A movie that ends with a casino heist and doesn't star George Clooney

So this week was interesting. I went to another French movie, Bob le Flambeur. The International cinema was having a film noir week. Now I wish I could say that I am extremely cultured and was entranced by the cinematography or something like that. But honestly the whole time all I could think about was how can the main girl be considered so attractive, yet her be so mullet-y. Seriously it was distracting. But the ending was interesting. It wasn't your typical finish to a casino heist film. People died, the romance was definitely not true love, they didn't get away with it, and they didn't predict every move or plant fake cops ala Oceans Eleven. However they still kept it interesting and I thought it was an interesting plot twist, if not the most positive one.

Anyways I also saw BYU's modern dance concert, In Motion this week. I usually think that I am pretty open minded about that kind of stuff, however I just didn't get the final dance. For the last number they came out wearing tutus made of plastic grocery bags while surrounded by fog. Just as I was getting a handle on this the dance transitioned into a scene where a majority of the company was sitting on the floor while holding a balloon; this was followed by a giant ribbon acrobatic ensemble, and well, you get the idea. I felt like there was some big metaphor I wasn't getting that would tie it all together, but no one ever clued me in if there was. There rest was good though. There was a fun prop dance, and a couple of bench dances, as well as this one dance based around four women from Shakespearean plays. I didn't know all of the stories but it was still interesting to see them portray the characters. Although the music reminded me of one of those semi-electronic instrumental songs that they like to play in the background of eighties movies (Lady Hawk, anyone?).

Lara also shared an amazing bread recipe with me this week. It had a topping that was olive oil mixed with rosemary, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Sooo delicious. Fresh bread makes me so happy; it's ridiculous.

Reading: Sister Carrie

Movie Marathon

In honor of my French classes I've decided to start watching some French films ( maybe they'll help me with my pronunciation!). Anyways I started today and the first one on my list was Persepolis. It was made in 2007, and won a couple awards. It was really interesting. Persepolis is an animated film. It's actually an adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persepolis. The story is autobiographical and follows Marjane's life growing up in Iran and Europe. It was completely fascinating. It discusses politics (of course!) but it also gives you a unique view of Marjane's personal journey. Through Marjane's eyes we see that Bruce Lee is her hero, Abba is for Wimps!, the Vienna underground is not the ideal place to try and find yourself, and guys are the same no matter what country you're in. I loved Marjane as a little girl in Adidas shoes proclaiming herself a future prophet and I also loved her as a serious young women protesting her university's double standard for women. Even though the film takes place in Iran and Vienna it is all in French, except for the memorable sequence where Marjane decides to call herself to action by singing Eye of the Tiger. Plus Marjane helped animate the whole thing herself (The film is a collaboration between her and Vincent Paronnaud). It's definitely something to try if you don't mind subtitles.

Another Blog

So I am not quite sure why I created this. Gabby and I just started a blog, and having two blogs seems too ambitious for me right now. But I'll give it a try!! Anyways I probably won't update as much on this one. My main blog will still be: http://mimiandgabby.blogspot.com/.