We're back. I know. I've missed you too. I'm a changed man after our summer break. Married and everything. It was lovely, thanks for asking - we honeymooned in the Aeolian Islands: Stromboli, where Rossellini filmed; Panarea, where Antonioni shot L'Aventurra; and Salina, where Radford shot Il Postino.
Anyway, back in the oh-so-real world of film, I thought I'd get to the bottom of what the Guardian's been up to all week, naming those 1000 Films To See Before You Die. I chat with Andrew Pulver, the man whose big idea it was. He was in fine fighting form too, defending those inclusions and omissions like a man possessed.
Made me wonder, though - are films really the most important things in the world? I mean, what if you didn't actually catch Gummo before you died? Or Ace in the Hole? Would your life have been a waste, even if you'd found a cure for cancer, given millions to charity or simply wasted it on drugs and drink?
Aside from the 1000 recommended by Andrew and his colleagues, though, there are about 28 films out in the cinema this week. OK, 18 of them are in one pretty Parisian package called Paris je t'aime, a portmanteau film set in the city's arrondissements and loosely based on the theme of love.
Great bunch of directors - from the Coens to Cuaron, Salles, Assayas and van Sant - and stars - from Depardieu to Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands and Marianne Faithfull - and I talk to the woman who helped pull it all together, Claudie Ossard, who's done more than many to establish the cinematic iconography of modern Paris. She produced Diva, Betty Blue, Delicatessen and Amelie. She's very glam and stylish, too - big Chanel glasses, big jewellery and a penchant for touching you on the hand when she talks ...
I also look at The Dixie Chicks in Shut Up and Sing, a bit of Shrek the Third, plus a bit of Frank Gehry and review of Jonny Lee Miller playing record-breaking Scottish biker Graeme Obree in The Flying Scotsman, a film which isn't nearly as pasty and anaemic as I thought it might be. Although it's not (wait for it) wheely good.
I thank you. So welcome back to Film Weekly. Just hit the subscribe button this week if you haven't already and you'll get the new edition delivered to your ears, computer, desktop, facebook, iPod or whatever, every week. Hot off the press. For free. Amazing. Look forward to hearing from you.
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