Roman Wives #3: Emmanuelle Seigner

 Emmanuelle Seigner was born in Paris in 1966, the daughter of a journalist and an internationally renowned photographer. She began modeling at the age of 14, landed her first film roles soon afterwards.

By the age of 20, Seigner was beginning to climb the ladder to international stardom, having appeared in a few French dramas and playing teenaged characters younger than her actual age.

In 1988, she was cast opposite Harrison Ford in the Roman Polanski-directed thriller "Frantic", and it was while working on this film that the two fell in love. Within a year, they were married--despite Polanski being 33 years her senior. (Once again, Polanski was robbing the cradle...)

While Seinger has maintained a thriving film career separate from her husband, the pair's relationship has been fruitful on both the romantic and professional front. Seinger starred in some of Polanski's most successful and/or acclaimed films--such as "Venus in Furs" (2013), "The Ninth Gate" (1999), "Bitter Moon" (1992), and the aforementioned "Frantic" (1988).

The couple have been together almost 33 years now--their wedding anniversary is on August 30--and they have two, now-grown, children together. By all accounts, they remain as in love with each other as they were when the first met. Seigner recently demonstrated her fierce loyalty to  her husband when she publicly condemned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts as hypocrites when they expelled Polanski as a member in 2018 while they band-wagonned with the "#MeToo" movement. (She also very publicly turned down their invitation to join the organization.)

Seigner and Polanski make their home in France, out of reach of U.S. law enforcement who still seek to imprison him because of his rape conviction. Seigner acknowledges that Polanski was found guilty of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl, but she says that, to her, he has always been a wonderful husband and a great father to their children.

This post was part of the Shades of Gray Roman Polanski Month.

'Mammals' is Polanski's tribute to by-gone era

Mammals (1962)
Starring: Henryk Kluba, Michal Zolnierkiewicza, and Voytek Frykowski
Director: Roman Polanski
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Two weirdos (Kluba and Zolnierkiewicza) take turns pulling each other on a sled across a frozen wasteland... until fatigue sets in and tempers start to flare.

"Mammals" was Roman Polanski's final short film before his career as a professional writer/director launched in earnest. Like all his shorts, it is a silent movie, as Polanski reportedly believed that dialogue would distract from important story points in a short film. Unlike the previous ones, this one is a straight-up homage to the comedy shorts of the 1910s and 1920s, with weird characters engaging in even weirder antics for inscrutable reasons.

There really isn't much of a plot here--the film is a string of loosely connected gags, some of which play amusingly with the white-out effect created by filming in black-and-white on a sunlit snowfield--but, like its main characters, the film is constantly in motion and there's not a dull second during its 10-minute running time. As a pastiche/homage to early film comedies, it's excellent... as a short film, I wish there had been a bit more of a through-line to tie the action together.

My desire for a little more story mixed in with the absurdity aside, "Mammals" is another clear demonstration of Polanski's raw talent for filmmaking, one which he would hone to unquestionable greatness as the decades progressed. (It's too bad he seems to be a terrible human being.)

Take a look at "Mammals" by clicking below. Feel free to let me and world know your take on it in the comments section.

Musical Monday with The Kooks

The Kooks are a British indie rock band who's been around since ca. 2004, with Luke Pritchard and Hugh Harris being the group's lead performers, and only remaining founding members. Pritchard is also the primary lyricist and composer for all the band's songs.

Today's offering is a song and an amusing and sexy video in support of their 2014 album "Listen".

Interestingly, there was a Swedish band that also went by the name of The Kooks and also played indie rock. They broke up in 2002, however, so that could be why no one's gotten sued? 

Bones Coffee's French Vanilla

It's time for another review of a flavored coffee blend. This time, I'm trying their version of a classic -- French Vanilla.

It's a French Hottie with French Vanilla Coffee!

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: FRENCH VANILLA

French Vanilla is a go-to flavor around here; it's a rare and unhappy day that there isn't a bottle of sugar-free French Vanilla creamer in the fridge. Since coffee with some stripe and degree of vanilla flavor added is my go-to, ordering the Bones Coffee French Vanilla blend was a no-brainer. I've tried similar blends from other companies and they've ranged from "that wasn't just a straight medium roast?" to "meh... there was some vanilla there, but what's with the stale taste when I literally just made it?". 

The only blend French Vanilla blend I recall being any good was the one from Seattle's Best Coffee, but I'm assuming its long gone, having been absorbed with its maker into Starbucks and the land of bitter-tasting coffee. So... how did the Bones French Vanilla blend stack up to my memory of a coffee from over a decade ago?

Quite nicely, in fact. 

This review is based on a 4-oz. pre-ground beans, and the coffee was brewed in a drip coffeemaker. This blend has as its basis medium-roasted beans, which I imagine surprises no one reading this. 

As the coffee brewed, I didn't notice anything other than the aroma of coffee coming from the pot, and it wasn't anything beyond what I usually experience or expect--there was no scent of vanilla wafting down the hall into my office as has happened with some previous Bones products (like the Jingle Bells blend, for example). Once poured into my mug, however, I noticed a very vanilla aroma--and when I took a few sips, the coffee was very smooth and the vanilla taste was pleasing and noticeable. If you're the sort of person who likes your coffee black with perhaps just a little sugar or milk in it, I think you wouldn't mind starting your day or ending your dinner with a cut of this. As for myself, I could have continued drinking it straight, but it became far more enjoyable after I added some unsweetened almond milk. When I tried it with a unsweetened almond milk and a dash of sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream coffee creamer, I liked it even more; the vanilla flavor seemed to be slightly enhanced in both cases.

Iced, the French Vanilla blend was smooth and sweet enough that I could drink a cup without feeling like it needed any milk or creamer. The vanilla flavor wasn't as detectable as it was when this coffee was consumed hot, but it came out more clearly when I added unsweetened almond milk.

This is another Bones Coffee blend that I recommend to you wholly and without qualification.

Future high school graduation test leaked!

Oregon recently eliminated any standards for what a high school student needs to know in order to get a diploma until 2022. Shades of Gray has obtained a draft copy of the new standardized test that will be given to all high school students in the state starting with 2022.

(Okay... so that's not the actual test that high school students will have to pass to graduate in Oregon in the future. It's a page of cartoons from 1985 by Ward Batty that was originally published under the heading "Games for the Simple." The reality is that the test will probably be even easier.)

In observation of National Potato Day...

... we present Marilyn Monroe posing with a sack of potatoes while she wears a potato sack.

The Avengers: The Thirteenth Hole

The Thirteenth Hole (1966)
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Patrick Allen, Victor Maddern, and Francis Matthews
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

When a government agent is murdered, John Steed (Mcnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) are charged with bringing the guilty parties to justice. Their investigation leads them to an exclusive golf club where a traitor is passing state secrets to the Soviets.

"The Thirteenth Hole" is one of the weaker episodes in Season Four, if not the weakest. The problems are many and severe, and they all originate with the sloppy script.

First, the scheme of the bad guys is complex to the point of ridiculousness. Although I sit down expecting an over-the-top espionage or criminal conspiracy yarn that sometimes is only believable or sensible in the pulp-fictiony, cartoonish universe in which the Avengers exist, what I got in this episode was so over the top that it didn't even work as a spoof of the 1960s spy movies where bad guys had elaborate secret hideouts in the weirdest places. Maybe I could have been more forgiving if the script had been better.

Second. something needed better editing here, be it the script or the final product. The story just doesn't hold together, even by the sometimes fast-and-loose logical standards of "The Avengers". This is mostly because characters who seem significant are introduced, only to vanish without further development or explanation, but it occurs to me that maybe that wouldn't have bothered me so much if the characters that do stick around were more interesting. No one seems particularly menacing or amusing... even some comedic antics by Steed on the golf course fall flat.

One saving grace of the episode is that director Roy Ward Baker kept things moving as quickly as possible--perhaps a little too quickly, as touch on above--but that still doesn't make up for the lameness of the characters and the writing in general. Second, there's a gun that fires golf balls' I really like this idea, and it was perfect for causing "accidental deaths" on a golf course. (Well, except for when the dimwitted bad guys star shooting people with it after the course is closed and in the middle of the night.)

All in all, a disappointing outing for the Avengers.... but they can't all be good when you're on the grueling schedule of episodic television.

It's Roman Polanski's birthday!

Roman Polanski--the celebrated writer, director, convicted child rapist, and fugitive from justice--turns 88 years old today.

And to close out this birthday observation, here's Mr. Polanski's theme song.

A fine silent movie with a timeless message

Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958)
Starring: Jakub Goldberga, Henryk Cluba, Barbara Lass, Stanislaw Milchalski, and Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A strange pair of men emerge from the sea (Goldberga and Cluba), carrying a wardrobe. They try to get along with the people on land, but are rejected everywhere they go.

"Two Men and a Wardrobe" is a story that's equal parts amusing, sad, and infuriating. It also features a heavy dose of surreal fantasy in the form of our mysterious protagonists--the men and the wardrobe of the title--but the magic and joy that seems like it's trying to emerge in the film is, instead, crushed over and over by the vicious or indifferent citizens of the seaside town. The men are either rejected for their strangeness or outright abused. The only ray of positivity that remains by the end of the film is that the men from the sea that not had their kind natures blunted by the abusive townsfolk... but it's a nonetheless bittersweet conclusion, because the town will not benefit from it.

The message of "Two Men and a Wardrobe" isn't delivered in a subtle fashion, but it is still entertaining and clever. It's also a timeless message that is just as worth taking to heart and paying attention to--it's worthwhile to be attentive and considerate of immigrants or visitors who find themselves in a strange land or culture where they don't understand the "rules". If no one is willing to take the time to engage with them and explain what they are doing wrong or how they might be able to fit in, whatever contributions those individuals might be able to make will be lost. 

This is an early film from writer/director Roman Polanski that's well-worth the 15 minutes it will take to watch it. There are a few badly executed edits (exclusively involving the scenes by the seashore), but otherwise it's an effective and entertaining silent film 

 

  

Musical Monday with Julie Newmar

Today, Julie Newmar turns 88 years old. Although she is best known these days for her turn as Catwoman in the 1960s TV show "Batman", her road to stardom began the the theatre as a dancer and a singer in the 1950s and early 1960s.

And so, in observation of Musical Monday, and in honor of Newmar's birthday, we bring you samples of how she was early in her pre-Batman career via clips from televised variety shows, as well as pictures!

And here's Newmar delivering the weather report with Danny Kaye and Harold Morris...