Strap yourself in for the latest Retro Bollywood mindblower - from the film Teesri Manzil (1966); this is very Powell/Pressburger.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Hussein Swings
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I'm sure Hussein, the self-styled Braveheart of the Middle East, would choose martyrdom of a more spectacular nature (drawn and quartered? strapped onto a scud missile launched into Israel? crushed by a giant apple?) than a simple rope snapping his neck, outlaw style, but that's how the Iraqi government wants it. Low key.
Then there will be the aftermath. I remember when his sons Uday and Qusay were blown up in a firefight a while back, and footage of their bashed-in corpses were broadcast right afterwards, the excuse given that, well, in the Arab world, the people there would never believe they were really dead unless the evidence were thrust in their collective face. Right. So why execute this man during Islamic religious holidays? Perhaps they'll broadcast the whole thing live on Al-Jeezy, in Smell-o-vision®.
Last week I saw some promos from a new pseudo-controversial CBC sitcom called Little Mosque on the Prairie, which looks like a multi-cultural spin on the Corner Gas formula - the bumper-sticker marketing campaign describes the show as 'Coming Sunni' and 'Halal-arious'. May I join in? 'It looks like Shiite!'
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
I Have So Much Sorrow
French Pop Wednesdays claps it's hands and says "oui" with a jaunty pas de trois belted out by Annie Philippe - "J'ai Tant de Peine".
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Black Caesar
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/8098/2224/320/828764/brown_james4.jpg)
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Cinq Coins
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/8098/2224/320/193640/4250.gif)
Five Corners was tough to market: here's a one sentence summary of the film I just found on the internet machine:
A rapist gets out of jail and returns to his old neighborhood in the Bronx, setting off a series of events that bring together his victim, her boyfriend, a pacifist, two wise-cracking cops, an algebra teacher killed by an arrow and other assorted eccentrics.So yes, escalating weirdness, and yet grounded firmly in impeccable production design that recalls photos from Look and Life magazines of the period (1964, the Bronx). It made for a very memorable film... actually I'm almost afraid to see it again in case it's not as good as I recall...
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/8098/2224/320/448184/vcrap.jpg)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
A French Pop Christmas
French Pop Wednesdays brings you frankincense, myrhh and more gold from the Dim Dam Dom vaults. Noël à Vaugirard, from 1966. A French Pop all-star cast tells the story of Christmas. Kind of. Starring Serge Gainsbourg as Joseph, Chantal Goya as Mary, and Jacques Dutronc rocking out in a room full of slabs of beef and dancing nuns. You read that right.
Joyeux Noël!
Friday, December 15, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Don't Stop Till You Amitabh
My last Bollywood clip got the big gundown at the Youtube Corral a day after I linked to it, so to make up for it, here's the one and only Amitabh Bachchan from the Bollywood thriller Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi. Here Amitabh gives a masterclass on the art of Bringing It On.
Smooth Operators Are Standing By
I'm not sure where this clip was taken from (a Quebec telethon?) but sacré fils! Homegrown French Pop! Michéle Richard rocks the biggest kangol I've ever seen in my life while belting out "J'Ecoutais La Mer". Is it too late to donate?
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
La Fievre Du Samedi Soir
Worked out pretty well for Stephané Dion, but the Quebecois icon I would have encouraged to run for the Liberal Party leadership would have been Guy LaFleur. For some reason he chose not to; was he afraid the disco album would come back to haunt him?
(Thanks for the headz, Tim!)
(Thanks for the headz, Tim!)
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Jazz Bar
We've all heard about how John Woo drew inspiration for his dynamic Hong Kong action melodramas of the late eighties on the films of Jean-Pierre Melville, Sam Peckinpah and Douglas Sirk, but no one mentions what seems to me to be a key influence on his work - a music video that must have been in heavy rotation on MTV Asia - 'The Captain of Her Heart', by Swiss or Austrian (or Dutch?) one-hit wonders Double (pronounced doo-blay). Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to find out Woo directed it.
Dutronc Dutronc Dutronc !
French Pop Wednesday thinks, therefore... I forget. That's life.
Jacques Dutronc sings 'Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi' en direct. I've said it before and I'll say it again - what's the point of having a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame if Dutronc's not in there? He's been eligible for more than 15 years.
Jacques Dutronc sings 'Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi' en direct. I've said it before and I'll say it again - what's the point of having a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame if Dutronc's not in there? He's been eligible for more than 15 years.
Monday, December 04, 2006
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