Thursday, November 30, 2006

西班牙飄來的酒香/become queen scallop

西班牙飄來的酒香/become queen scallop

whisky4.jpg

whisky1.jpg


今天真的要自己來記錄做大餐的過程了,因為以前都是由小miu小姐負責,我只要負責做和拍照就好啦!!

於是回到上星期六,傳說中的愛丁堡大哥哥和大姊姊阿玲和norman來家裡做西班牙海鮮飯,接下來更有精彩上場的威士忌品酒大會,因為考量值的關係,將關卡定在購買的品牌需達15磅以上(well,基本上在英國,一分錢一分貨的道理是適用在whisky上的)。

一開始阿玲就很任份的專心於洗碗的工作,她說我之前提到愛丁堡的女生不會做菜必須要補上但是會洗碗這個強項,norman和我很專業的一步步的將透抽、虎蝦、淡菜、干貝,依序處理:

該切成環的切成環,該去鬚剪腳的就去鬚剪腳,因為被我批評將蝦子的眼睛去掉照相起來會很醜(而且伴隨著真的變成瞎子了的冷笑話),norman最後還是將給眼睛留下來,接下來用小刷清理淡菜與大海螺的殼,再用鋒利的小菜刀將干貝切成四小塊

說到這邊就要提到語意學裡被明顯矮化的女性主義觀點,在英國,干貝統稱為scallop,而依照大小與品質,有king與queen之分,那麼,為什麼king就是大隻佬咧?你看看,像是形容寢具大小的量詞也是一樣的狀況啊,大家一面切著洋蔥蒜頭,一面為西蒙波娃叫屈,原來,在英國queen scallop永遠只成become queen scallop,永遠沒有being的一天哪。

西班牙海鮮飯的作法和義大利燉飯最大的差別乃是:高湯放入的時機與量的控制,西班牙海鮮飯的高湯取自於翻炒海鮮時產生的原汁,加入早些發好呈現金黃色的印度蕃紅花水略微稀釋後,與米和蕃茄在大鍋中攪拌均勻,最後擺上海鮮,上蓋悶煮30分鐘,和一面翻炒一面徐徐加入高湯的義大利燉飯不同,norman大廚很敬業的時時觀察火喉與時間,我在一邊忙著幫三瓶威士忌試鏡與拍攝海鮮飯製作過程,那阿玲呢?對,在洗碗。

餐飲攝影最重要的擺盤花了大家一點時間,很專業的插上一圈檸檬,選了一尾體型美麗的虎蝦當代表,喀擦幾聲後,大家真的已經餓的受不了,於是配著鮮採野磨菇洋蔥雞湯、台灣正宗口味薄切冰鎮大海螺,西班牙海鮮飯伴著鍋吧的香氣,怎麼說呢?是幸福的味道太好吃了!!真不愧是norman大廚,Jamie oliver的愛丁堡嫡傳弟子,在外面也吃不到這麼豐盛!真是將樓下魚店買的高檔貨發揮到淋漓盡致啊!!

很英式的享用過甜點:檸檬派佐以紅莓醬以後,開始進入今日的最大課題:【愛丁堡史塔克橋區第一屆威士忌品酒大會】,一字排開的whisky:山谷中的清幽微風highland park,身段柔軟虛無飄渺的Bushmills,在舌間略帶些微辛辣刺激、層次厚實的ABERLOUR圍繞在四周的是:試酒必備的冷開水杯,柔軟昏黃的床頭燈光、暗紅的地毯、隨意播放的音樂、好朋友的陪伴,然後接著來的:釀好準備發酵的心情、失焦的悲傷與快樂、放空的心與麻痺的感覺神經、規律的生活。

所以,是想念啊。

Sunday, November 26, 2006

City café/casino royal /ed生日party

昨天ed從德國回來,Louise在家休息幾天之後,也因為ed的生日回愛丁堡,好久沒有見面的我們三個人,在同學們經常聚會的場所city café碰頭。

city café 猛然一撇並沒有什麼特別,很像裝潢到一半的小酒吧,昏暗的燈光下,美式風格的假皮沙發咖啡桌圍繞著兩座撞球台,一點都不精緻的外表下,包裹著一股頹廢的精神,那麼,大家為什麼會這麼喜歡這邊呢?因為MR.DJ啊,這家小酒吧每天都會請DJ先生來刮片、混音,和著各式酒精,相當對味。

今天的DJ先生,很怡然自得的演繹著他對音樂的體會,從容的坐在沙發上熟練刮著片(很少看過DJ坐著耶),不慌不忙得從白色的鋁質行李箱中中,拿出一張又一張的黑膠寶貝。他右手按著黑色的包覆式耳機貼著耳朵正專心,左手卻拿起黑啤酒ale80’s調和著放馳的頻率伴以陶醉的微笑。

我在Victoria street上的switch 幫ed挑了一頂多層次的帽子,加上一張今年回台灣從誠品帶回來的水越設計刺青系列明信片,圖案是一個穿著紅衣服的男孩,他背對鏡頭,對著老舊眷村的巷弄,做出投籃的動作,因為有裱上一層薄馬糞紙,加上半透明的封套,整張明信片顯的非常有質感(關心這些小動作的設計公司注定要成功的,還限量發行咧),信上我寫著,【這就是在我常提起的台灣拍的喔,明年,一定要來啊】,所以你們大家,也許明年會有機會見到這位蘇格蘭的金髮帥哥喔…

然後在之前自己去看了007的casino royal(不知道為什麼,昨天的project沒有啥進度,Louise告訴我,我要瞭解英國文化,一定要瞭解007啊,沒錯!!那位在片尾一定會說:my name is bond, James bond的傢伙,這一集的MR. bond好man啊,肌肉超大,先不提其他,我超級超級喜歡他跑步的樣子,一種用手刀奔跑的暢快,太讚了,另外某些場景,讓我默默想起了周潤發先生的賭神系列…然後想要說的是這一集的bond’s girl超美,等我有朝一日半了無限電影卡再去看一遍啦。

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

慢慢的星期一與Forest café

慢慢的星期一與Forest café/

星期五以後的日子,我們的FLAT一如往常的空蕩蕩,Louise假日要回老家工作,ED則是在非常posh的AMANI進行他的weekend’s part time job,更別說這個星期,他老早請了假,與他的愛人進行為時一週的蜜月柏林愛之旅。

我還在愛丁堡冷颼颼的街頭裝忙的同時,他可能正在聖誕節氣氛濃郁的柏林喝著大口啤酒,大啖德國豬腳、煙燻香腸,而昨天到機場送小miu回台灣以後,我正式進入活動空窗期。

星期一的清晨,一早習慣式的先靠在大大的抱枕上發呆,旋轉著腳踝發出趴趴趴的聲響,伸伸懶腰,洗了個晨間特爽澡(我不知道在愛丁堡的留學生是不是都習慣早上洗澡了),趁著擦頭的空檔,倒了一整碗的玉米片加牛奶,丟了一片維他命C水溶片到玻璃杯裡,然後一邊嚼著脆脆甜甜的玉米片,一邊看著不知道第幾季的sexy and city,十點左右出門,包包一如往常裝著PENTAX相機與35mm定焦鏡,無敵CD63,看了很久的小說devil wears Prada,還有一星期前做的海鮮燉飯(對,我聞過了,沒有壞),前往工作室。

第二年的course我正專注於插畫的創作,也許是太多事情發生的這一年,讓我繪畫的慾望增強到強迫症一般的境界,黑色小小的人偶在各式的圖紙之間來回穿梭,幫我抒發著情緒,充滿想像與某種意念的圖面總是招來同學們的好奇與關心,每個人紛紛發揮說圖解字的功力,為我的小人與奇妙的場景編了許多故事,尤其是念力特強的LOVE SICK系列,而我老是用〝這是象徵某個moment〞的大易輸入法來輕輕帶過。

晚上一個人到愛丁堡elephant’s beagle旁,素有窮人的印度五星級餐廳享用Lamb curry,幹!好吃到靠杯,而掙扎著要不要到總圖念英文的同時,Forest café悄悄向我招手,又有誰能抗拒現場演奏的BAND、不定檔期播映的藝術電影、慵懶的大沙發椅、打扮有形的帽子男,80年代的嘻皮女咧。

於是,“may I have a cup of tea??”今天播放的是充滿惡搞與創意美學的科幻戰爭片tank girl(暫譯),之後,戴上我的黃蜂大耳機,頂著惡寒,回家。

Ps. 飽受凡塵俗事干擾,晚上難以入眠的人可以學我來杯傳統的Hot Toddy後入睡(檸檬汁、蜂蜜、熱水與……one shoot品質佳的威士忌,如果喜歡肉桂的朋友也可以酌量加入啦)

Monday, November 20, 2006

離別,酒館,威士忌

昨天跟小miu,norman,阿玲到扭扭頓附近的小酒館替小miu小姐餞別,是的,明天她就要回台灣啦,相信在一月之後會開始前往印度進行為期一年的田野調查,聽起來也許很屌,但是我們都知道這裡頭必定混合著些五味雜陳,順著這個氣氛 norman教授啟發了我在蘇格蘭的第一次威士忌初體驗,所謂的初體驗並不是指第一次喝威士忌,而是第一次享受到威士忌散發出的那種香氣,這種號稱the water of life, the wee dram that you have to nose to know的神秘液體,在昨晚之前一直讓我敬而遠之。

一來是為數不少的威士忌總是或多或少的飄散出一種類似咳嗽糖漿的藥水味,二來這種從舌尖直奔喉頭的辛辣刺激感,一直讓我對廣大的死忠愛好者大惑不解,真是可惜了它素有the greatest Scottish export之美譽阿!

也許是備受女性同胞歡迎,酒館裡的長紅雞尾酒★Jack Daniel with cock對我來說有些太甜,而喝慣高級酒類的Norman教授對於將之直接啜飲的口感也頗不以為然,勉強給了“略嫌塑膠味”的低調評價,威士忌一直無法在我征戰愛丁堡的各式PUB日子裡留下鮮明的角色。

於是在阿玲與Norman教授各點了一SHOOT的HighLand Park之後我被小巧的玻璃杯吸引,像是簡潔的小說封面一般,總是成功的勾引出我那沒救了的好奇心,我不明白是否真的有所謂山谷裡的清幽微風,啜飲一口之後流散口鼻之間的淺淺香氣,伴隨著隨著時光流動,兀自轉變顏色的桌子散發微光,我想,這樣子的image適合道別。



ps:well, for some invisible reason, I bought the bottle of highland park yesterday night.........

離鄉 做菜

離鄉 做菜

我從來不知道我對做菜會這麼有興趣,出國的這段期間,做菜可以說是一種情緒抒發最有效的方式:
心情非常好的時候做菜,心情很差的時候買食譜;
招待好朋友的時候做菜,睡不著的時候讀食譜。

愛丁堡流傳著一種宿命論:
女生普遍不會做菜,男生廚藝通常比較好。

也許做菜的時候需要一種專注:
像是鋼琴師注視著黑色的白色的鍵:

快刀切下的青蔥成花,這是關於顏色
熱鍋油炸的麵衣成花,這是關於形狀
刨刀削落的起司成花,這是關於氣味

在同一時間內要兼顧這麼多的感官,專注的痛快

然後像是林文月說的一樣,每次做菜的時候,你會浮現上回做這道菜時的記憶,你會想起那樣一段特別的心情,也許是為了特別的人,也許是為了特別的事。

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

well

不管發生什麼事
We just go on and on and on and on..............

我是真的很同意阿
===========================

謝謝叮咚同學親筆謄寫 來自 飛起來5次的匈牙利的明信片
還有在我差一點要展現出我的感動時 關於以下
似乎有些不對勁

當上帝為你關上了一扇窗時
同時也為你關了另一扇門

本人真心祈禱 叮咚同學的本意是
同時也為你開啟了另一扇門

要不然 我會被上帝悶死的...........

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

沒有hung over

很好啊 louise和 ed
明明知道我今天很沈默的在畫圖 還要找我去喝是吧
很好阿 一跟toku喝就會大醉的宿命果然躲不過

fancy for a pint??

當然好 今天跟你們拼了

5 pint 過後 很抱歉的 狂吐在basement的桌上

可憐的louise和 ed就這樣一人一邊的將我架回家
腳已經不行啦 像是踩在雲朵上 每一步都美麗
一路上他們還要一直強調大家都愛我 連他們家的小狗chales都愛我


阿優 跟格子住真有趣啊

Monday, November 06, 2006

三把解剖刀

於是,星期六的時候norman跟阿鈴來我家被招待
是來自於我老師jamie親傳的義式牛尾燉飯
阿鈴有默契的帶來好的紅酒, 空氣中飄著葡萄的香氣, 和燉飯十分的調和
如果以德西達的語彙來說 現在 他們正以幽靈的姿態纏繞在我的味蕾四周

就在這些之後開始了三把解剖刀的盛會
norman在2006年的今天 積極辯證著名詞運用的正當性 ,強調不輕易掉入以歷史切面論觀察下的陷阱。
實用教育派的阿鈴 一點都不害怕的主張進步的方向 重點在施行 如果現在做的事是正確的 那就要奮勇向前阿。

而我 莫名的開始被解構 著眼於搞設計搞藝術的人對於黑色衣服的眷戀(對 我基本上扮演一條該死的魚)

就這樣 歸咎於現代主意遺毒後 norman大帝看似滿意的走下樓梯了..........

Friday, October 20, 2006

from my friend

你不覺得他那樣的人
其實內心很空虛嗎
內心空虛的人
永遠不會得到真正的快樂

and it will make me cry

from my friend

要開朗放輕鬆的橫越和跨過, 然後小心謹慎的避開與裝飾'

and it will be ok!!!!!

Friday, September 29, 2006

Fly in the sky at midnight

夜間飛行記事/

IMGP3602



夜來了,沒有香氣。人類不宜飛行。

小小卷養著的感動,沒有理由,燈他暖暖的開。

你說著話,手機震動了,空氣還是冰的,紅色的毛毯蓋著我的左腳。

我沒有了,你的歌詞呢,情緒裂開了,沒有聲音。

你不覺得,她很適合某種狀態,比如說,在清晨,奔跑。

這是陳珊妮的。

你不覺得,剪完後,薄涼的頭髮,完美的覆蓋在頭皮上,像是找回一種難得一見的熟悉。

這是張蕙菁的。

床上的雙人被單開著IKEA的花,黑色的FREDPERRY鞋帶綁的不緊不鬆,符合我們說的剛好。

靠床的落地窗戶,沿著視線的對面磚牆,窗口依然點著燈,她也還沒睡。

晚安:我親愛的暗夜的王。




she sent me the message part two

她傳了簡訊來之二/

這不是她第一次提醒我了,有關夏天來了、有關生活本該充滿驚奇,


於是她傳了簡訊來,這次是關於不必要的憂愁和我輕易顯露的傷感。

曾經有位女孩說過:『他說游泳,是人類假想的飛行』

曾經有位女孩說過:『也許有一天,我也要像你一樣,學會漂浮的方法』

我一向擅長譬喻法:那些人世間的凡塵俗事,都將妝點包裝的詼諧有趣』

我一向不擅長遺忘:關於那些無以名狀,關於那些記憶的破片,關於那些借來的時間,關於那些微笑和回首,關於那些悄悄溢出的情緒,關於那些莫名的心機。

上個禮拜,D要回台灣了,我們在Nicholson St上用金黃色的烤雞來紀念這五味雜陳的一年,交換祝福和提醒,讓小小淺淺的心情自在游移,記得我小聲的對D說:『好像格格不在身邊,真的會有一種不真實的感覺,很空很空』。

我大概是用心的不能夠就讓他這樣過去…
『奇怪…』

回愛丁堡以後,打電話的次數變的少了、信有一封沒有一封的寫著,想格格的濃度卻連我的房間、街角的石版路、某一個抬頭的天空都沾染上了氣味,一種類似苦巧克力般的心情,我覺得我好像已經不能再愛了;愛死了;愛噢;愛呢?

M問我為什麼要在朋友面前努力的粉飾太平,創造一種輕薄的假象,為什麼不直接跟大家說我跟格格沒有在一起了;這樣好假。

可是我不行,也許我會說:『我跟格格現在不是很好、因為我讓他傷心了』,可是好難過,我討厭自己說可是的臉,這是一種找理由的埋伏,我想要簡單,沒有可是和如果,沒有我們已經回不去了怎麼辦?

Louise說:『你跟格格在一起七年,當然不可能就這樣當作沒事啊』我討厭自己將他毀掉了,是我將她的耐心磨掉了,當她說:『那你為什麼要這樣,為什麼不好人做到底,要讓我這麼傷心』我好想垂打自己,垂打垂打垂打…

可惡。

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

she sent me the message

她寫了簡訊來,想要喝一杯咖啡,而我試著忽略過去了,心中有點小悶,在窗檯前看著50年前,金庸寫下的書劍恩仇錄,看著香香公主,那個Muriel心中什麼都不會的小女孩,看著陳加洛行走江湖,在WHITTARD買的高級kettle發出了蒸汽,我端著馬克杯,哎呀~~怎麼沒有一起蒸發心中莫名的那一塊啊。

我想格格。

empty heart

我走在愛丁堡沿著小河的小徑上,剛剛下過小雨,馬路上的水自呈現半乾的狀態,她約了我出來,但是心是空著的,我跺著步,在心中哼著自己編的小曲,想要呈現一種沒有所謂的姿態,我不明白發生了什麼事,只是知道她是不開心的,穿過的開滿黃花的小徑,要去美術館沒有關係,要往王子街也沒有關係,狄恩村的中庭掛著白色的淡藍色的衣物隨風輕輕擺動,外露的管線在老式的住宅建築立面上安靜的生著鏽,無關憂傷、無關情緒。

所以,下次可以開心嗎?

Monday, September 25, 2006

new flat in edinburgh part2

所以呢,搬家的事就這樣快到一個段落,住在may家storm room的日子也終於結束了,其實也不算太糟,早早出門,晚上回家,就乖乖的看看幾本書,闔上眼,開一盞小燈,用少數幾項在英國買會比台灣便宜的wallpaper設計雜誌遮蓋住百分之85的光線後入眠(對,我承認到現在還保留著怕黑的好習慣),看!多麼簡單的生活啊。

也許我的神經裡存在的一條名為『好適應』的傢伙,就這樣住著住著,不但沒有認為非常的不自在,還很神經且認真的對照著日本狹長型住屋的平面圖,一邊暗暗在心中策畫著應對此空間的解決之道。除了回家時要要先打電話給may這一點較麻煩之外,還覺得此經驗著實珍貴,並對人在低限環境下的應映之道深感佩服。

所以呢,現在是正式搬到史塔克橋了,一個多數愛丁堡留學生不大了解的良好住宅小社區(唸完一年書後還沒有駐足過此地的學生大有人在),有別於old town的學生宿舍及繁忙的交通網、以Nicholson ST/ Royal Mile 為軸線展開的城市認之架構、在TESCO總會發生的噓寒問暖,史塔克橋他自成一格。多少也符合我不大喜歡跟著大家一起的矛盾心態(對,相機的系統,我是用除了Canon/Nikon外的Pentax)。

有關史塔克橋(Stockbridge)的環境,以我們家flat為圓心向兩側開展:左手邊是一家新鮮的魚店,大面的落地窗戶提醒著我們關於愛丁堡;關於海的味道,大蝦、比目魚、安康魚、大的像拳頭的干貝,雖然老是將我們家一樓的通道空氣渲染成魚市一般,但是卻也非常自然的覺得幸福!

老闆及店員都是有年紀的銀髮族,那天買了新鮮的扇貝帶去Muriel家裡做青醬海鮮義大利麵時,老婆婆一面用紙細心包裹,還不忘記抬頭帶著電影般微笑提醒:『新鮮扇貝只要大火快速翻炒一下,就可以嘗到美味喔!』

順著再走下去會看見路邊的小黑板上以白色粉筆用書寫體寫著:『提供最好的麵包!!』是一家義大利風味的古典食品店阿,從天花板垂下來的風乾火腿開始:側邊的大冰箱擺放高級櫻桃木煙燻培根、有機豆漿奶、擁有美好脂肪橘白相間的帝王鮭魚引人著目,嗯…意大利,嗯嗯…意大利耶,繼續沿著路向下行走,SONY CENTRE 就這樣突然出現,在一字排開的古典後,40吋的店將螢幕就這樣光彩奪目的對著你發出科技訊息,一下子很生硬的提醒你回到21世紀…

所以呢,是一個好地方,是這樣再一年歐…很值得的耶,花了一個月尋尋覓覓的小小桃花園。

Saturday, September 23, 2006

new flat in edinburgh

new flat in edinburgh

new flat in edinburgh

所以 昨天終於大致將新家打理好了 晚上坐在木頭作的老椅子上 聽著jo給的林一峰 輕輕柔柔 搖搖晃晃 配合著零散的打字聲 床頭邊的紅色茶几依然屬於巴黎來的小蜥蜴 夏天給的無敵鐵金剛站立在衣櫥的矮櫃 從IKEA來的紅色地毯捲來ㄧ地溫馨

好朋友們 可以等著被邀請囉~~

Thursday, September 14, 2006

people say

Photography(攝影)一詞,源於希臘語 φως「phos」(光線)及γραφις「graphis」(繪畫),結合起來便是「以光線繪畫」。

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

關於無以名狀

我親愛的暗夜的王
我又要來找你靠腰了

這次是關於半夜兩點 37分的某種心情

大家都想要簡單的快樂 大家都在問為什麼簡單的快樂這麼難
大家都在給某種標準 價值觀 道德與尺度

人是世界上最有趣也最矛盾的生物
老雕說 當你在獲得的時候 你一方面也在失去

快樂和悲傷 不能比較什麼比較多一點
我們只能在 快樂的時候 用力記住這些火花 霹靂啪啦
悲傷的時候 找找朋友 聊聊天 喝喝酒 啤酒 調酒 威士忌
要不就讓她靜靜的發生 因為你不知道 情緒他哪時候要來

要不然就是 希望自己 不要是那個造成別人悲傷 讓別人不愉快的根源
多提供一點肩膀的寬度給不開心的朋友依靠

曾經讓你們不快樂和悲傷的朋友們 很對不起你們耶
希望以後給你們的都是滿滿的快樂 好不好
要不然 就直接跟我說 好不好

=====================================

然後 今天才發現 有人曾經很認真的認為我是個GAY
就在我說別人可能是GAY的同時
而且 隨便就可以如數家珍般的舉出許多認為我疑似GAY的案例
也許是 有時候不小心會翹小指
也許是 花襯衫的比例快速成長
也許是 被叮咚先入為主的認為且宣傳(這很恐怖 不一定哪一天我被他說動了)
也許是 被搭訕的案例在國外增加
anyway

也許這就是所謂 要刮別人鬍子 先把自己的刮乾淨吧
另一方面 同理心吧 有GAY潛力的人是不是會比較細膩的發現相當程度GAY潛質的人阿
什麼鬼??!!







Wednesday, August 30, 2006

new event announced

IMG_4273

所以 親愛的各位 愛丁堡的電影節結束了
接下來 格子在新房子還沒有找到的情況下
(很好啊 你完蛋了)

will go to the most westernly village in mainland britain
是叫做mull的地方喔

所以我們晚一點再見面囉

Monday, August 28, 2006

edinburgh film festival 8/27 FINAL!!!!

The Ring Finger (L'Annulaire)
Diane Bertrand / France & Germany / 2005 / 100 min
Olga Kurylenko, Marc Barbé, Stipe Erceg, Edith Scob

24097
A fairytale for grown-ups - complete with a big, bad wolf.
After almost losing a finger in an accident on a factory assembly line, Iris visits a mysterious 'institute' to be treated. Once there, she's invited to take a job assisting the unnamed doctor (Marc Barbé) as he transforms his patients' severed limbs into 'specimens': afloat in formaldehyde, ready for display, as if in a museum. One day, he suggests she begin wearing some red high-heeled pumps ... and then things really get strange. Adapted from a cult novel by Japanese writer Yoko Ogawa, this erotic reverie inhabits the same surreal realm as the films of David Lynch and Walerian Borowczyk, and provokes the same delicious sense of beguilement and unease. Starring possibly the world's most beautiful woman, Ukrainian-born former model Olga Kurylenko, it's a haunting journey into the subconscious.

SUMMER PALACE(頤和園) REVIEW

24399

Sheitan
Kim Chapiron / France / 2006 / 95 min
Vincent Cassel, Olivier Barthelemy, Roxane Mesquida, Nicolas Le Phat Tan, Leïla Bekhti , Ladj Ly, Julie Marie Parmentier, Leïla Bekhti

24149
Can you play Le Marsellaise on duelling banjos?


A night out clubbing in Paris takes a nasty turn for three friends (one Vietnamese, one African, one French), when they accept the invitation of the beautiful Eve (A Ma Soeur's Roxanne Mesquida) to visit her house in the country. Once there, they're the focus of some Deliverance-style shenanigans from the inbred locals, all overseen by the bewhiskered, manically grinning Joseph (Vincent Cassel, in a scene-stealing performance), who soon takes an inexplicable shine to the one white member of the gang... A slow-burn chiller, this nasty debut feature ramps up the sex, violence, humour (and yes, it is funny) and general insanity to truly disturbing levels. 'The ending is way out there', said Variety, and that's an understatement. Put it this way: A Year in Provence, this ain't.

edinburgh film festival 8/26

Water
Deepa Mehta / Canada / 2005 / 118 min
Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, John Abraham, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Raghuvir Yadav, Vinay Pathak, Rishma Malik, Sarala

24616


Conceived amid outrage, its maker's life threatened. Now able to be seen at last.

Set in the 1930s, in the Indian holy city of Varanasi, Deepa Mehta's long-awaited new film - the third in her 'elemental trilogy', following Fire (1996) and Earth (1998) - examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple ... in particular, the beautiful, headstrong Kalyani, unwilling to accept the harsh restrictions imposed by Indian society on widows, and her relationship with a man from a lower caste, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. A tale of forbidden romance, set against the backdrop of the nation's struggle for independence from British colonial rule, the film's birth proved an unusually difficult one, with shooting interrupted for four years (!) following massive protests from Hindu fundamentalist groups. Now completed at last, the scale of Mehta's achievement is apparent: this powerful, sensual drama is a major work by any standard.

edinburgh film festival 8/25

Next Door (Naboer)
Pål Sletaune / Norway / 2005 / 75 min
Kristoffer Joner, Cecilie Mosli, Julia Schacht, Anna Bache-Wiig, Michael Nyqvist, Øystein Martinsen


24122

'Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours...'
Having just broken up, somewhat acrimoniously, with his long-term girlfriend, mild-mannered John lives alone in the apartment they formerly shared. His days are uneventful, though you sense a lingering misery over the end of his relationship; the world outside seems curiously blank and distant. But then, one day, he realises that next door live two highly attractive, intensely sexual young women (flatmates? sisters? lovers?), who tempt him into various kinds of transgression - a fantasy that quickly descends into nightmare... Reminiscent of Polanski's classic Repulsion, as well as some of the darker imaginings of David Lynch, this quietly horrifying thriller - from the director of Junk Mail (EIFF 2000) - is a genuinely frightening journey into the subconscious, which tightens the screws inexorably to its stunning climax.

THE GREAT HAPPINESS SPACE: TALE OF AN OSAKA LOVE THIEF
Jake Clennell / USA / 2006 / 75 min
24220

Welcome to the many mysteries of Japan's 'host bar' phenomenon.
The 'Great Happiness Space' is Osaka's Rakkyo Café: a club run by ambitious young entrepreneur Issei, where a core staff of 20 young men are groomed to become the top male escorts in the city. But contrary to expectations, these boy-toys are (mostly) heterosexual, and their clients are strictly female: attractive young women who are willing to spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on these sharp-dressing, smooth-talking young men - buying their time, 'financially worshipping' them, in return for 'sweet conversation' and ... ahem, other services. Which would be unusual enough, were it not for the fact that many of these female patrons are themselves prostitutes - who, you would think, should know better. A cold-eyed study of love for sale, this is one of the most puzzling, paradoxical, and provocative documentaries of the year.

edinburgh film festival 8/24

STEPHANIE DALEY
Hutton, Denis O'Hare, Melissa Leo Hilary Brougher / USA / 2005 / 91 min 30 sec
Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, Timothy


24515

Another triumph in the remarkable career of one of our favourite screen actors.

Winter in upstate New York, and 16-year-old Stephanie (Amber Tamblyn, from TV's Joan of Arcadia) stumbles through the snow during a school ski-club retreat, leaving a trail of blood behind her. Collapsing, she is rushed to hospital, where it is discovered she has just given birth - only to be subsequently charged with murdering her newborn child. This ripped-from-the-headlines premise stars EIFF favourite Tilda Swinton, superb as a forensic psychologist - herself recovering from a recent stillbirth - determined to uncover the truth about Stephanie's actions. With its treatment of such hot-button issues as teen sex-education, and the separation of Church and State, this could easily have become an 'issues' picture; instead, it's a subtle, complex film, one which moves effortlessly between social melodrama and scenes of clinical, almost Cronenberg-like horror. Quite an achievement; quite a film.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

edinburgh film festival 8/23


World Animation 1
90 min

24310



MIDNIGHT MY LOVE (CHERM)
Petchtai Wongkamlao, Anuch Wongsawan

24132

In the mood for love?

Bati (Petchtai Wongamiao, star of action blockbuster Ong-Bak) is a Bangkok cab driver, whose only two passions are the radio soap operas and Thai pop ballads that accompany him on his lonely night shifts. A loner, seemingly born a generation too late, Bati has no cell phone, no TV, and no real friends. But one night he picks up Nuan, a hooker en route to a job, and something sparks his interest; soon he's driving her every night, and a chaste romance forms between these two very different characters. But can it last? Incorporating brief comic inserts (mimicking the hothouse style of 1960s Thai melodramas) with its prevailing air of romantic melancholy, this is something special: an achingly beautiful portrayal of love's capacity to surprise and, occasionally, to redeem.



Tuesday, August 22, 2006

edinburgh film festival 8/22

THE TREATMENT
Chris Eigeman, Ian Holm, Famke Janssen, Blair Brown, Stephanie March, Stephen Lang, Roger Rees

24652

Voted Best Film at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

A neurotic English teacher in New York City, Jake Singer (Whit Stillman regular Chris Eigeman) has more than his fair share of issues. He's barely on speaking terms with his father. His girlfriend recently walked out on him. And then, of course, there's his mother's death - which he's still far from over. Anxious and depressed, he embarks on a course of psychoanalysis with Dr Morales (Ian Holm), a maniacal, vaguely sadistic Freudian who seems to be doing him rather more harm than good. Hope blossoms when he meets Allegra Marshall (Famke Janssen), a beautiful, widowed socialite with whom he soon falls in love - but what will the good doctor say? This adaptation of Daniel Menaker's bestseller is a clever, stylish treat. Jake might be struggling, but judging from this film, the literate NY ensemble comedy is doing just fine.


IN TO GRAT SILENCE(DIE GROSSE STILLE)

Philip Gröning / Germany & Switzerland / 2005 / 162 min

24103

Shhhh...

As a young filmmaker, Philip Gröning approached the monks
of the Grande Chartreuse Monastery, located high in the French Alps, to inquire whether he might make a documentary of their lives - lived for the most part under a vow of silence - and their faith. 16 years later, they answered him: this film is the result. The delay attests to the unhurried pace of life behind the monastery's walls, its sense of existing somehow outside of time, and Gröning's film itself, while lengthy, boasts similar rewards: watching, you soon acclimatise to its rhythm (and its ravishing imagery: a visual symphony in bare stone, shadows and dusty light), and come to appreciate the virtues of a life lived outside the noise and chaos of the modern world. A poetic essay par excellence, this is unique.

edinburgh film festival 8/21

Little miss sunshine
Steve Clarell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin

24145

Hmmm. Maybe beauty is only skin deep...

Determined to get their seven-year-old daughter to the finals of the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant (though, in truth, she's only a wild-card entry), a seriously dysfunctional family take a cross-country trip from New Mexico to California in their battered VW van. There's an ambitious, motivational-speaker dad (Greg Kinnear); a harried, 'pro-honesty' mom (Toni Collette); a foul-mouthed, heroin-snorting grandad (the great Alan Arkin); and a gay uncle (comic genius Steve Carrell), suicidal after being rebuffed by one of his students. And, of course, the would-be Little Miss Sunshine herself: tubby, fragile, yet monomaniacally pursuing her dream... The undisputed hit of this year's Sundance Film Festival, this darkly funny comedy is at once a skewering of the American Dream, and a bittersweet, surprisingly touching ode to the modern family.




edinburgh film festival 8/20

tuning
Peter Musevski, Natasa Burger, Polona Juh, Tomi Janezic, Andraz Polic, Ana Kerin, Taja Strle

24155

See it with someone you love ... and maybe even trust.

Married couple Peter and Katerina are drifting apart: while in Brussels on business, he visits a hooker, and returning home, half-heartedly pursues a liaison with a former classmate; meanwhile, his wife, a graphic designer, conducts a brief fling with a poet, whose book of verse - titled, ironically, Closeness - she's designing. But only one of them will pay the price...
Co-written by Romanian director Sinisa Dragin (whose Every Day God Kisses Us on the Mouth played EIFF in 2002), this is an uncomfortably clear-eyed look at marital discord and sexual politics, reminiscent in its power, and unflinching honesty, of Bergman's great Scenes from a Marriage. Faultlessly acted by its ensemble cast, and stylishly directed, it's a film for adults, unafraid to confront the issues it raises.


princess(prinzessin)

Birgit Grosskopf / Germany / 2006 / 82 min

Irina Potapenko, Henriette Müller, Desirée Jaeger, Amina Schichterich

24377

You know, that title might just be ironic...

The 'princesses' of the title are a gang of four young women, living in the public housing slums of a dismal West German suburb: Katharina, recently relocated from Russia; Yvonne, who's about to go to prison for almost beating another girl to death; perverse, sexually aggressive Jenny; and Mandy, a creepily precocious 11-year-old. It's the dead space between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and the girls are trying to make the most of Yvonne's last day of freedom: the following morning, she must report to jail. But Yvonne, unpredictable to the last, has other plans... Depicting its dead-end setting with discomfiting fidelity, lit by flashes of sudden, surreal invention (like the sound of fireworks, constantly exploding from the tenement balconies), this is a powerful, harrowing drama about friendship, loyalty and betrayal.





Saturday, August 19, 2006

The note for Edinburgh international film festival

IMG_4239

電影節的來臨比起三倍的FRINGE還要來的魅惑人心……. 2006格子

Film house,依然飄散著我熟悉且舒服的味道,某種相對於台北半夜以後誠品的氛圍… 而相對於台北的金馬影展,愛丁堡的電影節以一種迅速流進我末梢神經的姿態侵略性的開始佔領我下兩週的生活重心與版圖。也許以往在金馬影展的展期中我的生活總是充斥著更多莫名的事物好讓我分心,而在愛丁堡就是可以輕鬆的坐下來,點一杯茶,配著巧克力mousse、堅果muffin,拿著節目單,ㄧ圈一圈的將時間切割剪黏下來雙手奉上-給我親愛的電影之神。

電影的劇照絕對性的影響人類的觀賞衝動與期待,像是逛書店封面設計不佳的書一樣,劇照不佳的片單只會讓我消化不良。但是這次的影展真的非常用心的在處理宣傳,軟體與硬體也都搭配的相當得宜,時值電影節60周年,精美的印刷傳單、電影結束會後導演親臨的小型討論會、許多片單在售票櫃檯小桌前贈送小胸章加post card、接近半夜的買一送ㄧ票價大放送等等… 真的很難在短短的時間內拍板定案,不過這也是看影展的有趣之處,用心找到自己愛看的電影後,劃下紅色標記,喝下最後一口咖啡,工作人員將ㄧ張張淡藍色底影展的票自列票機中取下,收進小小信封裡 ~ 整個過程真的是非常愉快耶!

旁邊ㄧ群人七嘴八舌討論剛剛結束的電影,對面的捲髮小姐,輕鬆的吃著用麵包粉炸至酥脆金黃的雞肉條,而我,默默的選定了心中的純16影展,預計在這兩週狠狠的看它個十六場………

==============================

兩家愛丁堡影痴的大本營與film house 與cameo加上另ㄧ個UGC旗下的大型電影院CINEWORLD,三家電影院聯合舉辦這一次的電影節活動(Dominon被我自動刪掉了),三家電影院的地理位置略略形成一個銳角三角形;然候接下來的兩個禮拜, 我的生活大概也就是隨著這個個性鮮明的銳角三角形開始逐電影而居吧 !!!

edinburgh film festival 8/19

LONDON TO BRIGHTON
Paul Andrew Williams / UK / 2006 / 90 min
Lorraine Stanley, Georgia Groome, Johnny Harris, Sam Spruell, Nathan Constance, Alexander Morton, David Keeling, Jamie Kenna, Chloe Bale, Jack Deam


24359

One of the discoveries of the year.
24 hours in the life of a prostitute and a young runaway, fleeing to Brighton in a desperate attempt to save their own lives. This bare-bones synopsis, however, does little to communicate the scale of Paul Andrew Williams' feature debut: its assurance, its cinematic élan, the steely conviction of its performances. And above all, its gritty verisimilitude. Avoiding most of the clichés of the dirty-realist Brit flick, refining instead an ensemble of credible, often contradictory characters, it's reminiscent of Mike Leigh's Naked in its vision of a debased demi-monde, its two heroines clinging to each other as they move through a world of violence, petty crime and revenge. For Williams, it's the first feature in what looks likely to be a notable career. Catch it here first.


FIRST LOVE (HATSU-KOI)
Yukinari Hanawa / Japan / 2006 / 115 min
Keisuke Koide, Aoi Miyazaki, Masaru Miyazaki, Rena Komine, Yu Emoto, Tadahiro Aoki, Yuya Matsuura


24439

Retro romance meets gangland thriller in this stunning Japanese drama.
1960s Japan, and Misuzu, a high school student with a chaotic home life, finds a sanctuary with her brother Ryo and his friends - a group of nihilistic teenagers who spend their days hanging around bars and indulging in drugs and casual sex. But one of the youths - the ambitious, charismatic Kishi - wants more, and devises a plan to rob a bank van, and the group begin rehearsing the heist. Based on an allegedly autobiographical novel by Japanese writer Misuzu Nakahara (in which she claimed, almost four decades later, to have been involved in the legendary '300 Million Yen Affair', the never-solved December 1968 robbery that remains the largest criminal haul in Japanese history), this powerful widescreen saga is the finest Japanese drama of the year: a stunningly visualised elegy of life, and love, on the edge.

edinburgh film festival 8/18

THE HOST (GUIMUL)
Bong Joon-ho / South Korea / 2006 / 119 min
Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doo-na


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The hottest title at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Inspiring a bidding war upon its World Premiere at Cannes, Bong's latest feature - like his 2003 breakthrough, Memories of Murder - is a canny blend of genres and tones, playing at times like a half-dozen films in one. At core, though, it's a monster movie: a mutant creature emerges from Seoul's Han River and, as monsters are wont to do, begins attacking people. (To pitch the film to financiers, the filmmaker reportedly cut out a fuzzy image of Scotland's own Nessie, and glued it onto a postcard of the river.) It's also some of the best fun you'll have in a cinema all year: shot with extraordinary confidence, effortlessly juggling moments of SF wonderment, white-knuckle drama, and pitch-black comedy, and featuring some state-of-the-art CGI effects, it's enough to remind you why you started going to the movies in the first place.


HOLLY
Guy Moshe / USA, France, Israel & Cambodia / 2006 / 113 min
Ron Livingston, Virginie Ledoyen, Udo Kier, Chris Penn, Thuy Nguyen


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First feature as part of the 'K-11' project, highlighting the issue of child sex-trafficking.
Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Phen, this feature is a captivating and emotional experience. Patrick, (Ron Livingston) has been 'comfortably numb' in Cambodia for years, when he encounters Holly (Thuy Nguyen), a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the border to work as a prostitute. Holly's virginity makes her a lucrative prize, and when she is sold to a child trafficker, Patrick embarks on a frantic search through both the beautiful and sordid faces of the country, in an attempt to bring her to safety. Harsh yet poetic, this feature forms part of the 'K-11' Project, dedicated to raising awareness of child trafficking and sex slavery. Co-starring French starlet Virginie Ledoyen, Udo Kier, and the late Chris Penn, in one of his final screen performances.

edinburgh film festival 8/17

WORLD ANIMATION 2
95 min

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180 minutes of the finest animation from every corner of the globe. The annual showcase for the best animation in the world produced over the last 12 months, proves once more that animation is a thriving art form and that its diversity and range just keep on growing. In order to bring you the best the world has to offer, we are constantly hunting and selecting the most exciting, inspiring, amusing, weird and wonderful work - in short, the best animation today contained in two 90-minute programmes.

LOVE SICK (LEGATURI BOLNAVICIOASE)
Tudor Giurgiu / Romania / 2006 / 85 min
Maria Popistasu, Ioana Barbu, Tudor Chirila, Catalina Murgea, Mircea Diaconu, Virginia Mirea, Tora Vasilescu, Valentin Popescu


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A love story, plain and simple.
On her very first day at college, Kiki meets Alex, newly arrived in Bucharest, and the two fall abruptly and completely in love. The fact that they both happen to be girls is quite irrelevant - both to each other, and to the filmmaker, who takes a refreshingly angst-free, non-sensational approach to the subject matter; this is first and foremost a romance - a story of attraction, flirtation and passion between two very different personalities. Slipping easily between past and present, and aided by the undeniable chemistry between its two young leads, this semi-impressionistic study transcends its apparently casual structure to achieve, at last, a yearning blend of joy and heartache. One of the year's most charming pictures, it constitutes an auspicious debut from the talented Giurgiu.

edinburgh film festival 8/16

SUMMER PALACE (YIHEYUAN)
Lou Ye / China & France / 2006 / 140 min
Hao Lei, Guo Xiaodong, Hu Lingling, Zhang Xianmin


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Breathtaking, controversial drama, from the maker of Purple Butterfly (EIFF 2004).
It is the mid-1980s, and teenage Yu Hong leaves her village, her family and her boyfriend to study at Beijing University. There she discovers a very different world, and falls passionately in love with fellow student Zhao Wei. But though their relationship soon comes to overwhelm everything else in their lives, the weight of history soon pulls them apart - their story, like those of so many others, overwhelmed by the massacre in Tiananmen Square. Featuring a level of sexual and political frankness unprecedented in mainland Chinese cinema, Lou's fourth feature was banned by his country's government days before its Cannes premiere. It is shown here uncut: a groundbreaking film, and a masterful integration of editing, art direction and sound design, by one of the most important and accomplished directors working today.


MIRRORBALL MADE IN JAPAN
80 min

24427

Visual adventures, Nippon style. A comprehensive, eye-poppin' round up of must-see Japanese music promos and shorts.

Robots! Games! Fashion! Art! Japan has always been at the forefront of the aesthetically cutting edge, and this year's selection of promos and shorts proves no exception. With the likes of director Nagi Noda (Partizan Productions) leading the pack, the bar has been set VERY high. From the dizzily surreal to the so-cute-it-hurts, Mirrorball Made in Japan has put together a veritable bento box of live action and animated visual styles.

Monday, August 14, 2006

反戰大遊行 in edinburgh

叮咚問我 她們在反什麼 我說 總之是黎巴嫩和以色列的戰火問題吧 再詳細一點 我可能就會不知道了 原本要去national gallery看展覽的途中 剛好遊行隊伍就這樣來到王子街 手邊的相機派上用場 穿梭在遊行裡 好像有那麼一點 新聞記者的感覺 跟著bbc的記者一起咖咖咖咖 的獵取鏡頭 感覺還挺新鮮的 最後 我要在這邊語重心長的說 我 格子 希望世界和平....

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edinburgh festival part2

收集街頭藝人的日子又來了 愛丁堡是一樣的熱熱鬧鬧 兩場frindge的秀以後 ㄧ直沒有那種我ㄧ看海報就會超想去的檔次 昨天在躺在pub裡的包廂內邊看節目單邊跟來的遊客聊天 extra smooth的 john smith反倒帶給我渾身的慵懶(弱慢 下次可以ㄧ起去歐) 藝術節還會怎麼演下去 就問問我的鏡頭先吧 還有親愛的瓊芳 下次遇見我的問候語 可以不要再是

格子你今天沒去喝酒喔 !!< 尤其是 呃.......那時候才五點>


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Saturday, August 12, 2006

nouvelles vagues

吃早餐 唸wallpaper 是現在的好習慣歐

早餐的質感相伴物

lover

超像正在談戀愛的鹽與胡椒罐子