Eek. The SD card mysteriously ran out of space, even though du
said it was empty. And it happened in the pretty part at the end…
I like the grainy film. 8mm? 16mm? Lots of ISOs? But even though I really like it visually, I’m afraid the film kinda lost me. Perhaps I’m just not in the mood for the languidity? (That’s a word!)
And I guess you could see the film as a series of deliberate provocations? There’s somebody killing a bird inexpertly (censored on this DVD version because British people don’t much enjoy cruelty to animals), there’s a guy masturbating (for real), there are horses fucking, there’s the sex scene with the older woman, there are dogs kicked and dead cats thrown around…
But, like.
Japon. Carlos Reygadas. 2002. Mexico.
Grapefruit margaritas
3 parts grapefruit juice 2 parts tequila 1 part Contrieu
Shake with ice. Strain into a sugar rimmed glass.
I prefer it with no rimming.
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This is a very unusual film. It starts off with a trial of sorts that turns out to be more of a hearing into African debt, globalism and migration. And it takes place in the backyard of a private house, so there are children and animals running around amongst the judges and witnesses.
Very interesting.
And just when you think it’s all going to be serious and stuff, suddenly there’s a Western movie inside the film starring Danny Glover! (Who was one of the producers.)
Quirky! And some of the actors are great, especially Aïssa Maïga and William Bourdon.
But some of the witnesses kinda go on. And on.
Bamako. Abderrahmane Sissako. 2006. Mali.
Mali Cooler
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of kiwi.
This doesn’t really sound like a very genuinly Malinese (is that a word?) cocktail, but it’s the only one I found on dar intertubes.
Man. Monin’s Grenadine is good! The one I tried last year, from Rose’s, was horrible!
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This is yet another very languid film. I mean, very little happens. But the actors here are very good, so it’s enjoyable to watch.
And it’s cute and playful.
The second part (which is a “silent film” from 1910-ish) is a bit of a drag, though.
Three Times. Hsiao-Hsien Hou. 2005. Taiwan.
Zegroni
Stir with ice and strain into a glass. Squeeze an orange peel over the surface. Garnish with a vanilla bean.
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Stella! STELLA!!!
Geez. An interlaced DVD. That reduces the vertical resolution to a half. But I guess I can see why they did it — it’s 6GB as it (it’s quite long), and they’d have to go to double sided to get it over 9GB…
Which I would have preferred.
Anyway!
It’s a very languid film. I usually love this kind of stuff, but I’m not quite convinced… There’s a whiff of melodrama. And not the good kind where you really go for it (like Douglas Sirk), but the kind where you think you’re making a drama, and you aren’t.
To carry off a film like this, you need really great actors. And there are very few of them here. So it mosly just sits there, expecting you to do all the work.
But there were scenes I enjoyed. And it would probably have been a whole lot more enjoyable on bluray. Because it looks like it might have been very pretty.
The Weeping Meadow. Theodoros Angelopoulos. 2004. Greece.
Skinos Fresh
Muddle cucumber in shaker. Add the other ingredients and ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a slice of cucumber.
I had Skinos in a Greek restaurant in… Melbourne? Yeah. That sounds right. It’s quite interesting. It really reeks of pine resin, so you think it’s going to taste harsh. But it doesn’t. It’s smooth.
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