Heidi Ellison
American Vertigo & Kings of the World
Facile Rider The cops seem to be brutalizing this man in this scene from American Vertigo, but since the film offers no commentary, we don’t know what is really happening. One fine day, French pop philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy (commonly known … Read More
Anna M
Sartorial Insanity Anna takes an incriminating photo of her stalkee. If being badly dressed is a sign of insanity in Paris, then it should have been clear to everyone right from the start that something was seriously wrong with Anna … Read More
Belle Toujours
The Death of Desire Séverine and Husson recall transgressions of yesteryear. “He’s an odd bird,” a waiter says of the main character at the end of this film, and the same might be said of Belle Toujours, a famous Portuguese … Read More
Ne Touchez pas la Hache
Distant Love The duchess (Jeanne Balibar) pushes away the importunate general. Jacques Rivette’s Ne Touchez pas la Hache (Don’t Touch the Axe), an adaptation of Balzac’s novel La Duchesse de Langeais, is an object lesson in how to take a … Read More
Mon Frère se Marie
Dysfunctional Wedding Picture The always-popular subject of a wedding doesn’t deliver this time. In a week when posters for two “blockbuster” French films were plastered all over Paris – Laurent Tirard’s Molière and Alain Berbérian’s L’Île aux Trésors (based on … Read More
Murano Urban Resort
Design Well Done The all-white lobby contrasts with the colorful bar. Paris does old so well that it often hurts to see international design hitting the city, especially when so many classic cafés are being done over in insipid pseudo … Read More
Gallimard, 1911 – 2011: Un Siècle d’Edition
Publisher Gallimard’s headquarters on the Rue Sébastien Bottin in Paris’s 7th arrondissement. Photo: Henri Manuel © Photo Archives Gallimard Lovers of French literature will not want to miss the exhibition “Gallimard, 1911 – 2011: Un Siècle d’Edition” at the Bibliothèque … Read More
Diep Festival
Mathieu Mercier’s “Cage à Oiseaux.” The French city of Nantes is one of the last destinations you would consider for a safari, unless you were on the hunt for works of animal-themed art, currently the … Favorite
Les Bronzés 3
Low Culture Lives! Gigi (Marie-Anne Chazel) shows off her new boob job in Les Bronzés 3. The big event in France this past week has been the opening of Les Bronzés 3: Amis pour la Vie. This is one of … Read More
Bob Dylan: L’Explosion Rock 61-66
The Early Years of the ’Electric Rimbaud’ Bob Dylan wearing a top hat in Philadelphia, 1964. Photo © Daniel Kramer The exhibition “Bob Dylan: The Rock Explosion 61-66” at the Cité de la Musique in Paris admirably fulfills a double … Read More