Ahh, Gay Paree... Smell the warm croissants, hear the gentle accordian playing, and watch the friendly mimes performing as you float through the sun-dappled streets of Montmartre, nibbling on maccaroons and reblochon, wiping crumbs off your petticoat...
Yeah, I'm aware that description is antiquated, patronising, and bullshit (didn't stop Woody Allen from making a potential Best Picture winner though!). You're more likely to see something like this nowadays:
Although to be completely fair, the centre-ville area has done well to retain its nostalgic, cobble-stoned sheen, thanks in large part to the paupers and ethnics being housed on the outskirts, where they bloody-well belong (see banlieues).Yeah, I'm aware that description is antiquated, patronising, and bullshit (didn't stop Woody Allen from making a potential Best Picture winner though!). You're more likely to see something like this nowadays:
So why am I going on about Paris you wonder? You don't? Well, I'll just go fuck myself then.
If you're still reading, the lady wife and I took a well-deserved break to the much-filmed city.
We didn't do much in the way of sightseeing, as we've visited several times and are far too local now to do what ghastly toursits do, like visiting art galleries (although we did spot an original Invader piece on a wall near a metro station!). That, plus we were fucking tired from living life and wanted a nice kip in the hotel room for most of the weekend.
Hence I spent quite a bit of time channel surfing France's frankly crap selection of channels while the lady napped; the diamond in the turd being Franco-German co-production ARTE.tv:
Admittedly, it's a little pretentious, you probably wouldn't enjoy its programmes if you're not a left-wing sociology professor; lots of documentaries about Nepalese wild honey hunters and the like. But I think there's plenty to offer if you give it your time.
Televised concerts, documentaries about hipster idols like David Bailey... One of my favourite shows is called Into The Night, where two similarly-matched artsy celebs spend an evening in a city they love, showing each other the places they like to go and the things they like to do.
It's a simple and brilliant concept that creates the atmosphere of a laid-back road movie, a million miles from the self-aware artificiality of traditional variety shows where the celeb is wheeled out for a pre-vetted interview with a chirpy host.
Another prog I love is Metropolis, a general culture show, and brings me to the title of this post. I'm a fan of pop music mashup guru Girl Talk, who somehow takes recognisable songs and splices them up into an intoxicating semi-continuous mix of riffs, beats, and voice samples that's fresh and exciting. Basically it's a 16 year-old's stream of consciousness remixed by Daft Punk.
In the particular episode of Metropolis I caught, they highlighted a young New York photographer's (Jacob Krupnick) ambitious project to make a feature-length dance music video for the entirety of Girl Talk's 2010 album All Day, the plot taking place, conveniently, over the course of a single day in New York.
Now, I must say, I don't particularly like dancing (neither the watching of or participation in). I especially don't care for the increasingly popular Dancing With an iPod In Public videos that have been showing up on youtube (I would gladly and gleefully kill this man), but I have to say I love Girl Walk // All Day. First of all the dancing is genuinely brilliant, secondly it's well shot, and finally, the leading lady (played by Anne Marsen) has the pep and charm of the Gamine role in the best of Chaplin's movies: wide-eyed, insouciant(e), and very expressive.
The whole thing is available for free on Youtube, so check it oowwwt. Official Trailer:
Fuck knows, its Art...
Admittedly, it's a little pretentious, you probably wouldn't enjoy its programmes if you're not a left-wing sociology professor; lots of documentaries about Nepalese wild honey hunters and the like. But I think there's plenty to offer if you give it your time.
Televised concerts, documentaries about hipster idols like David Bailey... One of my favourite shows is called Into The Night, where two similarly-matched artsy celebs spend an evening in a city they love, showing each other the places they like to go and the things they like to do.
Gaspar Noe AND Harmony Korine!! Can you say "headfuck"? Also, don't worry, a good deal of this is in English.
It's a simple and brilliant concept that creates the atmosphere of a laid-back road movie, a million miles from the self-aware artificiality of traditional variety shows where the celeb is wheeled out for a pre-vetted interview with a chirpy host.
Another prog I love is Metropolis, a general culture show, and brings me to the title of this post. I'm a fan of pop music mashup guru Girl Talk, who somehow takes recognisable songs and splices them up into an intoxicating semi-continuous mix of riffs, beats, and voice samples that's fresh and exciting. Basically it's a 16 year-old's stream of consciousness remixed by Daft Punk.
In the particular episode of Metropolis I caught, they highlighted a young New York photographer's (Jacob Krupnick) ambitious project to make a feature-length dance music video for the entirety of Girl Talk's 2010 album All Day, the plot taking place, conveniently, over the course of a single day in New York.
Now, I must say, I don't particularly like dancing (neither the watching of or participation in). I especially don't care for the increasingly popular Dancing With an iPod In Public videos that have been showing up on youtube (I would gladly and gleefully kill this man), but I have to say I love Girl Walk // All Day. First of all the dancing is genuinely brilliant, secondly it's well shot, and finally, the leading lady (played by Anne Marsen) has the pep and charm of the Gamine role in the best of Chaplin's movies: wide-eyed, insouciant(e), and very expressive.
The whole thing is available for free on Youtube, so check it oowwwt. Official Trailer:
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