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[randy_byers]

I slept for twelve hours last night. I continue to feel wiped out. It's just fatigue, as far as I can tell, but it's weird. Guess I'm not as young as I used to be, eh? I have to think this is the depravity of Worldcon catching up with me.

Finished watching Seventh Heaven (1927) and didn't like the "transcendant" (hallucinatory?) ending as much as the first three-quarters, although it's still all amazingly beautiful visually. This is one of the two films Borzage won the Best Director Oscar for. (The other was Bad Girl (1931), which is also in the Murnau and Borzage at Fox set.) Later I started listening to the commentary, but it was terrible. Just a series of facts about the various actors and production people, without anything to do with the movie at hand. Next up is Street Angel (1928), for which I've seen some breathtaking stills.

One thing I thought about as I watched Seventh Heaven was other American films that are set in Paris. I immediately thought of Design for Living and An American in Paris and The Moderns, but I quickly realized that there are a lot more. Most of them are indeed about Americans in Paris, however, whereas Seventh Heaven is about native Parisians. That might be a bit more rare, other than biopics about Marie Curie and such. Are there that many American movies set in Berlin or Rome or Madrid or Prague? I don't think so. Hollywood seems to have had a special affinity for Paris.

Comments

[kdotdammit.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking a lot lately about that "not as young as I used to be" thing. I get really exhausted too, in ways I never used to get exhausted. How sad. Anyway, you're not alone!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, I still think you have better reason to be exhausted than I do, what with your parental duties.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

I believe "French Postcards," "Frantic" and maybe even "Killing Zoe," "Ronin," "An American Werewolf in Paris," and the Liam Neeson thriller "Taken" might meet your American films set in Paris criteria as well as many episodes of the "Highlander" tv series (although it was a Canadian-French production).

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Love Me Tonight (1932) is another great one, and Midnight (1939). Oh yeah, and Moulin Rouge (2001), of course! (Although I'm not sure how American that one is, really.)

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Take the Worldcon on top of the summer and year that went before, and physical as well as emotional fatigue would seem to be downright predictable and expected. May you rest well and thoroughly, all the better to prepare for whatever depravity and other adventures the future brings.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Next year I turn 50. If I can make it to Aussiecon 4, that might be a good place for a party.

[crowleycrow.livejournal.com]

The new Julie and Julia has beautiful interiors and a few lovely exteriors in France ca. 1952. Liked them almost as much as the food.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I've heard that the Julia sections of this movie are the best, but is it just Merylphilia? I guess those would be the parts set in France, so maybe you've already indicated your preference.