Saturday, February 14, 2015

What's on tv

The annual cérémonie des César du cinéma français will be broadcast next Friday night. The César awards are France's equivalent of the US Academy Awards or the British BAFTA film awards, the film industry's annual love fest. Like the Academy Awards, I never watch. Not only do I find award shows boring in general, and do not care about what people are wearing, I've usually not seen the nominated movies. I'm one of the few (I guess) who actually doesn't like going to the movies. I will see them at home, later. I've seen two movies in theaters in the past twelve years: The Return of the King and Brokeback Mountain, both seen in Paris more than ten years ago. Since then, just DVDs and our satellite movie channels.

This year's returning host, Edouard Baer, clutches the ugly César award.

What not to watch this week. Our tv magazine rates shows and movies using a star system: one star is ok, four stars is best. They use another symbol for really bad movies: the red dot. It means "à zapper" (change the channel!). The editors often include comments about the movie that make me laugh.

This week's gem stars Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds (!) in a movie from fourteen years back called "Driven," apparently a youth vs. experience tale set in the world of race-car driving.

Driven. American/Canadian/Australian action film directed by Renny Harlin. 2001.
With Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Estella Warren.
Hired to boost the morale of a young hot-shot at risk of losing his title, a retired race-car driver becomes his friend.
Incredibly far-fetched, the story is painful to watch. The direction is an uninspired jumble of tired clichés.
For adults and teens. First showing.

11 comments:

  1. I rarely go to the cinema either. Last time was for the latest Asterix at the salle des fetes in Preuilly, which I'm not sure counts. Before that I can't remember -- probably something with my sister in Canberra about 10 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Likewise, we don't often go to the cinema. Tim would be a more frequent visitor but I find that as soon as the lights go out I fall asleep!

    The last film we watched was Gravity in IMAX, 3D at Birmingham.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is interesting that you translated micmac as jumble...
    in UK Anglais we have a word that must have the same root...
    mishmash.
    I often wonder about film reviews like that...
    placed on the front page of a TV guide...
    why have something so negative on the cover...
    or is that the BEST there is this week?

    The last time Pauline and I went to the cinema...
    if Susan doesn't count Asterix at Proolie...
    was to Descartes Cinema to see "The King's English"...
    a thoroughly enjoyable film....
    in "vostf" with not quite the same meaning in some of the subtitles!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. tim, I almost used mishmash, but changed it at the last minute. That review is not on the cover, I just put both images together.

      Delete
  4. Burt Reynolds and Sylvester Stallone--one of them plays a youth?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. carolyn, no, neither one does. That would have been a stretch!

      Delete
    2. I nearly asked the same thing!!

      Delete
  5. I love going to the cinema for movies-- love it! But, rarely do it, because my husband doesn't usually want to. Just curious... why don't you like going to a cinema? (I had a friend who was a big smoker, and she didn't like going to the cinema because she couldn't smoke... but, you don't, right?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. judy, no, I don't smoke. But I don't like waiting in lines, trying to find good seats, watching a movie through someone's hair, not being able to see the whole screen, the smells, the noise of people talking, laughing, gasping, or clapping, to name of few reasons. I've been in good theaters where all the seats are good and nobody can block the screen, but that still doesn't compensate for the overall experience. Not to mention the prices. ;)

      Delete
  6. I think mish-mash comes from Yiddish - see "the joys of yiddish", a wonderful book. Pauline

    ReplyDelete
  7. I too don't go much to the movies; when I watch the Oscars I can intuit who will win merely by the buzz.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what you think!