This afternoon, Indiewire published a post about French VOD website La Cinetek — which was first started by directors Pascale Ferran, Cédric Klapisch and Laurent Cantet as well as UniversCiné president Alain Rocca, as a way to screen some of their favorite films via a streaming platform.The site now has lists of 50 favorite films from each of the current 26 participating directors (all of which can be streamed on the site with a subscription). So, should you find yourself curious about a comprehensive list — as opposed to disjointed blurbs in interviews — of what films, say, Bong Joon-ho, turned to for inspiration (among his list: The Housemaid, Amarcord, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, A City of Sadness, Fargo, Rosemary’s Baby and The 400 Blows) or what Agnès Varda’s all time favorites are (they include Hiroshima Mon Amour, Paris Texas, Persona, Manhattan, Rashômon, and La Jetée), this is exactly the place to go. (The site’s in French, but many of the titles translate pretty directly.)
Speaking of abiding by the lists of the famous and influential, Nick Offerman appeared on The Tonight Show to comment on select items from Oprah Winfrey’s annual “Favorite Things” list. Though he was allegedly there to share his “favorites” of the “Favorites,” the multilayered expression of bafflement, appreciation and dismay you see above pretty much never left his face as he discussed the likes of a “self-watering hydroponic system that grows herbs” and “faux fur [dog] jacket tripped out with a jeweled button closure and a practical opening for a leash.” Watch the video at A.V. Club.
There’s a new youth hostel in Tokyo that’s also a library. (The 1,700-book collection, curated by Shibuya Publishing & Booksellers, is just for reading, and not for sale). It looks to combine the no-frills shelter your typical hostel provides with the fact that the best way to read a book is in a very small, pleasantly lit space. The website explains that “the perfect setting for a good night’s sleep is something you will not find here. There are no comfortable mattresses, fluffy pillows nor lightweight and warm down duvets.” Rather, they propose another way to fall asleep:
What we do offer is an experience while reading a book. It is already 2 am but you think just a little more… with heavy drooping eye lids you continue reading only to realize you have fallen asleep.
Donald Trump’s latest bugaboo — or perhaps his most transparent attempt to appeal to zealots in the Christian Right — is Starbucks’ red cups. As Mashable explains, the presidential candidate went on a tirade about the cups’ Christmas-lessness (despite their still being red and green) at a rally in Springfield, IL, where he asserted that, despite having “one of the most successful Starbucks, in Trump Tower…maybe we should boycott Starbucks.” Watch Trump’s impassioned cup-takedown here.