Well, dear readers, it’s Monday, and hopefully Monday will bring no rain. The rain can go back to Spain and the plain, and the rain can go back to Georgia, but we’ve simply had enough rain for one week. The only upside of the rain was that it forced me to stay in the home environment and get some things done that needed doing, and I also caught up on some of my DVDs. What up was doing on my DVDs is another story for another day. Yesterday, for example, I only left home once, because I was out of Diet Coke and had to replenish, oh, yes, I had to replenish. Luckily, the ten minutes I was out doing said replenishing just happened to be ten minutes sans rain. Otherwise, I just sat around in my lounging pyjamas and smoking jacket and bunny slippers and ate tuna pasta salad all the livelong day and evening. The only downside of that kind of day is that there’s not much to report. Well, we’ve now had an upside and a downside in the very same paragaph. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Yesterday, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Intimate Strangers, un film de Patrice Leconte. I’d very much enjoyed Leconte’s last film, The Man on the Train. But, what I hadn’t realized until watching this new film is that Leconte directed two of my favorite French films of the last twenty years – Monsieur Hire and The Hairdresser’s Husband. I hadn’t realized it was the same person. I mean, you’d think they’d put mentions of those two films somewhere, since they’re both fairly well-known here in the States. In any case, to make a long story long, I really enjoyed Intimate Strangers – in fact, it’s a terrific film. There are no effects, no “big” scenes, no show-off moments – just an interesting tale well told. The two stars of the film (it’s essentially a two-character piece with a few others making occasional appearances) are great – in fact, I’d say they are the two finest performances I’ve seen this year. No Oscar-bait here – these are subtle, quiet, understated performances filled with wonderful moments and complexity. The leading man, whom I’ve never heard of before, is Fabrice Luchini, and the leading lady is an actress I’ve enjoyed many times, Sandrine Bonnaire. Moody score by Pascal Esteve (composer of Man on the Train), lovely photography, and very interesting costume design. The plot is simple: A woman, going on her first visit to a therapist, accidentally goes in the wrong office, a tax accountant, and she just begins telling him everything. He doesn’t tell her he’s not what she thinks, and she returns. She soon finds out, but continues to come back, and their relationship and bond is completely engrossing. It’s available from Paramount Home Video and the DVD looks and sounds great. Take a chance on this one, I think you’ll really enjoy it.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I feel there will be an upside and downside to doing so.
Well, the upside of having clicked on the Unseemly Button is that we’re in a new section. The downside of having clicked on the Unseemly Button is that this page is totally blank and I now have to fill it up with words, words, words (that is three little words).
I also watched Jacques Becker’s crime picture Touchez pas au Grisbi (Don’t Touch the Loot). I always enjoy a good early French crime picture, especially one starring Jean Gabin. Add to that an impossibly young Jeanne Moreau (this film came out in 1953), and the great Lino Ventura, along with a good supporting cast, and you have a good old-fashioned French film. The transfer is excellent and there are, as usual with Criterion, quite a few interesting extras.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Last night, I discovered three small moist spots on my bedroom rug – and since there was no evidence of a leak from the ceiling, I’m supposing that we had some flooding under that part of the house (the rain has been that intense for three days). When the rain finally subsides, they are going to need to have someone come out and repair the small place on the roof that’s leaking, and check under that part of the house. That’s the best part about leasing – I don’t have to worry about any of it.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must do some errands, make some notes (I’m in a note-making frenzy), eat some foodstuffs, and, if it’s dry out, go for a fershluganah walk. Today’s topic of discussion: Since I’ve had Li’l Abner on the brain, and since the movie has been announced for DVD, let’s do our haineshisway.com wrong casting for our very own revival of Li’l Abner. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, to which I can say that there is only an upside.