Pour un ami

Eye

This is not someone else's eye. It's mine.
I just love taking picture of people's eyes, especially my husbands.
And yes, again, lomo.

The Metro

Metro, the underground, is always a fascinating space.
The best film I have seen about it is a Hungarian film called Kontroll (2003).

This is just Paris metro, not as fascinating or mysterious at all.

Boogie

I'm listening to Boogie music.
What is Boogie? I don't really know.
I just feel like making a photo like this...of the sweather i'm wearing.

And yes, I love the lomo effect.

Wrong WB

This is actually a 'mistake'.
After a long break (in fact, I wasn't lazy, I was spending too much time fixing a lot of photos for developing, so I got fed up with this diary for the weekend), I finally took up my camera and tried my best to make some shots in my flat that is interesting.

And this came from a wrong WB setting; but the result is beautiful!

That's why they always say: experiment, experiment and experiment.

A study of hands

What can I say?
Picture perfect hand. Thank you my friend for giving me a hand.

The Strange World

Today I was looking at the bathroom shelf.
What a strange world of full of plastic!
So ugly and yet so...omnipresent!

My favorite Woody Allen

Manhattan (Wpody Allen, 1979)
This is my favorite Woody Allen film (alongside with Annie Hall). But this one is a killer: noir et blanc, with Gershwin's music, it's just classic!
I am not really going to write about this film yet; I haven't watched this film recently, and the reason that I am writing this entry is because I AM GOING TO WATCH IT on the BIG SCREEN!
I love Paris for it's passion in cinema and films, especially old films; I have almost watched most of Woody Allen's recent work (from 1980 onwards) in Paris, and I just love it!

If you happen to read this blog, and happen to be another Woody Allen fan, and if you happen to be in Paris this weekend, you should go to Forum Des Images this Friday night and watch Manhattan, either for the first time, the second time, the third time (like me) or the whatever time!

Long live Cinema!

Obsession

Guess I don't have to describe my obsession too much.
It's with the eye and also with gimp.

Confession

This is actually an old picture.
Inside an old church, the empty confession room is haunted with nostalgia.

When I'm sixty-four...

I wish I will be doing the same thing...
like everyday now

Alice and RocknRolla

I have watched two films in one day; surely a luxury. And it is somehow against my principle about not watching more than one film a day, because you just can't do justice to any of them when you are overloaded.

However, Alice is an absolute must for yesterday, and for my little collection of yet another Woody Allen film with growing affection, and then RocknRolla was actually a surprise choice, the result of an ill-fated match between Johan and a drama film (Two Lovers, which I will soon go to see).

Alice (Woody Allen 1990)

I just love Woody Allen! Not him personally (heard enough complaints about his personal life, especially the love life part) but he is just brilliant and so my cup of tea! Honestly Mia Farrow is not my favorite Woody actress (my favorite is Diane Keaton, absolutely not Scarlett Johansson, although she can be a good actress). I found Mia too often looking a bit too hysterical and fragile to me. And I don't like the way her voice sounds, but she is always perfect in the films.

This film is a typical crazy Woody Allen comedy with funny little lines inserted throughout the film. Now that I have seen a few Woody's films, I begin to recognize his typical humor. Even when she says a line in the film, I don't have to see Woody Allen's face but can imagine that line rolling out from his mouth. And unlike my husband, I found his jokes very funny, mostly because they are neurotic and silly, and meant to be this way.

This is one of the films that has a clear message; for me, not too common with his films. But I love his obsession with old fashioned music, graphic and general ambience. His films (not the news ones, perhaps) always have a nostalgic tone in it, which I adore. I noticed one flash-back/mental image scene which looks a lot like those of Bergman. They typical obsession with religion and sense of guilt, being put in this film in a bitter-sweet way. The subjects are always serious (marriage, personal value, sense of mission, love and betrayal) but the presentations are light. It gives you something without over-lecturing or boring you.

(*****)

RocknRolla (Guy Richie, 2008)


This is the opposite of Allen's films: Big casts, fast pace, flashing cutting, lots of actions and looks very sleek and good. But EMPTY.
I have to say, I didn't even like Rock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. That is supposed to be his best films and I just didn't like it. I always like the cute Brittish accents but that doesn't save this film. The stylish graphics and movements and cutting neither.

The film is about some real estate tyrants trying to do dirty business and get involved with all the other minor lowlifes. Sorry that my summary isn't too precise but the story is obviously not the point of this film. It's about the visual styles and the apper-to-be-witty dialogues. Sorry, didn't get that.

The characters are empty, the story is weak if it ever existed; the actors and actresses (only one female) can't do anything else than looking one-dimensional and cool (yeah, these days, looking cool is everything), which is the role they are given to play. It has way too many characters and way too many lines and plots and music and cutting. It is like a long long MV, flashy and perhaps tasty for most people. But then, after the film, you are left with nothing.

Definitely not my cup of tea, even though the film 'looks' good.

(* for the visual style)

p.s. I have seen enough film to see how empty this film is by simply looking at the stylish and all-too-perfect poster. But what can you do if your other-half is way too attracted to a roller-coaster film experience?

My humble attempt

My humble attempt has led to the death of this roll of film---a cruel reminder of how careless I am, and how much I have forgotten about my past. A distant past.

3 years ago, I brought this manual camera to Edinburgh and tried to take photos with it; then, I just forgot about it completely and if it wasn't for the Xmas project this year, which is to take films and then develop them in my father-in-law's dark room, I wouldn't have found out about the dying battery and this roll of film could have not seen the day light.

I killed them, nonetheless, and let's hope I have not also killed my Canon AE1 with my usual carelessness!

Dancing

Just realized that I always take the weekend off when it comes to my photo diary.
This is actually an old photo I took 2 weeks ago in Montmartre.
Obviously I tried to have some fun with the photo, and hope it doesn't turn out to be too eerie.

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds (Paul Newman, 1972)

This is one of the saddest film I have seen. It's so real and moving that I felt very heavy when was watching the film, whispering: please, please don't hurt each other anymore.

It's a film by Paul Newman. I always find Paul Newman very very good looking, along with my fascination of the cinema of the 70s. However, I really respect him even more about this film, so as to all the actors (especially the mom and the little daughter) for their brilliant performances.

It's about a single mom and her two daughters. It is about how life can turn out to be very different from you expected, when you were young. It's about how cruel the world is, and how more cruel it can be if we don't love each other and take care of the ones we love and should love. I felt very very sorry for the little daughter. She's so bright, so good, and yet she doesn't get the love she deserves from her mom, even though she keeps trying and trying her best. I really don't like the older daughter and the film doesn't really provide any ground for her annoying behaviour except for the fact that she might had horrible experience before and she is ill.

I felt so sad because in this film, every one is a victim. And it is not like you can blame anyone for the other person's misfortune. It must be very tough for the mom to bring up 2 daughters on her own, possibly without a job; it must be very tough to look up to such a mom, so corrupted by her miserable life and bitter disappointment; yet, she must loves her daughters, or else that she is just losing grip with everything around her. Even though she doesn't seem to be trying a lot in the film, her bitterness is all over the film and even though she's not really a likable character, you can't be angry with her.

For me, this is a film about disappointment in this world. I guess it is all too easy to get disappointed by little things, like when the older daughter wants to go to this date while ignoring every single responsibilities she should take for the family members who she should love. She hates her mother, hates all the old people who lived and died in the house. Unlike her, the little daughter is quiet and mature, taking care of her family while showing interest in science. As innocent and kind as her is, she can't save herself from disappointments: from her mom, from her favourite science teacher, from her sister (probably) and the world.

However, there is hope, even though at the end of the film I could only see the pain of everyone, especially the one of the little one. She told her mom: No, I don't find this world hard to live in, and I don't hate it (paraphrasing). That's her view before the climax (the absense and craze of her mom during the science fair, the death of her only affectionate object). Would she still be so strong after all these? We don't know.

I hope she can.

An excellent film. I can't really put my thoughts and emotions together and write straight. Sorry for the messy comments. (6 stars, everyone who cares about real emotions and lives should go see it).

Lace

This is by no means erotic.
It's just a beautiful pattern. That's all.

Old window

My mother-in-law told us we have old windows in this apartment.
And so I loved the reflection it makes, especially when it's blurred.

Xmas

This is Xmas.
Simply Gorgeous.

Ciao Belle

I am trying to pick up this belle.
But first I need to get a battery.

Play

Just to play.
Comme tu veux.

New Toy

This is my new toy: Marine Band.
Thought it is not meant for beginners, I will do my best.

Raspal

It's not blood.
Just paint.

Montmartre

Weekend in Montmartre is great.
So many spectacles.

Goumand

We went all the way to Bercy for Carrefour...just to make these

Blue Glass

Johan said it's for the wind.
I said it's for the view.

Xmas light

This is the Xmas lights of Galarie Lafayett.
It's the most beautiful one that I have seen.

warmth

It's so cold in the flat.
Had to light a candle and this to keep myself warm.

Hope

It's a special day.

Blue

Can it get any darker?
A taint of blue.

To grap a drink

'Smoke' is very close to us, and the thrill of the night and being in the crowds is too.

Securtiy

It was pouring in Paris again.
I bought a helmet.

Again

it's raining and raining and raining!
Worse, it's cold!

My 2eme take

Okay. This can be boring. But this is my 2eme take with Gimp and photo shoot of shoes.

Into the Wild

Into the Wild, 2007, Sean Penn

I am going to keep it brief, so I can write something on every film I watch (esp. with my brilliant UGC card).
This is one of the best films I have seen recently. This owes a lot to the story. After graduating, Christopher McCandless went on a soul searching trip in United States and ended up spending the rest of his days in Alaska before he died at the age of 24, in 1992.

What strikes me most was his death in the film. I always thought he would have made it, after all his adventures and he was such a bright and great kid. Johan and I had a discussion. I was not sad but calm. After the initial surprise, I soon realized that even if he did not actively commit suicide, he chose to go on this trip of solitude and even arguably he could have better prepared himself, it just somehow ended consistent with what he had being trying to do. I do not know him or the whole story (who would? probably not even himself), but what would he have become if he made it out to the society which he despise so much? I do not know.

At the end of the film, the character wrote 'Happiness is only real when shared'. That must have upset a lot of people, seeing his death as tragic. But to some people, his death could just be a matter of naiveness, because all sane people would have brought a map before going to the wild in Alaska (I read about this on wikipedia, so this is completely not for sure). They may think that he simply commited suicide.

No matter what, this film makes me think, and it probably makes a lot of people think: what does society do to us? What are we, human?

Brilliant, inspiring and mind-blowing (5, if possible 6)

The Purple Rose of Cairo

The Purple Rose of Cairo (2008, Woody Allen)


Johan kindly reminded me that there are other films being shown other than Woody Allen's. The wonderful La Filmothèque du Quartier Latin is doing a retrospective on Woody, and it is now ending. I really want to see Annie Hall on the big screen, but I am afraid with this kind of weather and the dark, I would not want to go out at 20h.

So this film is new to me. And it is funny, sad, and pretty much crazy. That's the true Woody Allen, I suppose. Only he will come up with things like this: ulterly crazy, silly but harmless: one of the characters from the film The Purple Rose of Cairo walked out of the screen because he fell in love with Cecilia, a disappointed housewife who's obsessed with the cinema so as a way to get away from her unloving husband and unfulfilling waittress job.

The film ended on a rather sad note: Cecilia being deceived by the actor Gil and sent Tom, the perfect lover, back into the screen, while she later realized that she has lost everything. Was she to be blamed? She started off as a very naive woman, romanticizing about perfect love in the films, and lacked the courage to leave her husband who obviously no longer loved her. She was quite an annoying character actually. And then she met this perfect guy, walked out straight from the screen, and was completely devoted to her. But she actually fell for the real actor Gil, because he is 'real'. In the final confront, when she had to choose between Gil or Tom, the actress from The Purple Rose of Cairo (it's very complicated, you will have to watch the film to understand) told her that Tom is perfect, and she shouldn't choose 'reality' to 'perfection'. But Cecilia picked Gil, and told Tom that she has to be practical and realistic. I would have chosen Gil too, but then right after, I remembered that this was a trap: I actually did not realize this until Tom walked back onto the screen, that Gil was talking about finding a 'strategy' to make Tom go back to the film before Gil comicly, coincidentally also fell in love with Cecila.

So Gil was a good actor. He played it well and deceived Cecilia. But wait a minute: isn't this just a film anyway? With this film-within-film, this film is nonetheless a film as well. And to make it even funnier, Woody used the same name for both of the 'films'; what are they to talk about being fictional or realistic, when the characters in the film are merely talking about some other characters in another film-within-film? And who am I to judge, because I am merely talking to the characters of another film I happen to see last night?

It is all very bizzare, if you really think about it. The film is making fun of us! And Woody Allen is of course laughing when we respond and so on, even when he is making it so obvious, we (or at least me) still get tricked.

Fun little Woody (3.5)

My take

Got a bit inspired from the photo exhibition. I cannot seem to find the name of the photographer now, but I will keep looking.
First time using Gimp with RAW files. Will learn more.

Rain

Rain has stopped. But it will come back.

Darkness

What do you want in a dark winter night? (not winter yet, i'm sorry).
Light.
and
Warmth.

and...

Ipod: Easy. Compact. Broken.

continue...

Compat Disc: sharp. Light. Not stylish.

A study on music

Vinyl: Smooth. Soft. Classic.

Not a wedding ring..

but it's pretty nonetheless. We still have not bought our wedding ring but it is something you don't want to hurry about--even though we had found our 'dream' rings, we think. But when should we buy it?

What if...

That I know how to play a violin? This is actually a piano shop, tucked away on the same rue where the cute booked store is on. I peeped into the store and took a picture of the violin...which is just lying there. I thought about the film 'The Red Violin' which was not too good of a film actually; but a cursed violin...mmm.....the idea is still quite fascinating...

Keep reading...

This is a book store in my neighourhood. It is on a very cute street and they have a lot of old 'Cahier du cinema' magazines. I remember these from my film studies books and had thought about getting one for myself one day...one day when I can read some french, and this one day may have come already---why wait? Maybe I should go and get one tomorrow!

The dark mark

This has nothing to do with Harry Potter, even though I'm a big fan of the book.
This is just something which catches my eyes all the time when I go to Rue Dauphine. What have happened to this place? Was it burn marks? Or was it just ashes and dust? I do not know. The dark mark of something unfortunate, or just simply a mark of time? Or actually rien?
I let my imagination fly.

Yesterday, when I went out to take pictures for my little photo project 'my paris', I stood under a few trees for 10 minutes. Pour quoi? Because I wanted to capture the falling of a leaf, I want to capture a moment of autumn, a mark of time. Of course, leaves fell but I failed to capture any one of them.