stagnitto-1

This is one of my favorite episodes of Smart Travels. This has great scenery, narration, and much information about the Provence region both historical and for today. Rudy explores most of the nooks and crannies of the beautiful part of France. His girlfriend Leslie joins him for a part of the episode but had to depart from home just over halfway. Some of the narration written by Susan McNally can be heard if a different form in later seasons. This particular episode is what motivated me to visit Provence about 15 years after it was made. This video was filmed in the Summer of 2000 and given a copyright date of 2001. There are some scenes and dialog which, after some research, leads me to this conclusion. But I digress. Take notes of the places in this episode then book your flight to Provence. You won't be sorry.

I couldn't figure out if this was a comedy or a thriller or a drama and I'm sure neither did the writer/director of this silly flick. It wound up being a waste of valuable film. The main character, son of the town's Sheriff -- I guess the Deputy Sheriff, just screams and yells throughout the ENTIRE picture when he isn't pouring milk all over his face. During one murder scene comical music is played adding to the confusion of what we're seeing and very loudly at that. At one point the song Auld Lang Syne is played VERY loudly so you need to keep your remote handy if you're still watching by this time. Lots of pointless profanity is sprinkled in the pointless dialog of this pointless movie. Overacting is the main takeaway. Not sure if this is the director's first film but if he keeps this up I hope it's his last.

I stumbled upon this film flipping channels and found it interesting to watch to the end. It's another of the road trip in Europe movies that I love ("Under the Tuscan Sun", "Paris Can Wait"). Well now we have "Under the Eiffel Tower" and I am eagerly expecting the yet to be written and filmed "Sesso Can Wait". While Eiffel is cliche and predictable and has been done hundreds of times before, it's still fun to watch with the goofy characters, the sometimes embarrassing plots, and the gorgeous picturesque countryside of Bordeaux. With some much wine drinking going on I felt like getting up and pouring myself a glass but it was nearly midnight. Yep, 7 stars for at least trying to be a great picture and just being entertaining even though it didn't make a lot of sense.