Paris, je t'aime's Recent Activity

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Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 8/25/2009 4:10:28 PM
Body: Well hello there brothers and sisters. Brother Merc has decided this week to take a vacation from the highly prestigeous postion of Weekly Theme Moderator so I'm picking up his slack. So, in honor of Merc (who's a little different) I decided to do something a little different this week. Let's take a break from all those feature films that fill up our lives. This week, let's talk about short films. There have been a few collections of shorts released as full lenth features in recent years. I'm thinking of Paris Je t'aime (collection of a bunch of 5 minute films shot revolving around Paris) and this year's Tokyo! (3 half hour long films set in Tokyo.) I liked a few of the flicks in Paris Je t'aime, especially the Tom Tykwer one with Natalie Portman. Tokyo! had a great short by Korean director Bong Joon-ho (director of The Host) The nice thing about shorts is that you can find a lot of them on youtube and post them here. So, that's what I'm gonna do. Here's one of my recent favorites from the Wholphin collection. It's called The Pity Card. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ I'm not sure how I came across this little gem but I kinda love it. It's a true story too. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ This one is definately my favorite. Yet another from the Wholphin dvds. ___________________________________________________________ Watch Death to the Tinman in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com ___________________________________________________________ So, that's what I've got so far. Short films are great, they tend to lend the filmmakers a lot more freedom and you can end up with some great experimental stuff. Also, they don't take up nearly as much time so you can usually get away with watching them at work. Check 'em out. Let me know if you like 'em and post some of your own. Peace & Love, Emery.
]]>Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:10:28 GMTleeroy711Weekly Theme8/25/2009 4:10:28 PMWell hello there brothers and sisters. Brother Merc has decided this week to take a vacation from the highly prestigeous postion of Weekly Theme Moderator so I'm picking up his slack. So, in honor of Merc (who's a little different) I decided to do something a little different this week. Let's take a break from all those feature films that fill up our lives. This week, let's talk about short films. There have been a few collections of shorts released as full lenth features in recent years. I'm thinking of Paris Je t'aime (collection of a bunch of 5 minute films shot revolving around Paris) and this year's Tokyo! (3 half hour long films set in Tokyo.) I liked a few of the flicks in Paris Je t'aime, especially the Tom Tykwer one with Natalie Portman. Tokyo! had a great short by Korean director Bong Joon-ho (director of The Host) The nice thing about shorts is that you can find a lot of them on youtube and post them here. So, that's what I'm gonna do. Here's one of my recent favorites from the Wholphin collection. It's called The Pity Card. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ I'm not sure how I came across this little gem but I kinda love it. It's a true story too. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ This one is definately my favorite. Yet another from the Wholphin dvds. ___________________________________________________________ Watch Death to the Tinman in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com ___________________________________________________________ So, that's what I've got so far. Short films are great, they tend to lend the filmmakers a lot more freedom and you can end up with some great experimental stuff. Also, they don't take up nearly as much time so you can usually get away with watching them at work. Check 'em out. Let me know if you like 'em and post some of your own. Peace & Love, Emery. Spout Post: TOKYO! Review http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/3/4/40827.aspx

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 3/4/2009 5:00:31 PM
Body: The producers of Tokyo!, three short films by two Frenchmen and a South Korean, aim to do for Japan’s metropolis what New York Stories did for the Big Apple or Paris Je T’Aime for the City of Lights. That the two Frenchmen are indie darling Michel Gondry and former film critic/Pola X director Leos Carax, and the South Korean Bong Joon-Ho, who made an international splash with The Host, would seem to lend these three very different takes on a single subject some serious cache. Unfortunately, only two directors rise to the occasion, leaving a gaping hole in an otherwise thoughtful trilogy. Not surprisingly, of the three directors it’s the warped Gondry, whose specialty is visualizing that fine (often nonexistent) line between life and art, who most throws himself into the task of translating the pulse of the city to the screen, via his newly-arrived protagonists Akira and Hiroko in “Interior Design.” Overstaying their welcome couch surfing at a friend’s cramped studio, they look for dead-end jobs and at cheap apartments (one of which contains a dead cat), the camera moving at typical Gondry speed, from fast motion overhead shots to slow pans, like a fractured subconscious. In the process the self-involved Akira (who pitches concepts to his girlfriend in lieu of engaging in conversation) watches his film career take off after he screens his Metropolis-like feature at a porn house, while the unsure Hiroko (played by Ayako Fujitani who happens to be the daughter of Steven Seagal) struggles to find her own identity. It’s like listening inside the director’s own head as the pair roam the bustling streets, arguing about Hiroko’s “hobbies” not being dreams or ambitions. “What’s the difference?” she wonders, to which Akira replies, “You have to be able to define who you are in the world by what you do.” But when the purposeless Hiroko acquires the ability to physically transform like a character straight out of a Cronenberg flick, becoming both metaphorically “invisible” and useful, Gondry’s press notes claims of Polanski’s Repulsion and The Tenant as influences, eerie string and woodwind score aside, loses any legitimacy. Gondry is just too warmhearted a filmmaker to pull it off – he doesn’t have the ruthlessness required to delve into such psychological terror. Yet for capturing the essence of this Tokyo, that very warmth feels oh-so-right. Unfortunately, French provocateur Leos Carax plows through his version of Tokyo with a ruthless arrogance akin to his bogeyman protagonist, named “Merde” (a title as clichéd as his Japanese sewer monster, played by Denis Lavant of Lovers On The Bridge, that also goes by the French word for “shit”). After opening with a slow pan of the city’s buildings set to ominous music, an overhead shot takes in a manhole, up from which pops Lavant looking like Larry Fessenden on the very worst of days. A shaky handheld camera captures the half man-half beast’s acts of gratuitous mayhem on the streets as he rips food from people’s hands, licks innocent passersby (the footage captured on cell phones makes the evening news, of course). Merde’s relatively harmless afternoon acts escalate to nighttime Molotov cocktail-throwing – with the monster skipping over the bloodied carnage like a playful kid – but despite the wondrously composed shots, Carax’s story is as empty as the tunnels in the beast’s underground lair. And once the creature is captured and forced to stand trial, leading the media to go on a feeding frenzy of its own, a mysterious lawyer from France who speaks Merde’s language (including body unfortunately) arrives in Tokyo to defend him – and, it would seem, to drive the audience mad. Luckily for the pompous lawyer, Carax’s Tokyo is really just another version of France. As the hand-held camera that sways with the sewer man and his barrister becomes more and more grating, and the insane conversations between the two reach the realm of experimental theater workshop, Carax just keeps on obliviously rolling along (often showily using three frames onscreen simultaneously). Without any specific cultural touchstone the Tokyo courtroom – like the film itself – could be set anywhere. Indeed, the fact that Carax chose to import a French lawyer (played by Jean-Francois Balmer) to defend a creature embodied by a French actor makes “Merde” more of a French film than any exploration of Tokyo. Even the street protest by Japanese ultranationalists (Japanese ultranationalists?) to call for Merde’s hanging is downright Parisian, the pitiful creature not an international bogeyman, as Carax suggests, but rather an accidental stand-in for western imperialism. The end title card even reads that, “The Adventures of Merde in New York” is coming soon. Undoubtedly via Air France – for “Merde” says a shit-load more about its enfant terrible director than it does about Japan. The final part of Tokyo!, Joon-ho’s “Shaking Tokyo,” is the least earthshaking and the most quietly profound. In voiceover the male protagonist, a “hikikomori” (shut-in) describes life inside his apartment as the camera drifts about the tiny yet organized flat, exquisite lighting tapping into the pathos of shadows. “The first eye contact in eleven years,” the nameless man says upon the arrival of a cute pizza girl, but as the middle-aged recluse pays for the delivery an earthquake rattles the room and the young woman collapses in his doorway. After running around in a panic he discovers a circle tattoo on her arm that reads “coma” below it, and literally pushes her button to wake her. Once she’s revived and gone the modern urban fairytale escalates as the hermit is forced to venture into the blinding sunlight of the big bad world to find his mysterious princess. But unlike Gondry’s rushing Tokyo, Joon-ho’s claustrophobic quarters give way to spacious empty streets (though unlike Carax’s “Merde” the sense of space and place is apparent and palpable in both their films). After running through the streets accompanied by a lovely, light guitar score – peeking in the windows of other recluses – he finally finds the pizza girl (now hikikomori!) of his dreams, begs her to come out through the bars of her window. As self-imprisonment gives way to another earthquake, as the man pushes her “button” for love, which leads to yet another earthquake, this visualization of emotion allows the film to transcend a city and a specific cultural phenomenon to become as universal as the “dissolution of love” story at the heart of Gondry’s “Interior Design.” Now if only immature Carax hadn’t rudely interrupted the deep dialogue between these two companion pieces Tokyo! would shine like the city’s brightest neon sign. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:00:31 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com3/4/2009 5:00:31 PMThe producers of Tokyo!, three short films by two Frenchmen and a South Korean, aim to do for Japan’s metropolis what New York Stories did for the Big Apple or Paris Je T’Aime for the City of Lights. That the two Frenchmen are indie darling Michel Gondry and former film critic/Pola X director Leos Carax, and the South Korean Bong Joon-Ho, who made an international splash with The Host, would seem to lend these three very different takes on a single subject some serious cache. Unfortunately, only two directors rise to the occasion, leaving a gaping hole in an otherwise thoughtful trilogy. Not surprisingly, of the three directors it’s the warped Gondry, whose specialty is visualizing that fine (often nonexistent) line between life and art, who most throws himself into the task of translating the pulse of the city to the screen, via his newly-arrived protagonists Akira and Hiroko in “Interior Design.” Overstaying their welcome couch surfing at a friend’s cramped studio, they look for dead-end jobs and at cheap apartments (one of which contains a dead cat), the camera moving at typical Gondry speed, from fast motion overhead shots to slow pans, like a fractured subconscious. In the process the self-involved Akira (who pitches concepts to his girlfriend in lieu of engaging in conversation) watches his film career take off after he screens his Metropolis-like feature at a porn house, while the unsure Hiroko (played by Ayako Fujitani who happens to be the daughter of Steven Seagal) struggles to find her own identity. It’s like listening inside the director’s own head as the pair roam the bustling streets, arguing about Hiroko’s “hobbies” not being dreams or ambitions. “What’s the difference?” she wonders, to which Akira replies, “You have to be able to define who you are in the world by what you do.” But when the purposeless Hiroko acquires the ability to physically transform like a character straight out of a Cronenberg flick, becoming both metaphorically “invisible” and useful, Gondry’s press notes claims of Polanski’s Repulsion and The Tenant as influences, eerie string and woodwind score aside, loses any legitimacy. Gondry is just too warmhearted a filmmaker to pull it off – he doesn’t have the ruthlessness required to delve into such psychological terror. Yet for capturing the essence of this Tokyo, that very warmth feels oh-so-right. Unfortunately, French provocateur Leos Carax plows through his version of Tokyo with a ruthless arrogance akin to his bogeyman protagonist, named “Merde” (a title as clichéd as his Japanese sewer monster, played by Denis Lavant of Lovers On The Bridge, that also goes by the French word for “shit”). After opening with a slow pan of the city’s buildings set to ominous music, an overhead shot takes in a manhole, up from which pops Lavant looking like Larry Fessenden on the very worst of days. A shaky handheld camera captures the half man-half beast’s acts of gratuitous mayhem on the streets as he rips food from people’s hands, licks innocent passersby (the footage captured on cell phones makes the evening news, of course). Merde’s relatively harmless afternoon acts escalate to nighttime Molotov cocktail-throwing – with the monster skipping over the bloodied carnage like a playful kid – but despite the wondrously composed shots, Carax’s story is as empty as the tunnels in the beast’s underground lair. And once the creature is captured and forced to stand trial, leading the media to go on a feeding frenzy of its own, a mysterious lawyer from France who speaks Merde’s language (including body unfortunately) arrives in Tokyo to defend him – and, it would seem, to drive the audience mad. Luckily for the pompous lawyer, Carax’s Tokyo is really just another version of France. As the hand-held camera that sways with the sewer man and his barrister becomes more and more grating, and the insane conversations between the two reach the realm of experimental theater workshop, Carax just keeps on obliviously rolling along (often showily using three frames onscreen simultaneously). Without any specific cultural touchstone the Tokyo courtroom – like the film itself – could be set anywhere. Indeed, the fact that Carax chose to import a French lawyer (played by Jean-Francois Balmer) to defend a creature embodied by a French actor makes “Merde” more of a French film than any exploration of Tokyo. Even the street protest by Japanese ultranationalists (Japanese ultranationalists?) to call for Merde’s hanging is downright Parisian, the pitiful creature not an international bogeyman, as Carax suggests, but rather an accidental stand-in for western imperialism. The end title card even reads that, “The Adventures of Merde in New York” is coming soon. Undoubtedly via Air France – for “Merde” says a shit-load more about its enfant terrible director than it does about Japan. The final part of Tokyo!, Joon-ho’s “Shaking Tokyo,” is the least earthshaking and the most quietly profound. In voiceover the male protagonist, a “hikikomori” (shut-in) describes life inside his apartment as the camera drifts about the tiny yet organized flat, exquisite lighting tapping into the pathos of shadows. “The first eye contact in eleven years,” the nameless man says upon the arrival of a cute pizza girl, but as the middle-aged recluse pays for the delivery an earthquake rattles the room and the young woman collapses in his doorway. After running around in a panic he discovers a circle tattoo on her arm that reads “coma” below it, and literally pushes her button to wake her. Once she’s revived and gone the modern urban fairytale escalates as the hermit is forced to venture into the blinding sunlight of the big bad world to find his mysterious princess. But unlike Gondry’s rushing Tokyo, Joon-ho’s claustrophobic quarters give way to spacious empty streets (though unlike Carax’s “Merde” the sense of space and place is apparent and palpable in both their films). After running through the streets accompanied by a lovely, light guitar score – peeking in the windows of other recluses – he finally finds the pizza girl (now hikikomori!) of his dreams, begs her to come out through the bars of her window. As self-imprisonment gives way to another earthquake, as the man pushes her “button” for love, which leads to yet another earthquake, this visualization of emotion allows the film to transcend a city and a specific cultural phenomenon to become as universal as the “dissolution of love” story at the heart of Gondry’s “Interior Design.” Now if only immature Carax hadn’t rudely interrupted the deep dialogue between these two companion pieces Tokyo! would shine like the city’s brightest neon sign. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog Spout Post: Re:Collaboration - Best Films of 2007 http://www.spout.com/groups/Community_Recommendations/Re_Collaboration_Best_Films_of_2007/643/38246/1/ShowPost.aspx

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Community Recommendations
Post Date: 12/11/2008 12:09:19 PM
Body: So here are my favorites, with my most favorites at the top: No Country for Old Men The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters For the Bible Tells Me So - pretty great documentary. Surprised I've never heard anyone mention it on any of the discussions here. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters - almost as long of a title as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Grindhouse Paris, je t'aime - this one made the film festival rounds in 2006 but didn't really get a wider theatrical release in the US until 2007 Rescue Dawn - same case as Paris, je t'aime Fay Grim - also the same case Honerable mention - Election Day - a lot of you probably haven't seen this but my girlfriend knows one of the producers and I saw a screening of it at the Gene Siskel center. Worth checking out. BTW, I have yet to see There Will Be Blood, but I can't doubt it will make my list.
]]>Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:09:19 GMTRisseladaCommunity Recommendations12/11/2008 12:09:19 PMSo here are my favorites, with my most favorites at the top: No Country for Old Men The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters For the Bible Tells Me So - pretty great documentary. Surprised I've never heard anyone mention it on any of the discussions here. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters - almost as long of a title as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Grindhouse Paris, je t'aime - this one made the film festival rounds in 2006 but didn't really get a wider theatrical release in the US until 2007 Rescue Dawn - same case as Paris, je t'aime Fay Grim - also the same case Honerable mention - Election Day - a lot of you probably haven't seen this but my girlfriend knows one of the producers and I saw a screening of it at the Gene Siskel center. Worth checking out. BTW, I have yet to see There Will Be Blood, but I can't doubt it will make my list. Spout Post: A great collection of short films http://www.spout.com/blogs/unclefestering/archive/2008/9/11/35020.aspx

Post By: unclefestering
Post To: unclefestering Blog
Post Date: 9/11/2008 10:08:19 AM
Body: Paris, Je t'aime is a great example of what I love about collections of short films. The 20 directors involved were given five minutes to tell a story about love in one of the city's neighborhoods. As a whole it is uneven, but the best parts greatly outshine the lesser stories. Among my favories are the Coen brothers' tale of cultureal mistakes in a Paris subway station and the introspective story of a middleaged woman who discovers herself in a park. Among the stories that I found skippale is the tale of Tobey Maguire as a tourist who falls in love with a vampire.
]]>Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:08:19 GMTunclefesteringunclefestering Blog9/11/2008 10:08:19 AMParis, Je t'aime is a great example of what I love about collections of short films. The 20 directors involved were given five minutes to tell a story about love in one of the city's neighborhoods. As a whole it is uneven, but the best parts greatly outshine the lesser stories. Among my favories are the Coen brothers' tale of cultureal mistakes in a Paris subway station and the introspective story of a middleaged woman who discovers herself in a park. Among the stories that I found skippale is the tale of Tobey Maguire as a tourist who falls in love with a vampire. Spout Post: Paris, je t'aime: a fantastic exploration of love from all angles http://www.spout.com/blogs/kwill/archive/2008/6/14/31229.aspx

Post By: kwill
Post To: d@vid's filmblog
Post Date: 6/14/2008 3:14:48 PM
Body: I was pleased to finally see Paris, je t'aime since it was briefly "forthcoming" on the South African Cinema Nouveau circuit last year and then never arrived. It was worth the wait. The diversity in themes and styles in this collaboration demonstrates that there is no one answer to the question "what is love?". However, the vast majority of the shorts are white and heterosexual, which is a unfortunate flaw in an otherwise varied palette. This variety also means that serious and not-so-serious shorts bump shoulders, but personally I found this refreshing both stylistically and philosophically. It certainly didn't stop me from laughing and crying all the way through the movie. I have no way of knowing if the film does Paris itself justice. I will have to get on a plane and do some research; purely in the interests of reviewing the movie again, of course. 4 stars
]]>Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:14:48 GMTkwilld@vid's filmblog6/14/2008 3:14:48 PMI was pleased to finally see Paris, je t'aime since it was briefly "forthcoming" on the South African Cinema Nouveau circuit last year and then never arrived. It was worth the wait. The diversity in themes and styles in this collaboration demonstrates that there is no one answer to the question "what is love?". However, the vast majority of the shorts are white and heterosexual, which is a unfortunate flaw in an otherwise varied palette. This variety also means that serious and not-so-serious shorts bump shoulders, but personally I found this refreshing both stylistically and philosophically. It certainly didn't stop me from laughing and crying all the way through the movie. I have no way of knowing if the film does Paris itself justice. I will have to get on a plane and do some research; purely in the interests of reviewing the movie again, of course. 4 stars Spout Post: Re:Film Content http://www.spout.com/groups/Spout_Customer_Care/Re_Film_Content/420/31123/1/ShowPost.aspx

Post By: lopezdash
Post To: Spout Customer Care
Post Date: 6/11/2008 3:51:46 PM
Body: [quote user="kwill"] Hi there Spoutsters, Can you please add the 2006 anthology film "Paris, je t'aime". (As opposed to the 1962 film of the same name already in your database.) 1962 movie: http://www.spout.com/films/122169/default.aspx 2006 anthology film info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris,_je_t'aime Thanks! d@vid [/quote] Hey d@vid, Paris, je t'aime (2006) is in our database already. http://www.spout.com/films/283331/default.aspx I'll look into changing the search terms that bring it up, because the comma might be throwing your results off. Xavier
]]>Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:51:46 GMTlopezdashSpout Customer Care6/11/2008 3:51:46 PM[quote user="kwill"] Hi there Spoutsters, Can you please add the 2006 anthology film "Paris, je t'aime". (As opposed to the 1962 film of the same name already in your database.) 1962 movie: http://www.spout.com/films/122169/default.aspx 2006 anthology film info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris,_je_t'aime Thanks! d@vid [/quote] Hey d@vid, Paris, je t'aime (2006) is in our database already. http://www.spout.com/films/283331/default.aspx I'll look into changing the search terms that bring it up, because the comma might be throwing your results off. Xavier Spout Post: A Long Road to Become Clean http://www.spout.com/blogs/belladonna2054/archive/2008/4/8/27107.aspx

Post By: belladonna2054
Post To: belladonna2054 Blog
Post Date: 4/8/2008 5:57:58 PM
Body: Clean (2004) is a movie by Olivier Assayas, director of as Paris, je t’aime (2006), takes us on a journey into the hard world of the music business and drugs. Clean stars Maggie Cheung in her award winning role as Emily Wang, girlfriend and heroin addict of a struggling rocker and fellow junkie, Lee Hauser (played by James Johnson). After breaking off a potential gig in Canada, both travel back to their hotel. They both argue about how she is blamed for Lee’s continuing failures and she ends up leaving for the night and gets high in an empty parking lot. The next morning when Emily returns, the police are in the room where Lee was found dead of a drug overdose. The police arrest her when she attempts to get into the room and discover a couple of bags of heroin in her purse. Emily is sentenced to six months in prison and when she is released, she is briefly reunited with Lee’s father Albrecht (played by Nick Nolte). Albrecht also takes care of Emily and Lee’s son Jay (played by James Dennis) whom they left behind in Vancouver. He goes over what is left of their finances and tells her that the court has awarded custody of Jay to him and his wife, Rosemary (played by Martha Henry). Knowing the predicament that she is in, Albrecht is sympathetic, but taking Jay’s best interests first, he tells Emily to stay away until she can straighten herself out. Emily travels to Paris a few weeks later to build a new life for herself and we see her struggle through the abandonment by friends and family. Upon hitting rock bottom, we finally see her turn around to achieve her ultimate goal: to see her son again and getting another opportunity for a career in music.Maggie Cheung won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004 for this role. This was an award well deserved. In a movie that spans two continents (Canada and Europe) and three languages (English, French and Chinese), Ms. Cheung has outdone herself. We see her as the narcissistic addict, going through a cold turkey recovery and finally as the vulnerable mother. Academy Award nominee Nick Nolte, who in real life is a drug addict, does well in his role. The character he plays, Albrecht, is both sensitive and strong, but also caring grandfather and fatherly figure to Emily as he helps her rebuild her life. One of the best scenes in which he displays his sensitive and strong side was after he finds out that Lee has died and his wife and grandson come home and startled, immediately jumps up and cannot speak, but has to tell Rosemary. Overall Albrecht is much more forgiving of Emily than Rosemary, who blames her for the death of their son. Assayas’ film is one of the best independent films that I’ve seen. He brought together a great team of actors, most notably of which was Nick Nolte. He even went as far as going to the music business to include real-life musicians such as Tricky and the band Metric and music producer David Roback, who all have brief cameos in the film. With their involvement, this makes the film more believable. Even Maggie Cheung herself sings a couple of songs. All are connected to the states of which her character she plays is in throughout the movie: chaotic, through the song by the Metric, “Dead Disco”, recovery through her own song “She Can’t Tell You”, then finally at the end as she obtains the future for her and her son with “Wait For Me”. The instrumental music is also notable, with contributors such as Brian Eno, who featured portions of the same score from 28 Days Later in this film, Tricky and David Roback. The cinematography, done by the award winning cinematographer Eric Gautier, was extraordinary and symbolic. In the beginning titles with the factories blowing out smoke out of the smoke towers and then again, with the addition of the explosion, in the scene where Emily gets high is a connection of the environment to Emily, who was becoming more “unclean”. At the end of the film, we see Emily run off the scene looking off a view of the wooded hills in San Francisco that can be seen as a “clean” view. This was a wonderful film and the first I have seen of Olivier Assayas and would love to see more of his work. What grabbed me was the cinematography, then the actors themselves. How they put a lot of effort into their roles was very striking. Not a lot of actors can pull off what they could do and you can tell that Assayas wanted and received the effort from them. If you want to see a great independent film, and you’re new to this genre, I recommend Clean for you.
]]>Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:57:58 GMTbelladonna2054belladonna2054 Blog4/8/2008 5:57:58 PMClean (2004) is a movie by Olivier Assayas, director of as Paris, je t’aime (2006), takes us on a journey into the hard world of the music business and drugs. Clean stars Maggie Cheung in her award winning role as Emily Wang, girlfriend and heroin addict of a struggling rocker and fellow junkie, Lee Hauser (played by James Johnson). After breaking off a potential gig in Canada, both travel back to their hotel. They both argue about how she is blamed for Lee’s continuing failures and she ends up leaving for the night and gets high in an empty parking lot. The next morning when Emily returns, the police are in the room where Lee was found dead of a drug overdose. The police arrest her when she attempts to get into the room and discover a couple of bags of heroin in her purse. Emily is sentenced to six months in prison and when she is released, she is briefly reunited with Lee’s father Albrecht (played by Nick Nolte). Albrecht also takes care of Emily and Lee’s son Jay (played by James Dennis) whom they left behind in Vancouver. He goes over what is left of their finances and tells her that the court has awarded custody of Jay to him and his wife, Rosemary (played by Martha Henry). Knowing the predicament that she is in, Albrecht is sympathetic, but taking Jay’s best interests first, he tells Emily to stay away until she can straighten herself out. Emily travels to Paris a few weeks later to build a new life for herself and we see her struggle through the abandonment by friends and family. Upon hitting rock bottom, we finally see her turn around to achieve her ultimate goal: to see her son again and getting another opportunity for a career in music.Maggie Cheung won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004 for this role. This was an award well deserved. In a movie that spans two continents (Canada and Europe) and three languages (English, French and Chinese), Ms. Cheung has outdone herself. We see her as the narcissistic addict, going through a cold turkey recovery and finally as the vulnerable mother. Academy Award nominee Nick Nolte, who in real life is a drug addict, does well in his role. The character he plays, Albrecht, is both sensitive and strong, but also caring grandfather and fatherly figure to Emily as he helps her rebuild her life. One of the best scenes in which he displays his sensitive and strong side was after he finds out that Lee has died and his wife and grandson come home and startled, immediately jumps up and cannot speak, but has to tell Rosemary. Overall Albrecht is much more forgiving of Emily than Rosemary, who blames her for the death of their son. Assayas’ film is one of the best independent films that I’ve seen. He brought together a great team of actors, most notably of which was Nick Nolte. He even went as far as going to the music business to include real-life musicians such as Tricky and the band Metric and music producer David Roback, who all have brief cameos in the film. With their involvement, this makes the film more believable. Even Maggie Cheung herself sings a couple of songs. All are connected to the states of which her character she plays is in throughout the movie: chaotic, through the song by the Metric, “Dead Disco”, recovery through her own song “She Can’t Tell You”, then finally at the end as she obtains the future for her and her son with “Wait For Me”. The instrumental music is also notable, with contributors such as Brian Eno, who featured portions of the same score from 28 Days Later in this film, Tricky and David Roback. The cinematography, done by the award winning cinematographer Eric Gautier, was extraordinary and symbolic. In the beginning titles with the factories blowing out smoke out of the smoke towers and then again, with the addition of the explosion, in the scene where Emily gets high is a connection of the environment to Emily, who was becoming more “unclean”. At the end of the film, we see Emily run off the scene looking off a view of the wooded hills in San Francisco that can be seen as a “clean” view. This was a wonderful film and the first I have seen of Olivier Assayas and would love to see more of his work. What grabbed me was the cinematography, then the actors themselves. How they put a lot of effort into their roles was very striking. Not a lot of actors can pull off what they could do and you can tell that Assayas wanted and received the effort from them. If you want to see a great independent film, and you’re new to this genre, I recommend Clean for you. Spout Post: Re:Re:Re:Introduce Yourself http://www.spout.com/groups/Introduce_Yourself/Re_Re_Re_Introduce_Yourself/291/22470/1/ShowPost.aspx

Post By: MrSaturn
Post To: Introduce Yourself
Post Date: 12/2/2007 6:38:32 PM
Body: My runners up would probably be Eagle vs. SharkDial H.I.S.T.O.R.YKoyaanisqatsiBrick I work from films I have seen this year not released. (In this case Eagle vs. Shark is the only on released this year) I saw Sunshine at the cinema and after leaving gave it 7/10. Then over the next few weeks I began to think about it and anticipated its release. Then after I saw it again and again I realised that this film works for me on so many levels.You have to understand that I believe cinema works on a personal and intrusive level (kinda philosophically) and that each personal experience grants it's own judgement and though Sunshine may not be the greatest film (with Boyle hurting critics by borrowing heavily from sci-fi classics) and a debatable reliance on special effects my personal experince was fantastic and there it gets that position.Sorry about the rant but I have to argue this point to many people as they constantly attack my choices.
]]>Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:38:32 GMTMrSaturnIntroduce Yourself12/2/2007 6:38:32 PMMy runners up would probably be Eagle vs. SharkDial H.I.S.T.O.R.YKoyaanisqatsiBrick I work from films I have seen this year not released. (In this case Eagle vs. Shark is the only on released this year) I saw Sunshine at the cinema and after leaving gave it 7/10. Then over the next few weeks I began to think about it and anticipated its release. Then after I saw it again and again I realised that this film works for me on so many levels.You have to understand that I believe cinema works on a personal and intrusive level (kinda philosophically) and that each personal experience grants it's own judgement and though Sunshine may not be the greatest film (with Boyle hurting critics by borrowing heavily from sci-fi classics) and a debatable reliance on special effects my personal experince was fantastic and there it gets that position.Sorry about the rant but I have to argue this point to many people as they constantly attack my choices. Spout Post: City Of Love http://www.spout.com/blogs/chesterfilms/archive/2007/7/15/14537.aspx

Post By: chesterfilms
Post To: chesterfilms Blog
Post Date: 7/15/2007 2:27:43 AM
Body: Beautiful film. There are 3 or 4 absolutely amazing shorts, and the rest are good. Only one was bad. This contains Alexander Payne's best film he has ever made. Coen Brothers & Wes Craven are also great, but Tom Tykwer's (Run Lola Run, Perfume) short starring Natalie Portman is absolutely amazing. Has
]]>Sun, 15 Jul 2007 06:27:43 GMTchesterfilmschesterfilms Blog7/15/2007 2:27:43 AMBeautiful film. There are 3 or 4 absolutely amazing shorts, and the rest are good. Only one was bad. This contains Alexander Payne's best film he has ever made. Coen Brothers & Wes Craven are also great, but Tom Tykwer's (Run Lola Run, Perfume) short starring Natalie Portman is absolutely amazing. Has Spout Post: Re: Filmspotting #166: Paris, Je T'aime / Gun Crazy http://www.spout.com/groups/Filmspotting/Re_Filmspotting_166_Paris_Je_T_aime_Gun_Craz/304/12601/1/ShowPost.aspx

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Filmspotting
Post Date: 6/29/2007 1:36:50 PM
Body: I've seen Paris, Je T'aime and it's fantastic!My favorite segments were probably:Montmartre - directed by Bruno Podalydès. I don't know know who he is, but this was the first segment and it was very nice and funny.Tuileries - directed by the Coen Brothers. Because the Coen Brothers are my all time favorite. And Buscemi was great and never says one word of dialogue. Man he looks like he's getting old though.Bastille - directed by Isabel Coixet. Again, I don't know who she is, but this segment was really funny and then sad, and the very beautiful.Tour Eiffel - directed by Sylvain Chomet. Once more, I have no idea who this director is, but if I'm not mistaken and this is the one with the mimes, it was just really fun.14e arrondissement - directed by Alexander Payne. Yes this seems to be everyone's favorite, and it was probably the best ending for the movie. This is Alexander Payne wapped up into a few minutes. A sort of pathetic character from the middle of america that seems rather pathetic but finds something beautiful at the end that you can relate to.
]]>Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:36:50 GMTRisseladaFilmspotting6/29/2007 1:36:50 PMI've seen Paris, Je T'aime and it's fantastic!My favorite segments were probably:Montmartre - directed by Bruno Podalydès. I don't know know who he is, but this was the first segment and it was very nice and funny.Tuileries - directed by the Coen Brothers. Because the Coen Brothers are my all time favorite. And Buscemi was great and never says one word of dialogue. Man he looks like he's getting old though.Bastille - directed by Isabel Coixet. Again, I don't know who she is, but this segment was really funny and then sad, and the very beautiful.Tour Eiffel - directed by Sylvain Chomet. Once more, I have no idea who this director is, but if I'm not mistaken and this is the one with the mimes, it was just really fun.14e arrondissement - directed by Alexander Payne. Yes this seems to be everyone's favorite, and it was probably the best ending for the movie. This is Alexander Payne wapped up into a few minutes. A sort of pathetic character from the middle of america that seems rather pathetic but finds something beautiful at the end that you can relate to. Spout Tag:love http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspxlove
Number of films tagged: 12478

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]]>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:28:29 GMT124783381480Tag Spout Tag:romance http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/romance/MemberTagFilms.aspxromance
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]]>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:01:30 GMT71621691004Tag Spout Tag:Quirky http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Quirky/MemberTagFilms.aspxQuirky
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]]>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:54:25 GMT131110249Tag Spout Tag:cute http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/cute/MemberTagFilms.aspxcute
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]]>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:46:12 GMT21098314Tag Spout Tag:paris http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/paris/MemberTagFilms.aspxparis
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]]>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:09:48 GMT595294Tag Spout Tag:unique http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/unique/MemberTagFilms.aspxunique
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]]>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:18:04 GMT303139Tag Spout Tag:Indie http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Indie/MemberTagFilms.aspxIndie
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]]>Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:22:28 GMT492859Tag Spout Tag:delightful http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/delightful/MemberTagFilms.aspxdelightful
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]]>Mon, 25 May 2009 16:47:03 GMT171423Tag Spout Tag:coen http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/coen/MemberTagFilms.aspxcoen
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]]>Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:50:27 GMT13921Tag Spout Tag:fell-asleep http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/fell-asleep/MemberTagFilms.aspxfell-asleep
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]]>Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:10:51 GMT12914Tag Spout Tag:diversity http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/diversity/MemberTagFilms.aspxdiversity
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]]>Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:37:16 GMT8777Tag Spout Tag:vignette http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/vignette/MemberTagFilms.aspxvignette
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]]>Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:22:42 GMT444Tag Spout Tag:18shorts http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/18shorts/MemberTagFilms.aspx18shorts
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]]>Sat, 24 Nov 2007 02:34:03 GMT111Tag Spout Tag:natalieportman http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/natalieportman/MemberTagFilms.aspxnatalieportman
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]]>Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:36:56 GMT111Tag Spout Tag:vansant http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/vansant/MemberTagFilms.aspxvansant
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