Leslie Caron on TCM

Turner Classic Movies is dedicating this month to French actress Leslie Caron, an actress I am now discovering. When one thinks of beautiful French sex symbols one always thinks of Brigitte Bardot, but the years have been unkind to the latter. She became a very strange person, becoming a fanatical animal right's advocate and a xenophobic conservative.

In the other hand, Caron grew old gracefully, still making movies and tv appearances (she won an Emmy last year). And during the TCM interview one can see what a wonderful woman she is. And her movies hold up very well, from musicals such as "Gigi" to dramas such as "The L-Shaped Room".

So do yourself a favor and catch a couple of her movies Mondays night on TCM.

Phenomena

It's October and it has become a small quirk of mine to dig out old horror movies. And this weekend I dug up a movie by Italian director Dario Argento called "Phenomena". And this is really a strange one. It's a bout a girl (Jennifer Connelly) that goes to a private boarding school were there are a series of murders ocurring (but nobody seems to investigate them very much). She gets involved in discovering who the killer is through her unusual power over insects. There's also an avenging ape involved in this, but I won't get into it. This is a really atrocious movie deserving the MST300 treatment, but it is so weird in its awfulness that it keeps you watching. That and Jennifer Connelly, who is hypnotizingly beautiful.

Argento, a director of giallos (Italian slasher films) created some interesting movies such as "Suspiria"...but he seemed to have lost his touch ever since. Still, this is a cool movie to watch somehow. Just be warned, it makes no sense at all.