#Claire Jia

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Ye Cheng (2023)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama “Ye Cheng”

【ENG SUB】 夜城赋 01 | Ye Cheng 💕 纨绔女世子遇上绝美男花魁，相爱相杀开启复仇路 | 袁昊/嘉泽/李哲豪/彭雅琦/孙熹之/书亚信/徐百慧/张彤 | 优优青春剧场

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ket6-QAt3G8

[nepoupdates]

let's talk about hookups! who do you reeeeeally think should hookup in this trip? going by vibes only, ofc.

part  of  me  wants  to  say  let's  not  because  i  really  could  care  less  but  i'm  feeling  a  little  ...  chaotic  tonight  so  here  are  some  pairings  based  purely  on  vibes  and  nothing  else:  

josie/laurie  ,  teagan/jia  ,  rory/julien  ,  percy/lorenzo  ,  benny/miyeon  ,  charlotte/rina  ,  harlowe/ace  ,  trix/lulu  ,  sasha/james  ,  paige/giorgia  ,  lari/juliette  ,  roman/elias  ,  rosalind/jaeha  .

no  i  will  not  be  elaborating  (  @delicatlueur  ,  @stclaires  ,  @teagvns  ,  @roaries  ,  @concertaes  ,  @wcrstbehaviior  ,  @rainforum  ,  @lovesues  ,  @hcerin  ,  @harlcwes  ,  @bcatrixs  ,  @racingfm  ,  @jamesluvsria  ,  @dearpaige  ,  @gicrgiia  ,  @lcrissas  ,  @fairjuliette  ,  @rosbella  ,  @lcvesickboy  )

[modelsof-color]

Jia Tong by Monika Lis for Marie Claire Hong Kong Magazine March 2023

[heavenlyyshecomes]

misc reads pt. 11

The legend of the music tree, ellen rupell shell, smithsonian magazine

The depths she'll reach: freediving's alenka artnik, xan rice, longlead

Sufi Islam thrives humorous, eloquent and poetic as ever, nile green, aeon

Mars is a hellhole, sharon stirone, the atlantic

Obliterating the natural world, nathan j. robinson, current affairs

What lies beneath, julian sancton, vanityfair

A winelike sea, caroline alexander, lapham's quaterly

The centuries-long quest for the scent of god, john last, noema magazine

Hayao miyazaki and the art of being a woman, gabrielle bellot, the atlantic

The death of the ‘chic’ writer, barry pierce dazed digital

All about eve—and then some, lili anoulik, vanityfair

The archive of a vanishing world, grace linden, noema magazine

In the land of living skies, suzannah showler, harper's magazine

Daydreams and fragments: on how we retrieve images from the past, maël renouard, lithub

The haunted city, azania imtiaz khatri-patel, aeon

Princes of infinite space, kyle paoletta, baffler

Humans are overzealous whale morticians, ben goldfarb, nautilus

immortal by default, jared farmer, lapham's quaterly

Short fic:

Morning, Noon & Night, claire louise-bennett, the white review

Office hours, ling ma, the atlantic

Nights at the hotel splendido, sam munson, granta

shanghai murmur, te-ping chen, the atlantic

The hydraulic emperor, arkady martine, uncanny magazine

Goodnight, melancholy, xia jia, clarkesworld magazine

[youremyheaven]

I think you mentioned somewhere in your blog about a nakshatra/s that is/are prone to being copied, but i can’t remember which is it.

Venus !!! Mars definitely has trendsetter vibes too but it does not feel the same???

If we think of Venusian it girls, people dress like them, copy their style etc but THEY become it girls and icons, kind of irreplaceable and unforgettable. Ex: Bella Hadid, Purvaphalguni Moon & Rising, Song JiA, Bharani Sun etc its more so that THEY themselves become the face of a generation??

but with Martian women, they are 100% icons and people do copy them and imitate them but I feel like they kind of give rise to an aesthetic or niche that's more known ??? like Audrey Hepburn, Dhanishta Rising is big in the coquette community, Marilyn Monroe, Dhanishta Moon is big in the soft pastelcore girliepop community, Kim Kardashian, Chitra Sun spearheaded the BBL and blackfishing craze and Mrigashira women are kind of the face of bimbocore

I dont see Venus creating that kind of impact??? which is funny because Venus is so cult-y and clique-y BUT i think thats the whole point, Venusian exalt themselves in society instead of bringing together people who are inspired by them or want to be like them??

Mars, the soldier, has more themes of community and brotherhood because as a soldier, you really have to have a strong sense of togetherness and fighting the battle with your fellow comrades etc I think??? Claire also mentioned how Martian women are the most common nak influences among "body positive" content creators and it makes sense as to how Mars influence kind of brings people together to create a hive of similar interests and inspirations. Martian women are also OBSESSED over by people. So it makes sense if everybody kind of collectively try to emulate their vibes and embody them?? All those Marilyn Monroe fangirls who talk like her and style themselves like her (looking at u Jasmine Chiswell, who apparently lives in Marilyn's old house) come to mind.

Venusians are iconic but in a "no one can be me" type of way??? many people copy Bella's style but do you see people dress, talk, behave and act like her??? Monica Bellucci, Purvashadha Rising, is a beauty icon for the ages but she's iconic in a way no one can aspire to be like, if ykwim??? I think the exclusivity of Venus makes them that way. They're alone at the top. Widely copied but they can't be replicated ???

[shouldntbeaskingmyselfwhy]

Reading List 2024!!!

Trick Mirror* by Jia Tolentino

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Bliss Montage* by Ling Ma

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

All Systems Red* by Martha Wells

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb

A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair

Wild Women and the Blues* by Denny S. Bryce

The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady* by Elizabeth Stuckey-French

A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair

A Touch of Malice by Scarlett St. Clair

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Queen of Myth and Monsters by Scarlett St. Clair

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

One's Company* by Ashley Hutson

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Daisy Jones and the Six* by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Severance by Ling Ma

The Other Half* by Charlotte Vassell

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Liars' Club* by Mary Karr

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

A Darker Shade of Magic* by V.E. Schwab

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

The Secret Life of the Universe: An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life by Nathalie A. Cabrol

My First Book by Honor Levy*

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet by Taylor Lorenz*

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

Fire Exit by Morgan Talty

* books for my zoom book club

my favorites are in bold :)

[hoorayeroticaplus]

My fave sex goddesses...

Just for fun, a list of my favourite girls of all time. Some are still my crushes. Some are just plain gorgeous. Others are there for sentimental reasons. No particular order.

Ariel Rebel Anjelica (aka Anjelica Ebbi, Krystal Boyd) Zoe Voss Tori Black Little Caprice Eufrat Tiffany Thompson Stoya Zsuzsa Tanczos Gina Gerson Monica Sweetheart Lexi Bloom Faye Reagan Anissa Kate Veronika Simon Silvia Saint Dillion Harper Sasha Grey Ashlyn Rae Malena Morgan Daneen Boone Emily Grey Red Fox Ander Page Alexis Crystal Sweet Amylee Foxy Di Remy Lacroix Sam Slayre Mila Azul Maya Nunes Eva Elfie Michelle Wild Jenna Haze Martha Gromova Evelyn Claire Krista Allen Regina Russell April Flowers Cadey Mercury Karla Kush Demi Hawks Liya Silver Brooke Banner Jenna J Ross Marcelin Abadir Emily Willis Jia Lissa Caroline Key Johnson Veronika Radke Melanie Jane (aka Melanie Rios) Kuroha Suicide Jillian Janson Tiffany Tyler Nicole Ray Heather Vandeven Miriama Kunkelova To be continued...

[artfilmfan]

Full list below:

Nadav Lapid Pedro Costa Aki Kaurismäki Wang Bing Béla Tarr Apichatpong Weerasethakul Víctor Erice Radu Jude Abderrahmane Sissako Ryusuke Hamaguchi Walter Salles Claire Denis Robert Guédiguian Kiyoshi Kurosawa Laurent Cantet Claire Simon Cédric Kahn André Téchiné Corneliu Porumboiu Jia Zhangke Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Anand Patwardhan Ira Sachs Nobuhiro Suwa Arthur Harari Philippe Faucon Patricia Mazuy Kiyoshi Kurosawa Rithy Panh Lav Diaz Christian Petzold

[purpleblooper]

I introduced u too my OC's and sona's that u will see later on. There will be more oc's and Sona's but will may take a while because of school hours and all.

Billie from Final Space. She was an inspiration of Tiffany Haddish and Mettaton from Undertale. That's it...I just made her around like when I first started watching Final Space...There were like four attempts on redesigning Billie(she didn't have a name for the first time)and my sister had to help me on drawing Billie the third time, she used to have green hair like Bolo but instead of that I could mix that with my old oc and boom final touch(she's going to have her green hair back by unlocking her unknown power by Bolo)

Jia from Lego Monkie Kid. She an inspiration of Wednesday from the Addams Family and werewolves.(I'm a big fan of werewolves so u might see so much wolf base characters)😅 She may seems cold and mean but she means well when it comes to her friends and Amiko as her closes friend from her childhood. Jia was raised by a rich family with the ability to become both human and wolves. At first they were born as wolves but has the power to become human in disguise and have to learn the abilities to also need to learn other things that needed to be taught like how to summon their ancestors for help if needed, becoming wolf, human and mix, and also having Wolfokinese(like Mei's but a wolf). In the family, the oldest need to learn how to use their ability and after they are learned, the next child could be taught. Jia is almost old enough to find a mate but she isn't interested into that mushy stuff. If a demon is a friend of one of the family member betray them...they would either be banished or executed on the spot to bring justice for the wolf family. Edit: sorry I was wrong she was an inspiration of Claire from Monster High G1

Anna from Troll hunters tales of Arcadia. Anna is a part witch so she could get sick if she want to use her powers. There's not much I could say about her since she's based off of Frankie from Monster High and I had a hard time drawing her back then....at least my drawing is different now I'll try to make an update on Anna. Edit: She has no inspiration on anything because my sister helped me with this

Alissa from Hazbin Hotel. She is a raccoon sinner because it represent her crime and d3ath. She is an inspiration of Sly Cooper in the video game.

Ravine from Helluva Boss. Ravin(Raven) for short and how to pronounce her name in case if your having a hard time pronouncing(Rav-een)She is a mix of lust and wrath imp. The scars show how reckless she was(I used to be that when I was young)

Shaila from Undertale. Her soul is creativity and her choices of object is a paintbrush. If anybody watched the old Backyardians(who goes there?) that's wat I kinda mean by that...She doesn't have an inspiration. Edit: so the paintbrush is kinda like that but there other things she can do with art(it's called art creation) She will get a redesign too.

Mingan from Spookiz. She is the descendants of King Lycon. This is her teenage self, she is an inspiration of Clawdeen from Monster High and Loona from Helluva Boss

Valeria Limél, she's part japanese and part Mexican...her quirk is Moody Aura. She is inspiration of Blue Diamond from Steven Universe, the movie Inside Out and my twin sister. How her quirk works is almost the same as Blue Diamond but when she is triggered or want to force her feelings onto others. When she's not using her quirk it's just her aura glowing around her, showing her true colors literally....so there's nothing to hide about her feelings.

This is Moonstone but prefers as Moon or Luna from Steven Universe. There were three different types of gemstone on June, so I picked a Moonstone....since Alexandrite is a fusion and my sister got a Pearl, so Moonstone was my last option.

Geez I never thought typing their storyline would take long and after typing Valeria's whole story and I accidentally deleted the whole thing

I just realized that I don't need to write the whole story but I'm telling what each character represent and their inspiration of.

[hannahhook7744]

Naming background vks redone;

I looked back on my old renaming of background vks and decided to redo it because of all the age/spelling mistakes I made .

And no. I couldn't just edit it unfortunately since I reblogged it and deleted the original. So this is necessary.

Enjoy.

Cassius 'Cash' Clayton. Age 9 years old (as of D2). Youngest child of William Clayton.

Shan Deja. Age 9 years old (as of D2). Youngest child of Shan Yu.

Gemma LeGume. Age 2 years old (as of d1). Daughter of Gaston LeGume and the Enchantress.

Raymonda Snoops. Age 8 years old (as of D1). Daughter of Mr. Snoops.

Kathleen 'Cat' Bimbette. Age 6 years old (as of D3). Daughter of Claudette Bimbette. Younger sister of Claire and Curtis Bimbette.

First row; first kid is Claire Bimbette in a different outfit. She's still Gil's age (i.e 16). 

Second kid is Domonic Salt. Age 19 years old. Son of Damien Salt.

Second row; first kid is Wilson 'Will' Clayton. Age 11 years old. He is William Clayton's middle child. 

Second kid is Chantelle and the last kid is Imani. They are the children of petty criminals.

Third row; first kid is just Jace Badun. He's 17 years old and Jasper Badun's son. 

Second kid is Axel Huntsman. Age 18 years old. He's the Huntsman's son. 

Last kid is named Lamar. Age 21 year old. He’s the son of one of Hook's crew mates and part of Harriet Hook’s crew. 

Last row; first kid is Alya. Age 8 years old. Adopted daughter of Sadira and Mozenrath, and adopted sister of Reza.

Last kid is Omar. Age 10 years old. Adopted son of Mozenrath and Sadira, and adopted brother of Reza.

First row; Boy is Henry McLeach. Age 10 by d3. Son of Percival McLeach.

Girl is Edith Olympian. Age 12 years old (by D3). Daughter of Eris. 

Last kid is Mako, Sharky. Age 16 year old kid.

Second Row; first girl is  Nova. Age 10.years old. Member of Harriet Hook’s crew.

Second, Third, and Fourth kids are Huns named Lin, Su, and Fen.  They're all 16-19 years old. 

Fifth kid is Sean, the son of the Sheriff of Nottingham. 

Last kid is Anais. Age 12 years old.  She is a member of Harriet Hook’s crew.

Last row; Wolfrick Wolfe. Age 18 years old. Big Bad Wolf's son, Harriet Hook's sworn enemy. 

Girl is Jia Hun. Age 19 years old. One of the Hun's kids who was orphaned and raised by the rest of the Huns.

First row; first kid is Raven Bog. Age 17 years old. Daughter of Chernabog and enemy of Harriet Hook.

 Last kid is Na’vi. Age 10 years old (in D1). Member of Harriet Hook’s crew.

Second row; first kid is Kingsley King. He's 19. Enemy of Harriet Hook and son of the Horned king. 

2nd kid is Queenie Bog. Age 17 years old. Daughter of Chernabog and enemy of Harriet Hook.

Last Row; first kid is Holiday 'Holly' Sinclair. Age 19 years old. Daughter of Helga Sinclair and Hunter de Vil, Mabel Badun, and Harry Badun's half-sister, and the only one to live with Helga. 

Last kid is Donnie Salt. Age 17 years old. Son of Damien Salt.

First row; first two kids are named 'Mark' and 'Misha' Mullins. Age 16 years old. Sons of Mullins from Hook’s crew and member of Uma’s crew.

Guy in purple is Steward Starkley. Age 17 years old (in D1).  Son of Starkley.

Second row; First girl is Annalise. Age 16 years old. An orphan girl who is Rachel’s best friend. 

Rachel Ratcliffe. Also 16 years old (in D1). Daughter of Governor Ratcliffe.

Last row; first girl is Brigitta, Annalisa’s sister. Age 18. She is an orphan girl.

2nd kid is Jonas Olympian. Age 18 years old (by d3). Uma's cousin and Morogana's son.

 3rd kid is Freddie Facilier with short hair and a different outfit. She's fifteen to sixteen like the core four. 

4th kid is Aj Slade. Age 19 years old (in d=D1). She os Amos Slade's daughter. 

5th kid is Shan Desire  in a different outfit. Shan Yu's daughter. She's 14 in first movie, almost fifteen. A year younger than the sea three. 

6th kid is Eddie Balthazar in a different outfit. He's 13 in first movie. Aunt Sarah and Edgar Balthazar's son.

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Ye Cheng (2023)

Gifs of Ending of cdrama “Ye Cheng”

【ENG SUB】 夜城赋 01 | Ye Cheng 💕 纨绔女世子遇上绝美男花魁，相爱相杀开启复仇路 | 袁昊/嘉泽/李哲豪/彭雅琦/孙熹之/书亚信/徐百慧/张彤 | 优优青春剧场

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ket6-QAt3G8´

[nepoupdates]

Rumor has it Gemma and Laurie went home together the other night ...

     YIKES  . did they really ? well , you can't really say that gemma has had the best taste in PARTNERS , so this just seems par for the COURSE , no ? and laurie --- i don't even know what to tell you . you already pissed off jia . looks like you and ACE are brothers after all . anyways , i'll say this now , gemma , i wouldn't touch any of the st. clair's with a ten foot pool , and you'd be wise to do the same . might get cooties . ( @gemmajcmes , @stclaires , @delicatlueur , @jialline ! )

[ayeshadhall]

This is the cover photo of the article in Marie Claire titled I Spent a Whole Week Without Looking in a Mirror—And Here's What Happened by Elizabeth Kiefer. Pixel Perfect and The Age of Instagram Face talk about how digital retouching and penetrative retouching like Botox and filler have created a completely false reality that appears in our magazines, newspapers, and phones. This forces people (mostly women) to look at their own mirrors and expect to see the perfection that is reflected in the ad campaigns of their favorite celebrity and when they do not, they are left with a “bottomless feeling” that Jia felt after she visited plastic surgeons to gather research. Thus, I was drawn to this image as it talks about the same idea of scrutinizing oneself in the mirror as being an after effect of all the content we consume today.

[whispering-stones]

☆ Esta lista estará siendo actualizada constantemente mientras siga el proceso de reservas.

Alejandro Speitzer — JimmyJim

Alina Kovalenko — Karenina

Alycia Debnam-Carey — Galadriel

Amaury Baudoin — Históricas

Ana de armas — Lenene

Bae Suji (Suzy) — Batgirl

Bang Chan — Pixie  

Barbara Palvin — swnsset

Beatrice Vendramin — Harmonizer

Ben Barnes — Aragorn

Ben Dahlhaus — Gandalf

Blanca Soler — C.J

Bridget Satterlee — Sailor Moon

Camila Morrone — raven 

Cha Eun Woo - swnsset

Chanikarn Tangabodi - Hemara

Charleen Weiss — Cece

Chase Mattson — Ozone

Choi Beomgyu — himesama.

Choi San — horizon

Choi Soo Bin — moontx

Choi Yeon Jun — viper

Chris Evans — Captain

Christine Obanor — Montoya 

Christopher Mason — Salem

Claire Estabrook — Brightside

Claire Holt — Megara

Conan Lee Gray​  — Soseki

Daniel Gilles — Megara

Daria Didorchuk — Polar

Dasha Taran — Fantasía 

Diego Barrueco — Cerbero

Dua Lipa — Khalelis

Emilia Clarke — Sailor

Emilia Mernes — Khalelis

Emily Blunt — Maggie

Ergi Bardhollari — floshine

Ester Expósito — Moon

Fernando Líndez — tsuki

Finn Teixeira — Forelsket 

Grace Piscopo — Newcastle 

Hailee Steinfeld — Lola

Hansol Vernon Chwe — Dinosaurio

Henry Cavill — Yennefer

Hwang Hyun Jin — jettxski

Isabelle Mathers — Polar

Jang Wonyoung — Batgirl

Jenna Ortega — moonlight

Ji Chang Min (Q)  The Boyz — Daijin

John Krasinski — JimmyJim

Joe Locke — Harmonizer

Jung Su Bin — Kyu

Jung Wooyoung — horizon

Kai Kamal Huening — Daydream

Kate Li — Shroud

Kennedy Walsh — estoesunapodo

Kim Jennie — peaches.

Kim Jisoo — sagex.

Kim Tae Hyung — pysche.

Kim Young Hoon (The Boyz) — Lihuan 

Kwon Ji Yong — Chocolate 

Laura Berlin — Tuenti.

Lee Felix — Kenta 

Lee Yu Jeon (The Boyz) - Bradshaw

Leo Woodall — Tuco.

Lera Nerushima — sunset 

Liza Weidemann — Éponine

Madeline Ford — Dust

Madison Beer — Khalelis

Mandy Moore — Paracetamol

Margarida Corceiro — Lilibeth

Mark Becher — Baby Pink

Milo Manheim — Batgirl

Milo Ventimiglia — Ibuprofeno

Minatozaki Sana — Hemara

Mishti Rahman — pinkypie

Moya Palk — heronddale

Neels Visser — Apollo

Nicholas Galitzine — Treinta

Nicholas Skidmore — Qwerty

Nils Kuesel — Tenn

Pedro Pascal — Aster

Rob Knighton — Nano

Shawn Mendes — Togepi

Sadie Sink — W

Scarlett Leithold — May

Sebastian Stan — Kerr

Taron Egerton — Eda

Taylor Hill — polaroid

Timothée Chálamet — DingDong

Tobias Reuter — Flamingo

Vinnie Hacker — Greystone 

Xu Jia Qi — Tsuki

Yael Shelbia — Sunny

Yoo Ji Min (Karina) — Daijin 

[mysymmetry]

2024 Reading List Updated Jan 28 lol July 8 Oct 31

Read so far:

Shy, Max Porter

Love and Other Poems, Alex Dimitrov

I said the sea was folded, Erik Jansen

High Risk, Ben Timberlake

Excavations, Kate Myers

Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino

Lioness, Emily Perkins

Hummingbird Salamander, Jeff VanderMeer

People Like Her, Ellery Lloyd

Wintering, Katherine May

Lost Connections, Johann Hari

The Club, Ellery Lloyd

Darling Girls,

Funny Story, Emily Henry

Everyone in my Family Has Murdered Someone

First Love, Lily Dancyger

Entitlement,

Confessions, Kinae Minato

The Art Thief, Michael Finkel

Pageboy, Elliot Page

American Mermaid, Julia Langbein

Currently Reading:

Horse,

Monsters, Claire Dederer

Blueberries, Ellena Savage

Want to Read:

Splinters, Leslie Jamison (out Feb 20!!)

All Fours, Miranda July

Alphabetical Diaries, Sheila Heti

Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang

Arrangements in Blue, Amy Key

[modernfilmcanon]

Cannes Daily Dispatch 6

Mes amis du cinéma,

Gisteren zette uw dienaar koers naar La Bocca, een onooglijke voorstad van Cannes waar een paar jaar geleden een futuristisch multiplex (Google maar eens Cineum Cannes + afbeeldingen) werd gebouwd naar een ontwerp van Rudy Ricciotti.

Het Festival de Cannes mag dan wel het belangrijkste filmfestival ter wereld zijn, het kampt ook met een verouderde infrastructuur en een tekort aan zaal- en hotelcapaciteit. Bij de 60ste editie van het filmfestival in Cannes werd daarom een nieuwe, geïmproviseerde bioscoopzaal op het dak van het Palais des Festivals gebouwd in een grote (tijdelijke) tent, maar dat blijft allemaal aan de krappe kant om 40,000 geaccrediteerde bezoekers te bedienen. Die extra zaalcapaciteit in Cineum Cannes is in die zin meer dan welkom.

We besloten er een ochtendwandeling van te maken – grofweg 30 minuten langs het strand, daarna 3 minuten door een pittoresk deel inclusief Romaans kerkje en tot slot 27 minuten over een zelfs naar industrieterreinmaatstaven tamelijk naargeestig industrieterrein; het soort plek waar de ambiance moet komen van een loods die ‘Ambiance Sanitaire’ heet.

De bioscoop zelf biedt het comfort maar ook de sfeerloosheid van een modern multiplex, en uiteraard veel strekkende meters popcorn en haribo. De buzz van de festivalvoorstellingen in Cannes wordt node gemist: op de beste momenten is het bijwonen van een film in Cannes een geweldig live-concert, maar op een industrieterrein in een voorstad van Cannes is die sfeer heel ver weg.

Vandaag de volgende films gezien:

Apprendre van Claire Simon (13/20, Special Screening) is een nieuwe toevoeging aan het genre van de lagereschooldocumentaire (zie ook Favoriten, Être et Avoir), dit keer in Ivry-sur-Seine, een voorstad van Parijs. De schoolklas als mini-samenleving; het blijft een dankbaar onderwerp voor films en documentaires. Deze haalt het niet bij de hierboven genoemde documentaires, maar ik heb nu wel geleerd hoe ik met een paar huis-, tuin- en keukenattributen mijn longinhoud kan berekenen.

Black Dog van Guan Hu (16/20, Un Certain Regard) had de fraaiste landschappen van dit festival te bieden; de film is gesitueerd in een verlaten industriestadje aan de rand van de Gobi-woestijn. We volgen Lang, een zwijgzame ex-bajesklant die terugkeert naar zijn woonplaats en aan de slag gaat bij een patrouilleteam dat zwerfhonden (waarvan er honderden in de stad rondlopen) moet vangen, in de hoop grote bedrijven weer richting de stad te lokken. Lang, zelf een eenzaat, ontwikkelt een bijzondere relatie met een zwarte hazewindhond waar jacht op wordt gemaakt omdat hij rabiës zou hebben. Liefhebbers van Lassie mogen thuisblijven, dit is een rauw portret van het leven in een deel van China dat niet is meegenomen in de stormachtige economische ontwikkeling van het land. Jia Zhangke heeft een mooie gastrol. Aangekocht door Cinéar

The Substance van Coralie Fargeat (17/20) was een nieuw festivalhoogtepunt: een uitzinnige, hypergestileerde, verrukkelijke over-the-top bodyhorrorfilm waarin Demi Moore de voormalige filmster Elisabeth speelt; ooit Oscarwinnares, nu gastvrouw van een fitnessshow op tv. De zenderbazen vinden dat Elisabeth te oud is en willen haar inruilen voor een jongere en lekkerdere vrouw. Bij toeval krijgt Elisabeth te horen over The Substance, een middel dat – als je het injecteert in je eigen lichaam – een jongere, verbeterde versie van jezelf uit je eigen film extraheert. Belangrijke instructie is wel dat je na elke zeven dagen weer een week moet terugkeren in je oude lichaam. Wat er gebeurt als je je niet aan de instructie houdt, moet u zelf maar in de bioscoop gaan ontdekken. Recensenten die dit afdoen als style over substance dwalen: de film is niet alleen een technisch meesterstuk, maar heeft ook nog eens intelligente dingen te zeggen over onze schoonheidsidealen, de angst van jonge vrouwen om oud te worden en de angst van oudere vrouwen voor hun jongere ik. Een film waar nog lang na Cannes over zal worden gepraat. Nog geen distributeur in Nederland maar dat gaat vast niet zo blijven.

Aan het einde van de filmdag mijn eerste walkout tijdens dit festival. Les Femmes Au Balcon van Noémie Merlant (midnight screening) was een incoherent soepzootje met het soort acteerwerk dat ik eerder bij een improvisatieworkshop op de Toneelacademie verwacht dan in een film uit het officiële programma van het filmfestival in Cannes. Elk jaar vertoont Cannes wel een paar films van acteurs/actrices die in de regiestoel plaatsnemen. Tamelijk vaak blijkt dat het toch een ander métier is. Voor het festival al aangekocht door Cinéart, maar ik vermoed dat de film daar lang op de plank zal blijven liggen. Halverwege hield ik het voor gezien (daarom geen score) en ging aan de kabeljauw met prei en aardappel. Ik hoop van u hetzelfde.

Morgen meld ik me met een laatste dispatch; er wacht werk in Maastricht en daarom moet ik dit keer het festival vier dagen voor het einde verlaten. Maar niet voordat ik Ali Abbasi’s kijk op de jonge jaren van Donald Trump heb gezien. Daarvan woensdag verslag in mijn laatste dispatch.

A bientôt,

Mark