#jo boyer

[ozkar-krapo]

Caterina VALENTE

"39 de Fièvre / En Ukraine // Bim-Bom-Bey / Je n'avais pas compris"

(7". Decca. 1959) [FR]

[jamiebamberdaily]

The Wives : What We Know So Far (UPDATED - 6th September 2024)

The first casting announcement of 2024 has finally been announced with the news of Channel 5's The Wives.

About

Written and created by Helen Black, The Wives is a domestic thriller that centres on 3 sister-in-laws, Sylvie, Natasha and Beth who, just as they have done for the last 15 years, embark on their usual family holiday to Malta. However, this year is different.

The official synopsis reads:

Last year, four sisters-in-law and their families escaped to their Maltese holiday apartments, as they’ve done every summer for fifteen years. Sylvie Morgan, was happily married, Natasha, was swimming in wealth, and Beth and Annabelle Morgan, were thick as thieves. But this year, as they come together again, everything is different. Sylvie’s now single and loving life, Natasha’s hiding a desperate financial situation, Beth is barely keeping her life together and Annabelle is, well… dead. When Annabelle’s widower Charlie, arrives with a new woman in tow, Beth tries to be happy for them, but something doesn’t sit right. Charlie’s new girlfriend Jade, looks exactly like Annabelle. Beth’s plans to have a great summer are quickly scuppered by Charlie’s odd behaviour, and her suspicion that there is more to Annabelle’s death is heightened. With lies coming to light and evidence building, the women work together and against each other to unravel the mystery and bring the culprit to justice. But with corrupt officials, drug cartels and career criminals closer to home than ever expected, have they bitten off more than they can chew?

The Wives has been ordered for Channel 5 by Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer, Paramount UK and Paul Testar, Commissioning Editor, Drama, Channel 5 and Paramount+. Executive producers for Gaumont are Jess Connell and Alison Jackson. Produced by Margot Gavan Duffy, The Wives was written and created by Helen Black (Time S2, Life and Death in the Warehouse), with episodes by Ciara Conway (Screw, Holby City) and Jamie Jackson. The series will be directed by Claire Tailyour (Phoenix Rise, Deceit) and Paulette Randall (Waterloo Road, Tin Star).

The Cast

Jamie will star as Annabelle's widower, Charlie Morgan.

Also starring will be:

Angela Griffin as Natasha Morgan

Tamzin Outhwaite as Sylvie Morgan

Jo Joyner is Beth Morgan

Katie Clarkson-Hill is Charlie's new girlfriend, Jade Glover

Christine Bottomley is Annabelle Morgan

Catriona Chandler will be playing Annabelle and Charlie's daughter, Sky Morgan

Ben Willbond is Beth's husband, Frankie Morgan

Jonathan Forbes as Natasha's husband, Sean Morgan

Louis Boyer as charming local businessman, Luca Vella

Ajay Chhabra as consulate official Vinay Taneja

Jamie, Jonathan and Ben will be playing wealthy brothers, Charlie, Sean and Frankie Morgan.

Trailer

The trailer can be viewed here!

Filming Locations

The series began filming in Malta in February 2024.

Episodes

There will be 6 episodes.

Air Date

It will air on Channel 5 (in the UK) during two weeks in September. The first three episodes will air on Monday 16th, Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th. With the final three airing Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th.

[yeoldenews]

For all my fellow name nerds out there, I am very pleased to present the second annual "Gloyd Roberson Memorial List of Actual Human Children Who Wrote Letters to Santa in 1920s/30s Oklahoma".

These aren’t all necessarily “weirder than Gloyd” but fall into three rough categories which I’ve dubbed: “that’s got a nice ring to it”, “if I used this in a novel it would be considered too unrealistic” and “you’ve got 5 seconds to name a character that lives in 1920s Oklahoma, GO!”:

Selvyn Atteberry

Dyer Banfield

Bert Baxter

Hilda Bender

Imogene Berry

Heloise Blakely

Burl Boyer

Clyda Pearl Boyington

Okal Brooks

Vada Jo Bricker

Deverett Brumley

Lee Roy Buck

Vivian May Burdue

Donnie Buster

Elmarie Button

Junior Buzzard

Melchor Caldex

Tycene Calhoun

Tiny Bell Callison

Dapalene Caywood

Edney Clopton

Buster Combs

Georgia Countryman

Vantruba Crockett

Alto Day

Buddie DeWayne

Violet Divine

Elwanda Downing

Cletys Durham

Thurlo Epps

Apple Fields

Floyd Fleetwood

Metherine Franklin

Ula Fay French

Wanda Jo Fronterhouse

Irline Fuller

Jack Gritzmaker

J. D. Grizzle

Billie Jean Gulley

Joline Hardcastle

Kaloolah Herrill

Thelias Hatfield

Elva Heavins

Coleman Hewlett

Helen Hillhouse

Virgil Holderby

Katymae Houston

Myree Huffstutlar

Estelline Hurrypack

Blondie Huhm

Lila Lou Jackson

Denver Jones

Vernell Lambert

Sonny Boy Lockart

Dinkey Long (autocorrect really wanted this to be Donkey Kong)

Bamma Lynn

Rep Madden

Standford Mann

Jack Mattingly

Goldia McGee

Madge Messinger

Mauzell Mullins

Jeffie Wayne Muskrat

Archibald Neighbors

Hazel Nickerson

Eulah Oakley

Lyle Oyler

Milburn Partain

Jackson Payne

Montana Phillips

Bobbie Dean Phoenix

Toots Putman

Madonna Mae Rickey

Cyprine Robertson

Juanelle Schneeberger

Billie Jean Sparks

Texanna Smith

Pansy Stetson

Patsy Ruth Stubblefield

Eldon Sweezy

Hoy Trotter

Pearl Vandorien

Leland Weems

Joe Bob West

Wayness Whitely

Buster Wyatt

John Ira Youngblood

Domby Zinn

[queersrus]

Candy theme

[candy theme]

for @seraphim-coinz 's event, prompt one !

partnered with our other blogs @dollilian, @objectumluv, @systiveboxes, @skelatomy

(nick) names:

aero, almond, altoid, astro, ayd, airhead bonbon, bonnie, butter, burst, bar, bounty, boyer, bubble, bear, bubba

candi/candie/candy, candice/candace, candiette, cotton, caramel, caramilk, crisp, cadbury, creme, cane, corn, charlston, chew, charlie, chik, chip, choco, chocolate, chuckle, chupa, chup, clark, crunch, crunchy/crunchie

dot, drop, dove, double, dum, dunkaroo five, fazer, ferrera, ferrero, flake, fruitella, fudge, fruit gummy, gusher, galaxy, gob

henry, hershy/hershey, heath, haribo, hi-chew, hubba ike, ice jelly, jello, jellybean, jolly, joy, juice, juicy, juju, jujube

kit, kat, kitkat, kiss, kinder, knopper, krackel lolly/lollie, lollypop/lollipop, lemon, laffy, licorice/liquorice, lindor, lemonhead

mint, minty, mike, milky, mallo/mallow, marsh, marshmallow, maltese, malteser, mamba, mars, mento, milk, milka, milton, moonpie, mound

necco, nerd, nestle orbit, oreo

pixy/pixie, patch, pop, parma, payday, pb, peanut, peep, pez, pocky, peppermnt

reese/rease, ruth, ranch, rancher, rocher, rock, rolo, runt skittle, smartie/smarty, sour, snicker, star, starburst, sixlet, skor, spree, sweetart, sweetheart, symphony

tootsie, taffy, toffee, turk, twizzler, twix, trident, tape, tempo, tic, tac, toblerone, topic, treet/treat, trolli, tupla, twinky/twinkie, twirl violet

way, wunder/wonder, wafer, warhead, whopper, wine, wispa, wonka york zaotang, zero

1st p prns: i/me/my/mine/myself

ai/ae/aery/aeroine(aerine)/aeroself ai/aire/airy/airheadine/airheadself bi/bone/bonbony/bonbonine/bonbonself ci/cande/candy/candine/candyself ci/care/caramy/caramine/caramelself(caramilkself) chi/choce/chocy/chocolatine/chocolateself gi/gume/gummy/gummine/gummyself(gumself) ji/jelle/jelly/jelline/jelloself pi/pocke/pocky/pockine/pockyself ri/ree/reesy/reesine/reeseself ski/skitte/skittly/skittline/skittleself ski/skore/skory/skorine/skorself ti/tootse/tootsy/tootsine/tootsieself ti/taffe/taffy/taffine/taffyself wi/wonke/wonky/wonkine/wonkaself

2nd p prns: you/your/yours/yourself

ao/aer/aers/aerself aio/air/airheaders/airheaderself bo/bonbonr/bonbonrs/bonbonrself co/cander/candiers/canderself co/carameler/caramelers/caramelerself cho/chocor/chocors/chocorself go/gummer/gummers/gummerself jo/jellor/jellors/jellorself po/pocker/pockers/pockerself ro/reeser/reesers/reeserself sko/skittler/skittlers/skittlerself sko/skor/skors/skorself to/tootser/tootsiers/tootserself to/taffer/taffers/tafferself wo/wonker/wonkers/wonkerself

3rd p prns: they/them/theirs/themself

ae/aero, aer/ro, ae/ro, aer/aero, aero/aeros, aero/bar, air/head, airhead/airheads bo/bon, bon/bon, bonbon/bonbons can/dy, can/candy, candy/candys, candy/bar, cara/mel, car/caramel, caramel/caramels, cara/milk, caramilk/caramilks, cho/colate, choco/lat, cho/colat, choc/ olat, choco/chocolat, chocolat/chocolats gum/my, gum/gummy, gummy/gummys jel/jello, jel/lo, jello/jellos po/pocky, po/cky, poc/ky, pock/y, pock/pocky, pocky/pockys re/eses, ree/ses, ree/se, ree/reese, reese/reeses, reeses/pieces ski/skittle, skit/skittle, skittle/skittles, skit/tle, sko/skor, sko/or, skor/skors to/toots, too/tsie, too/tootsie, tootsie/tootsies, ta/taffy, taff/y, taf/fy, taf/taffy, taffy/taffys wo/wonka, wonk/a, won/ka, wonka/wonkas, wonka/bar

titles:

the candy seller, the candy maker, the candy hoarder, the candy man/woman/being, the candy lover, the ruler of candyland

*one who collects vintage candies, one who shares candy, one who owns many candies, one who is making many candies, one who holds candy knowledge

candy maker

*one can be replaced by any prn

[mylifeinfiction]

My Best of 2023: My Top 10 2023 Books

1. Boys in the Valley (Philip Fracassi)

2. The Ferryman (Justin Cronin)

3. Don't Fear the Reaper (Stephen Graham Jones)

4. Small Mercies (Dennis Lehane)

5. Black River Orchard (Chuck Wendig)

6. Spin a Black Yarn (Josh Malerman)

7. The Night House (Jo Nesbø)

8. Sister, Maiden, Monster (Lucy A. Snyder)

9. The River We Remember (William Kent Krueger)

10. How to Sell a Haunted House (Grady Hendrix)

Note: This is out of the 42 2023 releases that I read throughout the year.

Thank you all so much for reading/sharing/etc. Here’s hoping 2024 is full of good things and great books!

Happy New Year!!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

[byneddiedingo]

Jacques Gagnon in Mon Oncle Antoine (Claude Jutra, 1971)

Cast: Jacques Gagnon, Lyne Champagne, Jean Duceppe, Olivette Thibaud, Claude Jutra, Lionel Villleneuve, Hélène Loiselle, Georges Alexander, Benoit Marcoux. Screenplay: Clément Perron, Claude Jutra. Cinematography: Michel Brault. Film editing: Claire Boyer, Claude Jutra. Music: Jean Cousineau.

The title of Claude Jutra's richly textured film seems to promise a coming-of-age story, which is what, eventually, it delivers. But first the film acquaints us with a Quebec asbestos mining town in the 1940s. The first event we witness is a fight between a miner, Jos Poulin (Lionel Villeneuve), and his boss (Georges Alexander), which is hardly a fight at all because the boss speaks English and Jos doesn't, which easily allows him to ignore what the boss is saying and do what he wants to do: quit the mine and go look for work elsewhere. Our first look at Antoine (Jean Duceppe) is when he's doing his work as the town's undertaker: a comically macabre scene in which the corpse is denuded of the "suit" he was wearing for the viewing, which turns out to be a false front quickly plucked off the naked body and saved for another corpse, and the rosary is untwined from his stiffening fingers. Antoine is the owner, with his wife, Cecile (Olivette Thibault), of the town's general store, which employs his teenage nephew, Benoit (Jacques Gagnon); a teen girl, Carmen (Lyne Champagne), who lives at the store because her skinflint father (Benoit Marcoux), who pockets her earnings, doesn't want to pay for her upkeep; and Fernand (Jutra), who clerks at the store. It's Christmas time, though there's not much sentiment in the film's treatment of the holiday. One of the best scenes in the movie comes when the mine boss rides through the town in a little two-wheeled cart, tossing cheap gifts to the children as the grownups frown at his stinginess and comment that he hasn't given out any raises or bonuses. Benoit and a friend throw snowballs at the horse, causing the boss to beat a hasty retreat. One of the most celebrated of Canadian films, Mon Oncle Antoine benefits from Jutra's adaptation with Clément Perron of Perron's story, and from Michel Brault's cinematography, but most of all from the great credibility of its cast.

[sky60038]

Le Moulin de la Galette (série de Van Gogh) par Olivier Boyer Via Flickr : Le Moulin de la Galette 1886 Collection particulière (F349) fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Moulin_de_la_Galette मौलिन डे ला गैलेट एक सामान्य शब्द है: यह दो मिलों को नामित करता है जिसमें पेरिस (फ्रांस) के 18वें अधिवेशन में बट्टे मोंटमार्ट्रे पर एकमात्र कार्यशील पवनचक्की शामिल है, जो रुए लेपिक में स्थित है और साथ ही रुए लेपिक के कोने पर दिखाई देने वाली इसकी सहयोगी मिल भी शामिल है। रुए गिरार्डन। इस समूह में एक बार 19वीं शताब्दी के बाद से मिलर्स के डेब्रे परिवार द्वारा खोली गई एक प्रसिद्ध सार्वजनिक गेंद दिखाई गई थी। ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- maulin de la gailet ek saamaany shabd hai: yah do milon ko naamit karata hai jisamen peris (phraans) ke 18ven adhiveshan mein batte montamaartre par ekamaatr kaaryasheel pavanachakkee shaamil hai, jo rue lepik mein sthit hai aur saath hee rue lepik ke kone par dikhaee dene vaalee isakee sahayogee mil bhee shaamil hai. rue giraardan. is samooh mein ek baar 19veen shataabdee ke baad se milars ke debre parivaar dvaara kholee gaee ek prasiddh saarvajanik gend dikhaee gaee thee.

[rosemarysealavender]

Psychiatrists Are Now Prescribing Museum Visits to Help Patients With Burnout and Anxiety

Jo Lawson-Tancred, September 20, 2022 | ARTNET

It is hoped that the scheme will encourage patients to feel more socially engaged and able to participate in the rich cultural offering of the city of Brussels, Belgium

IMG:  Michael Jacobs/Art in All of Us/Corbis via Getty Images

The initiative is part of a pilot study in Brussels.

Frequent museum goers may notice that they aren’t just expanding their minds but also unwinding them by relieving stress.

A pilot study at Brugmann University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, is testing whether art and culture can relieve people’s everyday anxiety by focusing their minds on more positive stimuli. As part of a new six-month pilot project, some patients suffering from poor mental health will be offered a “museum prescription.”

The scheme will offer up to five free visits to Brussels cultural institutions, accompanied by friends or family. The voluntary treatment would be added to the range of existing services, including medication and therapy, and is reserved for those suffering from relatively mild conditions, such as burnout, depression, and anxiety.

Participating organizations include contemporary art space Centrale, the Fashion and Lace Museum, the Sewer Museum, and the extensive wardrobe that dresses up the city’s infamous public statue Mannekin Pis, a little boy peeing.

The initiative also aims to foster reconnection among a society that spent years locked up during the pandemic. It is hoped that the free visits will serve as a catalyst to encourage more active participation in Brussels’s rich offerings.

“I want everybody back in our cultural institutions,” the city’s deputy mayor for culture, Delphine Houba, told the Guardian. But there have long been financial and cultural barriers to access. “They don’t feel at least, they don’t think that it’s for them.”

She said the project was inspired by a 2018 scheme which saw Canadian doctors prescribe free visits to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

One of the organizers, Hélène Boyer, vice-president of Médecins francophones du Canada, told the Montreal Gazette at the time that art therapy has scientifically proven health benefits. “It increases our level of cortisol and our level of serotonin. We secrete hormones when we visit a museum and these hormones are responsible for our well-being.”

The success of the pilot program in Brussels will be measured by patient feedback to their doctor. If it appears to be having a positive effect, the initiative may be extended to include more museums and other activities, such as visiting the cinema.

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mental-health-museum-prescription-brussels-2178582

[edgarmoser]

disques columbia, affiches artistes

[already-14]

[BAUDELAIRE] -- THÉOCRITE (ca. 315-250 av. J.-Ch.). [Opera] quae extant. Glasgow: Robert & Andrew Foulis, 1746.

Petit in-4 (194 x 143 mm). Avec le faux-titre. (Rousseurs éparses.) Veau tacheté de l'époque, dos à nerfs, tranches dorées (mors frottés et partiellement fendus, usures), chemise en demi-chagrin vert du XIXe siècle, étui assorti. Provenance: Jo. Jacob Trivultius (ex-libris) -- Charles Baudelaire (envoi à Philoxène Boyer) -- Philoxène Boyer (envoi de Baudelaire sur la garde) -- Charles Asselineau (ex-libris) -- Philippe Burty (ex-libris et note contrecollée, portant également une note de Nadar) -- Nadar (ex-libris, et ex-dono de Burty) -- René Choppin (ex-libris) -- Pierre Leroy (vente à Paris le 27 juin 2007, lot 12).

Bonne édition des oeuvres du poète grec. PRÉCIEUX EXEMPLAIRE AYANT APPARTENU À CHARLES BAUDELAIRE. De nombreuses marques de lecture se trouvent en marge de cet exemplaire -- notamment des petites croix à l'encre brune semblables à celle utilisée pour l'envoi de Baudelaire à son ami, le poète et dramaturge Philoxène Boyer à qui cet exemplaire fut offert.

EXEMPLAIRE SIGNIFICATIF ayant appartenu à Baudelaire et à un grand nombre de ses amis proches. Philippe Burty, collectionneur et critique d'art, l'acheta lors de la vente de la bibliothèque de Charles Asselineau et l'offrit à son ami Nadar, ce dont témoigne une note très personnelle contrecollée au feuillet de garde et adressée à madame Nadar: "La veille de Noël 1874. Madame Nadar, Ce soir, vous choisirez une des bottes de sept kilomètres de Nadar; Vous le mettrez dans la cheminée. Vous mettrez ce petit paquet à côté ! Je crois que le lendemain matin Nadar sera bigrement étonné ! Je vous serre les mains, Ph. Burty". Nadar a lui-même ajouté cette phrase en bas de la lettre: "A la vente Asselineau, Burty m'avait devancé pour l'achat de ce volume. - M'en voyant grand dépit, galamment il me l'envoya le soir. Nadar".

LES OUVRAGES PROVENANT DE LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE PERSONNELLE DE BAUDELAIRE SONT DE TOUTE RARETÉ.

[sleepnoises]

4, 14?

4: new authors?

I read multiple books by Jo Walton but probably won't consciously seek her out; I'm definitely going to follow A.K. Larkwood; I think I read Leigh Bardugo for the first time this year and I'm going to stick with her current series; I should probably hunt down more Anne Boyer.

14: books I want to finish before the year is over?

I don't have anything in progress (if I stop halfway through a book I will forget it) but I have like eight books checked out so uh... whatever happens happens

[starstruckteacup]

Cottagecore Films (pt. 4)

Funny Face (1957)

starring Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson

Book-loving empathicalist Jo Stockton’s simple academic life is brutally interrupted by a chance encounter with Dick Avery, a fashion photographer, who convinces her to become Quality magazine’s new face for a unique collection. The duo travel with the Quality team to Paris, where Jo discovers that her rising feelings for Avery, her dedication to philosophy, and her contract as a model may not come together as easily as she thought.

I should preface this review by saying I’m not much for musicals, so it may just be me but I found the music numbers to be, at times, somewhat meaningless and drawn out. Song and dance in film strike me as very emotional scenes, and there was a pretty heavy mix of emotion-laden songs and arbitrary songs. When the characters were genuinely conveying their feelings in a way only singing and dancing can fully portray, I was drawn in and really appreciated the songs, but very often it seemed like they were dancing just to show their abilities as dancers. The first half of the movie felt like it moved far too quickly, and there wasn’t any build-up to the conclusions each character reached; for example, Jo went from being absolutely livid at Dick Avery for ruining her bookstore to singing about how in love she was with him in under a minute, just because he kissed her. I know it’s a product of the time but even for that it felt rushed. The second half was a much more natural progression that I was readily drawn into, and it was easier to see and feel the character development occur. It was certainly romantic throughout the film, but the ending truly felt like real love. 5/10

An Inspector Calls (2015)

TW: suicide by poison (on screen), rape

starring David Thewlis, Sophie Rundle, Ken Stott, Miranda Richardson, Chloe Pirrie, Finn Cole, Kyle Soller

Based on J.B. Priestley’s play of the same title, this film investigates an upper class Edwardian family through the lens of Inspector Goole, a mysterious police inspector seeking to uncover the events that led to the death of Eva Smith. The Birlings all have personal ties to Eva in the years leading up to her death, which are uncovered one by one by the meticulous and straightforward inspector in an effort to teach the family about their carelessness and selfishness.

This film was quite riveting. Although not exactly cottagecore (I apologize), this period drama built incredible tension without ever leaving the Birlings’ dining room (aside from flashbacks). I found myself gripping a pillow waiting to find out the ending as it all came together. It seems like it would have a straightforward resolution, but just the right amount is left to the audience’s imagination to leave you more satisfied with the ending than if it had all been explained. The film was an excellently portrayed criticism of the brutalities created by the carelessness and ignorance of the upper class, and really placed its finery under harsh examination. The acting was excellent, and seemed to me that each character was played with impeccable emotion and chemistry. 9/10

Full Count (2019)

TW: suicide (on screen), vehicular manslaughter, police brutality, assault

starring John Paul Kakos, Natalia Livingston, Adam Boyer, E. Roger Mitchell, Rick Hearst, Jason London

High school athlete Milton Young struggles to pursue his passion for baseball while his time is consumed helping his father take care of the family farm. His talent and dedication pay off when a college scout watches him carry his school to victory at the state championship, and Milton is offered a full scholarship to a competitive school. He’s only there for a short time before tragedy strikes and he’s brought back home to help his family. There, things only get worse for Milton when he’s charged with driving under the influence and striking a woman walking alongside the road; however, he can’t seem to remember any of the events leading up to it. When his family’s farm falls into crisis, and Milton himself can’t take much more, a drifter named David comes into their life and offers to help bring the farm back to life. Amid the struggles with the farm and the criminal charges, David has to come to terms with who he is and who he wants to become, and reexamine his faith along the way.

This was a decent movie. I appreciated how it focused on kindness and believing in others, and yourself, above all else. It takes place in a small Georgia town and is strongly centered on Christian faith, but it does so without being overly tacky and unrealistic, which I greatly appreciate. It really emphasized the impact of loving other people, regardless of their circumstances, which I think we need more of in this world. However, I definitely felt like more effort could have been put into the characters; they were rather bland and unrelatable, and while I liked the message of the movie, I didn’t think the characters carried it very well. There’s also a twist at the end that I saw coming from the very beginning, and it’s my most disliked twist that always seems to come into Christian movies: the drifting stranger turns out to be an angel. I always feel like this invalidates the message of love and kindness, since it places this expectation that we’ll always receive blatantly divine payoffs for being kind to others, when we really should just do it for the sake of humanity. Also it’s incredibly cheesy and really just detracts from the seriousness of the rest of the film. 4/10

Part One // Part Two // Part Three

[mygreatadventurehasbegun]

for the film ask: empire strikes back, casablanca, gaslight, pride and prejudice 2005, funny face, bride of frankenstein

The Empire Strikes Back

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

Most people agree that this is the best Star Wars movie, objectively speaking, and I have to agree!  I really can’t think of anything that I would consider a flaw....it’s pretty damn perfect.

Casablanca

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

Another classic!!  There’s a reason it ends up on all the Top Film lists...another film that is as close to perfection as you can get.  Incredible cast (especially Claude Rains), gorgeous lighting and a wonderful story!

Gaslight

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

Ingrid Bergman is absolutely incredible in this movie!  Her performance is astounding and she won her first of three Oscars for her work.  But I also have to give a shout out to Charles Boyer, who’s performance I like more with each viewing (even though Gregory is a massive prick), and Angela Lansbury, in her first film!

Pride and Prejudice 2005

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

I first saw this movie in college because my roommate was obsessed with the costume design.  I’ve always preferred Sense & Sensibility to this movie (in every sense), but I do enjoy watching this one from time to time.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve watched it, maybe I should break it out again.  I will say that the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous!

Funny Face

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

This is an Audrey movie that I appreciated and enjoyed more with each viewing!  When I was younger and I was going to pick an Audrey Hepburn musical, I would pick My Fair Lady (even though Audrey didn’t sing in that one).  But now, I find this movie quite charming.  And I just drool over all of the clothes that Jo gets to model!

Bride of Frankenstein 

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

It has been a loooong time since I’ve seen this one!  It’s actually the only Universal Monster movie I don’t own (other than Creature from the Black Lagoon, which I gave to my dad when I bought a four pack of Blue-Rays).  From what I can remember, I enjoy the scenes with the Monster, like him with the blind man and anything with Elsa Lanchester.  Everything else was sort of ”meh” for me....but I totally get why people love it!

[notesonfilm1]

  An achingly romantic and effortlessly cool gangster film. A voice-over narration at the beginning leads us into a world of night just before the dawn, that moment where the night is over, the nightclubs close, the prostitutes go get a bite to eat on their way home, and cleaning ladies, already late, race to work. Some people have jobs, some people don’t have a bed to sleep in and must improvise, perhaps with a willing American sailor. On one side is the heaven represented by the Sacre Coeur church, on the other, the hell which is for some also a little bit of heaven, represented by the neon lights and easy sex of Pigalle, where Bob lives, with a wonderful view of the Sacre Coeur from his living room window, a metaphor for the film as a whole.

We see nightclubs, with drinking, dancing and gambling. We hear jazz. Sex is sold to get by, but in an easy way, without the film getting all judgmental about it; which is not to say that the film offers no judgment. The lower depths has its own ethics. About the worst thing you can be is a squealer or a pimp. But the film complicates even this: you can squeal without knowing it. Being a pimp doesn’t mean a girl won’t have sex with you for fun or even marry you later, after you quit the profession, and sure to ruin your life just as you ruined so many before.

Diagonals:

Bob le flambeur seems to take place in a liminal world of complex relations that call on the past, on many lives already lived and unknowable except to those who lived them: on bonds of obligations — and affections — where betrayal in some is as certain as loyalty in others. It’s a film of romantic attitudes, of stances not very cool boys would like to aspire to, of sex and death and jazz. The links between this film, Le Samourai and Un Flic are direct: the underworld, the jazz, the nightclubs, the solitude, the elective affinities, the love that kills and the more solid affections that last…at least before the final shootout.

The film has a wonderful sense of place, of mood, of compulsion, and feelings that are understated but strongly felt. If the story is about the acceptance of existential ache, the way it’s told is formally dazzling and playful: the irises in and out, cutting through vertical or horizontal wipes, a jump cut, beautiful purposeful camera movement, and lighting that shimmers. It’s like the past and present of film technique effortlessly deployed in the service of the story. One notices how many of the camera set ups are on formally precise diagonals. It’s telling that the most extreme and beautiful close-ups in the film are at the very moment of unwitting betrayal that sparks the denouement (see above). It’s a film I never tire of, currently on MUBI.

With Roger Duchesne as Bob, Isabelle Corey as the young woman on her cups, Guy Decomble, the impatient schoolteacher in 400 Blows plays a police inspector friends with and possibly indebted to Bob. The music is by Eddie Barclay and Jo Boyer and the great cinematography is by one of the greats, Henri Decae.

  José Arroyo

Bob Le Flambeur (Jean-Pierre Melville, France, 1956) An achingly romantic and effortlessly cool gangster film. A voice-over narration at the beginning leads us into a world of night just before the dawn, that moment where the night is over, the nightclubs close, the prostitutes go get a bite to eat on their way home, and cleaning ladies, already late, race to work.

[mylifeinfiction]

The Night House by Jo Nesbø

"Do you hear the voices too?"

From a straight-forward, no-holds-barred supernatural teen-horror story, to an all-out fever dream of an exploration of the often imperceptible line between the stories we tell ourselves and the memories they inevitably become, to an understanding study of mental illness and the therapeutic nature of storytelling, Jo Nesbø takes us on a truly unpredictable, always creepy and often nightmarish ride through the horrific landscapes of a damaged mind in his newest standalone novel, The Night House .

I really like books that never try to be anything more than what they are; books that just tell a good story. That being said, if an author can navigate the twists and turns - the shifts of tone and character and plot - a roller-coaster ride of a book can be something special. Especially if it’s as wild, thematically keyed-in, and narratively aware as this one. This book threw me for a loop several times, continuously redefining itself in its journey to understand the nuances of its unreliable narrator and the always shifting realities they've built as walls around their damaged psyche.

The first act is a bravely violent, effortlessly executed supernatural horror tale that delivers on the supernatural and the horror in spades. The second act is a hallucinatory trip through a phantasmagoria fueled by false memories, the yearning for unrequited love and the terror of being stuck in a room with people you no longer know - or maybe never did. And the final act ties it all together in an emotionally resonant manner that only enriches all the terrors leading into it. Jo Nesbø's The Night House is one hell of a nightmare, and the perfect read for this Halloween season.

9.5/10

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.