I'm back

After spending some time travelling through Old Europe, I'm back home ... just too late for most season premieres of series ... ooopsie !

Anyway, I recorded some of them and I'll watch them soon. It will obviously keep me occupied for some evenings. I'm also eager to watch premiere of some new series : Melrose Place (even if from what I heard, it's not that good), NCIS: Los Angeles (yes, those marines things are my guilty pleasure), Cougar Town (because of Courtney Cox) ...

See you soon with more about that.

The not so good idea of the day

OMG ! WTF ?!?

I'm totally shocked ! Why ? Why ? Why ?

Why do people are in need to do a remake of Dirty Dancing ????

Seriously ... of course the original movie wasn't perfect but who cares ? It was good enough to speak to an entire generation (or more) of girls/women and to become iconic for them.

So what's the point to a remake ? Money ? I'm not so sure ... you can never know how much you'll earn from a movie. Does Hollywood suffer from such a lack of inspiration that they can't produce any new story ? Is remaking classics their only solution ?

I think about it and I can't find any example where the remake of a classic movie (I'm not talking about remakes of movies that weren't very successful - different situation) is better than the original one.

Plus, in this case, when they try to make a sequel/spin off of the movie ... it gave us "Dirty Dancing : Havana Night" ... and well, it wasn't that good ... it didn't really compare to the original Dirty Dancing. Of course, it was decent summer entertainment but I didn't see the point to relate it to the original Dirty Dancing movie. I guess it was only some marketing trick.

Anyway, I don't like the idea. That's it.

And I just can't imagine that someone else than Patrick Swayze could be Johnny Castle.

Could you imagine someone else than Humphrey Bogart to be Rick Blaine in Casablanca ? No.

Could you imagine someone else than Vivien Leigh to be Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind ? No

Could you imagine someone else than Leonardo DiCaprio to be Jack Dawson in Titanic ? No.

Of course, Dirty Dancing didn't get as much awards than those examples and professional critics will probably tell you Dirty Dancing wasn't as good but still ...

That's just what it is. Some characters just can't be taken by someone else than the original actor/actress.

Please stop with those stupid remakes ideas.

Closing the Ring

On the other day, while looking for something to watch on tv, I saw the movie "Closing the Ring", starring Shirley McLaine, Christopher Plummer and Mischa Barton.

I had never heard about this movie before and, actually, I suspect it had a very limited distribution on big screen before it was released on DVD.

The Story

Right after the funeral of her husband, Ethel Ann remembers her past, a past unknown to her daughter who doesn't seem to understand her mother.

In the meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, a young guy discovers a wedding ring and wants to bring it back to its owner.

The movie will make us travel between Ireland and United States, but also between 2 periods : 1941 and 1991 to tell us the story of a lost love.

The Actors

Beside Shirley McLaine, Christopher Plummer and Mischa Barton, we'll also see Neve Campbell. Beside them, I didn't know any other actors and, after looking on IMDB, I do no really see names that I could have seen in something major (even if a lot of them did make a lot of other stuff).

What did I think ?

I think it would perfectly fit in a category called "chick flick for old ladies", if such film category ever exists. It has a lots of ingredients for a nice chick flick but the historical context gives it a flavor that would surely bring back lots of memories to a generation of woman who also lost a lover during World War II.

It's not a unforgettable movie but I found the story very moving. Even if, as far as I know, they didn't lived this kind of story, the movie made me think about my late grand parents who were young adults during World War II. It makes me think to my dear granny who loved her late husband (who wasn't old when he died, even if the war was over since several years) until her very last day. This probably was an important factor that made me enjoy the movie. For the rest, I looked for the old lady in me.

Beside the love story itself, the movie includes questions about the promises we make, about the secrets we keep, and all their consequences.

So, even if it isn't the best movie I've ever seen, I enjoyed it a lot. And I think anyone who like love stories or anyone who have an old lady inside would enjoy it.

And another trailer for House MD ...

Another promo video has been released for the sixth season of House MD. A little different from the previous one but a large part is the same.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

It's seems to me it's been a while since I saw it so my review comes a little late.



I've never been in any sort of Potter-mania, I haven't read the books (I'm always telling myself that I should ... it's definitively missing to my ... hem hem ... "culture") but I've enjoyed the movies.



That's my very own Harry Potter paradox ... I'm definitively not part of the basic fan base of Hogwarts people, and I know every single showtime is fully crowded during the first weeks so I'm always telling myself that I can wait to see it .... but when it's released I can't refrain myself to see it in the first week end.



So did I again this time.


The Story

As for the other ones, the movies starts as Harry is about to start a new year (that makes six now) at Hogwarts. The school welcomes Professor Slughorn, a friend of Dumbeldore's but also someone with heavy memories. Love is the in the air for lots of the students but in the meanwhile, Voldemort's threat is increasing and Harry understand it might already be in Hogwart's walls.

The Actors

I know the whole main cast is already well known .... Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint don't need more introduction. Neither do Michael Gambon (Professor Dumbeldore), Alan Rickman (Professor Snape) or Helena Bonham-Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange).
Most of the secondary characters are back too.
For this movie some other faces join the cast : the great Jim Broadbent is Professor Horace Slughorn, Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown. Also Frank Dillane and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (who also happens to be Ralph Fiennes' nephew) share the task to be the young (respectively at the ages of 16 and 11) Tom Riddle who'll later become Lord Voldemort.

What did I think ?


I'm sure it will not be my favorite episode at all ('til know I'm shared between giving my preference to the Goblet of Fire or to the Order of the Phoenix). Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed it but I felt like it was missing something.

I saw it more like a transition to the final parts (as the last book will be split in 2 movies).

I found the movie focused too much on the love interests of the different character and it has too much of a teenager movie. I guess the idea behind that is to clearly show us Harry and his friends are no more the little kids of the first movie. But that was a little too much in my opinion.
I felt like the sorcellery side was put more in the background and some secondary character became almost inexistant. I'm thinking about Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Luna Lovegood. And in this area I was particularly disappointed about Neville Longbottom. His character became interresting in the Order of The Phoenix but he almost disappeared here, to be in almost only one scene, playing the waiter at Professor Slughorn's party.

It seemed to me the whole film was only a long introduction to its dramatic end (as we know, a main character dies in the end). I regret that some aspect were almost ignored, like the identity of The Half-Blood Prince, which is revealed in 2 seconds between other scenes.

BUT ... as I said, I enjoyed it anyway ... because it still have the ingredients that makes movies of the franchise what they are ... great movies. I mean great movies for entertainment (we do not always need a masterpiece to enjoy a movie and think its great). The scenery is, as usual, amazing ... should I dare to say, magical ? Quidditch scenes are as always very impressive, as well as the "fighting" scenes. The introductory scene is really really great (Am I the only one to see a reference to the Tacoma Bridge ?!?). I liked to know more about Voldemort's past. Professor Slughorn is a very interesting character and Jim Broadbent is just great to play it. It also was interresting that even if Draco Malfoy is obviously attracted by the "dark side of the force", his conscience sometimes seems to tell him he might not be ready for that yet. Plus, even for the "bad ones", a mother is still a mother, fearing for her child. And Helena Bonham-Carter is equal to herself while playing Bellatrix Lestrange, crazy just the way I like it.

So, even if I don't think this one is the best of the serie, it's still good enough and I guess that most of the audience will like like it.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland trailer

It was supposedly released yesterday but was finally able to watch it today. As some people didn't respected the embargo date and published it a little earlier, most links were sending me to places were the video had been removed or disabled.

Anyway ... here it is ...



I'm a huge fan of Tim Burton's work and I already told how much I enjoy to see Johnny Depp on a big screen. Plus, Alice in Wonderland is probably my favorite Disney classic. So, I have gigantic expectations for this movie.

And this first trailer let me hope that I won't be disappointed. I already can imagine how mad the Mad Hatter will be.

Oh God ... more than 7 months to wait !

A Summer in the City

As I decided to travel back to Europe in the fall, I spend the whole summer in the city. And you know what ? I like it !

No doubt that one reason why I enjoy so much living here in Montreal. There's so much to do with all festivals during the whole summer. And the good part of it is that in all those festivals, there's always a lot of really great things to do for free.
Where else could you you see a great show of Stevie Wonder for free ??
Of course, not everything is free but there's so much choice !

And that's such a great way to discover new thing. For instance, I'm not a huge fan of jazz. Not at all. But, I go to the jazz fest anyway. I pick up (mostly randomly as I don't know well the subject) some shows among the free ones and that's how I learn to open my ears to that kind of music. Of course, there are show that I preferred but I've never been disappointed enough to leave a show (easy when the show are outside) before its end.

Same thing with "Just for laughs/Juste pour rire". I wouldn't pay to see a stand up comic show but I like to go and see what's happening around, all the external activities. On the other day, there was that really amazing show featuring a choir called Scala, which covers hits of pop/rock music.

I already picked up some shows for the coming Francofolies festival and ended with at least one for each day !

Those are major festivals but there's also so much others (Osheaga, Nuits d'Afrique, DiversCité, Piknic Electronik ...) that's almost impossible to find something that you'll like.

And I didn't even mention the fireworks competition every Saturday.

House M.D. - Season 6 promo

Ok, now I just can't wait 'til September.

Gee ... Just realized that I won't be at home on that day ... anyway, I guess I will record it.

Public Enemies

Good thing that I had a day off today so I didn't have to wait to see "Public Enemies", which was among the summer movies I wait the most.






Do I really need to say the reason is exclusively Johnny Depp ?

The Story

During the Depression, John Dillinger and his gang rob banks in Chicago and escape the police. Even when they are arrested, they do not remain in the jail for a long time. That was enough to make the gang the major target of the FBI. The main task of the Bureau became to arrest definitively Dillinger.

The Actors

Beside Johnny Depp as John Dillinger (note the common initals "JD", which is how Depp signs his paintings ... nothing to do with the movie, I just noticed), we found Marion Cotillard as Billie Frechette (Dillinger's love interrest), Christian Bale as FBI top agent Melvin Purvis and Billy Crudup as FBI director Hoover. This interresting cast also includes Emilie de Ravin (Lost), Giovanni Ribisi and even a cameo of Diana Krall.

What did I think ?

I don't know yet exactly what to think.

On one side, I liked it as I think I could like any Johnny Depp's movie ... I mean, I think it should be very bad before I dislike one of his movie (I even liked Cry Baby ... but I was a teenager at that time ... yes, it is a good excuse).

But on another side, I didn't enjoyed it as much as I expected.

It wasn't bad at all but I didn't find anything very exciting. However I still enjoyed it.

Johnny Depp has a character who very well fits him : sort of a bad boy but still with good feeling ... does the term "romantic gangster" exist ? That's how I would describe it. So, he cannot be bad ... and every single scene he is in is an eye-candy. But, even if this kind of character fits him, I prefer him in characters with a crazy side (Jack Sparrow, Willy Wonka ... and I can't wait to see him as The Mad Hatter).

In the things I liked, I would add the chemistry between Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard. They did a very nice couple. Sounds like Depp knows what to do with French women ;-) Seriously, they're doing great together. And Cotillard didn't disappoint me at all. She doesn't do a performance as extraordinary as in La Vie en Rose but still, she does great. There was only a scene where I didn't like her a lot ... when she's questionned by the FBI, she makes the exact same "tortured" face as she did in some scenes of La Vie en Rose. Anyway, that wasn't a big deal.

Actually, most of the actors do well. No outstanding performance but good.

Being released now is a good timing for the movies as we can relate to the economic situation. And it can be interresting to see how people reacted in the time of Depression. Actually, Dillinger didn't seem to be seen as an ennemy by the population, and he even was popular (because he robbed money from banks ... not from people ...). Most people didn't seem to care for the robbed banks, which were seen as partially responsible for the situation (see how it relates to the situation we live now).

Technically, the movie is well "polished", apparently it is all made in HD and it looks like. However, sometimes the faces of actors seemed a little "waxy" ... I don't know if it's because they used too much make up or if it's just something weird in the photography.

In fact, I think the weakest part of the movie might unfortunately be the scenario. We're always floating between great scenes (for instance a jail escape) and boring scenes that brings nothing to the movie. Once again, I felt the movie could have been easily 30 min shorter, it would have taken nothing away from the movie, actually it could even have improved it by cutting the boring part.

So I felt a little disappointed as I expect it a lot but, in the same time, it's always such a pleasure to watch Johnny Depp on screen. So go to see it and judge by yourself ... don't expect a lot but if you like Johnny Depp, you will probably like it anyway.

Eva Longoria @ Fort Boyard

Saturday, I watched a show that I haven't watch in years. Actually, I was still living in Europe the last time I watched it.

So I watched Fort Boyard on RFO (Radio France Outremer, part of the "France television" group). But there was a reason.

I read earlier an article explaining the game is starting its 20th season and they wanted something special. So they invited Tony Parker & Eva Longoria to lead a team on the fort. They accepted and like each team now they played for a charitable organization (Make a Wish France in their case).


Some word on the game for those who don't know it ... Members of the team enters "cells" (the Fort was used as a jail, I think) where they have to pass various test to get a key, keys open the treasure room. After the keys, they have to pass some "adventures" to get clues, clues help them to find a keyword which wil unlock the treasure in the treasure room.





So I was curious to see how a desperate housewife could handle that ... knowing that some tests in cells can be disgusting (it sometimes includes various animals like snakes, mice, spiders, rats, worms ...) and some contestant can be a little scared by some adventures (includes things like benji jumping).



Actually, I was positively suprised. She seemed happy to be there and very comfortable with the situation. I found her very friendly and she didn't seem to act like a diva at all (I'm pretty sure that other actresses in her situation would have acted very differently). Case in point ... the cell pitured in the first image .... the key is hidden in one of the jars but, those jars are filled with various more or less disgusting things ... it's a classic of the game ... and usually the contestant screams all the time spent in the cell ... she almost didn't scream at all !! She even said "Sorry little mouse" when she put her hand in a jar containing mice ... that was so cute !

Tony Parker being French, we know that she know a little French but she didn't seem to have any problem to understand anything even of the show was mainly in French (the host only gave her some instructions in English). And she was good too in the tests where it's more about logical things.

Really, I was positively impressed.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

While most of TV shows are now ended until the Fall, I started to see a little more movies. So, on Tuesday my choice was "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3", starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott.

I'm not huge fan of action movies but I like them once in a while. Plus, I must admit that, even if he doesn't always make the best choices in his movies, I like John Travolta. A lot.


While I was on my way to see to movies I clearly realized that I was in this position ... you know ... when you perfectly know that it won't be good but you can't refrain yourself to go anymay.


The Story


A New York City subway train is hijacked by a small group of armed men, lead by a guy who named himself Ryder. They hold passengers hostages while Ryder request 10 millions dollars. During the negotiation, he will be in contact with the dispatcher Walter Garber, who really didn't need that.


The Actors


John Travolta is playing the bad guy as "Ryder", which is obviously a character closer to a Vincent Vega (in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction) than to a Danny Zuko (who forgot Grease ???).


Denzel Washington is Walter Garber, the dispatcher who could be the good guy next door ... but still not a saint.


I should also mention John Turturo (who also be soon on screen in "Transformers") and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) as a perfectly disgusting mayor.


What Did I Think ?


I must say that I didn't take much attention to Tony Scott's work lately and I couln't name 5 movies he directed (while he did much than that) ... I barely remembered "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder"... and the first frames of Pelham strangely remind me of the first frames of Top Gun. I had that bad feeling that he was still making movies just like he did in the eighties, remaining in his strict comfort zone. It wasn't starting very well.

And unfortunately, it didn't really improve.

The good side of the movie is that I didn't think it was too long. Well, some scenes could have been cut but it wasn't excessive like some other movies where you can easily find half an hour to cut.

But the story is also highly predictable which is never a good thing. I didn't find even a shadow of a surprise in the script.

However, if you just take it for what it is (one of the numerous action movies of the summer), it's good enough to spend an evening at the movie. But don't expect too much of it. And if you a have a decent home cinema system, you wouldn't miss a lot if you wait to rent it when it will be released on DVD.

Millenium - Men Who Hate Women

That's easier to understand than the original title : "Män som hatar kvinnor"

Except if you are perfectly fluent in Swedish.

Last night was another movie night ... probably the first time ever I saw a Swedish movie.

The Story

Millenium (let's go with a shorter version of the title) is based on Stieg Larsson's popular novel (this is the first part of a trilogy).

Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist who was just convicted of slander. Henrik Vanger, who used to be at the head of a large industrial company run by the Vanger family, contracts Blomkvist to search an old family case. Harriet Vanger, niece of Henrik Vanger, disappeared 40 years earlier at the age of 16. Police closed the case but didn't solve it and it remained a mystery haunting Vanger. And Vanger sees in Blomkvist the only man able to find what can be found in this story.

In his investigation, Mikael Blomkvist meets Lisbeth Salander, a troubled young woman who seems to carry an heavy past. But Lisbeth also has an incredible ability to investigate (using, among others, her computer hacking skills) and find clues that no one saw before.

Investigating together, they will soon find a very dark story behind Harriet Vanger's one.

The Actors

Unless you are very familiar with Scandinavian actors and actresses, you won't know any of them. I didn't know any of them.

So, I will focus only on the 2 main characters : Michael Nyqvist plays Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace plays Lisbeth Salander.

I think the whole casting was good and did a good job here. However, Noomi Rapace gives a better performance than any other. She totally IS Lisbeth Salander and I honestly cannot think of a known name that would better fit in this role. She, only by her own performance, gives a good reason to see the movie.

What did I think ?

I didn't read the novel (but will definitively do) so I can't tell if it is well adapted or not, it's not the point.

What I can say is this movie is most probably one of the best thriller I've seen lately. The story is very well built, it makes you want to know what happens next. Also, it didn't give you too much clue to guess how it will end. I hate when I see a movie where you can guess who the killer is after 15 minutes and, for the next 90 minutes, you just wonder why the main character didn't guess. I didn't have that feeling here. I guessed who "the bad one" really was only a few minutes before Blomkvist and Salander did. And there was still a surprise after that.

When I chose to see that movie I had a doubt about its length (2hrs30) ... usually, when a movie is more than 2hrs long, it's just too long (some directors really suck when it comes to cut in their movie). It was not the case here, I didn't feel like it was too long nor thinking "This scene was totally pointless, just cut it".

The novel is the first part of a trilogy and, at first, it was decided to make a movie out of this first part and, after that, a mini-serie for TV out of the 2 other novels (it was supposed to have 2 episodes for each of the 2 books). Now, as they see the results (and, I guess, the earnings ... it remains almost not an empty seat when I saw it), they talk about releasing the 2 other parts in movies too. I really hope they will do.

Angels & Demons : the movie (and the novel too)

Last week, I took a walk to the closest movie plex, very curious to see what kind of movie Ron Howard made from Dan Brown's novel "Angels & Demons".

I should start saying "The Da Vinci Code" was a big disappointment to me : not so well adapted story, tasteless Audrey Tautou (she was great as Amelie Poulain but really not great as Sophie Neveu) and Tom Hanks giving a very minimal overview of what he can do. Speaking of Tom Hanks, he sometimes gives me the feeling that he acts thinking "I was so good in movies like Forrest Gump that I have nothing to prove, and I won't". That's exactly how I felt watching "The Da Vinci Code".

So I had not a lot of expectations. But still was curious. I'm curious. All the time.

As a result, I was almost surprised to enjoy the movie, and even to to think it was quite good.

Actually, I found it was way better than The Da Vinci Code. I would even dare to say the movie was better than the novel. Why ? Because I think the story was better adapted, cut a the right place (I found the first part of the novel, the part located in Switzerland, way too long). Tom Hanks is still in the lower part of his abilities but does a little better. And his female partner, Ayelet Zurer does a way better job than what Audrey Tautou did. The camerlengo character became here Irish (or was it Scottish ? or simply English ? ... anyway ...) while he is Italian in the novel, the only reason behind that is the character is played by Ewan McGregor and it was obviously difficult to make believe he might have an Italian heritage. I must say that I wasn't totally convinced by McGregor in this particular character but he does a decent job. Maybe it's because I just can't see Ewan as a priest ! IMDB tells the role was declined by Leonardo DiCaprio, even if I would have loved to see him in the movie, I do not see more Leo as a priest ;-)

Ron Howard didn't get the authorization to shoot the movie in Vatican City (no need to ask why) so a replica of St Peter's Square was build for the movie and the result is really stunning, you could really think that you are in the actual place.

Of course, it doesn't have the qualities to make a multi-awards movie but it's a good one in its own category. However, I don't think it will generate as much income as the Da Vinci Code because the buzz aroud the movie is really not as big for this one.

Clara Sheller

Sometimes ago, while getting news from old Europe, I heard about a short (2 seasons of 6 episodes each) serie called "Clara Sheller" but without really listening to what I was hearing. As a result, I didn't know if it was good or not.

Anyway, I noticed on Monday that TV5 was starting to broadcast the second season and I decided to watch it even if I didn't see the first part, which didn't affected me at all.

They waited something like 2 or 3 years between the shooting of the 2 seasons and they keep the same time gap in the serie. So season 2 starts 3 years after the end of season 1. They also have a totally different casting between the 2 seasons. However, as I didn't see first season, I can't compare.

The actress Zoe Felix (she was in the very successful French comedy "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis") is the main character, Clara Sheller.

So ... how is it ?

Short answer : I liked it ... A LOT !

A little more about it ?

While the story has nothing to do with "Sex and the City", I found that Clara Sheller has a little "Carrie Bradshaw touch". She's in her 30's, she's a columnist for a magazine, she likes to party ... In some way, should be Carrie's little Parisian sister. But, in the same time, it's not a cut&paste of SATC, from NY to Paris. 

I find all actors are great (I don't really know any of them, except for Zoe Felix). The serie gives really nice shots of Parisian life and nightlife but in a quite realistic way, I mean it's not only about French glamour or huge appartments that most people in Paris can't afford in real life. Also, the music is just great, which I think gives a good atmosphere to the serie (while wrong music choices can, in my opinion, ruin a movie or a show). It's not a complicated story, just daily life and self questionning of any young woman who realize she's now an adult and what is it to grown up.

Now, I just can't wait 'til monday !

The Amazing Race recap - Final Leg

And now it's over. The Amazing Race 14 is behind us ... and I can't wait for the 15th edition ! (will supposedly be filmed during the Summer).

But what about the season finale ?

So we left the final three teams in Beijing, China. The very first clue of the final leg asked them to fly to Maui, Hawaï ... and that would bring them back to the US.

As it happened a lot during this season, all the teams were on the same flight so they were starting even again as they landed in Hawaï.

First task on the island was to prepare a pig for a traditionnal Hawaian recipe ... season it, move the beast and carry it on the beach, and finally cover it in some sort of charcoal and sand heap. That animal really looked heavy seeing how hard it was to carry it on the beach. Margie & Luke were definitively the best team on this task, I think they had a way better technique than the others. Speaking of other teams, they both started to be frustrated and stressed ... I felt like they started to see the finish line and realize how important it was and how loosing any second can make a difference.

Once the pig was ready for cooking, they rush to another beach for a jet ski ride. Teams had to find their next clue in a buoy field. The clue was imerged in water, below a buoy ... that's really have something to do with luck, choosing the right buoy fast or not.

Margie & Luke were the first to get out of the water and run to their next task, which was the final roadblock. For this detour, one member of the team had to build a fence made out of 11 surfboards, each one having a picture related to one of the previous legs ... and they had to arrange the surfboards in the right order (same order as the legs). The right surfboards were to be found amongst huge piles of surfboards ... and of course most of them had pictures with no relation to the previous legs.

Luke made the roadblock and he showed an impressive memory ... the first 9 boards were found in no time. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to find the 2 last ones ... got frustrated ... and it was even worse. In the meanwhile, the 2 other teams arrived and started the tasks. Tammy & Victor lost some time on the road as the were stuck behind a slow car ..... but Jaime & Cara lost even more time because their taxi got lost, riding them to the wrong place ... So, that's not only about locals or foreign language ... those two really have problems to get understood, even in their own country, even in their own language.

If Luke had a very good start in the roadblock, Victor was almost as fast ... and was able to find all the 11 boards ... so Tammy & Victor left in first position to the last pit stop, to the finish line.

Jaime almost finished the roadblock while Luke was still trying to find his last boards (and was more and more frustrated) ... Margie suggested that they work together to finish the task, what they did and both teams were so able to complete their fence. Jaime and Cara left right before Margie & Luke ... and this time no one got stuck, lost or anything.

So, the winners are Tammy & Victor, followed by Jaime & Cara, themselves followed by Margie & Luke.

Everybody seemed happy of their respective race and happy to be back home. Of course Jaime&Cara and Margie&Luke were a little disappointed, which is understandable but it wasn't a bitter disappointement (at least it didn't seemed to be). Luke seemed more disappointed than the others ... actually he felt guilty for the last roadblock. However, I think he did incredibly well on the whole race and he probably reached his goal more than expected regarding his will to show that deaf people can do incredible things like this race, and are able to do this like anyone else.

Now I have to find what to watch Sunday night !

Pekin Express on TV5

Earlier this week, I watched the show "Pekin Express" on TV5, they're now broadcasting season 3 (subtitled "La route des Incas") while M6 (the French which originally produce the show) just started to broadcast season 4 (subtitled "La route des dragons").

Pekin Express is a little similar to The Amazing Race in the idea but, in the same time, has a lot of differences.

What's similar ...

A dozen of teams of 2 racing and facing elimination at the end of the leg.

What's different ...

- They covers a smaller territory and teams knows in advance where they go. For instance, in season 3, the race takes place in South America, starting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Teams race trough Brazil, Bolivia and the finish line will be in Lima, Peru. Teams didn't know the itinerary before they started but it was roughly revealed at the starting point of the race. Details are given at the start of each leg.

- Teams have 3 days to cover each leg.

- Teams travel on a very short budget : 1 euro per person, per day ! Money can be used only to eat. However, locals can give them money. Teams can also ask locals food for free.

- Teams travels mainly by road and they have to hitchhike to find transportation. They are forbidden to pay for transportation. However, they are allowed to exchange their belongings to get transportation.

- During the leg, teams must find a place to sleep ... they have sleeping bags so they are allowed to sleep outside but for their comfort, it is highly recommended for them to ask locals for hospitality. They can not continue to race during the night.

- At the end of each leg, winner team earns a medal (sort of) with a money value related ...  but ... only the winner team of the final leg will be allowed to get the money value out of its medals. So they have to collect as much as they can. When a team is eliminated, they have to give their medals to another team ... so you'd better be popular too !

- At some points, teams can get "bonuses" like a roof for the night, a cab ride for one hour, a red flag to stop other teams etc.

- In each leg, there is a special task. Depending on the task, only the 2 or 3 teams can qualify to do the task (based on their position to arrive at the special task checkpoint). The winner team of the special task cannot be eliminated, even if they are last to arrive.

- There are some legs without eliminations. The team which arrive last in those legs will have an additional difficulty for next leg. For instance, carry a box of eggs, carry 60 lbs of sugar in suitcases ...

- Times are not cumulative ... all teams leaves at the same time for each leg.

So, with all this regulations, it makes a race quite different from the Amazing Race but I like that a lot. Pekin Express is really more based on the experience they can get from the exchange with locals, performance of the teams is really depending on their ability to communicate with the locals and to convince them to get help. Imagine how teams like Cara & Jaime from the Amazing Race would be miserable in Pekin Express !!

It's also a very physical race ... they can have very difficult legs. For instance, in this week leg, teams had to walk 30 kms (and spend a night) in a salt desert in Bolivia : cold in night, sun in day, winds, extreme light reflected on the white salt, altitude ... must really not be easy !

Moreover, if teams cannot get help from locals, with their budget, they have access to a very limited amount of food, so they can become weaker and weaker. If they are not able to get hospitality from locals and have to sleep outside, they (most of the time) cannot sleep very well, so they're more tired next day.

I would not say the Amazing Race is easier but the difficulties are not at the same levels ... so that make both shows differents but both interresting.

The Amazing Race recap - we now know the final three

After 2-3 crazy weeks of whatever happened except blogging, I'm back with the Amazing Race recap.

We now already reached almost the end of the journey. Next episode will be the final one for this season. So with this leg we were on our way to discover who will be the final 3 teams.

The previous legs brought the remaining teams to China, were all about the rivalry between 2 teams (Margie & Luke vs Kisha & Jen ... calling each other bitch ... fighting for clue boxes ... supposedly laughting at Luke's condition) and surprisingly ended with a "fake pit stop". Jaime & Cara, who finally arrived first at the mat, discovered Phil waiting for them with another clue for the second part of the leg.

The whole second half of this leg was located in Beijing, where they already had part of the first half.

Teams arrived to the mat (and leaved it) in the following order :

- Jaime & Cara

- Margie & Luke

- Tammy & Victor

- Kisha & Jen ... who were really relieved as they had a very hard time at the last road block, which implied tasks in a pool ... one has a terrible fear of water and they both are terrible swimmers.

So for this part of the leg ....

First task was to find Travelocity gnome in a local store ... gnome was "carrying" a clue and they were required to bring "him" to te mat.

Gnome told the team to reach the area of the Forbidden City where they found electric bicycle they have to ride across Tienanmen Square to a metro station, where the next clue box was.

Once again Jaime & Cara were just unable to communicate with taxi driver, or even to stop one ... so they already lost precious time.

Tienanmen Square clue box revealed a detour. Tasks were "Beijing Opera" or "Chinese Waiter". Most of the team chose "Beijing Opera" (I would have chosen that one too ... really easier) and they had to make up and costume themselves as traditionnal Chinese Opera characters. They had "models" to show them how they should look. Task was a bit tricky for Luke when he had to make up his mother face ... he literally painted her (she described herself as "Alice Cooper")  ... but the judge seemed very tolerant and give them the next clue without any problem.

Jaime & Cara lost more time due to their inability to be understood by locals, and so they were driven to the wrong opera house. 

Tammy & Victor were the only team to choose "Chinese Waiter", what sounded an easy choice for them. The task was to take order from restaurant clients, go ask the cook to prepare the orders and serve them to the clients ... who spoke only mandarin chinese. That sounded easy to Tammy & Victor as they speak chinese themselves (what well serve them during the leg). However they didn't get it at first attempt, but they still were out of the restaurant quite soon.

At the and of the detour, was an opportunity for a "U-Turn" ... Tammy & Victor chose to use the U-Turn and to use it against Kisha & Jen (which means they had to do the other task of the detour). They said they chose them because they can't outrun them in physical portions of legs ... I suspect they chose them in part because of K&J "fight" against M&L ... Tammy and Victor were on the mat with them when they have an "explanation" and seemed very uncomfortable towards K&J's attitude.

While others were still occupied with their opera task, Tammy & Victor went to the next task. It was the Road Block. One team member had to eat typical chinese street fast food ... fried sticks of larvae, grasshoppers, scorpions and starfish .... mmm yummy ;-)

Victor didn't seemed to enjoy the meal but ended in a decent time and they were soon on their way to the (real) pit stop at the "Bird Nest" Olympic Stadium.

In the meanwhile other teams ended their detour, Kisha & Jen discovered the U-Turn and were really not bad at the restaurant orders task. Margie & Luke hit the road block (and arrived 2nd on the mat). While Jaime & Cara were still struggling with their lack of communication skills. Lots of frustration ! Honnestly, I don't get it ... how did it happened ? I mean, except for Tammy & Victor, all teams have the same language barreers ... why are they the only one to have so much trouble to communicate with locals ? That's a total mystery to me. I even found them somewhat aggressive at some points, which surely doesn't help.

Anyway, even with the U-Turn, Kisha & Jen hit the road block before Jaime & Cara, who started to think it was over for them.

Except that ...

Jen was just unable to eat the Chinese delicacies, taking really small bites, drinking a lot of water to help swallowing. On the other hand, Jaime & Cara arrived and I don't know if Cara was starving or if she really enjoyed the meal but she had done with it in no time and so they left the road block just behind Kisha and Jen.

With all the water she had drunk, Jen was unable to reach the mat without a stop to the bathroom ... what costed them their place, for a matter of minutes or even seconds.

So the final three teams for the final leg are : Tammy & Victor, Margie & Luke and Jaime & Cara.

They will run against each other to the finish line in Hawaï.

I'm quite happy with the final three and whoever win, I'll be happy ... even if I have a really slight preference for Tammy & Victor. They didn't play very fair all the time but no one did and I find them friendly. I think Margie & Luke are nice, really nice people but I find that Luke's condition is sometimes too much the center of the attention ... however, it's really nice to see someone like him being able to show that he can take part of this kind of adventure, like anyone else. It must not be easy and sometimes they didn't have a real choice when it comes to detours. Regarding Jaime & Cara, they can be really funny girls and very nice (seing how they are with Luke) but their lack of communication skills with strangers is a big down.

We'll see next time what happen ... and who's the winning team !

What else on a Sunday night ?

I didn't really schedule anything else than The Amazing Race ... however, I got some excerpts of a few other things ....

• Southland, CBS was airing again the series premiere. The serie will be scheduled on Thursday night, in the slot left empty at the end of ER. Well, I wasn't able to stay focused at all. I really do not see anything interesting there, at least for now. They do not joke with the "coarse language" warning ... that's so coarse that some words are even replaced by beeps ... I just can't follow something beeping all the time, that's too distracting for me.
• So I switched to another channel and watch the end of "For your eyes only" ... nothing better than a good old Bond movie that you've seen again and again, so no matter if you missed more that the first half !
• Speaking of a no-brainer, I ended by the very last part of "Ocean's Twelve" ... always good to get some George & Brad eye-candy before going to bed ;-) Plus, I arrived right on time to see the laser field scene. That movie is undoubtly the worse of the Ocean's but I could watch it only for that scene ! (and for George & Brad eye candy too). I realize that it was the first time that I paid attention to Vincent Cassel's accent. Of course, he has some remains of a French accent but I realize it's really not that bad, in comparison to other French actors appearing in English-speaking movies.

Well, no George nor Brad glimpse tonight but time to bed for me !

The Amazing Race recap - leg 8

WARNING ! The post contains spoilers !

So, after a break of one week, I had The Amazing Race on Sunday night schedule and we were on leg 8.

The teams stayed in Thailand for the whole leg. However, they first had to leave Phuket and head to Bangkok by plane. As it often happened, all the teams managed to catch the same flight so it was almost like a fresh start again when they all landed.

First of all, teams had to deal with some mechnical and fix a boat propeller, hop on the boat and follow the river (well I think it was sort of a river) until they find a clue. And that's where the fun started ! 2 teams (Kisha & Jen, Mark & Michael) left their bags behind them at the boat yard. When I saw that, I was just thinking "Man! What are they thinking about ? Don't leave your bags behind" ... sounds like teams do not learn from previous seasons. It's not the first time that teams got in trouble because they left their stuff behind, or lost it.

I even understood less when Kisha and Jen, while soon realizing their mistake, consider to get their stuff back but didn't do it ! They were just like "we'll see later ... hopefully we'll be able to get them at the end of the leg". People, even if you're shooting a reality show (and so I'm pretty confident that some assistant has the task to take care of that kind of mess), when you're travelling abroad, you don't leave your passport anywhere behind you thinking "I'll get it back later". I was just freaking out for them.

Anyway, that was their choice.

And it was time for the detour "Broken teeth" or "Broken record". Only Margie&Luke chose "broken teeth" , which require them to adjust fake teeth to 5 people mouths ! Sounded prettyh disgusting at first but Margie did it incredibly well ... she explains she have some nursing experience so it wasn't a problem for her to "play with stranger mouths". All other teams chose "broken record", they had to ride a "party-taxi", karaoke singing during the ride, looked really funny but required more time than the other choice.

After that, they already were on the way to the pit stop. As they did really well on the whole leg, Margie&Luke arrived first, which was even more (happily) surprising regarding how Margie ended last leg, fainting due to the heat. I thought she might have been more affected.

While other teams were on their way to the pit stop, I was still screaming (well, not really screaming but still, you get the idea) "Get your stuff back !!!" ... Kisha & Jen were lucky enough to get quickly a cab for free to the pit stop. When they arrive (just before Tammy&Victor) ... a bad suprise was waiting ... they could not check in to the mat unless they get their stuff back.

In the meanwhile, Mark&Michael decided by themselves to get back their backpacks (which were at the boat yard too) before they do the detour .. and the realize they weren't alone to have made the same mistake. So even if they were late, with Kisha&Jen going back to boat yard, they had a chance to check in before the 2 girls. But they also had their suprise on the mat ...

Yes, they got another penalty ! With penalties in 2 legs in a row, I guess they do not pay a lot of attention to the regulations and details of clues. Will they learn someday ? For this leg, in fact, they got a double penalty : 2 hours, twice. They got this penalty because they use their personnal belongings to pay for a taxi ride (they ran out of money) and did it twice during the leg. The penalty was to be applied before they can check in.

This unexpected event made the luck wheel rolling again for Kisha&Jen who came back with their stuff way before the end of the guys penalty.

So being the only team not checked in, guys could land on the mat anyway. Lucky them, the leg was a non-eliminating one ... so they're still on the race ! Talk about suprises ! Of course, it won't be easy for them. Before they can leave for next leg, they have to wait the remaining time of their penalty (over 3 hours) and they'll have the speed bump. So they better have (1) to be lucky (like being able to catch plane with at leat another team), very lucky ... (2) to be very good and fast ... (3) to pay attention to what they do, avoiding another penalty.

We didn't see much of Jaime&Cara and that was good for me. I was totally sick of them during last leg, while they were screaming and yelling to anyone when things didn't go the way they wanted. In the first legs, I thought they could be nice girls but I totally dislike they way they act with stangers.

So this leg was pretty much about leaving backpacks behind and going from surprise to surprise. From what we saw, next week might include some action between team ... and it sounds like things will turn "bitchy" !