Public Enemies

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After a week trapped in Disneyland (no Caen, lower Normandy), I escaped to the cineplex, at Mondeville, and saw on an amazing screen, with dolby surround sound and designer comfort chairs people running around in 1930’s America speaking slightly squeaky French. What we do for laughs I tell you.

The Girlfriend Experience

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Sasha Grey with more clothes on than in some images of her. Excellent film by Steven Soderbergh. Who are you calling a hooker?

Looking for Eric

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The young Lily in this pretty good film (compared to the condemnation of a week in French cinemas generally), not diminished by the presence of some French speaking and the presence of Eric Cantona the great girl’s football (soccer) player.

Bancs publics (Versailles rive droite)

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More French comedy (in other words almost totally unwatchable).

Los abrazos rotos / Broken embraces

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Penelope Cruz. Almodovar only gets better. Go see it, if you haven’t already.

Amreeka

muna farah

No particular reason why the French version of this film is known as Amerrika when it is known as Amreeka (merely reflecting their pronunciation) in the original Arabic. It’s a good story showing some of the problems of a ‘Christian’ Palestinian family immigrating to the United States. It is not a particularly anti american film despite some of the problems shown in it. and might I add the French ought to be the last to point to the finger about anything to do with immigration or postcolonial adjustment.

Una giornata particolare

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Amazing film from 1977 by Ettore Scala featuring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni about life in Rome 1938 not made any less great by having to read French subtitles where my Italian often failed me.

Fais moi plasir

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Frederique Bel in another French comedy despite the good looks I still didn’t care for.

OSS 117 se déchaîne

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Nadia Sanders in the clutches of yet again French version of somebody’s private war.

Whatever works

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Patricia Clarkson again in this pretty good film from Woody Allen in case everybody thought it was all over for him.