving violently for no apparent reason), but it never really got my interest.

* Where The Truth Lies was a better than average murder mystery starring Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth and Alison Lohman, but I missed the personality of some of Egoyan's previous films.

* Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is a modicum better than the previous Paranormal Activity movies, but I'm far from calling this a good horror film.

* Under The Skin. Remember how crazy I was about Michel Faber's novel Under The Skin (reviewed here)? Since then, it's been one of my most awaited movies and I was glad to be invited for a press screening. The first hour of Under The Skin is a masterpiece. Nothing less. After that, my fascination dwindled. While Under The Skin is meant to be experienced instead of understood, many thought it didn't make sense. Having read the book, however, it was much easier to grasp the story. I only wonder why they didn't include the book's metaphor for the meat industry.

* 13 Sins. There have been many movies recently about people acting out increasingly violent and dangerous tasks for money and 13 Sins was by far the worst. It's ninety percent déjà-vu material. The remaining ten percent is ridiculous and unbelievable.

* Magic Magic. Despite many interesting ideas, an compelling built-up and talented actors, Magic Magic has a forgettable quality about it. A girl goes on holiday with her niece's friends and quickly regrets having to spend a week with these heartless idiots. However, the girl isn't the easiest person to hang out with either and when her secrets surface, things quickly escalate, though never to a point that satisfies.

* Deep End. A fifteen year-old boy takes a job at the local swimming pool where he falls in love with the attractive attendant Susan. The girl constantly teases him, and when the boy realizes he doesn't have Susan for himself, he becomes increasingly desperate and obsessed, with tragic results. Deep End is relatively unknown, yet, it's a masterpiece with fascinating characters, fitting music, and a wonderful seventies atmosphere that often reminded me of Blow Up.

* Finally, I also spent an evening at the Brussels Short Film Festival where I watched the following five short films: Pride by Pavel G. Vesnakov (interesting but way too long), Solo Rex by François Bierry (funny), Democracia by Borja Cobeaga (wish I could have come up with such an original idea), Lettres de femmes by Augusto Zanovello (not my taste at all) and Folk Kjøper Blomster by Morten Haslerud (hilarious and Tarantino-esque).


Listening to:

* The soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive. I watched the film at the Sitges Film Festival last year and didn't think much of it, but its soundtrack had stayed with me since. Exotic, dreamy, beautiful.


And of course, if you're looking for more to read, watch, and listen to, you can check out my previous "Reading /watching / listening to..."-posts.

My sweet Tigris...

My sweet Tigris...

From the first time I lay my eyes on you, I knew you were bound to be ours. You were only a few weeks old when you came into our life and I'm so glad we were able to spend almost ten years together.

The world was a better place with you in it, and a sadder one with you gone.

I will miss you, ma petite poupée.

The truth about me and ghosts

 

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Today author Annalisa Crawford has an exciting true ghost story to share with us! You might remember that I reviewed (and adored) Annalisa's short story collection That Sadie Thing last June for Reading / Watching / Listening To.... Now she has just released a new book, Our Beautiful Child, and it promises to be just as brilliant.

***

I have a habit of putting myself into my work – a characteristic, a thought I once had, a conversation been involved in. In the title story of my collection, Our Beautiful Child, I put in a conversation I would like to have, based on real events. I would love to hear if you have an alternative explanation!

When I was about 18 months old, we moved into a new house, brand new and built on the outskirts of the city. I don’t know when it started, but until the age of about three I was a prolific sleepwalker. (I’ve done it a couple of times as an adult too – very embarrassing!)

According to my mother, I used to turn on all the lights, and move our large leather settee and the TV around the living room. I’m not so sure it was me.

And here is my evidence:

• I was a tiny child – I don’t think I’d have been able to reach the light switches
• Our TV at the time was on a pedestal without wheels – it would have been much more likely to fall over than move, if I tried to push it. (Ahem, I actually discovered this when I was about four and a half!)
• Our living room was small, without much space to manoeuvre large objects like settees – indeed I have memories of my parents struggling to do it between them

Okay, I realise my evidence isn’t extensive. But I have circumstantial evidence too!

• The row of houses that we belonged to had a hedge running along the back of all the gardens – but in our garden, the hedge was dead and never grew back 
• My grandmother ‘never felt settled’ in the house – her own words! 
• Years later, when I was at school, there was a rumour that the school – which was on the other side of the dead hedge – was built on a graveyard. True story! (Okay, the words might have been Indian graveyard which gives it a little less credibility in England...) 

So it’s over to you, did I play with ghosts when I was a child, or was I actually just very strong and stretchy?

I’d love to hear your ghost stories too – I’ve exhausted the internet, and need new ones!

***

“The Boathouse collects misfits. Strange solitary creatures that yearn for contact with the outside world, but not too much. They sit, glass in hand, either staring at the table in front of them, or at some distant point on the horizon.”

… so says the narrator of Our Beautiful Child. And he’s been around long enough to know.

People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.

Ella finds love, a moment too late; Rona discovers a beautiful ability which needs refining before she gets hurt; and Sally meets the captivating Murray, who threatens to ruin everything.

Three women. Three stories. One pub.

Available at:

Amazon

Rome day 3: Bioparco and Trastevere

Here's the last bit of my trip to Rome, Italy. The first two can be found at Rome day one and Rome day two.

Our third day in Rome was a Friday and started with a trip to the Bioparco situated in Villa Borghese. I'm in the habit of visiting every zoo I encounter, and the one of Rome wasn't an exception. Bioparco isn't the best in terms of decoration as it is quite old (1911), but as long as the animals are well cared for every zoo is worthwhile, I think. The animals were the usual bunch: lions, bears, alligators, rabbits, guinea pigs...

After the zoo, off we went to Trastevere where we had vegetable pizza on the patio of the restaurant La Tana De Noantri.

Lunch was followed by a stroll through both the old and new Trastevere. The old part of Trastevere is definitely the most charming and authentic. But both have one thing in common: lots of alleys full of colorful houses, restaurants and bars. So cozy.

From there we walked along the Tevere river toward the Isola Tiberina, a tiny island in the river that you can reach by crossing a bridge. There's only a hospital, a bar and a gelato shop, but it's a nice stop between Trastevere and the more historical part of Rome.

The bridge continues to the other side of the Tevere where we found the Piazza Farnese and Campo de' Fiori.

At the end of our day we revisited the most memorable places of Rome that were now lit up against the night sky – the Colosseum, the Fori Romani, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. One of the things that struck us was not only how magnificent Rome was, but also how good it smelled. The numerous orange blossom trees have surely something to do with this.

We ended the night with a romantic dinner at the restaurant/wine bar Hostaria Pantheon. Both the food and wine were excellent, and their service was the best in town (they even brought me a blanket when the air was getting friskier). And the best part: we had a view on the lit Pantheon and Piazza della Rotonda.

Next up: the Cannes Film Festival!