Movie Review: Paris, Je T'Aime

"Paris, Je T'Aime," assigns the age-old subject "Paris + Love," as well as a specific neighborhood, to 18 renowned filmmakers, then collects the results in a charming anthology. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but it never had me checking my watch or counting how many films I had left to endure. As with Paris itself, there may be dull spots, but there's usually something impressive just around the corner.

Two of the most memorable films are the comedies "Tuileries" by the Coen brothers and "Tour Eiffel" by Sylvain Chomet. In the hilarious "Tuileries," Steve Buscemi is a tourist confronted with hostile Parisians and a guidebook that can only be described as Coen-esquire. "Tour Eiffel" is a witty take-off on the French cliché of mimes.

Other highlights: Some of the movie's best acting is found in "Quartier Latin," where longtime friends Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara play a divorcing couple. Alfonso Cuaron's one-take "Parc Monceau" has good actors (Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier) and an even better twist.

Tom Tykwer's "Faubourg St-Denis" has the exciting visuals, music and editing that you'd expect from the director of "Run Lola Run." It also has one of the largest scopes, retracing a love affair at high speed. A blind man picks up the phone, and hears from his girlfriend (Natalie Portman) that she breaks up with him. He reflects on their relationship."Bastille," too, takes place over a long period of time. A man meets with his wife at a restaurant, to break up with her, so that he can run off with his mistress. But the wife has some devastating news. Pretty basic, but truly sad and beautiful.

"Pere Lachaise" isn't a horror film, though you might expect that from its setting (cemetery) and director (Wes Craven). It has good acting from Rufus Sewell and Emily Mortimer, and a friendly, charming ghost.For horror fans, there is the vampire-themed "Quartier de la Madeleine," but it's over- heated, over-stylized, and looks like a bad perfume commercial.

Meanwhile, "Porte de Choisy" is like a bad hair-products commercial crossed with God knows what else—set in an Asian beauty parlor, it's the anthology's most head-scratching film.

Other misses: The opener, "Montmartre," is a very generic romance. I also felt like there should have been more to Gus Van Sant's "Le Marais" than there was between the two boys. Maggie Gyllenhaal does well as a drug-addicted actress in "Quartier des Enfants Rouges," but the shaky camera-work distracts from the story. "Place des Victoires," starring Juliette Binoche in a very Binoche-ish role as a grieving mother, is sentimental and has nothing to do with Paris. And I don't think I got the life-and-art joke in "Pigalle."

Three of the movies confront social issues of race and class. "Quais de Seine," about a beautiful Muslim girl and a leering white boy, is too obvious in the points it makes, but uses the location well. Catalina Sandino Moreno is very good in "Loin du 16eme," about a poor young woman who works as a nanny in Paris's richest neighborhood. "Place des Fetes" shows an Afro-French medic tending to a wounded Nigerian immigrant who used to work in her parking garage. It examines the tensions between first- and second-generation immigrants and is also quite moving.

Alexander Payne ties everything together with "14eme Arrondissement," where a stereotypical middle-aged, middle-American tourist (Margo Martindale) describes her Parisian vacation in very bad French. At first a shallow satire, it becomes sincere and quietly epiphanic. "14eme Arrondissement," and a good half of the other movies in "Paris, je t'aime," shows how a short film can dazzle and surprise you—just like Paris itself.

The Closer: Grave Doubts

This was one of those great episodes that went seamlessly from comedy to drama, something The Closer does better than any other procedural on television. Think about it: CSI slips the comedy in throughout the investigation, but The Closer gets serious when it needs to.

The beginning of the episode was laugh-out-loud funny thanks to some great one-liners from Lt. Provenza (I'm so glad the budget cuts didn't get him). When Pope's not around to bring the funny, Provenza can always step in. Some of the more memorable lines were: "Does the face ring a bell?" - Dep. Chief Johnson, referring to a rotting corpse"He's lost a little weight." - Lt. Provenza. "This kid went missing in 1992-- that's, like, three wives ago." - Lt. Provenza". "And you thought nuns were tough." - Lt. Provenza

A few more quirky moments came from Lt. Tau and the comparatively nerdy crime lab guy who sat Brenda down to describe to her how they handle ballistic evidence. It almost seemed like a humorous dig at CSI because, obviously, Brenda knows how ballistics work, but the forensics guy explains it anyway. On CSI, they're always explaining to each other how they're doing things.

Also... I noticed the framed photographs on Brenda's desk. There's one of Fritz and a really psycho-looking one of her cat. Classic.

While the episode started out as a comedy with Lt. Provenza and Fritz as the clowns, that slowly receded to the background as Dep. Chief Johnson got into the investigation of a body of a teen-age boy who was reported missing during the LA riots of 1992. Things got real tense for her when the boy's brother, a reformed gang member who is running for city council, starts to put pressure on her and gets Chief Pope's promise to handle the investigation delicately.

I enjoyed the rift that happened in the squad room whenever Father Jack was brought up in conversation. Some of the detectives got real hot under the collar about the way that the man lets gang members turn in their guns and turn over their drug money to him in exchange for a new start. Particularly Lt. Flynn, who got away with saying "asshole" in this episode to describe Father Jack. Dep. Johnson obviously didn't agree with Father Jack's methods and didn't handle him with kid gloves (as if she handles anyone that way), and that rubbed her No. 2 man, Sgt. Gabriel, the wrong way.

So that brings me to what is looking to be a theme for this season. Besides the stupid budget cuts, it looks like Sgt. Gabriel no longer thinks Brenda walks on water. She got a confession from a guy whom Gabriel thought didn't deserve to be charged with the murder of his own brother because of all the good things he has done for the gang neighborhoods since the crime.

I loved what Brenda said to him, "You think you can substitute your own personal sense of right and wrong for the law?"I think Sgt. Gabriel is going to get a lot of attention this season and the writers are setting him up for something big (at least, that's what I hope is happening). He saved Brenda's butt last week by coming up with a solution to her budget crisis, he's all bent out of shape over this latest confession, and also Det. Sanchez is flirting with his girlfriend? The guy is gonna go nuts soon!

Also, we're being set up for a visit by Brenda's father. Can't wait to meet the only man on the planet who has Brenda scared out of her wits.

Creature Comforts: Winter, The Zoo

The latest and last episode of Creature Comforts displayed a fatal weakness in the program's concept: if the human interviews are not entertaining, neither is the show. While the animation is great and the animals are adorable and funny with their settings and actions, it's what's being said that's at the heart of the show.

"Winter" was a very boring segment, with hardly a chuckle to be found. Nothing said really stood out as a fresh or unique take on the winter months. It's cold, I get it. Straightforward juxtapositions of voice to animal didn't improve things. The man who got very, very cold was presented as a penguin on a floating piece of ice. And the man talking about jumping into cold water as part of a polar bear club was, in fact, a polar bear. The cleverest moment, and only real highlight of this segment, came with a groundhog talking scientifically about how the tilt and rotation of the Earth affects the climate. Turns out this groundhog was the famous Punxsutawney Phil who determines how many more weeks of winter we'll have based on the sight of his shadow. This was the only smart twist in segment one.

The second half of the show, "The Zoo," had a significantly higher number of laughs. However, the idea of taking people's interviews about their living conditions-- in retirement homes, jail, etc.-- and turning it into animals talking about living in the zoo seemed oddly familiar. The old folks were especially entertaining. The elder lions, slowly talking into the microphone, were a hoot. I also loved the Abbot and Costello like exchange between a hard of hearing warthog and the interviewer: "Tell me about the food here?" "About what?" "The food." "Fuse?" "Food." "What is 'fuse'?"

Stealing the show, however, was another visit to the Panda Breeding Facility, with the sassy female panda having a war of words with the amorous male panda. An entire episode devoted to this group would not be a horrible idea.

Padding out the half-hour were animals talking about what celebrities they've been told they look like. This really didn't use the format of the show very well. The first bit, with a pug-looking dog saying she looks like Jane Fonda was cute, because a pug-looking dog has no resemblance to Jane Fonda. But that's about as far as the concept could go-- animals saying they look like someone who, obviously, they don't look like.

Still, I can't complain too much. Creature Comforts is still great to look at. The visuals remain smart and creative, with all sorts of fun background action taking place. The deer using several helium-filled balloons to float away to freedom stood out. I also enjoyed seeing the polar bears doing vodka ice shots while another talked about doing whatever they can to cope with the bitter cold.

The Family Guy: Whistle While Your Wife Works

"Whistle While Your Wife Works" followed Peter as he had to deal with adverse work conditions after blowing his fingers off with fireworks. Being that he couldn't type or stay concentrated, Lois came in and lent a helping hand. Meanwhile, it is found out that Brian is dating a "moron" guest voiced by Drew Barrymore.

As always these plotlines were accompanied by a fair amount of flashback/manatee gags which were less funny than normal (excluding the hilarious use of Tim Curry's Lord of Darkness character from Legend). As mentioned only one of the storylines was really funny, and that was the one that featured Brian's girlfriend Jillian. The other story with Peter and Lois was really not funny at all, and seemed to be a step off from most of the material that the show normally airs.

The choice of Drew Barrymore as the voice of the ditsy beautiful blonde was perfect, and it wasn't much of a stretch to match the voice with the character. But what really made Jillian such a great character was her interaction with the Griffins. She matched stupidity with Peter and Chris, while acting as an endless source of comedy for Lois and Stewie. And in the end, Brian couldn't get rid of her, which is perfectly okay with me as we hope that Jillian is kept around for as long as possible. It has been a while since Stewie and Brian's interactions have been this fun, and the ever-present addition of the dumb girlfriend could really help in continuing Stewie and Brian's spiteful relationship.

Another topic that was pretty humorous in this episode was how they made fun of mediocre films. In three separate scenes bad Hollywood movies were glorified by the main characters. The first film was You, Me and Dupree, which Peter always discussed about with Cleveland at the beginning of every work shift. The second film was Along Came Polly which Quagmire would dictate scene by scene to Peter in the middle of his work day. The third film was Mr. 3000 which Jillian couldn't get to work in her DVD player. The mention of all these movies seemed like a way for MacFarlane and the Family Guy writing staff to sort of make fun of the rousing support for mediocre films from the broad audience.

Plus along with these three movies there was a large segment dedicated to the television show Wings, which although not a film, was also an average show that was embraced in the episode (by Quagmire). This wasn't the best episode of Family Guy, but it wasn't bad either.

Book Review: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The August selection, chosen by Pat, of the Great Readers of M was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Having just finished reading The Kite Runner, all I can say is, "amazing." At times, it can be extremely haunting and excruciating, but in the end, I could not help but be moved by this story of love and redemption. Although it vividly weaves in stories about Afghanistan and the Taliban, it was the heart wrenching story regarding Amir, Baba, and their personal demons and of Amir's redemption that engaged me in the end.

"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975," Khaled Hosseini's narrator reflects in the opening paragraph of The Kite Runner. "I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years."

Hosseini is an Afghan-American novelist and physician, who moved to the United States in 1980. This is not his memoir. Hosseini's debut novel tells the compelling (though at times melodramatic) story of Amir, an Afghan man now living in Fremont, California, remembering his childhood in Kabul in the 1970s, who is haunted by his childhood betrayal of his friend Hassan, the son of his father's Hazara servant.

Amir inherited a love for literature from his mother, who died while giving birth to him. As a boy, he would read to Hassan under a pomegranate tree. This concerned his father Baba, who prefered soccer to books. One day while the two boys are kite running, Hassan is brutally raped and beaten by a sociopathic bully (Assef) while Amir hides and watches, too paralyzed with fear to help his friend. Amir remains silent for 26 years, during which time he attempts to atone for by his cowardice and disloyalty.

His story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from pre-civil war Afghanistan, to the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan through the Soviet invasion, to the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the Taliban regime. Rather than his simply drawn characters, it is Hosseini's depiction of Afghanistan life (otherwise known to me only through the evening news, besides what Linda told while Phil was stationed there and, sadly, knowing a young man in the US Army from Kalamazoo who was killed last week in Afghanistan in a road side bomb) that gives this novel its greatest strength.

Years later, after his father Baba dies of lung cancer, and after he marries Soraya Taheri, Amir becomes a successful novelist. He returns to Kabul, where he learns Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban, that Hassan was actually his illegitimate half-brother, and that Hassan's son (Sohrab) has been sold as a sex slave to a Taliban official, who is none other than Assef. Assef brutally beats Amir and seriously injures him, but Amir is saved by Sohrab. Sohrab and Amir escape, and Amir attempts to adopt Sohrab so that he may take the emotionally damaged boy home with him to the United States.

When the two then bond through running kites together, The Kite Runner becomes a deeply moving story not only of male relationships, but of personal redemption from childhood guilt.

This is a wonderful book! I've read many novels and this is one of the best, if not the best. It would be impossible to read this book and not be touched by and love the characters. When I finished this book I felt as though I had lost a friend. I know I will never forget this story. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The Simpsons: The Haw-Hawed Couple

At first glance, this episode of The Simpsons is like a box of unbuttered popcorn mixed with M&Ms: even if the whole snack is rather bland, there's plenty of great bits tossed in. I loved Marge uncharacteristically whacking Bart with a wooden spoon, Homer's cry of "Woo hoo! Marital sex!", and Milhouse telling Bart it's better to walk in on both parents being intimate instead of just one of them.

Nelson is a bully, but he's a complex bully. His home life is anything but ideal, but at school his knack for intimidation makes him king of everyone, even if his subjects secretly despise him. When Bart is the only one who shows up to his birthday party, Nelson is so thrilled he recruits Bart as his best friend, and Bart takes advantage of all the perks. Nelson soon realizes, however, that Bart really doesn't like him at all, and as usual everything ends up back to normal in the end.

A decent episode, I thought, though not spectacular. My favorite part of the episode actually came from the secondary plot in which Homer becomes engrossed in a Harry Potter-like children's book. When one of the main characters is killed off, he worries about upsetting Lisa so he makes up his own ending to the story where everyone escapes and later "fight Star Wars."

Bones: The Truth In The Lye

I have to give credit to the creators of Bones; they certainly know how to find unique ways to decompose a body week after week. And this episode was no exception as the body du jour was quickly dissolving in a bathtub of bleach and liquid Drano. As I said . . . Ew!

But, it isn't the tub full of bloody skin that brings me back, it's the fact that this show is good. So, pushing the image of a pitchfork full of skin out of mind, let's move ahead.

Let's forget about decomposed bodies for a second and speak about relationships. Not about the one between agent Seely Booth and his ex-girlfriend (and mother of his child), who occasionally sleep together. Nor about Booth and Doctor Cam Saroyan, who also occasionally sleep together. Or Booth and Bones, who are really, really, close to sleeping together (which would be the point that I stop watching the show because I just hate when they do that). No, I'm talking about Doctor Jack Hodgins and Angela Montenegro. Get these two together already! They're adorable and need to hook up. And not just for a little bit, then break-up due to some stupid thing. They should be together for the length of the show.

Back to this storyline. The one husband-two wives concept has been used plenty of times in procedural crime dramas. But, as usual with Bones, they like to twist it up a little. It turns out the wives of the victim knew that he was two-timing each of them. What they didn't know, until later, was that he had impregnated a third person. All three went to confront him and that's when they gave him the bleach bath. But, they actually didn't kill him, because the victim was already dead from an apparent suicide when they reached him. But it wasn't a suicide, and it wasn't even a homicide. It was just a simple accident which, due to a brittle bone condition, turned out to be fatal. Of course, the accident occurred when the victim's boss confronted him about some missing money, and he and the victim got into a little row. So, the boss decided to make it look like a suicide to get away. Got it all?

The main thing I liked about this episode was the lack of Bones and Booth. Yes, you heard it right. I actually got to see more interaction between the other members of the Jeffersonian Institution investigative team without Seely or Temperance hanging around. That's nice, because these team members, including Cam, have a good chemistry when alone. It's also the time that Angela steps away from her computers and really shines. I'll go so far to say that I wouldn't mind an episode where Bones is away at some conference and either Angela or Cam (or even Zack) help out with an investigation.

There is one thing that bothered me, and it's really a minor quibble. It was the seeming supernatural powers that Bones exhibited this time around. Particularly at the point where she guesses that the third person to sleep with the victim is pregnant. When asked how she knows, Bones talks about the woman's gait and the spreading of the something-or-other. I was waiting for her to say 'Oh, I saw it all with my microscopic vision'. I think some of that needs to be toned down a bit because it takes away from her growing humanity.