Mercredi Orange - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

‘Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.’
http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/r/Rise-of-the-Planet-of-the-Apes/index-10485240.html

Could that really happen??? Probably. Will it really happen? Maybe. After the riots in Boredville a few weeks ago maybe it has happened already. No! I’m being stupid as apes are more intelligent and well behaved compare to the scum destroying everything in sight.

Yes the ape special effects were very good, but so was the story and acting. Ok it didn’t have much to live up to after Planet of the Apes in 2001 (even my love for Mark Wahlberg could not make that movie enjoyable) however it was good escapism after a busy day….or maybe its the future not escapism.

I so need to stop over analyzing everything.

Mercerdi Orange - Captain America ( a break from the riots)

'Captain America: The First Avenger' will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America. As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes  and Peggy Carter to wage war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull.
http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/features/captain-america/

 

After a two nights of rioting in Boredville, having to evacuate my city centre office in the afternoon after warnings from the police that the area isn't safe - no thug was going to stop me from my Wednesday trip to the cinema.  Where is Captain America when you need him? When Boredville was looking like a scene from Planet of the Apes (even thou Apes are way more intelligent than the yobs).

After Thor, Captain America had a tough job in matching the long haired hero with a hammer, and as I usually get bored of a long film, knowing this was two hours long- the Captain had to keep me interested.  He did, I never looked at my watch once and being the shallow human being that I am.  I did prefer the beefed up Captain America to the skinny Steven Rogers and I did find it alittle weird Dominic Cooper playing Robert Downing Jr's Dad ( the Starks).  With another connection to next year's Avengers movie which is suppose to included Thor and Iron Man as well as CA, I hope it lives up to the hype and anticipation. 

I give it: 4 stars

As for the the low life scum - they can take the Orange phones, they can smash up the Orange shops but they weren't going to wreak Orange Wednesday for me.

Mercredi Orange - Point Blank (A Bout Portant)

'Samuel is a happily married nurse working in a Paris hospital. When his very pregnant wife is kidnapped before his helpless eyes, everything falls apart. After being knocked unconscious, he comes to and his cell phone rings: he has three hours to get Sartet, a man under police surveillance, out of the hospital. Samuel quickly finds himself pitted against rival gangsters and trigger-happy police in a deadly race to save the lives of his wife and unborn child.'
http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/p/Point-Blank-A-Bout-Portant/index-11424735.html

Mercredi Orange without the Orange, not used to paying full price on a Wednesday, but it had to be done and it was worth the £6.50, the long wait to see in Boredville (it was released months ago in the UK) and the inconvenience of not being able to eat in the cinema.

After a few months of watching films, 30 - 45 minutes too long (Transformers and Bridesmaid being the longest), it was good to watch a 84 minutes long film packed with twists and turns, Goodies and Baddies or maybe Baddies and Goodies - due to the twists you don’t know what side some people are on. Of course I was biased from the start of the film as Gilles Lellouche is brilliant actor who just so happened to escape being hit with the ugly stick - gorgeous!

So I give it:

A brilliant fast pacing film which kept me so interested I didn’t miss my cinema chocolate treats.

Back to the books - How do I learn French?

Seven years ago today, a certain Frenchman came into my life…well the truth is I drunkenly fell over this certain Frenchman. I never would of considered he would still be in my thoughts (and heart) seven years on. Oui Oui these feelings are not returned and they never will be. But the positives of this one sided friendship is - France and all things French. Time to get back to the books…podcasts…CDs…films ( watching Seraphine has I type).

My French classes finished a month a go and don’t start again until the middle of September. For the last month I have neglected my studies, so for August I need to get back to learning French before I forget everything I have learnt over the past 10 months and I would like to get abit of a head start when (or if depending on the rising course fees) I start the next level.

So what is the best way to learn? Looking though a few old magazines articles on learning new languages, they all come up with the same ideas:

1. Take a trip - mix with the locals, go on a language learning holiday.
Oui Mais I have no money to take a holiday blah blah.

2. Immersion - French films (see above), music (abit of Vanessa Paradis & Sinclair on my ipod), books, magazines and newspapers (lots of Voicis Monsieur X used to send me).
Need to stop watching English and American repeats and need to watch more French Films. Starting with Point Blank tomorrow.

3. Online courses - More expense!
But I have found a few free ones (www.bbc.co.uk) along with a few podcasts.

4. Learn the 100 most spoken words - as they make up 50% of all conversations. One magazine article stated that if you are learning French (German or Spanish) you already know 40% of the vocab. For example ’danger’ is the same in French and English and all words ending in ’ion’ are the same.
So if I learn 10 new words a day - 10 days later I should have learnt half a language.

5. Use pictures/Flash cards - Spend 10 seconds studying a picture or draw a picture, naming all the things in the scene. For example drawing a picture of a café starting with words ’manger’ then ’le sandwich’ ’fromage’ etc. www.thinkbuzan.com thinks that drawing ’a mind map’ of words associated with each other will help the brain to match and group words together with colours, pictures and associations.
Drawing a few pictures a week - could help. Starting with le bureau, as I spend most of my time there.

So a few ideas I need to be getting on with. And maybe just maybe I might be able to have a French conversation sooner rather than in another seven years!

See Number 7 & - Blogpost - Numero Sept - leçons de François

France v England - Food

Last week, I had my birthday meal at Café Rouge, Boredville. I had a nice meal (Sole Limande), French music in the background and stereotypical French restaurant/café furniture but Café Rouge is as French as I am. A wannabee Frenchie, likes to act French but SO isn’t. I went to the same restaurant last September with Monsieur X, it was very funny watching the confused faces of the Eastern European waiting staff when he was ordering in French.

In June Boredville hosted their International Food Festival, around 50+ food stalls lining the City Centre High Street and Town Hall square. I found four French stands:

• Two Crepes Stands - not keen too sickly for me, brought back memories of New Year‘s Eve 2009. I was with Monsieur X in Les Menuires, and had to eat all of it, as the restaurant boss sat on our table talking to him and watched me eat every last crumb of it.

• A Bread stand - well there had to be one, but I wasn’t going to pay three times more for a baguette than I could in a supermarket. I know it would taste better but come on there is a recession on.

• Provencal Kitchen- serving chicken and garlic potatoes, cooked the southern French way, and served the English way in a plastic container with plastic knife and fork. It was gorgeous. could have had it every day of the festival, my taste buds said ’oui’ but my purse said ’non’ and it was back to cheese sandwiches and crisps.

Visiting France and living with a Frenchman gave my taste bubs a new lease of life, a change from hamburgers and chips. Apart my beloved chicken nuggets, my favourite food is fish - as long as the head is cut off, the sauces aren’t too spicy and it isn’t lobster. The one time I ate Lobster it tasted good but the humiliation of looked an idiot trying to eat it for the first time with a group of 10 Frenchies around me, made sure I would never try it again. I have always been a fishy girl (volia! Maybe that’s why I’m single), and the best fish dishes I’ve had have been cooked by Frenchies - La Phare Away in Cap Ferret, a small French restaurant in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and various dishes made by Monsieur X’s own hands.

But back to what I know best - Fast Food! I think Quick restaurants are from Belgium, but I class them as French probably because of the presentation. The burgers are actually upright and look like the photos on the menus, not like the pile of cold mush usually served at some Fast Food joints in England. I always used to nag Monsieur X to take me to one when I used to visit him, to me the best fast food in the world.

And my last point to why I enjoy French cooking - I have never ate it alone, expect for the Boredville Food Festival, wasn’t the same without friends especially my French ex one.

17 - Go to France to research different recipes (or eat in Quick).  Write my own Anglo - French cookery book, 101 English recipes with a French twist: For Example poisson et frites avec sauce rouge, batonnets de poissons and nuggets de poulet avec differentes sauces….Sounds a lot better in French.

Mercredi Orange - Horrible Bosses & others

For Nick, Kurt and Dale, the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses into dust. Quitting is not an option, so, with the benefit of a few-too-many drinks and some dubious advice from a hustling ex-con, the three friends devise a convoluted and seemingly foolproof plan to rid themselves of their respective employers -- permanently. There's only one problem: even the best laid plans are only as foolproof as the brains behind them.
http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/h/Horrible-Bosses/index-10526254.html

Loved it!!!! Very Funny!! Tres drole!!! Even the gross scene in the boss's bathroom, and I think everyone as worked for a 'Kevin Spacey' during their working life, I know I have. I think this is Jennifer Aniston's best performances - who would of thought Rachel could swear! I wonder how many trips to the gym and fitness classes it would take to get a body like hers.

Excellent - can't wait to buy it.

15. Sue the scriptwriters for copyright because some parts of the film, I have thought off doing in many of my many crappy jobs. Emigrate to France with my compensation.


Last weekend I watched Cars 2 in 3D and Harry Potter. Cars 2 was OK not as good as the original and Harry Potter was better than part 1 and finished off the franchise with a good film. I’m not a Potter addict, so I’m glad its ended - now I won’t have a problem finding a car parking place and there won’t be any more long queues or sold out signs…until Twilight is shown.
 

Mercredi Orange - Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is the impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. We see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life.
http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/t/The-Tree-of-Life/index-11424883.html
 
 

 
Comedies and action are my favourites types of movies, I like to go to the cinema to escape from the real world. I’m not a Harry Potter fan (even thou it is my duty as a daughter to take my Mom at the weekend), and has the boy wizard has taken over all of Boredville’s cinemas. Tree of Life was the only film available. I went with a open mind and a plan of at least staying awake.

I did stay awake and I did stay to the end (some people did walk out). I did enjoy it and after discussing it with MovieMate I think I actually understood it…alittle bit. My view ‘You can’t control life, it's out of your hands - God does’



I give it 2 ½ out of five

Somewhere in between.

It was better than I expected but not my cup of tea. Excellent cinematography but seriously Mr Malick putting old fashioned glasses on Brad Pitt does not age him - didn’t your make-up/special effects team watch Benjamin Button!!