Nothing is written

I've been to the cinema, reader. I don't know exactly what happened, but it got me all crazy. Not the film itself, more the way back... I walked, for like an hour, and upon coming home, I felt like a sock: turned completely inside out, with a few strings hanging out.

I've been to see Jane Eyre, actually, and I knew upon going that it was going to be a weird experience, and that I probably wouldn't enjoy it. But hey, it's Jane Eyre, it's my favorite book in its own way, it's important, and I wouldn't have missed it. I did not like it (big surprise there), but how could you possibly get angry at someone for failing at an impossible task? I don't actually think it could have been any better. I think probably Charlotte Brontë would have approved, and the girls next to me at the cinema had obviously never read the book and got out intending to do it. So, well, mission accomplished, I guess.

Please forgive the crappy photo-video thing I just had no idea for a picture, and I really like the song, and find it appropriate.

I personally think that filming Jane Eyre is impossible. All the details matter too much. All that she says, all that he says, all the "little" characters on the side (her nurse at Gateshead, her teacher friend at Lowood, everyone matters in their own way). I think that's what makes it such a good book, actually, there's hardly anything that's not useful (only St John, if you ask me. Not useful at all, and a terrible bully, as well as a bore. Someone should rid us of St John once and for all. He's insufferable. Yes. I said it. Insufferable.)

I would have made it differently, of course. I would have added more of this, and cut a few of these long shots of her walking under blossoming cherry trees, but honestly, there were really, really good ideas. I think what I would do is make an 8 hour long version, with EVERYTHING in it, except maybe make Lowood slightly shorter, and St John slightly less annoying The trouble is, in order to produce all this, I'd probably have to make some concessions. Like put a huge battle in it. With orcs, and elves, and someone screaming "Haldir! To the gate!", and probably she'd need a sidekick. I don't think Jane Eyre would be quite the same with Jar Jar Bings telling her to "cheer up, missi".

Two things I can't forgive, though, even though it's perfectly well cast, made me cry, and did turn me inside out, after all (that must mean something): Rochester never says "He would not rue his bloody blunder more than I now rue mine", and that's like filming Hamlet but cutting the part when he says "To be, or not to be", and also he doesn't accuse her of trying to drown him in his sleep, which is one of my favorite parts of the book, and which was exactly the excerpt that they chose to print in the leaflet that they distributed at the cinema. Why would you make me read that scene again, make me want to see it very badly, and then not put it in? Why? I do not understand it.

Anyway. Do go see it, though, it was actually good. I did not like it.

Almost happy

I went to the movies yesterday, reader. I had a feeling I was not going to like it, but I still went, because I really like Julia Roberts, and because there's been NOTHING interesting at all to see over the last few weeks, so I was kind of desperate. So there we go, I saw Eat Pray Love. I didn't like it. It was not completely crap, I admit. Julia Roberts is a good actress, it was good quality, the music was great and all...

But sometimes I figured, oh, come on. She's got a cool husband, and a great job, she creates problems where there aren't any, and then she tells us all how to live our lives... Go pray in India, wear a perfectly folded sari, go eat pizza in Italy and gain about a pound (because, I mean, Julia Roberts? Telling us it's OK to be a little chubby and you should just enjoy life, one spaghetti at a time?)... Oh! And go fall in love with a sexy brazilian guy in Bali, people! What are you waiting for? It's not that tough! All you need is to have 50.000$ handy, don't be chicken!

Ok, I might be a little intolerant, because I know you're not always happy even though you supposedly have everything it takes. Happiness is not a recipe and stuff, the right ingredients do not always amount to a big pink happiness cake, but still. In this precise case, it was all a little bit too much.

I know it's supposed to be a true story and all, but come on. She goes to Italy (first problem THERE, mate, if you want to go eat some place, go to France, who are you kidding?). There, she meets a cool swedish girl, and her super-sexy friend, and then they have great fun, the sun shines all the time, and it's all either quaint or perfect and funny, then she goes to India, and things go great and she doesn't get stomach flu but she's invited to a wedding, and then she goes to Bali, and she meets Javier Bloody Bardem.

On that note, though, I have to say, the Brazilian accent of Javier Bardem's French voice made me shiver. Not in a good way. Everytime he appeared on screen, an alarm sounded in my head : "He's going to talk! He's going to talk! Please, make him not talk! Maybe he's got a flu today! Maybe a vesicular pharyngitis!" but he never did. I suppose he was dubbed by a real brazilian, but somehow, it sounded like he came from Marseille and had a giant tongue or something...

Anyway. I did not like it very much, though the soundtrack was really good (so many movies saved from total wreckage by their soundtracks, when you think about it...) and the actors all played well, I was really moved sometimes. Richard Jenkins was in it. I haven't seen him in many movies, but he really is a good actor. If I were to shoot my bollywood-style musical about Scottish and English victorian vampires wearing capes, he'd be in it. It's really just a matter of time, really, and of me finding Spielberg's phone number...

What it's for, or what it's about...

I’ve been working reader! Real-working! A mission! Cool and interesting!

I met another one of those guys. Did I ever tell you about the volunteer interpreter guy from Copenhaguen? I think not. He was a volunteer interpreter. From Spain. Very tall, lean, handsome, with the whitest set of teeth and the nicest, brightest smile I’ve ever seen. Cultivated and funny, and he could play the guitar and sing. And then someone said he had trained as a doctor. I’m pretty sure the man’s hobby was saving kittens from fires. Made me want to go back to bed.
Well I met another one of those, yesterday. Same kind. Organic farmer, sporty, looked like a hippie, taller version of Edouard Baer (if you are not French, you might not know, but I do. And it’s a good thing, to look like Edouard Baer in my book). Then he said he was also into music. Then he said he had worked with orphans in the Himalayas. I hesitated, and then I grunted and decided I found them both annoying. Do you think it’s a healthy reaction?

Anyway. Over the course of the week, I found out one more thing to tell to my imaginary group of students about being an interpreter (yes. I’ve got followers in my head. They follow me around and say “yes master, you are wise”. In fact they are mostly a little group of Claires from the future, whom I tell that I am very stupid now, and they’d better improve before their turn comes. It is a little less self-important than it might seem).

Where was I? Oh yeah. One of the things I tell my imaginary group of students about being an interpreter, is that you need to be able to stand alone in the middle of a big, empty hall, and look like you’re OK with it and you belong there and you need no help at all. I believe this to be an impossible task.

This is one of the parts of my jobs that I like a little less: arriving at the venue with no idea what to do, who anybody is, where you need to go, and generally what to do with your arms, that are so bloody long, and your mouth, which you suddenly realized is a little frowny, but then you smile, and then you feel stupid, and then you bite your lips, and you look stupid and affected, and then you start frowning again. Sometimes, I try reading, but read what?

The best is when you have something related to the theme of the conference, (not a book, because you don’t want to look like you don’t care, not your vocabulary list, because you don’t want to look like you don’t already know it all by heart). Like maybe an article about the eating habits of penguins if you are going to a Linux conference. Loosely related. Knowing all the while that no one gives a damn what you read, I’m aware of that fact. But I can’t help it. And my little group of followers are still running around in my head, waiting to be impressed by my amazing skills.

In any case, followers or no, when I am sitting alone in an uncomfortable leather chair that is much too close to the ground, studying my shoes and making bets with myself on the number of places where my feet are going to hurt when I take them off tonight, I often wish I just were home. Home sounds nice, at 7.30, when you are alone and embarrassed. So here is a list of things that make me feel like home.

1. Knitwear and jam. Not both together, of course. My mother used to knit (she stopped now, somehow), and all my pullovers when I was a kid smelled like the hospital, because she had knitted them there (my mother’s a nurse). Now I’m the only person in the world who actually likes the smell of hospitals. As for jam, jam makes me feel like home for exactly the same reason. My mother makes jam. It is like a fever, a passion, an industrial endeavor, call it what you like, but it causes my home to smell like hot orange juice or strawberry very late at night. Somehow, jam only works if you make it very late at night. I keep annoying my mother about making crazy sorts of jam and letting the whole fruit in them instead of mashing them up, but the truth is, whatever the shape and form, it’s always nice to have your home smell like jam when you go to bed.
2. Talking about knitwear, that old dark blue pullover which is one of the rare items in my closet that are actually too big for me. Never felt cold in that pullover, and it probably has to do with the fact that it was worn both by my sister and my father. Who could feel cold in a pullover like this? It’s thick and itchy, and it’s got a nice, night color. It weighs about 5 kilos. It is immortal. It is the father of all pullovers. And it still looks new.

3. De Palmas’s “Marcher dans le sable.” Reminds me of when I was in high school in a weird, good old times kind of way. It’s not particularly happy, either, but somehow to me, it will always taste of summer, laughs, running around in fountains and sun.

4. The Star Wars movies. After watching them 678 times each, (probably a little more for episode 6, I guess) they still totally work. (Do I need to specify that I only like episodes 4 to 6? I hardly think I do…) I know the dialogues pretty much by heart, but only in French, because I was too young to read the subtitles when the rage was full on…

5. The Indian restaurant where I helped out when I was at the university. I still go there regularly, and even when I just think about it, it makes me feel like home. I went to a street festival the other day, and there was a stand with Indian cuisine, and it smelled like the restaurant, and I wanted to teleport. I did not, and I still had a great evening, but you get the idea.

I’m leaving Germany next week, and going back home for a while. Well, I’ll be off to Brussels soon, even though the European tests of death are postponed till April next year (Can I swear on the Internet? I believe I cannot. I shall refrain. I already said Arsch last time…), so I won’t stay home very long, but still. Bye bye Stuttgart, live long and prosper etc. Maybe I’ll tell you about homecoming, and leaving places where you settled for a while next time, if I find 5 interesting things to say!

You make my dreams come true

Hey reader !!

My sister F is going to Japan tomorrow (Bon voyage, F !! Keep breathing until you're on the plane, and then everything will be fine. You are a tree. Your roots go deep, deep in the earth, and you feel the wind in your leaaaaaaaaaaves. No? Ok, then...) and the other day, when she came to visit, she told us about two of her favourite movie lines ever. Now. Is that not a great idea for a top 5 ? It is. Let me not forget it is. But it is not today's. (Feintés :D)

Today's top 5 is also a movie-related top 5, concerning "those moments that make you shiver even long after you have watched the movie". Please, please, for my sake, read the top 5 rules. I probably forgot great ones. And also, please, please, tell me which in the comments.

So. Here goes. (Oh, and I make no claim to originality). (Oh, and now that I think of it, possible spoilers ahead)

1. The Dead Poet's Society (unexpected, huh?). At the end. I love the movie, I love that scene, and it makes me shiver just thinking about it right now. You know which scene I mean, I'm sure, and I don't want to spoil it for you if you haven't seen it yet. By the way, if you haven't seen it yet, do.

2. The shower scene in Casino Royale. Now Casino Royale is hardly a "favourite movie ever" candidate, but that scene ?! That scene is wonderful. I told you about it already I know. But let me tell you about it once more. Eva Green (oh, if I just could look like Eva Green, just for a minute) has killed a man. It was self defense, and she had no choice, but still. She killed a man, and she's traumatized. James Bond (yeah, OK, I say Eva Green and James Bond. Indulge me.) comes up to her room to see if she's OK (This is getting real long, but I love it so...) and he finds her sitting under a cold shower in her wondrous dress. Now what does James Bond do ?

Does he take her out of the shower and dry her hair ?

No he does not. He sits next to her under the shower, keeping his expensive leather shoes on, because does he care about his expensive leather shoes ? No, he does not. And then he takes her in his arms and turns on the hot water tap to make her warmer. I can hear you hardcore James Bond fans at the back going "Sean Connery would have thrown her a blanket and poured himself a drink". To you I say : "You do not exist, I only ever have 2 readers, whom I both know, and who are no hardcore James Bond fans". And "I don't care. I like Daniel Craig 100 times better".

3. The prison scene in Dark City. I don't remember the movie so clearly, to tell you the truth, even though I remember it was great, but that scene is carved in my memory for ever. He's in prison, and she comes to visit him ("he" being Rufus Sewell, and "she" being Jennifer Connelly --If only I could look like Jennifer Connelly...--) and he's got the power to change reality, and he shatters the parlour's glass, just so that he can kiss her. OK. Those "shiver" scenes are always big, girly love scenes. Breaking news, I'm a girl.

4. Collision. Now it's not a scene, it's a movie. But there are at least 5 scenes in that movie alone that make me shiver just thinking about them. My favourite one involves Sandra Bullock and her cleaning lady, but I cannot say more, because 95% of my readership has never seen the movie (in spite of my insistance, pleas and numerous begging sessions). I guess I might have spoilt it for them.

5. The scene in Amelie when she bakes her cake at the end. A French movie in a top 5 is not a usual thing. But then again, Amelie is not a usual movie. Anyway, she bakes a cake and imagines her love is at the door. Then it turns out he really is. Might be because I've baked so many cakes and imagined my love bringing me the missing ingredient so many times without him ever showing up at the door that seeing the scene was kind of like having a wish granted. I love that movie.

Now, reader, I have to go, because a top 5 includes... well... 5 things, so mission complete, and also because lunch is ready and I should go take it out of the oven. Weirdly enough, I now really, really want to see Sense and Sensibility. Do you ?

PS: The title is tacky, but the song is cool. Have you seen 500 days of Summer ?

Your butt is mine ! \o/

I just can't believe I finally found a good reason to put this as a title here. Anyway. Yeah, cause "I'm bad". You'll understand in a minute. But first, a big question, adressed mostly to my sister F: What does Michael Jackson say, in Bad, that sounds like "shamoo, shamoo"? Anyone?

Ok, now for the actual post : Today, my top 5 favourite actors who look perfectly evil without even trying.

1. Rufus Sewell. This whole post is actually just an excuse to write something about Rufus Sewell. He looks evil, he squints a little (or maybe one of his eyes is bigger than the other, I can't decide), and he's got green eyes and curly black hair. I want green eyes and curly black hair on the 7 feet tall and cape-wearing, curry-eating man I ordered for Christmas. Write that down, Santa! Rufus Sewell played in A Knight's Tale, which is one of my favourite comedies ever (featuring Paul Bettany. Crap. Paul Bettany's got no curly black hair, and blue eyes. Whatever, Santa. Take your pick.)

He also played in Dark City, where there is one of those scenes (oooh, I just found the theme of my next post!)... One of those scenes that make you shiver just thinking about it. Oddly enough, it involves another black-haired and green-eyed creature, who is, incidentaly, the wife of aforementionned Paul Bettany. This first paragraph is getting sooooo long... :D Well. Rufus Sewell.

2. Alan Rickman. I saw him first in Robin Hood when I was 8, and he said something to the effect of "I'm going to tear your heart out with a teaspoon ("why with a teaspoon ?") because the less sharp, the more painful". And then I saw him in Sense and Sensibility. Like Rufus Sewell, I saw him both as a nice and as a totally evil character, and loved him in both cases. Wait... Am I talking about Rufus Sewell again ?

3. Gary Oldman. Just for the "disappointed" thing in the 5th Element. Just for the 5th element. I have not seen him in much else, in fact. But just for this, he's got my vote. I really like the 5th element actually. Mostly because of Gary Oldman, I believe.

4. Thomas Gumpert. Yeah, I also did not know the name until 30 seconds ago (thanks, IMDb), and you probably don't know the face. He's the guy who plays the villain in a stupid German telenovela I'm watching at the moment in order not to forget my German during the holidays (Ok, also because I really want to know the ending, and also because I'm slightly addicted. But the actors are actually very good, unlike the scenario which is as lame as they get).

Thomas Gumpert, then, who plays an evil German (how original). He looks very much like the stereotypical Nazi, I must say, with icy-blue eyes and he's kind of freaky (also he speaks German, which sends shivers down my spine). Yet he is so caricatural that he cracks me up. He smiles an evil smile, and you can see that the actor is actually having fun (or at least I like to believe he is). I'd like to meet him in person, I'm sure he's great fun. I can't see his evil smile without smirking too. And now I can't even see his face without smirking.

5. Paul Bettany. Comes 5th because he doesn't actually look evil without even trying, he just plays evil guys very often. But I love him in anything (except of course for Dogville (akh, bakh) and Firewall (ukh bukh) for very different reasons. And some other things were bad too. But I still love him). And he can look absolutely terrifying. Have you seen Gangster Nb 1, Reader ? He laughs and bares his fangs in an elevator, and the picture is burnt in my retinas. Very, very frightening.

Anyway. This is it for today's top 5 (I have no time left, lunch-break is nearly over). I am sorry for the lack of ethnic diversity in this post. I tried thinking of a black or asian evil looking actor whom I really love, and could not find any. The only asian actor I could think about was Takeshi Kaneshiro, and he's not evil at all. In the last movie I saw him in, which was quite good, he was cast as a wise military genius/zen master. About as believable as Orlando Bloom as Yoda. But hell... any role will make me happy... Have a nice day, reader !!

Paper planes

Hello again, reader !

Yeah, two post in two days, I'm just in a crazy mood, don't get used to it...

First of all, let me wish a happy happy birthday to my brother P! Happy birthday P! Hope you have a really nice day!

Now to today's post: I have been to the movies recently to see "The Boat that Rocked" (called "Good Morning England" in the French version, God knows why...) and I liked it a lot, and it made me think about how great soundtracks can be, in movies. A few days before, I had watched Star Wars episode 4 with my mother (4, 5, 6, let me say it once more, the only Star Wars episodes worth watching) and it had reminded me how important soundtracks can be, in movies.

So here you are, my top 5 soundtracks (musicals excluded, because that's cheating, and I've done it already anyway...)

In order to keep me sane, please do refer to the Top 5 rules in the right-hand part of this blog!

1. Pirates of the Caribbean. The soundtrack just makes me happy. Also makes me march down the corridors of the subway with a Xena the Warrior Princess grin on my face, which I know is going to cause problems sooner or later. But there's really nothing quite like the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, except maybe for...

2. Star Wars. It's mythic and great, and I like that low, humming noise you get when Vador walks in, and I like the main theme, and just listening to the music at the beginning, with the text fading away in the starry sky, makes me feel like I'm 5 all over again. These movies, reader... I don't care what happens with the franchise now. These movies are just great.
3. Pride and Prejudice. This is the one I like to pretend I'm a 19th century English lady to. Especially on the train to Brussels. Going all "my is that couch slow" and batting my eyelids at my reflection in the window, pretending Mr Darcy is sitting in the seat in front of me. Of course, that's just before I fall asleep, start drooling on the seat and can only be woken up by the ticket punching guy after the third time he's called me and tapped on my shoulder. Less ladylike, but very entertaining for all the other people in the wagon.

4. O Brother Where Art Thou. This is not very original, I know, and the movie is actually not that great, but the soundtrack is just brilliant. I don't think I'll ever get sick of these Alison Krauss songs. I don't think I'll ever get sick of any of that soundtrack. Only problem is, I can't listen to it on public transportation, because I can't help but sing along, and there's only so much my dignity can take. Drooling and snoring is OK, singing is a no-no.

5. Slumdog Millionnaire. Not very original either, but really, really, those M.I.A. songs? That great, great one with the gun-noises? And listening to a song that goes "some I murder, some I let go" on the Parisian subway is also quite satisfying, I must say. It is possible that I have a murderous light in my eyes while doing so, but then again, I pretty much always have a murderous light in my eyes in the Parisian subway, so it's not too embarrassing. Pretty much everyone does. Thank you to my sister F, by the way, who both gave me the CD as a present and pointed out to me what the singer was saying. I thought it was "sam sam sama sama mah dah". Now my life has changed.

Anyway, here it was, my top 5 soundtracks. I have to say it. I probably have forgotten some great ones. Elizabethtown, Juno, Shrek, Shrek, Shrek (crap, I've forgotten Shrek...) all kinds of great soundtracks. Don't resent me.

Have a nice day, reader!

Space cowboy

Hi reader!!

I have a question to put to you. What do you do, when you learn that the thesis you have to wirte, due in 7 days, must be 100 pages instead of 40?

You get to work, stop sleeping, replace meals by Red Bull and coffee and consider brewing your own vodka with old potatoes in a plastic bottle under your mattress?

Ooooor, maybe... you pretend nothing happened, work little by little, hide the panick under a thick layer of sugar and go to the movies? That's what I did. I liked it.

I went to see Star Trek, since I am planning to become a geek in order to understand all the jokes and references in The Big Bang Theory. I liked it. I like all these recent movies that are very first degree and could have been shot 30 years ago. Star Trek perfectly qualifies, and it was really great. Only it's still shows that it's a modern movie, since the special effects are very, very pretty and I think the costumes have been slightly updated.

There were some things that I did not like though. For example, the guy cast as Jim Kirk. You can only be so ridiculously caricatural and not lose me (Not true at all. I am very, very hard to lose. But that guy? With the blue eyes and the squint?) And the music too. The music was a little weird. Though I loved the title music which was basically just TAM TAM TAM TATAM. Got me in the mood for the rest of the movie.

Anyway, I thought it was really nice, and I secretly believe it dealt with nuclear weapons and why they are not good for you. I like making up my own secret meanings for movies as much as I hate reading those of other people. I have a great secret meaning for Joss Whedon's new series Dollhouse. Probably completely obvious secret meaning. Interested in knowing?

If you hate reading the secret meanings other people discover in movies (like ""Singing in the Rain" is a metaphore for McCain's campaign and why it failed" or whatever weird stuff you sometimes read on the Internet) then do not proceed with the reading. (Is that English, or do I just sound like a douche?)

Well, the Dollhouse is a series where people are emptied of their own personalities and kept in a super-secret underground base. They are then imprinted with a new personality and sent on missions. I thought at first it was about whether you are a body or a soul and, if you are a soul then where is it exactly, in your body, or in your memories and stuff. But I think, in the end, what I get from it is more a story about what we do with ourselves.

It's like we were all our own little Dollhouses. We go on missions and we want to have new personnalities in order to be able to face the challenges, so we make room for the new character to step in. Only sometimes it's a little complicated not to forget who we were in the first place, and if you do a bit, which is a compulsory part of growing up, then when one of your "mission" personnality is outdated or falls, like a mask, maybe because you are a little tired or because there's no one here at the moment to remind you of what you are exactly, then you feel like you're empty and meaningless, like the empty Dolls of the series.

I'm not saying we all are empty deep inside or anything that pessimistic and depressing, just that you may feel this way once in a while because you realise that you can't remember who you are exactly. I feel that it's because I am not exactly the same person depending on the context and on who I'm with. In real life, though, I like the fact that you make your own imprints. People around you may change the mission. But you make your own imprints. I like it.

Anyway. This is starting to sound half-Gollum, half-Dr Phil, so I guess I am just going to go to bed now. Yes. That will be nice... HIT THE PILLOW !!

Live long and prosper ! (I bet you did not expect that one...)

J'ai dix ans...

Hi Reader !

I've been going to the movies on a near-daily basis recently, and yesterday was the turn of "Inkheart", with Paauuuuuuul Bettany.

Paul Bettany, as I might have mentionned before here, is my favourite actor in the whole world. Inkheart, however... how can I put it...

It was part of thoses movies I've seen recently that should have come out years ago. That includes 300 (that should have come out some time around when the movie is supposed to be set, whenever that is (I don't know what it is about BC dates, I don't have any frame of reference, so I won't even venture a guess)) (crap, double brackets ! I'm getting bracket-madness again !), Twilight (which should have come out when I was 13... That would have driven me literally crazy) and some other movies as well.
In fact, now that I come to think of it, if I ever have children, I'll turn them into Paul Bettany fans. I'll brainwash them. I'll call them Paul and Paula (if there are more than two, then I'll add numbers), and when they'll be 5, I'll make them watch Inkheart (though it was not very good, it might seem cool to a five year old).

Then when they turn 12, I'll show them A Knight's Tale, and that will win them over forever.

Then when the Pauls get to 14 or 15 and become completely lame, I'll show them Firewall, I bet they'll find it awesome. Besides, they will like the fact that Han Solo's in it too (yeah, because I'll make them be fans of Star Wars as well !!)

When the Paulas get 16, and they get sweet and cute (yeah, you know how it goes, girls get cute and sweet, boys get lame and stop talking for 6 years). (OK, that about the girls getting cute and sweet was such a blatent lie I won't even try to defend myself. When we turn 14 or 15 we become extremely evil, and start talking non stop in order to fill in the terrible and dreadful void left by the male's trying out sub-sonic level whale language...) Aaaaanyway. When the Paulas get 16, I'll show them Wimbledon, and we'll have ice-cream evenings, dreaming about being 4 feet tall, like Kirsten Dunst, so that we can have the same height ratio, because they're such a cute couple.

Then when they all get rebellious and grungy, I'll fight with them over Dogville and say it's a very sucky movie, and they'll claim it's actually very good, just to annoy me (it is a very bad movie, but I won't go on with the rants, I've gotten angry too many times this year, and you already know my opinion about Dogville !)

Anyway. I'm going to go away now, because I'm dead tired and a second episode of Bones has just started (It's a pretty cool series, that one !), so I guess I'll watch it and try to keep my brain from running through my ears... Not an easy task that one, I can tell you ! Have a good evening !!

... and a happy new yeaaaaar !!

This post is cheating a little, I've started writing it a long time ago...

Heeeeeeee hehehe, reader ! I belieeeeve I can fly ! I believe I can touch the sky...

Sorry. I've just come back from the movies, where I went with my friend V to see the latest Baz Luhrmann, "Australia". I don't know about the movie itself, really, but Hugh Jackman! Don't expect me to write anything clever and smart tonight. I've seen him with a beard. I've seen him without a beard. I've seen him in a tuxedo. I've seen him without a tuxedo. I've seen him dressed as a cow-boy. Call me, Baz Luhrman, I've got plenty of new ideas for you XD

Anyway. I'm going to try to concentrate for a second and write a brand new top 3, i.e. the top three of things which are great for everyone, but just don't work for me.

SoooOooo... *stares, dreamy eyed, at the imaginary picture of Hugh Jackman smiling*

1) Relaxation. You know how they all say relaxation is good for you and helps you... well, relax. I keep trying to do that when I can't get to sleep at night, and I imagine I'm, like, floating on the sea, or lying in the grass in a summery field. Only I have some kind of weird disease, and I start figuring out high-tech security systems for my haven of peace, which tends to make it look less like a haven of peace, and more like Guantanamo.

Besides, all the engineering it takes to implement my security system eat up at least 2 hours of my sleeping time. Let me take an example, and try to clarify things a little bit: Take the floating on an ocean thing: it's OK for 5 minutes, but then I get frightened that I'll fall asleep, and drown. So I lie down on an imaginary air mattress and I try to relax. But then I think I'm going to drift, and maybe starve to death on my mattress in the middle of the ocean... So I tie it up to the shore. But then it's not so floaty anymore. So I have to imagine a system that anchors the matress to the bottom of the ocean, without piercing a hole in it, so that it does not deflate and I don't fall in the water and drown. But then what of exposure ?

And I won't even start on the lying in a field thing. Between hayfever, the bugs in the grass and the people who might kill me in my sleep, let me tell you relaxing is not exactly the first term that jumps to my mind...

2) Waxing my legs. The ad says "smooth and silky for weeks". I say yeah! The principle is that you stick a strip of wax, covered by a paper, on you leg. Then you pull. Then the wax comes off, with the paper, and then your legs are smooth and silky for weeks, apparently. That's what happens to people in general, and it does sound like a good idea.

As for me, the paper does come off, but NOT the wax which stays attached to my leg. And then good luck with the washing the wax off your damned legs. You try rubbing them with a tissue paper soaked in oil (grease is, apparently, the only thing that does the trick), but then the tissue paper stays stuck to the wax itself... at the end of the process, you legs look like they are covered in that gross black sticky stuff that remains after you took a plaster off your finger, they are red and sore, as far from smooth and silky as they can get, and they smell like pizza and detergent. Then mostly you hate life and want to march down the street and burn you bra. But maybe that's just me.

3) Joining a spur-of-the-moment party at my flat when I feel like staying in my room. Most people would say, if you're alone doing nothing worthwhile, it's always best to get out and socialize. So when people come knock on my door and say "care to join us for a drink, my friends are here, why don't you come", I nearly always do, because it's nice to be invited, and you never know who you might meet or the cool conversations that might ensue.

I remember talking for nearly two hours with a guy in Dublin about wether or not carrots had feelings (I know they don't. They're freaky and from hell, I'm sure they can't have a heart). I'm not sure that qualifies as "cool" but it was fun, anyway.

So I get out of my room, and join the fun, and after saying hi and smiling dumbly in a corner for 5 minutes or so, I usually end up using my super escape technique, get up, pretend to dance, move step by step towards the door, and when I reach it I whisper "good night, all" very softly (so that I have an excuse to get angry and self-righteous if they ever say I was rude, leaving without saying goodbye), and then make my escape as inconspicuously as I can (Lord, is that hard to spell...)

It's the two guests out of five being completely drunk that spoil the fun. It's OK when there are 15 people, you can always find someone to talk to, but when there are only 5 or 6... Too much attention focused on you. I go all Wall-E and some mechanical voice starts screaming in my head "too much pressure," "embarrassing," "better get back to the Tardis"...

You know it, I'm my flat's official boring grand-mother. You can tell they have not seen my smooth Rihanna groove from yesterday when I brushed my teeth ! I nearly tore my second molar out when S.O.S started. I'm a party girl, once I'm alone and wearing pyjamas !

Anyway. A grinchy first post for 2009, which I wish you full of success, love, health (Hugh Jackman) and fame. Happy new year reader !!

Haribo macht Kinder froh, und Erwachsener ebenso

Guess what, reader ! Yeah ! I've been watching another episode of Dr Who tonight (season 4 finale, for any of you who might be a fan too), and now I'm all blue for all kinds of reasons (I've seen a lot of my family this week end and now they've all gone back to their own abodes, --I'm afraid Claire misses her pillow and the smell of her own house--, one of my housemates screamed at me for no reason, and oh *hopeless and withered sob*... David Tennant *sob again*... broke my heart twice over *sound of glass shattering*-he's leaving the show and he... well I can't tell, spoilers, you never know.)

Anyway, my post tonight will be about sweet sweet songs and movies. Sweet Sweet Songs and Movies being, of course, a genre in itself. OK, I'm not the last one to laugh at High School Musical, I'm not the last one to laugh at anything, for that matter, and I am a very cynical and sarcastic being, I must say. But, still, in my opinion, all this silliness, this melted marshmallow and stuff, does help to make the world go round, and I sometimes wish I could stand by my opinions about all that a little more.

Bollywood musicals, musicals in general, in fact, having cute little rabbits pinned on my wall, liking pink, liking Pink (actually, I just realised, Pink illustrate about the diametral oposite of the point I'm trying to make, but I still like her...), liking all those cheesy movies and stuff, being naive -be it consciously ;) being an optimist, it's sooo nice once in a while.

Sometimes, I even think it's more of a stand to make than being a punk or a revolutionnary. It's also not so funny as being cutting and ironic, I have to say. Sweet and soft-brained is not a state I would like to be in all the time. But it is something I love once in a while. Often, actually. And I STAND BY IT, world ! Looove it what makes you go round! Sweet sweetness, faith, beauty and heroism. And songs. And beauty. Did I say beauty already? Well, you get my point, hopefully.

However, since I am not even sure of the point I wanted to make, I guess I'm just going to go now and get to sleep, because I've been living a crazy life these days. Enough craziness. Craziness makes me blue and soft in the brain. And a poor blogger. Have a good night, reader! Sweet, sweet dreams ! Involving music and love, and beauty. Did I say beauty?

As for me, Mr Dreammaker, if you hear me, let mine involve a doctor and a blue box, would you?

Don't go breaking my heart

Well well well, reader... I've been watching an episode of Dr Who again (what do you mean, "get a life"? I have a life, reader, I went to Bruge today with my friend A, and it was brilliant. But still, generally speaking, it's nice and boring, and I can watch all the episodes of Dr Who I like.)

Anyway. As soon as you stop making impolite comments about my social networking skills, I'll be able to tell you the subject of today's post, i.e. The Top 5 Works of Filmed Fictions that Broke My Heart so Bad I couldn't Stop Crying Even After the Credits Were Over. A long title. As always, this list is not classed in any way, nor is it exhaustive. It's just the one I came up with tonight.

1. Moulin Rouge. Broke my heart. Made me cry and cry, and after I came out of the cinema, I wasn't happily ashamed of myself, like I was at the end of Amelie, when me and my sister M gave a big, loud and simultaneous sob as soon as the movie was over. I was down and sad, and it didn't go away until I reached home. Then I remembered the Elephant Love Medley and Ewan McGregor's teeth and all and I felt slightly better (also I went and saw it again and again -and again- with my best friend V, and then I was so focused on his eyes and his eyebrows smiling before he did in "Your Song" that I mostly flew home and sang The Beatles' "Till there was you" all the way). The first movie by far that touched me that much, as well as one of the first of a huge lot of great movie-going experiences with said best friend V.

2. The Dead Poet's Society. Saw it once, didn't understand any of it, saw it when I was old enough to relate, and now I still get shivers when I think about that O Captain my Captain thing when they all climb on their desks. (Yeah, I know, that's not very original, but it's definitely in my top five I think, even in the classed and exhaustive one). It's that sense of waste and the good things that are said about human nature that do the trick in this case. Faith and regret and love. I like it.

3. Well, there we go, I talked about it, I'd better write about it now, Dr Who's "The Human Nature" and the follow up episode called "The Family of Blood". Now I know I might well sound lame, it's just Dr Who, it's for kids and all, but these two episodes are simply something else. The Doctor becomes human for a change, he quits being a Time Lord (you don't need to know nor understand the reasonsfor that, really, they really are lame), and he forgets all about what he used to be. The episodes are mostly about Martha Jones, his companion on the Tardis, starting to think that even without their love being impossible, it still would be. It's one of these occurances when the screenwriters just went too far. It's too sad to be enjoyable, and it quite simply depresses me, but they still are my favourite episodes of Dr Who ever, because they say so much about the characters and they say it so well, and you know me, the Doctor, Martha Jones, I think they're just brilliant, the both of them. I must admit this might not be on my top 5 in 2 days' time, but I saw these episodes tonight, and I just HAD to tell you about them, because they are such good GOOD episodes.

4. Devdas. Oh, yeah, Devdas. The lady and the tramp (only it's rather the prince and the lady-tramp, only calling Aishwarya Rai a tramp simply won't do, not on any occasion, not even a lady-one), but which would end terrrrribly wrong. The worst ending in the history of cinema (in that it is terribly sad, of course, not in a Matrix Revolutions kind of way). Plus music, plus costumes, plus curry, plus Chandramukhi. I love it. The movie is 4 hours long, more than worth the time if you watch it on a big screen. Allow one good hour to get over the heartbreak (oooh, the heartbreak, break brrrreak, chanananan). And do not forget to take one big sister with you, it's a sine qua non condition, you definitely cannot go alone.

5. Buffy's Acathla. I'm actually still not over it. It's too mean to do that to a character, it's cruelty for the pleasure of being cruel to your character. It's beautiful and great and I loved every bit. Actually, now that I come to think of it, I'll make number 5 a global award to the amazing works of Joss Whedon : the Acathla episode was brilliant, the one when Giles leaves for England left permanent salted-water stains on the carpet of the living-room, Spike alone would deserve an entire top 5. And let us not forget the regretted team of Firefly, who managed to make me cry when watching the bonus material. I so wish we could have seen more.

There you go, reader. A new top 5. It is now officially 4 in the morning here in Belgium, and more than time for people like me to get their beauty sleep if they do not want to look like the whole cast of Dawn of the Dead rolled into one tomorrow morning (Ghrrrruuuuuuhh). And I'd like to know more about your own top 5 ! Tell me more, tell me more!

Kissing all the girls and blowin' the bad guys away...

Hey reader !

I'm all ecstatic and glad and happy because guess what: I have internet in my room ! I am right now writing from my little room in Brussels, and I don't even have to spend a penny on coffee ! How about THAT! I've been in a brilliant mood ever since I came back anyway, because I've had great holidays in Alsace, and I've seen all my friends and partied, and slept and laughed, and I feel great. Also, I did not have classes today, so I pretty much spent all day sitting here watching Torchwood and eating grapes, until I realised I had access to the net, at which point I pretty much came directly here. I guess I might be high on vitamin C, I eat so little fruit, usually... Also I've seen James Marsters, in Torchwood (you know, Buffy's Spike?) and he always makes me smile.

Anyway. So yeah, I'm back, and I can write the long awaited post about Quantum of Solace. (Long awaited by me, since I've been wanting to see the bloody movie ever since the credits first rolled on Casino Royale). I am not going to write some more about the shower scene in Casino Royale. I'm just going to mention it, because it's so great. I'm also not going to write some more about how cool Daniel Craig is. I'm just going to say, if I marry one day, I have a list from a previous post about being 7 feet tall, liking curry and wearing a cape, well, now, he'll also have to be able to lift up a moped + its rider single handedly. That was just SO cool Mr Bond, really.

But let me not be diverted from my holy mission by any weird looking Englishmen, however good they may be at lifting stuff off the ground: Let's get back to Quantum of Solace.

It is the male equivalent of a musical if you ask me. Replace the songs and dances by (truly amazing) stunts and wild chases, and leave the rest as it is. Well, nearly. It was pretty good, and really funny, once or twice, but it's a good thing that I had actually seen Casino Royale before, because the scenario is a little blurry, and it's all mostly about Vesper and revenge and understanding what happened exactly. Vesper, whom I missed a lot, because if you ask me Eva Green really did set really high scores as far as James Bond girls are concerned. She's just absolutely brilliant. Her successor is pretty good, but not nearly as good as she was.

Also, it was really moving at times, only I couldn't really concentrate because

a) I was too distracted by the weird looking Englishman's putting on his coat/wearing beige trousers/smiling (once, maybe, I think)/being extremely cool and sleek and great on every level.

b) I was too busy trying to understand what the hell was going on with the evil, rat-looking French villain (I saw the movie with my friends V and A, and some details still escaped us after putting together our different understandings of the scenario.)

c) I was too distracted by the stupid stupidheads who came to see the movie just so that they could annoy other viewers. Honestly, could anyone tell me why these guys pay for their tickets? They spend their time calling each other (on the phone, yeah), playing video games (on the phone, re-yeah) and going in and out of the cinema...

d) I was too busy trying to understand why they had chosen such a weird, uncomfortable title. Kind of understood why in the end, but I still wish they had called it something dumb like "Don't die until tomorrow", "Diamonds are nice and shiny" or "Go ahead and shoot people". Hee hehe. Daniel Craig in "Go ahead and shoot people". Now that's appealing.

Well, this post is getting really really long, so I'll just stop now, and maybe go for a walk or something, because all the oxygen in my room will soon have been used up completely. Just two things before I go:

a) Here's to F, who's in Japan. Hope you're having a truckload of fun! Two truckloads ! A lot and a lot ! Sleep a little, if you can, and go see James Bond when you come back, I'm pretty sure you'll like it. Not quite as inspiring as the first one, but there still are interesting stuff about raw materials ;)

b) David Tennant has stepped down as Dr Who. He was, is, and will probably always stay the best Doctor in the Galaxy. I hope we'll get to see him in plenty and plenty of other stuff (I hear he's going for a career in theaters now, which is great, but come on, what about me? I'm in France, I can't go all the way to London to watch you!) However, if you hear me, David T Russel, I know of a guy, he's brilliant, would make a wonderful Doctor, and keeps playing in verry verrrrry bad movies in recent times. I'm sure he'd be delighted of the opportunity. A guess, anyone ? -yeah, that one's really hard...

I want it all (pouinouinouinnnn) I want it aaaaaalll....and I want it NOW!

Hi reader!

Tis me again! Today, I will not be complaining about next year, because, guess what, I have found another, a bigger thing to complain about. Is that not great news? Luckily for me, it has got nothing to do with my personal life.

I have been surfing the Internet lately, and I have read quite a lot about actors and actresses, because as you know, I am interested in cinema. (Who said "is cinema French for gossip?" in that sarcastic tone? It's not nice. Not nice at all. If you keep on being mean to me, I'll start crying about not being in Year 2 again...)

I have thus been able to read plenty of articles calling a great variety of actors and actresses "the greatest movie star ever". This has annoyed me a little on Hollywood-related websites. Please, people, do get together and decide who the greatest movie star ever really is (more to the point, decide that Paul Bettany is), because this is getting extremely confusing and unprofessional (especially the fact that you very seldom recognize that it is Paul Bettany). I am not here talking about fan-blogs and the like, because they are obviously entitled to call the object of their long, loving posts "greatest movie star ever", of course (except maybe when they are writing about Scarlett J.... OK, OK, I'll leave her alone...). I am talking about serious newspapers.

This seems to reach unprecedented frequency in articles about Bollywood stars. Writers of articles about Bollywood seem to either have no imagination whatsoever, or to rely solely on fan-blogs to write their articles. Find me, please, reader, an article about a specific indian actor or actress who has not been called the King, Queen, Prince, Duke, Count or Baronnet of Bollywood. Ben Kingsley does not count. And neither do Lost's Sayid nor Heroes' cute Doctor (Aaaah, Heroes' cute doctor...). I am only talking about Bollywood actors.

First of all, royal family comparisons are really lame, and completely unoriginal : "The King of this" and the "Queen of that" should be used only by matress outlets in lousy shopping centers.

The only good thing I find about it would be that, provided we take the title a little seriously, it would be a good idea to ask their highnesses to behave a little more nobly. "Hoy, King Khan, put that shirt back on this INSTANT! This is not allowed by the protocol" like that... I'm sure it would make Indian cinema more popular, more serious and more interesting all of a sudden. A real royalty could make it look a little less cheap. I mean, look at Devdas if you want proof: Noble families who take themselves reaaaally seriously, and poof: the least cheap-looking indian movie ever shot!

Anyway. That was today's rant by the self proclaimed Baronness of the Blogosphere. Have a nice day (and I mean it! Have a nice day!)

Maybe tomorrow...

Fuh reader...

I watched Crash today and I loved it and loved it. It's got to be the best movie of its kind that I have ever seen, and honestly, I think it might be one of the best movies ever shot. I should not sound too enthusiastic, in case you have not seen it, because otherwise you're bound to be disappointed. Though honestly, I hardly see how one could not love it.

It was directed by Paul Haggis, who's a famous screenwriter, and it's mostly about people in L.A. and how they deal with racism. It's a story of many characters, whose lives are changed by bigger issues, and about how they deal with it at their own little level, and how they all are, in a way or another, connected to one another. You've already seen the movie, and it was called Babel? I see what you mean. People are doing that more and more, and I always love the idea and mostly love what comes out of it. But Crash came first, and it's by far the best of the results (if you ask me. Which you did not. But I'm still telling you).

People will tell you about the scene with Thandie Newton and Matt Dillon and the burning car, and it is one of the best scenes of the movie, but it's got so many high points, it would be just about impossible to talk about them all, or tell you which of the stories touched me most, or which moment I prefered. The great thing is how believable all these people are. It makes you live the story through the eyes of many many people, and it make you see the story from sides you would never have explored otherwise, and honestly, I don't understand how a Scot can have written that all by himself. He's a genius, if you ask me. The movie's genius anyway.

If I had one little thing to say against it, it would be... but no. I'm not saying it. Maybe if you're watching the movie for the first time, you don't see it, so I'll just shut up and give my opinion to people who've seen the movie already. If you know me, I'll lend it to you, and if you're French or Belgian, you can go to the Fnac, the DVD only costs 10€ this week. Oh, and you get 3 DVD for 20€. I bought Casino Royale (the shoooooower sceeeeeene *_*) and also Children of Men to make it three (the flip-flop sceeeene °_°). Maybe I'll tell you about Children of Men in a later post. Maybe when I have checked I have not already told you about it. I'm not so sure anymore. Whoa, this blog's getting out of hand! This blog's becoming the USB stick of my brain!!

Besides that, there's not much to say, started this post with a masterpiece, ended it with "Claire's clever shopping tips", I guess I'll just go to bed now. Puh... Oh, and I did not tell you about my interview yesterday... Well, here's a picture of Jean Pierre Jouyet, if I may give you just one tip in life, it would be to Wikipediate his name.

Have a good night, and be happy. Spreaaaaaad love!! :)

PS: If this post looks ugly and the paragraphs are all cranky, please do not resent me, I'm doing my best, but Blogger has an html sickness tonight. Get well soon, Blogger!

And a bottle of rum...

\o/ Revolution, people!

I have found a new and worthy cause to blog! Yeah, well, to write a short post, is more like it.

I have been re-watching the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies with my friend V lately, and I liked them much better than I had watching them the first time (especially the second one, which is actually quite funny. I just wish Keira Knightley would... well, I'd better not. Else, I'm going to have to write the "here be spoilers" message again...)

Anyway, here is a post about technical dialogues in movies. Though I'm not sure "technical" is the word. Maybe "specialized" would be more suited, and "annoying" would certainly best describe it, only it would make the concerned area much much wider.

I must say I don't always agree with myself on this subject, but concerning Pirates of the Caribbean, I certainly do. Why did the writer bother writing all the stuff about "brick the hammock" and "lower the starboard withshpik?" Guys, face it, no one knows what you are talking about!! At least when Dr House talks business, you learn actual vocabulary and grasp some little meaning. But in Pirates of the Caribbean, the sound of crashing waves prevent you from hearing half of it, and even if you did, you are absolutely not likely to ever understand what any of it refers to.

It is annoying to the same degree in some science fiction series I know of. I refer here to Dr Who, for example, who saves the world by the sheer power of convenient twists of his time Lord technology. It is OK by me. I am NOT watching the series because I find it believable. I am NOT interested in your pathetically trying to convince me it is. All I want is more David Tennant being cool. Spare me the "I crashed the screwdrivers' laser timewinder into the machine's bloopster". I do not care.

I hope you hear me, dialogue writer. Tonight, I'm off to see Indiana Jones with me friends, I do hope you'll have made an effort :)

O captains my captains!

Well, I figured I might as well talk about my top 5 favourite male characters. It's going to be much much tougher. It's going to be terrible, I guess. Even worse than the 5 female character's I'd most like to be. Once more, I feel like I have to make excuses, so I'll just say it again: It's not classified in any kind of order, and it's just today's top 5, it's incomplete and some people who are not on it might very well turn out to deserve to be in it much more than those who actually are.

Well, I guess I'd better just shoot instead of being terribly boring.


1. Captain Jack Sparrow. Yeah. Oh Captain, my Captain... Ultimately cool, really. Funny, witty, and incredible looking. I think it might well be my favourite movie character ever. You just can't beat Captain Jack sparrow.

2. OK, so I'll start grouping people up, because otherwise I'm never ever going to make it. In the same bag, right here, I'll put Spike, (Buffy's Spike), because he's incredibly funny and carries the whole last season on his shoulders as well as many an episode with Riley the Endive in it. (Endive = Chiccory, by the way, I just checked that up in the dictionnary). He's English, too, by the way, and he's got a nice voice. Next in point two comes Malcolm Reynolds. It's in point two as well because it's a Joss Whedon Character. And next in point two (again) comes Han Solo, because I like him for the same reasons as Malcolm Reynolds, and I wouldn't want to have written them twice: they are strong and stubborn and more or less reliable, only you know they are when it really matters, and they are classy and fun, and they are at war with their respective beloved, (a Princess with LONG LONG HAIR for one, and a prostitute for the other) only everyone knows they love each other. In the end, I'm sure they'd have ended up together, in Firefly, if only Fox had given them time enough to get back together.

3. (I guess I'd better stop cheating... but then again...) Rohit, in Kal Ho Naa Ho. Rohit is in love with Naina, only she's in love with someone else. And he's incredibly generous and kind about it. Besides, he's fun, as well. Fun really is important. And he's got a nice smile, and he's doing that weird thing with his legs while dancing the disco, which really amazes me. OK, so I guess I'd put Colonel Brandon in there as well, because they are both unlucky in love, and very generous about it. Colonel Brandon comes from Sense and Sensibility. He's in love with Marianne Dashwood, only she's unhappy in love with Willoughby, who's a terrible, terrible person. I guess Colonel Brandon also has my vote because he's played in the movie by Alan Rickman, who is a great actor, with an incredible voice, and said he wanted to tear Robin Hood's heart out with a teaspoon in another movie. I doubt that he can do that weird thing with his legs while dancing the disco, though, but then again, I'm not even sure I'd want to see him try...

4. Now comes my Number 4, also called "cool englishmen". It's a really far fetched association, I'll admit (though, honestly, it doesn't seem as terrible as Rohit and Colonel Brandon), but I'd say Geoffrey Chaucer in a Knight's Tale (Ahhh, Paul Bettany!! He's just brilliant! The accent, the height (Taller than me!!) the class and the backside... ) and Dr Who. I don't know, they both look like overgrown asparaguses (asparaguss? apsaragus? asparaguzs?), and one of them has got eyeballs twice the normal size, but I'll say it again, would David Tennant ever care to come knock on my door and ask me if I'd travel to the past with him, I'd say yes immediately. I think. Not to mention Paul Bettany. I'd probably do a little dance first (which might make him run away even before hearing my answer).

5. Inigo Montoya. From the Princess Bride. He's just brilliant. You want him to win so badly really. It doesn't happen too often, mostly revenge doesn't seem to me as a very valuable cause, but Inigo... I don't know. Maybe it's because of his cool speach, might explain it. "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die". Clear and concise, explains it all... I give him a vote too.

Now I hope Dr House never comes on this blog, nor Moulin Rouge's Christian and Much Ado About Nothing's Benedick, nor the Dead Poet's Society's Captain, nor Neo... ugh... I'm going straight to hell for being a terrible ungrateful person.

Have a nice day! I'll go roast in guilt!

My shirt, my hat, my books, my trip to the zoo...

New idea, reader!! For a change, instead of writing stuff about the latest book I read, or the latest movie I saw, I thought I'd tell you about the five female fictional characters I'd most like to be. Once more, I am afraid I did not classsify them in any kind of order. I classified them in the order in which they came up, in fact. Besides, as most of my top fives, they are just today's top five, and not any kind of general and eternally right top five. I might write a completely new one tomorrow. You never know. Soooo, let's go...

1. Jane Eyre. Well, she's not pretty, and if I could, I'd rather be an incredibly pretty and wondrous creature with glamorous lips and a pretty glow to her skin. Rather than a "sprite". But I'd still put her in my top 5 list of the fictional characters I'd most like to be like. Just because she's nice and lives true to her principles. She's independant and loving, she's solid and well... I just wish I could be more like Jane Eyre. Like perfect.

2. Martha Jones. Now I expect this one's not going to be recognized by too many, she's the Doctor's friend in Dr Who. I wish I could be her, just because she gets to do so many cool things, and had he ever asked me to follow him to some weird trip in his time machine, I'd have said yes too. Maybe. I wish I were Martha Jones, once in a while. Aslo she's pretty and strong and clever and all. What's not to like ?

3. Elizabeth Bennet. Complete lack of originality for this pick, I know, but well, Elizabeth Bennet... What wouldn't I give to ride horses in a great big park under the willow trees in the company of Mr Darcy? I said Elizabeth Bennet, but I would also like to be more like Elinor Dashwood, who is perfect as well. And suits my purpose of riding horses under willow trees in the company of gentlemen. Only if I ever did ride a horse under a willow tree, I'd be likely to get swollen and red in a matter of seconds, and to have bloated eyes and a running nose, which would not be so romantic I guess. But then again, if I were Elinor Dashwood indeed, I would not have been allergic to horse because ozon would not have made me allergic, and I'd probably be just fine. Long evenings by the fire, embroidering purses and talking about Shakespeare's sonnets, here I come. Only I've never read any of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Well, I can remedy that, for sure.

4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Because she hardly ever complains and she's so strong. Now that I come to think of it, I'd also like to be Zoe, and Inara (except I might choose another line of business), Kaylee, Willow and nearly all female characters in Joss Whedon's fictions. Well. You know. They're all ulitmately cool. Except for River Tam, Drusilla and Glory, who are just a little too weird for me to really like. But still. Good thing too, they rarely have anything to do with horses, what with flying around in spaceships or living in an American city, so it's quite all right. Besides, what wouldn't I do to be a crew member of Captain Reynolds, or one of Spike's acquaintances?

5. Princess Leïa. THE HAIR! THE LONG LONG HAIR!! And also, Han Solo. And the style. And the coolness. And the cool tresses. Which takes us back to THE HAIR!! THE LONG LONG HAIR!!Then again, I don't exclude the possibility of my being allergic to Ewoks. Sad but true. Anything hairy, but me, and then again.

Now I'm sure I've forgotten a good dozen of the fictional character's I'd most like to be (not to mention the fact that it's probably fictitious and not fictional), but that's what I thought of today. Might be a 'continued' post, you never know...

Tengo la Camisa Negra

Well, this title hardly has anything to do with the movie I saw last night, but these are the only words I can say in Spanish, with "me llamo Clarita" and I'm pretty sure there must be some kind of grammar mistake in there somewhere. (Beside the fact that it's not my name, of course, but Clarita sounds much better, in Spanish, don't you think?)

As I said, I went to the cinema yesterday, and saw a spanish movie (in French, because in my town's cinema, they don't do dubbing) called "El Orfanato" (oh, mad! Another two words in Spanish!!). It was a horror movie, and as usual when I go see horror movies, I spent quite a lot of time wondering what the hell was making me go see these kind of films. Indeed, Reader, once it starts being real freaky (what usually is because of the music more than because of the images), I keep thinking that I'd rather be home, and yet I always go see more... Beats me...

I like horror movies though, mainly because the stories (when there is one, which is not always the case) is often really sad, or good, or poetic, in El Orfanato's case, it was all three. Besides, it did not fall into the terrible trap of showing you a monster or gross things all along, because when people (directors mostly) do that to me, I quickly get used to it and lose interest in the whole movie. This time, there was only one really gross scene with an old lady getting hit by an ambulance (gross) but apart from that, it was mostly just terrifying. Especially one part where the nice lady gets attacked by a creature with a bag upon its head, which makes strange breathing noises, and which you can see coming from the other end of the corridor. Terrifying.

But as I said, it was a very good terrifying movie, and if you have a chance of seing it, don't hesitate. Only beware. It doesn't make you sick, unlike Cloverfield, but it's pretty creepy, and if you're prone to nightmares, you'd better have a Disney DVD waiting at home!! I'd say Peter Pan would be suitable!

Have a nice evening, reader, I hope I'll write again soon! (Yeah, I haven't been very productive lately...)

La vie en rose

Oui, reader, today is the day to get patriotic again. Cause I'm French. You know what they say about the French. They are rude, and they smell like garlic. But mostly, they are very proud. I don't think I'm too rude, and I sure hope I don't smell like garlic, but I am a little proud, I must say. Opportunistic would be more like it. And today, Reader, Marion Cotillard, (she's French) won the Oscar for Best Actress.

Hell, I don't even think I've ever seen a movie whith Marion Cotillard in it (well, yeah, I have seen Taxi...), but hey, she's French! So I'm very proud. Besides, she was so happy, I just wanted to say I was happy for her too. So thank you Marion Cotillard, for giving me a reason to show off (ha ha, I'd use any reason to show off, it's like a profession...), for making me happy, and for making the cutest acceptance speech ever.

Other than that, I must say I don't have much to say, maybe because I've been on holidays this past week, and I haven't done much, apart from working and working and sleeping and hanging around at home. Not much to blog about.

But I also have a thank you note to pass to radio presenters... I just wanted to thank them, especially local ones, because they are always so nice. Not the ones who speak all the time and mostly make stupid jokes, but the one who just present songs. Because mostly, they only ever say nice things and wish us well, and tell us to be careful on the road, they never ever complain, and no one ever sees their face. They are the closest you come to angels, in the media. Apart from health journalists in Belgium of course, but they are a special breed ;)

Anyway. I'm going to go now, and eat something, because I'm really really hungry. So have a nice evening, reader, and a good week, too, while I'm at it. And be careful on the road!!

Coculine, quand tu pars en voyage, Coculine, dans les virages y'a toujours Coculine...

Yeah, reader, as you might have guessed, I went to the movies again yesterday, and saw "Cloverfield".

Anyway. Cloverfield is a very brave movie, to be watched only by people who are not prone to car-sickness. Indeed, the main idea of the movie, in case you did not know (which I doubt, because everybody's heard about Cloverfield), is that what you're watching the result of what a guy filmed during a whole night. Night during which Godzilla attacked New York. So basically, put a camera, Godzilla, three people, the American armed forces and some blood in a salad spinner, and make it go round and round as fast as you can. Then, take out the camera, pick out the corpses, and Ta-DAAA!! You're JJ Abrams!!

Well, apart from the fact I (really) had to stay very focused and keep my head back in order not to puke on my neighbour (whose technique against pukiness was to breathe extremely slowly and loudly. Like that better than getting puked on myself, but honestly, I whish he had found something else...), I think it was a pretty good movie. Not amazingly good, or anything, as I said, it was very difficult to watch, what with the camera moving all the time... but the characters were pretty good, you end up liking them, and they did not take too many stupid decisions, just so that the scenario would be more interesting.

The only stupid decision they took, actually, was to cling to the bloody camera, instead of running for their lives and having real conversations with one another. But then again, if they had dropped the ting (which has outstanding batteries, honestly... Amazing... It can light a whole tunnel, fall down, be half eaten by a monster, and still keep running for about 12 hours... I need to figure out what model that was...), there would have been no movie...

Anyway. I'm going to go have dinner now, and enjoy the stableness of my everyday life... If you feel like going to see Cloverfield, reader, go ahead, it's interesting...