Paris Update
Passe-Passe
No Particular Reason
Passe-Passe, the title of this new movie directed by Tonie Marshall, means a conjuring trick or sleight of hand. Darry (Edouard Baer) is an out-of-work magician who for no particular reason steals his brother-in-law’s BMW. He then discovers Irène (Nathalie … Read More
Lady Jane
Getting Your Own Back
After an effective and mysterious opening scene with masked robbers distributing fur coats to women in the Marseille housing projects and a first 45 minutes of entertaining, relatively fast-paced and exciting thriller action, Robert Guédiguian’s Lady Jane goes to pot. … Read More
Restaurant Astier
Pork and Beans Astier’s rustic decor has been refreshed. Ah, memories. I can still remember the sore throat I developed on my first visit to Astier over 20 years ago. There were about six of us in the upstairs room … Read More
L’Ogresse
Mutata’s Realm Beyond Mutata Theziri – actor, clown, musician and puppeteer – tells stories about ogresses and other creatures in his hybrid theater. To the east of Père Lachaise Cemetery – beyond the 70,000 dead, among them many famous writers, … Read More
Omnivore Food Festival
Fun Fare A cooking demonstration being filmed at the Omnivore Food Festival. Perhaps it’s a sign of my philistinism when it comes to architecture, but I was surprised to learn that Le Havre has Unesco World Heritage Site status. It … Read More
La Môme
No Regrets
The problem with many biopics is that they treat art as an accident of genius. Think of Ed Harris in Pollock, with Jackson “discovering” drip painting one day while drunk. Art, in biopic language, comes not from hard work and … Read More
Bon Appétit, Messieurs
Never Trust a Critic
A book by one of the most widely read restaurant critics in France that promised to dish the dirt on the country’s entire food scene was too appetizing a temptation to pass up. Bon Appétit, Messieurs is by Léo Fourneau, … Read More
Upper Rue Vieille-du-Temple
Domino Shopping Effect It took a surprisingly long time to happen considering its proximity to the heart of the boutique-saturated Marais, but the “upper” Rue Vieille-du-Temple (between the Picasso Museum and the Cirque d’Hiver) has finally blossomed into a center … Read More
NapoliParis
As chain stores continue to creep inexorably across Paris, filling empty retail spaces with their standardized clothing (with the result that every woman seems to be dressed in the same outfit), it’s always a pleasure to find a shop offering … Read More
Musée Cernuschi
Asian Art Collection Reopens
After a four-year renovation to provide more exhibition space and bring it up to safety and accessibility norms, the Musée Cernuschi, a stately mansion housing France’s second-largest collection of Asian art (after that of Paris’s Musée Guimet), has reopened its … Read More