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Re-picking Up French and Where to Watch French Films for Free

April 1, 2025 — Leave a comment

Gomen, gomen. I skipped two months of random blogging this time around. I did, however, write my late 2024 Peruvian box office wrap-up, published in late February. And I did a small write up by the end of March about Malayalam cinema that is yet to be publish in case Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018 is released locally this week. Just in case.

I have also picked up French once again! Officially since mid-January ;D Thanks to Nelly of Français avec Nelly. Everyday French (and slang, especially online slang) has improved, formal usage (has returned), but writing refuses to go back to levels (^=^!) to when I was a formal student and could actually write. It takes me ages to actually write, so it takes triple the ages to get something out in French.

Anyway- in one of the most recent videos where Nelly answers some subs questions, user tomas_valiunas asks about a website where you could watch French films for free, which is -of course- my expertise. I may not focus on writing about French films and festival films, because there are hundreds of others who do, but I do watch a number of French films and co-productions. And even though the French, and Europeans (and first worlders) in particular, are very finnicky about geo-restrictions and copyright, there are ways.

And the first and most obvious legal answer is TV5 Monde Plus.

I still have cable, so I don’t know how people who don’t have cable are supposed to find out about the TV5 Monde app for download or that they have a streaming website. Of course, there are a number of shows (broadcast on TV5 Monde) available to stream for free on YouTube like Echappées Belles or Des Racines et des Ailes.

They let you browse without an account, but you have to create one to actually watch the shows and films, otherwise you hit ‘play’ and just get the TV5 Monde logo and a ‘sad face’ lol

According to current (Mar 4th 2025) FAQ, opening an account and accessing the programs in the platform is free.

Right now they’re offering a bunch of Brigitte Bardot films like Boulevard du Rhum, Viva Maria!, La Bride Sur Le Cou, L’histoire très bonne et très joyeuse de Colinot Trousse-Chemise and En effeuillant la marguerite. Other classics like Peau d’âne by Jacques Demy, Jean Eustache’s La Maman et la Putain, and Truffaut’s Les Quatre Cents Coups are also available. And that rare Marlene Dietrich French film, Martin Roumagnac is also available.

Some of their co-productions are available, like Papicha by Mounia Meddour and Noces by Stephan Streker. However, considering the vast recent production of French animated films, I was a little underwhelmed from the selection of animation available; though Alain Ughetto’s Interdit aux chiens et aux Italiens, Florence Miailhe’s La Traversée and Une Vie de Chat by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol are available as well.

But my favorite discovery available is Adrien Beau’s Le Vourdalak [Trailer] which I had been looking forward to watching. Sadly, it’s the only film labeled a fantasy. ^^’

Subtitles seem to vary, most (if not all) content seems subbed in English and French, there are also options for German (?), Arabic, Romanian and Spanish, though these two vary depending on the film you’re watching.

So I thought you should all know, even though no one reads blogs any longer, maybe someone will find this information on the vast nothingness of modern-day internet.

In English, Films, French, Jobs, Misc., Sharing, Spanish , , , , , , , , ,
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The Poor Lil’ Dragon of We Got Married

April 20, 2016 — Leave a comment

So I started watching We Got Married for the first time. I had previously just watched clips when GaIn used to be on it, but never got into it full on. But since I’m in my complete Mamamoo fan mood, I just couldn’t miss Solar (my bias, though… this keeps changing) in all her dork splendor!

I was not disappoint~ xD

solar-we-got-married-stuffed-dragon

I mean, when has Mamamoo failed to make me crack up? I wonder how this went when editing the episode, they probably laughed their butts off because…

Continue Reading…

In Celebrity, English, Fun, Korean, Screencaps, Sharing, Television , , , , , , , ,
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In case you didn’t know Fitoor is coming~

Though Fitoor might get trapped by remaking Alfonso Cuaron’s version of Great Expectations… I’m still looking forward to Tabu as Begum. I’m also looking forward to see Haminasto (aka. also romanized as Haminastu) [YouTube] because it’s my favorite track in the whole soundtrack, even though I’ve been butchering some of the other songs out loud late at night. xD I like the song so much that I ended up looking for Zeb Bangash, found Pakistani duo Zeb and Haniya, discovered Coke Studio [1][2][3][4][5 non-Zeb related], and downloaded the compilations on iTunes [S2][S6].

It messed up my language library because there’s so much Punjabi, Urdu and Pashtu, and Turkish… I don’t know which is which xD

ANWYAY~ OCD frustrations aside~

Fitoor promotions are at full throttle~ and it includes the release of this micro clips of dialog, which I don’t understand at all… but Tabu’s just saying “Firdaus, Firdaus, Firdaus” gives me the chills.

More: Duur, Qubool.

Posted on January 30, 2016 In Celebrity, Clips, English, Films, Misc., Sharing , , , , , , , , ,
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Ooh, Tamil Looks Intimidating

December 22, 2014 — 4 Comments

I was watching Madharasapattinam last night, and I said to myself “let’s see about that Tamil.” If Amy Jackson could try, so could this Amy, amirite? However, I’m not gonna lie to you- Tamil intimidated me from the get-go. There’s something about those long *VERY LONG) words and all those Rs, Ps, Ks that just made my tongue a mess. But at least I can sorta tell the Tamil alphabet apart, which isn’t the case with Telugu and Malayalam. You have to admit it MUST look really foreigner to outsiders~

tamil-alphabet

I sorta can guess how it works, but I need a place/link where they teach you how to write the alphabet in order. For example, how do you begin writing the symbol for Ai (ஐ)- is it in one stroke? Do I do it like a toppled over 3 with an inverted one, or does it start more like an incomplete heart. Is A (அ) more like two strokes? And what about Aa (ஆ). And the I (இ) looks suuuuuper complicated. Is that on one go?

If anyone stumbling on this post knows Tamil, please, give me some pointers ;) I, at least, would love to pick some up.

In English, Misc., Screencaps, Sharing , , , ,
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Quickies on Hu Tu Tu

October 9, 2014 — 4 Comments

You do probably know that my Hindi should suck, but that doesn’t stop me from keeping my iTunes library in order… which means I take all of the tracks from Indian movies that I’ve downloaded and try to give an English translation — after all, I should know, at least, what the title of a song means! That, of course, means that titles from hard-to-find movies/OSTs have to do with my own interpretation. One of them is Hu Tu Tu, because no one’s bothered to translate the songs… and my copy of the movie doesn’t come with subtitles in the sung parts.

Most of the titles are easy- Chhai Chhapa Chhai is classic onomatopoeic Gulzar (Jhini Mini Jhini from Maqbool gave me a clue), Jai Hind Hind (Hail, India!), Bandobast Hai (It’s the System), Ghapla Hai Bhai (It’s a Mess, Brother), and Jago Jago Jagte Raho (Get Up, Always Be Awake) seem quite straight forward. Even Yeh Nam Aankhein (These Drenched Eyes) can seem easy when compared to Itna Lamba Kash Lo Yaaron and Nikla Neem Ke Talese Nikla.

So what do those last titles mean?

I’ve sort of translated Itna Lamba Kash Lo Yaaron– since Itna refers to a Quantity (this much or so much), Lamba refers to the Length (height or otherwise), Kash means to Take a Puff or a Smoke (considering the scene), and Yaaron refers to Friends. I sorta translated it to It’s Such a Long Smoke, My Friend. And in the lyrics~

Itna lamba kash lo yaaron, dam nikal jaaye
Zindagi sulagaao yaaron, gam nikal jaaye
Yaaron, yaaron

Dam = (staying) Power
Nikal = Get out/get lost
Sulagaao/Sulagana = Ignite/set on fire
Gam = Regret

It’s such a long smoke, my friend.
Power, be gone.
Life is set on fire, my friend.
Regret, be gone.

How did I do with that?

Though, Nikla Neem Ke Talese Nikla escapes my comprehension. It doesn’t even look Hindi to me- oh, wait. Never mind. *goes crazy* Why is Talese together when it should be Tale Se? As in Nikla Neem Ke Tale Se Nikla (निकला नीम के तले से निकला) *growls*

Anyone ANYONE who is able to help me out with that title and make my life easier?- I’ll love you forever! LOL From the deep Google that I did, Nikla seemed to refer to “being out,” or “something that sticks out” and I know Neem can refer to the bitterness of the Neem tree [1] or the tree itself, and Tale is “the bottom or base of something” — Does that mean… The Bottom of the Neem Tree Turned Upside Down? LOL, I need to watch this movie again. xD

In English, Films, Lyrics, Misc., MixTapes, Music, Sharing , , , , , , , , , , ,
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How Languages Evolve

It’s always interesting to see educational (short) clips about different languages; did you guys ever see the one about the guy that could speak like 20 languages? At that time, my niece (6) and nephew (5) were struggling with picking up Italian and English at school, while they spoke Spanish and Swedish at home. That was, of course, on top of their other school subjects like math, because schooling is just incredibly ridiculous nowadays.

The only bad thing about the clip is the incredibly boring tone of the voice over. In any case, I thought it was funny they lumped Mandarin, Cantonese, etc into one big chunk of Chinese language. I thought the formal label was “Sino-Tibetan language,” even though Tibetan feels more like it would be more like Indo-Aryan, no? Isn’t Sanskrit both part of Tibetan and Indo-Aryan languages? Sighs.

I don’t exactly understand how branching works with languages, how does Indo-European come about? Isn’t that like stretching things out? What would languages like Spanish, German and Hindi have in common with each other? And how does Japonic or Koreanic come about? And how do they have more in common with Mongolian than with Chinese?

Posted on September 10, 2014 In Chinese, Clips, English, French, Illustrations, Japanese, Korean, Misc., Russian, Sharing, Spanish, Swedish , , , , ,
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Tabu and her Languages

I just ran into this NDTV Walk the Talk interview that Tabu did – should be in between 2004 – that aired in Jan’05 where she gets into the various films that she’s done in various languages. She mentions that she’s got a flare for languages (!!!) and that she’s fluent in Telugu, and had picked up Marathi. She also mentioned she’s done films in Malayalam (which she says she doesn’t understand when doing her lines), Kannada, and Tamil.

And… and… and… she took three months of Spanish. There. LOL

From what I’ve been able to see from Hindi, at least, Spanish conjugation won’t be much of a head-scratching problem. I don’t know exactly how much Spanish she could’ve picked up in that period of time, considering I know people who gave up Spanish after a couple of months because of verb conjugation (especially from the ‘to be’ and ‘to have’)- it could be the same from Tabu. xD

It also depends on whether she tried Castilian (The Spanish with a Spain accent) or Spanish (with any variation of Latin American accent), because the different sounds for ‘s,’ ‘c,’ and ‘z’ may frustrate some.

So now I wonder how that went for her. xD

Posted on May 31, 2014 In Celebrity, Clips, English, Fun, Misc., Sharing, Spanish, Television , , , , ,
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Frozen’s Libre Soy Let it Go~

What is this lady-boner that I got watching Frozen? I really liked The Princess and the Frog (despite Prince Naveen) and wasn’t much of a fan of Tangled (despite Mother Gothel)- Frozen, instead, achieves the perfect balance. And I love love love LOVE Elsa. AND I DIDN’T EVEN SEE the original audio, and I loved it.

Idina Menzel, though, wow. Vocal boner. I do kinda liked the Spanish latino version of the song, Libre Soy [1] performed by Carmen Sarahi, a little bit better in lyrics and meaning, but Menzel’s vocals take the song to unparalleled heights. Can’t wait to get to watch the original audio track.

Elsa… Elsa swings her hips when she walks! And she has a smirk! She feels and is in turmoil and doesn’t seek a man to fix her life. She wants to be left alone, but of course- all she needs is open up her heart to her sister! Of course I love it.

Posted on December 27, 2013 In Clips, English, Films, Music, Spanish , , , , , , , , , ,
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Hoy Voy a Verte de Nuevo~

… voy a alegrar tu tristeza
vamos a hacer una fiesta
‘pa que’ste amor crezca mas.

In all seriousness, most snarky Peruvians would probably mock Gianmarco’s vocal abilities, but I don’t know any of those snarky ones that would mock his composition skills. I think there’s a strong 90% who would praise them. Hoy by Gloria Estefan is one of the most popular ones he’s written, and the video was shot in Cuzco to top it all.

And Hoy isn’t even the most complex of the songs he’s written. But it’s still a really good one.

Quickie literal lyrics translation after the break.

Continue Reading…

Posted on September 12, 2013 In Celebrity, English, Music, Music Videos, Sharing, Spanish , , , , , , ,
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I’m Muzzy, Big Muzzy~

When I was little — maybe between the ages of 4 and 6 — I used to watch a really worn out tape (maybe transferred from a Betamax tape to a VHS one) about a huge furry green alien whose name was Muzzy- Big Muzzy. Many years later, many courses of English after and once the internet became a reliable search tool, I came to learn that the movie… a BBC educational video, was called Muzzy in Gondoland, though I knew it as “The Big Muzzy Story.”

As a Spanish speaker, I don’t recall ever understanding English growing up. Though I had some games and watched some animated shorts and movies in English, I don’t think the language ever registered as a language. I recall I was dreadful at it in school until I turned 10 or so and began attending classes after school. I’ve been speaking English more than half my life already, and it’s the language I primarily work in. I read, write, listen to… and consume most of my media in English. I don’t think I dream 100% in the language, but I’m known for having dreams I don’t understand — I don’t think I’ve dreamed in Mandarin, but I’ve had chunks of them in Japanese and most notable in Korean, even though my Korean abilities reach the levels of greetings, the random “I miss you,” or “this is my friend,” as well as the very helpful “I’m hungry” or “my tummy hurts.” I can also request things with the very useful three-year-old Korean level phrase of “item- chuseyo” LOL

The preferable term would be “cookie” though I’m sure Muzzy would prefer clocks or parking meters.

Anyway, I found two copies of Muzzy in Gondoland. The one that’s split in 8 segments has the original audio I remember as a child. While this version that lasts 2.30hr seems to have different voices for Sylvia, Bob The Gardener and Covax. I’m 50/50 on the voice of the Queen.

Apparently there are updates in different languages like French, Mandarin and Spanish redone in basic 3D with segments in Flash. Have been watching the French one, and they’ve omitted the fact that the Queen is fat. Obviously because it’s not politically correct to call someone fat nowadays, and the Queen does so in the adjective section. Plus, the King flatly calls her fat with the exclamation “You are fat!” which obviously is kind of ridiculous. LOL

Also, the AEIOU song doesn’t translate well.

I also found the original animation in Esperanto.

Posted on August 26, 2013 In Chinese, Clips, DVD/BR, English, French, Misc., Sharing , , , , ,
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