In the blink of an eye

First, I'd like to explain why, unlike my fellow cinephiles, I have not been busying myself writing end of the decade lists. The 2000s have come and gone and now is the time we look back fondly (or not) on what happened over the last ten years. And while I find these efforts to sum up the Oughts in clever lists and articles a fun and perhaps even necessary exercise, I will not take part in them.

The reason I'll abstain from such things is my birth-date. I was born on January, 1992; on the same day as my sister's birthday. I grew up a child of the 90s and when the new millennium rolled around I was still a little boy. So, while I was alive throughout all the 2000s, I was much too young to see the majority of the films that came out in the first half of the decade. Yes, I have seen films from years past to fill the gaps in my film education, but I still think I am not qualified to provide an adequate review of the entire decade.

So, what is left for me to do, my dear readers? Well, one thing I am prepared to review is 2009. And on this last day of the year, as you uncork the champagne and count down the seconds to a bright new beginning, I'm prepared to entertain you with one last bit of my opinion.

I raise my glass today to this past decade, and for all it has brought. Bonne année, mes petits.


Au revoir,
M. Cinema

P.S. And for those of you interested in such lists, there's a fantastic group of them over at Cinematical.

On Summer Plans

I know what you're thinking. Why would you make plans for summer 8 months or so in advance? Well, my dear readers, that's because I just got told that next year my school's theater department is taking a trip to New York. I, being the NY-obsessed boy I am, immediately asked them if I could join them. They said yes and that means I've got a chance (however small) of actually going to Broadway. Needless to say, this makes me a very happy camper, mes petits. The plan is to go and see four musicals (not chosen yet) and I'm lobbying to go see Hair. The show's gotten rave reviews and it has an amazing cast, so I'm dying to go. I leave you here with a couple of choice videos showcasing the amazing performers and specially the outstanding Gavin Creel.

Wish me luck, darlings.

Au revoir,

M. Cinema

A star in the Galaverse (a.k.a. Twitter works, people!)

Isn't she the most gorgeous candy-haired International Playgirl in the land?

Okay, let me set the scene for you. I'm in my philosophy class and it's workshop day. We basically sit and write essays for our final project (a book detailing our personal philosophy) during workshop days. I was writing and hit a block and decided to clear my head for a few minutes by checking out some of the blogs I usually read. I was checking iCiNG and decided to see what Gala (a truly outstanding person. But you know that already from checking out my Required Reading, right?) had changed on her link list, since she's posted something to that effect on her weekly Carousel. Imagine my surprise when I saw a pretty little link to Monsieur Cinema, right there in the thick of it. I proceeded to do the one thing I could manage to do in that situation and did my own version of Kathy Griffin's gay inhale. Now, this might not sound like much; but picture it happening during a quiet lull in the classroom and you have everyone turning their necks to look at me like I'm a mental patient (and me not caring one bit. Much too huge a deal to care.). Granted, I had sent Gala a link to the site when she asked her nonpareils (iCiNG codeword for Gala's undying legion of fans) for links to their sites since she was updating her link list. I, however, did not expect her to actually put me in the list, given her humongous following. I thought I would only be a blip in a flurry of tweets. Well, call it the little blip-that-could because I'm in! I think, my dear readers, this is one of those moments that tell me starting this blog was definitely a good idea. Expect a Gala homage (the woman is deserving of it, link-list-add or not) post tout de suite.

Au revoir, Monsieur Cinema.

P.S. I realize this post could be construed as more than a little self-serving, but bear with me; those are not my intentions. I merely want to share the joy I felt when I saw this with you, my dear and faithful readers. Je suis très hereux, mes petits. Très hereux, indeed.

On sharing what you have

This week was the first week of school and the first week of the semester I've once more tended to my duties as creator and president of my school's Film Club. This year I have twelve members, an all-time high for the club. I am very excited to be able to share my love of movies with them and to maybe even be able to teach them a thing or two. Even better is the fact that if all goes according to plan, we may take a trip next year to the Sundance Film Festival. Cross your fingers, people!


Au revoir,
Monsieur Cinema

New York, I Love You

The first trailer for New York, I Love You is making the rounds and I gotta say I am in love. I enjoyed its predecessor, Paris, je t'aime, so this was a no brainer. However, I was still surprised at how much I liked the trailer. I've seen better trailers than this, sure, but there's something about this one that gives me a gut feeling few others do. Maybe it has to do with my lifelong love of New York and my undying desire to one day live in it (Clichés are there for a reason folks. It's people like me that keep them alive.). In any case, here I give you the trailer. Enjoy!



Let me know if my feelings on it are mine alone or if you share them.

Au revoir,
Monsieur Cinema

Massive Movie Catch-Up: 2008

I am so excited! Today, while perusing my local blockbuster I was blinsided by a sudden 2008 catch-up they're apparently doing. Every (and I do mean each and every one) of the movies I'd been craving (or in the case of Valkyrie, merely curious about) to see from 2008 that didn't come out on theaters (or that I was too busy to go see) here hit the shelves at the same time. Expect an onslaught of posts regarding this in the coming days.

Au revoir,
Monsieur Cinema

For those of you wondering...

For those of you wondering why the films I've reviewed so far seem to jump from very different times and places I believe some explaining is in order. Firstly, as my last review demonstrates, I may be late reviewing movies currently playing in theaters because I live in a rather small city and we get movies a bit later (Some not at all, so that means I miss some great films that sadly don't really get the masses moving.) than other, larger cities. Also, I have a friend who works at my local Blockbuster and I get free rentals, so I'm taking full advantage of that by catching up on my film education this summer. I'm using James' system (Yes, I've been pushing Rants of a Diva on you a lot lately. So, what are you waiting for? Go check it out!) because it works like a charm. It forces me to choose movies I might pass up on otherwise and really works to fill out some holes in my film list. In case you're not familiar with the system it works like this: You rent one classic film, one foreign film and one "modern" film. James defines modern as something that came out sometime within the last 20 years but I use my birthday as a gauge. Thus, anything that came out between 1992 and now that for some reason or the other I missed and want to watch is a candidate. Hope this clears up any doubts you might have had regarding my unorthodox review choices.

Au revoir,
Monsieur Cinema