Posts Tagged ‘french’

Silent, but deadly (cute)

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Adorable, the both of you.

The Golden Globes have handed out their trophies and created the crazy buzz that will eventually be the more glamourous Oscars. Ricky Gervais wasn’t as harsh as people were hoping to be, but at least was present.

But inside I was hoping for just one of those awards to be handed over to Michel Hazanavicius and his film The Artist. As with all golden statue-related ceremonies, most nominations are films with a particular focus that makes them stand out. No one saw Green Lantern as a nomination because it was predictable, like Thor, though I preferred Thor.

The usual picks are those with topical issues, or those that if you said you didn’t like, would label you inferior. This is common with films that ‘break barriers’ or ‘pay homage’ to a particular celebrated aspect of film.

For me it was The Artist. Filmed as a black and white movie set in the times where the ‘talkies’ were just becoming a thing in cinema, it starred a familiar face from OSS 117, the French spy film I talked about last year.

But the real star in that film was different. No, not the gorgeous co-star, nor was it the list of cameos that made you say “Ohh cool! ***** **** is in it!”. It was Uggie the dog.

Don’t know him? Watch this:

There were plenty of clips to see, but I just wanted to show you that the dog does indeed have a sponsor on his skateboard.

He already won the Palm Dog award, the animal equivalent of a Palm D’Or, but his list of films is pretty large. He was in Water for Elephants as well, and more than likely a better actor than Robert Pattison.

Any animal you’ve seen in a movie that has stolen the show?


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Don’t be afraid of foreign films

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

'OSS 117: Le Caire Nid d'Espions'

Every once and a while we see a film that really captures our attention, and makes us want to yell on top of the mountaintops, educating the masses on something they’re missing out on.

It becomes a little more difficult if the category is under ‘foreign’ or ‘international’, because people only read:

‘Subtitles’

Convincing your friend that there is another echelon of entertainment beyond your nation is a hard sell. Again, mentioning the reading part.

Take for example a French secret agent named Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, codename ‘OSS 117′. Based off of France’s version of a James Bond character (and created four years before Ian Fleming), OSS 117 went from novel from the ’40s to parodical portrayal of spy films. But it is only through the film OSS 117: Le Caire Nid d’Espions (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) that I found a comedy I wanted everyone to see, but got the ol’ eye roll.

Another French film titled Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks), was one of the biggest hits in all of France. It had such an effect, that there were talks of Will Smith bringing an American version of it over to English-speaking audiences. But like most remakes, I’m sure the jokes wouldn’t translate well. Given the storyline made jokes about the people of Northern France, the comedy is still there to be seen, understood, and laughed with.

Amelie was another great flick (another French film, yes, but it was one of my majors in university, d’accord?), but also made its way to international shores with great acclaim.

I won’t go into the importance of international influences on cinema (unless you want me to), but as you might’ve come across at some point, trying to convince another to watch ANYTHING can be difficult.

So here’s what you do:
1. Find out the title in English (or an equivalent).
2. Invite them over, and set everything up.
3. Don’t mention it’s from another country.
4. Once the film rolls, your friends will feel either too rude to get up and leave, or too intimidated to look stupid in front of you.

Ever been faced with problems convincing friends to watch films? Any particular films you thought were amazing or hilarious, but fell flat on its face amongst friends (oh, I’ve been there many times before)?


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Bradley Cooper parle bon Francais

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Le acteur.

Bradley Cooper of Hangover 1 and 2 fame has been swooning ladies left, right and centre with blue eyes and charming grin.

Men like us simply push this Hollywood image out of our heads, knowing that he’s just another celebrity with no brains.

And then he went and started speaking French (click here to watch the interview, or ‘le interview’).

The internet has been booming with this video. Women are screaming online, noted by the use of Caps Lock. Men everywhere are screaming in retaliation, noted by the use of Caps Lock and offensive words.

He’s certainly not the first actor to speak two languages. In fact, there are a whole bunch of celebrities who can also speak French.

Eddie Izzard not only learned French out of curiosity, but ended up performing a whole show in French as well.

My question is this: Can any Hollywood celebrities speak Klingon?


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We need a new kind of sinister

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

I want that moustache.

Ohh, not again!

I swear this will be the last whinge I have for a while.

Marketing notes from Paramount Pictures for independent film producers apparently want future baddies, aliens and evil masterminds to have more “polyglot” accents, instead of the stereotypes we’ve been exposed to.

French people will stop saying “Sacre bleu!” when their evil bank heist is folied, Middle-Eastern Muslims will no longer have a shred of evil to their fictitious character, and those from Asia won’t need to cringe when the silent and angry Japanese man who always rides a limo turns out to be the mastermind.

I’m all for getting rid of these stereotypes. Ben Kingsley has been the go-to guy for far too long as the bad guy, and anyone called Hans would automatically be compared to Die Hard 1‘s Alan Rickman.

Wizards, they be hatin'...

The stereotypes of villains in movies have made anyone without an American accent the evil one. A recent viewing of Team America was a brilliant way of reminding me of that. It’s just the way it was.

When a well-spoken British man was on screen, we associated him as being successful, rich, and maybe a little too powerful for his own good.

So what happens now when we have a character who is a polygot (fluent in more than one language)? With a fluent French and British accent, you can further increase the insult to injury by having a snobby Brit being able to tell his French henchmen something that the American cannot comprehend.

“Ohh-ho-ho! Bien, Sebastien. C’est magnifique!”

Then again, I guess it’s better than having a bright white orb of a alien with a sinister snake voice, not quite like the monotonous Dalek, be the usual suspect. You could see him a mile away.


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