Being W

If you were in Paris at the moment you could see a movie made by two French film makers Karl Zero (a nickname) and Michel Royer, dedicated to... George Bush! The main "character" in the movie is, of course, the actual U.S. President, but the voice-over is done by imitator Jim Meskimen. I haven't seen it, but the trailer gives a pretty good idea of the result... As you can imagine, the whole movie is not exactly in favor of Bush. Take a close look at the poster they use to promote the film (that you can see above in the photo, or better here, in the making of); it's an adaptation of a famous painting by Ingres.

Open Air Movie Theater

We don't have drive-in theaters in Paris but, during summer, we have "Le cinéma en plein air de la Villette" (open air movie theater of La Villette). For only 2 € - plus 5 € if you rent a lounge chair and a blanket! - you can see good old classics (mostly American and French). It's very nice to go there with friends and have a picnic before the movie starts (around 10:30 when it gets really dark, for obvious reasons... Check the complete program (in French) here.

Léon Gaumont

In Paris, you always visit the same cemetaries: Père Lachaise, Montpartnasse and Montmartre. But there are many more... such as Le Cimetière de Belleville, a little cemetary where I found the grave of Léon Gaumont, a famous French guy who got involved in the cinema business at the beginning of the 20th century. His company (La Gaumont! ) produced as early as 1910 the first "news" that people could watch in movie theaters. They still had them when I was a little boy (yes I'm showing my age!!). Later he got into the movie business, of course.

Democratie en France

Over the past few days I noticed that Paris was covered in these little posters and I really wondered what they were all about. Only today did I find out that they're intended to promote a film called "Démocratie en France" made by four American directors who wanted to picture the French democracy during the last elections. To be honest, I just saw the trailer, and I'm not really thrilled. Maybe, because I already saw thousands of after elections analysis and I don't need to see another one...