It has been a long, long time since I have laughed long and hard at scenes in a movie. Tonight I joined in with a healthy-ish audience at Theatre Clwyd and chuckled my head off at the rather sweet French Comedy L'arnacoeur.(Heartbreaker)
The plot in this Pascal Chaumeil movie is the stuff of Richard Curtis' imagination: Alex (Romain Duris ) and his sister ( Julie Ferrier ) run a business designed to break up only poor relationships. They are hired by a rich man to break up the wedding of his daughter (Vanessa Paradis ). The only problem is that they only have one week to do so and Alex's usual professionalism is called into question when he falls for the bride to be!
The obvious plot is sweetened by a brilliant central performance by Duris, who is a skinny,untidy chancer with an over abundance of French charm,. He carries the movie with a flourish and is ably supported by the wisecracking Ferrier and an oafish brother in law François Damiens, but it is the clever scenes between him and Paradis ( namely when the pair sing George Michael Songs in a car and reenact the famous dance scene from Dirty Dancing) that linger in the mind........as I type this am still giggling at the thought of them.
This is a lovely move! 9/10
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| Alf (the blue) and Hughie |
I got home fairly early after the cinema. My sister has visited when I was out ( she was downloading some videos for her charity blog with Chris (http://supportingandrew.blogspot.com/2010/10/inferno-dance-video.html) and had left the gate open. When I went to close it when I took the dogs for their final walk, I could hear the guinea fowl scream their very angry alarm calls from the Churchyard Elms.
The guinea fowl cocks ( Hughie and Alf) have been a pain all week now. I dont know just why, but both have suddenly turned all bullish and have taken themselves off to attack any hen, duck or turkey that crosses their path. Already today, cascades of feathers from a score of chickens bums, have fluttered down onto the field like confetti at a wedding, after the guineas have run amok......sigh........does nothing run smoothly when you look after 91 animals?
Any advice people?.........or is this just a brief surge of guinea fowl testosterone?
Ah but I love your guinea`s! We had a pair last year that sadly some sort of predator got. We really enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why they`re acting so tough on the other fowl to be honest. Our cock was pretty docile.
The film sounds good, but will probably never be shown in the US except for some out-of-the-way art house. Grrr....
ReplyDeleteTestosterone does induce changes of call structure, midbrain and syrinx anatomy in species galliformes. There is some excellent information and videos on Guinea Fowl at http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/guineafowl-numididae
ReplyDeleteWish I could offer some advice here John but being the 'slicker' that I am.....
ReplyDeleteWill look up this movie though....have a great need for a good laugh. Sounds like the one to do it. Thanks.
Jim
The movie sounds like something I would really enjoy. Doubtful it will ever be around here though.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about guineas. Sorry!
I suspect that when you've got 91 of anything at any given time, you up your chances of a heavily pot-holed road. At least that was my experience when I had 28 goats, an unknown number of chickens, an equally unknown number of cats... and a hastily slapped together series of shelters for all involved.
ReplyDeleteBut I do have to say it was fun, and something of an adventure. :) You never knew what was going to happen next, and it definitely kept you on your toes. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. :)
Wish I could help you John but I've never had guinea's before. If all goes well I'd like to get some next spring along with a few ducks. I'll look up the web site you gave us so that I'm well informed before then!
ReplyDeleteThat movie sounds like something my hubby and I would like. I'm very lucky in that he's one of those rare men who likes a good romantic love story. You'd never know it to look at him though...he's got tattoos covering both arms! I'm sure the only way we could see this movie is on TV though. Thanks for the review! Enjoy your day.
Maura :)
Roast Guinea Fowl is very nice.
ReplyDeletetom, tom,tom
ReplyDeleteI couldnt eat my babies!
they are the survivors froma massive badger attack last winter!
Have you checked under their feathers for fresh tattoos? I've heard the Guinea Gang has been making inroads in Wales...
ReplyDeleteYep, the film was great fun. I'd sort of expected art-house but it wasn't. A delicious bit of pure fun.
ReplyDelete