Herzog sighting!, French cinema, chicken soup a la Hmong, poundin' 40s at the R'Aid, my barracks, garage sale (join me!), Soprattutto goes McKinley

Herzog: the wrath of Werner: So, uh, in case you didn't notice, the new Werner Herzog film, Rescue Dawn, is playing in the 916. Of course, this is a must see ... hell, maybe I'll even review it.
It's showing at Regal Natomas and UA Arden.

Au revoir, cinema: Caught Dans Paris, the latest from Christopher Honore, at the SFFF last night.

The film starts off a bit clumsily with some faux-New Wave monologue directly into the camera, the segues into a 20-minute interlude, a la your scenes-from-a-broken-relationship shtick, which sets the table for Paul (Bruno Dumont), the depressed brother who's moved back in to his father's (Guy Marchand, hilarious) west Paris apartment with his brother (Louis Garrel, playful but no Belmondo).

The film has some great moments and is a nice little slice of Nouvelle Vague homage. That said, you're probably better off renting Masculin, feminin.

The only other film I caught at the festival was Army of Shadows, which isn't what I expected.

The film is a bit insider baseball, as you never really know what's going on with those in the Resistance and never really see the results of all their sneaking around and plotting. There are some highly memorable scenes and if you're not watching this one in 35 mm, then I don't imagine it's really worth it.

I can see how this film had a huge influence on guys like Lumet and Pakula and '70s America cinema. It's also a remarkable feat of cinematography—and evidently the DP was part of the team the remastered the film for its Criterion release.

Hmong chickens: Did you read Scheide's cover story on the the chicken guy this week? Well, when he first was working on it, it was a news story on how all the Hmong only will eat the cockfighting chickens, as that is their preferred poultry of choice. Hmm. As a vegetarian I'll never know, but I wonder what it tastes like ...

Let's get knackered: As of this week, they sell booze at the R'Aid on the J48. There's a new add on the marquee, which I was going to doctor as "tits and cans, $.99," but my good taste got the best of me. Either way, come by and grab a cold one with me. My house is the place a few doors down that looks like ...

A fucking Army barracks!: Actually, the new paint job on chez moi ain't so bad, I just had to get used to it.

Garage sale on Saturday: Sellin' hella shit on Saturday in the AM at my place. Well, they'll be some good stuff, but mostly crap, I imagine. I am selling all my dark room photography gear, however, and some peepz are bringing their goods, as well. If you have anything you'd like to sell, lemme know and feel free to come by and pawn it.

Finally, good Italian in the grid???: Just a bike ride from my house, it looks as if Soprattutto Salumeria e Ristorante has moved to its new digs at 3440 C Street. New phone number: 341-0905. New hours: Mon-Fri, 10-9. Sat for dinner only, 5-9. They have a deli and I'm told prepare the most authentic Italian meals in the city.