Anne Billson

I watched this again and it holds up to a second viewing. A cast full of actors who can make me root for extremely flawed people who make poor decisions.

Highly recommend (by me)

I've seen that, but can't remember much about it except that I preferred Melville's version, and that it was a good role for Nolte.

Women messing with men's heads du jour: Discovery of the body of Holofernes. Missing its head! By Botticelli, whose day is today, in 1470.

Me too!

MOHRA (Rai, 1994)

a title card for a black and white film. It reads 'Robert Mitchum as the..."

Another title card. It reads 'Man With The Gun'

Tonight's viewing:

stopit.

oh hang on, if I can track this down on amazon nl (where I have my kindle account) or rakuten kobo that would be swell. Thanks!

My mum used to make these! And now I have a hankering.

That's very kind, but problem is they'll probably try and charge me customs & import tax (even if it's marked as a gift). Last time someone tried to send me something from the UK (a tea-towel!) they sat on it for a few months before returning it to sender without even TRYING to deliver. Hopeless.

ooh yes please. Though not sure how you would get it to me in Belgium.

Now I feel like rewatching Jean-Pierre Melville's BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1956) in which Bob, looking dandy in a dinner-suit, robs the casino at Deauville, but screws up the getaway because he's on a winning streak, for once, and can't bear to tear himself away from the chemin de fer table.

YouTube video by Gaumont Mélodie en sous sol - Bande-annonce

Voici la bande-annonce (in French).

What with this & yesterday's PALE FLOWER, it seems like De Cinema is having some kind of gambling-themed mini-season. Both films presented with an introduction, in Dutch, though seeing as I already know what they're talking about (Gabin, Delon, Verneuil, Audiard etc) I understood quite a lot.

Been looking at the novel on abebooks. Seems easier (and cheaper) to buy it in French, seeing as I'm in Europe. OTOH that's how dialoguist Michel Audiard came across it - via Série noire, of course, so probably a cracking read in either language.

Men wearing sunglasses in a casino, at night.
Lowlife Alain Delon pretending to be a rich posho, as part of his prep.
Best crawling-through-a-heating-duct sequence ever, especially when they turn on the air-con.
Barman pointing out all the women around the pool to Delon, outlining their pros & cons.

Five years after giving up on the French DVD of MÉLODIE EN SOUS-SOL (1963) because I couldn't understand a word anyone was saying (argot!), watched it on the big screen with Eng subs & it was glorious. Must be easier ways to rob a casino on the Croisette in Cannes, but I doubt they'd be as much fun.

Made a friend and spent a while in conversation.

Usually in the middle of a field, but now chattering away on the path. I very much liked the Harry Partch crossed with Grand Guinal nature of this beast. Would flip between rapid EDM to funeral march depending on the breeze. Would spin to slice you.

Surface of an iceberg with all sorts of icy lines and shapes and patterns. It looks to me like a troll face, with eyes, nose and mouth.

I see faces in things all the time...

Fellsfjara, Jökulsárlón, #Iceland.

#pareidolia

Tokyo Express and Inspector Imanishi Investigates are classic procedurals & I found them very absorbing & even soothing. The other ones are much darker; A Quiet Place was a bit of a shock after those first two, more like Georges Simenon's roman dur. The others are equally dark, not soothing at all!

I'd already seen the Tetsuya Nakashima's KOKUHAKU (2010) adapted from Confessions. What I didn't realise until I started reading it is that I'd also seen Kiyoshi Kurosawa's SHOKUZAI (2012) TV mini-series adaptation of Penance. I like the way Minato circles an event, depicting it from different PoVs.

Books read in February 2026
Inspector Imanishi Investigates - Seichō Matsumoto
A Quiet Place - Seichō Matsumoto
Pro Bono - Seichō Matsumoto
Suspicion - Seichō Matsumoto
Point Zero - Seichō Matsumoto
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders - Soji Shimada (50% only)
Confessions - Kinae Minato
Penance - Kinae Minato

YouTube video by RosaliaVEVO ROSALÍA - Berghain (Live at The BRIT Awards 2026) ft. Björk

I accepted a decade or so ago that The Brits is really not for me, and I only knew about 10% of the acts nominated this year, but I sought out the Rosalia performance – because Björk – and fuck me, this has made my weekend.

youtu.be/7fyufPkXLbs?...

That Maida Vale roundel is beautiful.

Paradise - here it is in N. Wales - found it at last.

A series of volcanic black stacks just off shore from a large cliff, partially covered in snow. In the distance are snowy mountains and a small town with a church. The water is very blue.

Also took the drone over the Reynisdrangar stacks (asked permission from landowner who said it was okay!) - what a view! Note the cute red-roofed church at Vík in the distance.

#Iceland #CoolStacks #DronePhotography #DJIMavic3Pro

Use Ecosia search, they plant trees for searches!

"You went out, human. This is not acceptable."

Lighting up, kicking back, typing in 58008 and turning that baby upside down like an absolute legend.
I am smooth, I am suave, I am James Bond, I am the Hofmeister bear, men respect me, the ladies love me, thank you Casio