Fogbow

orlylicious wrote: ↑Mon Mar 20, 2023 10:00 pm
Has anybody seen a History Channel show called ALONE?

Amélie Was Really a KGB Spy: Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet Re-Edits His Beloved Film, Amélie, into a New Comedic Short

No French film of this century is more beloved than Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie. Or rather, no protagonist of a French film in this century is more beloved than Audrey Tautou’s eponymous Amélie. Hence, no doubt, why the movie is best known by that short version of its title rather than by the long version, Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. Now, more than twenty years after the release of Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Jeunet has followed it up with La véritable histoire d’Amélie Poulain, which you can watch (with optional French or English subtitles) just above.

“After all this time,” Jeunet says in a brief introduction, “I felt the moment was right to tell you, at long last, the real story of Amélie Poulain.” She turns out, according to his voice-over narration that follows, not to be a simple Montmartre waitress who dedicates herself to surreptitiously enriching the lives of those around her.

In fact she works as a spy for the KGB, having first been recruited in childhood with the promise of candy bars. That may sound far-fetched, but Jeunet supports every detail of Amélie’s double life, and of the story of her re-entry into espionage after the fall of the Berlin Wall, using the very same scenes and involving the very same characters we remember from Amélie.

On one level, La véritable histoire d’Amélie Poulain testifies to the enduring playfulness that keeps Jeunet from taking his own work — even the work that became a global phenomenon — too seriously. (Indeed, that spirit is on display in the original movie’s exaggeration of whimsical-French-film tropes.) Much like the Hollywoodified Kubrick trailers we previously featured here on Open Culture, this new short also constitutes a demonstration of how the meaning and impact of cinema are created not by the images themselves, but rather by their context and juxtaposition. And so, with characteristic cleverness, Jeunet has reinvented Amélie as a Soviet agent by employing the principles of Soviet montage.

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Wed Mar 22, 2023 11:04 am https://www.openculture.com/2023/03/ame ... -film.html

neonzx wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:03 pm Watching Top Gun Maverick (available on Prime for free).

I am hanging my head in shame. But it's included. I have to relive this crap from 30 years ago? It was bad then but we have to redo?

► Show Spoiler

The flight scenes were kewl, but the money shot was unbelieveable.

bill_g wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 8:36 am

neonzx wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:03 pm Watching Top Gun Maverick (available on Prime for free).

I am hanging my head in shame. But it's included. I have to relive this crap from 30 years ago? It was bad then but we have to redo?

Yeah. Maverick was definitely a Tom Cruise Make Work project. He must have needed an extension on his boat house or something. Entertaining, but! Nothing new. Maybe they should rename it MI-12.

Naked Education review – the look at pubic hair is wonderfully revelatory
Giggling, blushing teens! Unbridled nudity! It’s yet another Anna Richardson show about nakedness, but surprisingly, this one features genuine moments of wisdom

Jack Seale
Tue 4 Apr 2023 21.00 BST

Channel 4’s long-running but to-this-day terrifying dating show, Naked Attraction, must hold the record for the number of boobs, bellies and balls shown on British television. Its host Anna Richardson has always tried to steer the judging of strangers’ anatomies towards a message of positivity about our endlessly different shapes and sizes, with limited success – and now she has a new series, Naked Education, with which to atone. Again, the hook is unbridled nudity, but this time the focus is definitely on acceptance, myth-busting and affirmative shared experiences.

We’re in a light-factual magazine format, flipping between clearly labelled sections that recur reassuringly every week. “Teen Talk” gathers together a group of teenagers and asks for their views on a particular aspect of body image, before a gentle re-education takes place at the hands of co-presenters Yinka Bokinni and Dr Alex George. Their unconventional, unforgettable teaching aid? A lineup of fully naked adults.




https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... revelatory

In 1940, Varian Fry traveled to Marseille carrying three thousand dollars and a list of imperiled artists and writers he hoped to help escape within a few weeks. Instead, he stayed more than a year, working to procure false documents, amass emergency funds, and arrange journeys across Spain and Portugal, where the refugees would embark for safer ports. His many clients included Hannah Arendt, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, and Marc Chagall, and the race against time to save them is a tale of forbidden love, high-stakes adventure, and unimaginable courage.

Phoenix520 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 12:45 am Designing Women!!!

It’s on Prime. I adore these women. Starting with season 1, waiting for Hal Holbrook and Meshach Taylor to show up.

Phoenix520 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:06 pm I’m a big Tim Roth fan (I’ve watched Lie to Me 4 times).

Phoenix520 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:26 pm Designing Women:
I loved the characters and the actors who brought them to life. Dixie Carter could light flames with those flinty eyes; Annie Potts, the sweet passive aggressive one, was Every Woman; and of course Jean Smart. Their outfits, looking back, were really costumes - OMG that 80s style is HIDEOUS now! High-waisted midi skirts with mid-thigh-length jackets but it’s definitely the characters for me.

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 9:51 pm Hubby found “Kingdom” on FreeVee. It stars Stephen Fry as Peter Kingdom, a small town solicitor. Well-written, it has the most beautiful opening sequence and the accompanying theme is angelic.