Sexy Sneakers

Lebron James and Nicole Scherzinger in a Nike commercial

Musical Interlude

"Hero" from the 500 days of Summer soundtrack.

DVD of the Week: Goldfinger

No need to sum up the plot, we all know how 007 works.

The world is in danger. He saves the world. And he spends some quality time with a Bond girl while doing so.

Sometimes there is only the opening sequence that deserves our attention.
Sometimes it's the whole movie.

With Goldfinger, it's the latter.

DVD of the Week: Moon

Moon is one of those films that peaked my interest instead of lowering it, after I read the script months prior to its release.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is approaching the end of his solitary 3-year mission on the Sarang lunar station, where he is extracting helium 3, a renewable energy source that has replaced oil.

But Sam begins to hear and see some very strange things as the days go by. Initially thinking that his long period of isolation is playing tricks on him, Sam ends up face to face with his "clone". Hallucination? Reality? Manipulation?

I guess you'll have to see it to believe it.

How to be American - part 2: the stars

When you decide you want to work in film, you need to take a look at the figures at the weekend box office numbers. This may seem boring at first, but it's very interesting to compare the performance of different movies depending on their genre, their budget, etc. ...

What is even more interesting is to go on specialized websites and read the comments below the articles, where people try to explain the good or bad performance of a film by the fact that an actor is a true star or not, is underestimated or overestimated, has no talent or a lot of talent, has always drawn crowds or has never done it. They do so by throwing insults at each other, which quite frankly, makes for an even better read.

Since we’re all trying to become Americans here, I’ll talk about movie stars, this week. Because if there's one thing that Americans have over the rest of the world, it is the magical aura of Hollywood actors, examplified by TV shows in which they are invited abroad with an ever-delirious crowd welcoming them.

In soccer or basketball, you’re ahead of the pack because you are just more talented than the others. Take Messi, Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, for example. You score lots of goals you score or lots of baskets. It's that simple, it’s that objective. But it's hardly the same thing for our friends the actors.

Will Smith-although not particularly bad, is not better than most. Neither is Angelina Jolie. If I start talking about Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba, Robert Pattinson, Ashton Kutcher, and many others whose talent is very well hidden, I'll still be here in 3 days. In short, unlike with Kobe or Lebron, when you put a stars in a bad movie, it's still a bad movie (Will Smith in Seven Pounds or Hancock). You put them in a good film, it's still just a good film. Basically, a star is expensive, but does not make that big of a difference in terms of quality.

How does one become a star in Hollywood if talent does not explain everything? And what is the point of having one in a movie?

An actor/actress does not necessarily become famous by attracting public attention with his talent, far from it actually (not everyone is Meryl Streep). He or she does with her looks (Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Angelina Jolie), his personality (who does not want to be friends with Will Smith or George Clooney), a person with whom he or she goes out with (Jennifer Aniston), the nightclubs he/she attends, sometimes even just the clothes he/she wears. This make him/her a star because there is much so much media coverage about him/her in magazines, even though that person's work itself has not necessarily been groundbreaking.

As for the use of stars, the explanation is simple. A famous actor is “everybody’s friend. " When he is in a movie that’s coming out soon, it attracts your curiosity, regardless of the film in question, just as if a member of our family or a colleague told you he will appear in the newspaper the next day. When you see a trailer or a poster in the street, that familiar face makes you unconsciously think that you will have a better time watching this movie rather than another.

The studios need that. A marketing device. They need celebrities who draw attention to themselves and not the (often poor) quality of their films. It would be simpler not having to spend millions of dollars to pay actors who are sometimes overrated. Just make good stories that the public wants to see without any regard to who is on the screen.

But at the same time, it is so much easier to make "Valentine's Day" and go play golf while spectators don’t realize until afterwards that they’ve been taken advantage of.

Because after all, a good script –unlike actors - makes all the difference, but it’s kind of hard to find...

Do you know what one looks like? If you do, no need to take the first flight to LA.
They don't buy them here.

DVD of the Week: Bal Poussière

Last week, a Cameroonian film, Quartier Mozart, was the DVD of the Week. Today, it's time for a movie from Ivory Coast to step forward, Bal Poussière.

This comedy may be older than me (produced in 1988), but it keeps all of its effectiveness after each new viewing.

The film follows Demi-Dieu (translation: Half-God), whose nickname comes from the fact that he's the one and only master in his village after God himself. He's decided to take a sixth wife. I think you understand that much (a lot actually) hilarity ensues as the film goes

Just like last week, you'll have to speak some French to understand what's going on, sorry ...

Just Wright - trailer

The trailer looks pretty common (that's a great joke, admit it). Except... There's DWAYNE WADE!!! And Dwight Howard!!!

Only for basketball fans. Some women think they're cute, though.

Episode 4: Planning to change home

I had planned to write my second article supposed to help you all become Americans, but unfortunately I was the victim of a very busy schedule and didn’t have time to work on it it.

What I did spend time doing was starting to work on the design for the production company’s future website. So I sailed all week from pages to pages in search of elements I would like to incorporate to the interface of what will become your favorite address. One thing that I quickly couldn’t stand at all were those "super cool" Flash animations that take a long time to materialize - even with a fast connection - and don’t actually add that much the page’s aesthetics.

There will be none of that for me, thank you. Instead, when everything is ready, you’ll find something simple and very easy to use. Because between the blog, the interactive screening room, the audio podcasts, the video clips, the trailers (“American style”), and the "making of" segments, you will easily get lost.

The transition will probably take place at the end of July – around the time I’ll start shooting my next film. I would like to make things happen faster, but I already know I will lose any kind of productivity between June 11 and July 11.

I know it's pathetic. But I am only a man.
It is the World Cup, after all. It only happens every 4 years.

DVD of the Week: Quartier Mozart

For those of you who didn't know it yet, the blog's name finds its origin in Jean-Pierre Bekolo's first film, Quartier Mozart.

I'm not pushing it too far when I say that this is the most internationally acclaimed Cameroonian film to date, with a participation at the Cannes festival as well as Locarno and Montreal. At the same time, this is a small admission of failure for Cameroonian cinema when you consider that the movie was shot back in 1992 and so far its success hasn't been matched by anything else.

The story follows the adventures of a young girl whose excessive curiosity led the witch of the neighborhood (yes, because there are witches everywhere in Africa...) to change her into a man.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any clips with subtitles, so only the most courageous of you will give it a shot and try to understand what is going on.

A little music doesn't hurt from time to time

I will soon -not so soon actually- have the opportunity to talk about the importance of music in movies in general, Americans in particular, and its ability to raise the visual elements of a film.

In the meantime here's a sample of one of the best composers in the world, Clint Mansell.

The first song is Lux Aeterna from Requiem for a Dream
The second is Dead Reckoning from Smokin'Aces.