Tuesday 20 July 2010

Aller au cinema

This is the first in what will become a regular feature, not that regular, possibly do it again feature on foreign films. A fellow blogger and outstanding poet Kenia Kris asked me via comment on this blog if I liked French Cinema? And if I would write a blog post about French films well the answer is yes but where to begin on dissecting the film industry of that great Country? If I started a blog post about the influences of French New Wave cinema on Hollywood in the 60s and 70s I would need to start an all new blog for my other topics.

Well thankfully another friend had the answer 'Blog about the last French film you watched and go from there, du'h', the immortal words of some girl named Emma something or other eh, eh.... Oh yes Emma Murty, lol. The last French film I watched was the modern day classic known in France as "Ne le dis a personne" and to the English speaking part of the World as "Tell No One".

Tell No One (from 2006)

The film is adapted from a novel by Harlan Coben, Coben originally auctioned the rights to his book off in Hollywood with director Michael Apted attached but after that deal fell through Coben turned to French actor turned director Guillaume Canet who had been calling Coben up for months telling him his take on the book. Coben was impressed by Canet's vision for the story and his understanding that the book was a romance first and a thriller second something Coben believes Hollywood never truly realised. Starring Francois Cluzet who also appeared in French Kiss and Round Midnight and the always wonderful Kristin Scott Thomas, this is a must see movie and a great introduction to modern French cinema for anyone interested in the Foreign Film section of the local DVD store.

The plot centres around Alexandre Beck still tortured by his wife Margot brutal murder 8 years previously, a murder for which Alex was the prime suspect. Alex soon finds himself the prime suspect once again when two bodies are discovered near where the corpse of Margot was dumped 8 years previous leads the police to reopen Margot's case . The mystery escalates when Alex receives an E-Mail showing Margot older and alive. The supporting cast is fleshed out with familiar faces from modern French cinema including Andre Dussollier, Gilles Lellouche, Philippe Lefebvre and Florence Thomassin.

In my opinion Tell No One is one of the best thrillers of the last decade and has something for everybody, romance, action, twists and great performances all through the cast a real 4/5 stars film and it is also blessed with an outstanding soundtrack.

(oh and if any of those names are spelled wrong just remember I'm Scottish I can barely spell English words right)

Future film reviews in this series will include:
Mesrine
Prophet
36 (Quai Des Orfevres)
District 13
Two Days In Paris (don't blame me, picked by Ms. Murty)
Me News

Today was my weekly visit to the psychologist which I always look forward to, no that's not at all sarcasm. Today we were talking about the "3Rs" Relaxation, Recreation and Relationships and how important for someone in my position it is to not neglect any of these. My homework last week was to fill in an hour by hour schedule of what I did and how stressed it made me to do it. This homework was slightly annoying to be honest but it gives them something to work with to see if stress affects my seizures in any way, shape or form.

The one thing I noticed about this schedule was the amount of time I actually spend writing, the best part of six hours a day not including my blog or my activity on the discussion boards. Scary amount but apparently this counts as being productive towards one of the 3Rs, recreation. The other somewhat startling statistic is the lack of sleep I get, I hadn't ever sat down and tried to work out how many hours sleep I get a night before it turns out on average this is less than two and a half hours a night.

Don't be alarmed if you are in the same boat as me on the sleep front as lack of sleep doesn't really have any long term problems associated with it other than feeling sluggish, moody and forgetful and forgetful oh wait I already wrote that, lol. The other topic discussed today was me getting angry with myself when I'm in pain this adds to the stress levels so when I get angry towards myself I'm to remember and say 'What would I say to a friend that was in this position?' I'm guessing I would say something like 'I'm sorry to hear you're so ill that must really p*** you off, eh buddy?' Maybe that's an answer I'll keep to myself and think of a better one for therapy.

Oh and as it will really annoy my good friend Emma here is a picture of Ms Murty, say cheese!


Anyhoo

Thanking You
The Housebound Writer

12 comments:

  1. Emma Murty21 July, 2010

    Ahh shucks DrewBear putting a photo of me on your blog is a real sign of blogger romance next we’ll be getting married on a podcast babes, ROFL, I’ll gladly watch all those films with you I’ll even bring the popcorn if you bring the bear hugs and hey if the films aren‘t that interesting I can think of a few things to keep us busy.(winks)

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  2. Emma Murty21 July, 2010

    Is her name ^ seriously Emma Murty?
    If it is, mine is too :) just thought it was weird since Murty's a pretty uncommon last name...

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  3. Hey Emma you messing around trying to get me back for earlier or is this truly a different Emma Murty cause that would be weird?

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  4. Emma Murty21 July, 2010

    Not me babes honest either another Emma Murty or dun, dun, dun one of your online friends playing a prank on you, if that’s the case I say boo don’t mess with my man or you’ll have me to deal with!

    You up there Murty is not that strange of a last name in Scotland just spelled differently sometimes. Drewbear talk to you tomorrow and remember * **** ***! Giggles.

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  5. OK...so is it really two Emma Murty's?

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  6. Emma Murty (the real one, lol)21 July, 2010

    I think it’s a prank Jazz because I’m the only non bloger who comments on this blog and the other “Emma” had no Google ID or bloger ID.

    Hey Drew you need to read your Email more often big guy I left you a little message♥♥♥.

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  7. Andrew-Love French films, so I'll be sticking by your blog for further reviews. And two Emma Murtys? My God! Tell me there isn't a film script in that, somewhere!

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  8. No, I am actually another Emma Murty aha I'll try to attach my google ID thing? I live in Canada so I've never heard it hear before. Murdys, Murphys, Murneys but no Murtys :(

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  9. @Crystallight,

    That's cool we thought someone was playing a practical joke on us, yeah Murty isn't that common a name in Scotland anymore as most of the Murty clan emigrated to Australia, Canada and the States during the Highland Clearances but if you are interested in tracing the name there is a substantial amount of Murty's in Aviemore in Scotland. Emma above is my girlfriend so that was why we thought it was a prank.

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  10. Andrew! Thank you so much for starting a whole series on French movies. It's great to hear you talking about your favorite ones and it will give me new titles to watch. =)

    Take care. Kisses!

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  11. It's my honour to watch these great films and thanks again for inspiring me to write about them.

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  12. Great Massage on your blog keep posting latest updates.

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