Tag Archives: Stranger By The Lake

Do-root? The 6 weirdest aphrodisiacs from around the world

Has a chubby man in a forest ever offered you a strange mandrake like plant and called it ‘do-root’? Did you take it only to find it was some sort of natural Viagra? Did the whole town you grew up in then take it, and then collectively decide they fancy the pants off you, chasing you out of town in a Bacchic frenzy of flailing limbs and other members?

Armand and Curly: fools in love?

Well – exactly this happens in KING OF ESCAPE – the feature film from STRANGER BY THE LAKE director Alain Guiraudie. It’s hilarious. And terrifying. But mainly hilarious. As an ode to this weird natural aphrodisiac, we thought we’d run down some of the weirdest aphrodisiacs around the world: would any of these get you going?

1. Cobra Blood

Yup. It’s a thing.

According to some men in China – and other parts of Asia – drinking Cobra blood is the equivalent of switching on a sexy lava lamp and the latest XX album.

2. Wine-soaked water lilies

Remind you of anything?

Ok – admittedly this one stems from Ancient Egypt and so I don’t think you’re going to walk into a Tinder-date’s flat to find him/her soaking their lilies anytime soon. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not a neat reflection of some of our modern dating techniques, how different is it from a bouquet of Co-op flowers and some Blossom Hill?

3. Eels

This makes me uncomfortable.

These are large wiggly things that emit a gross slimy substance when touched. Enough said.

4. Sea cucumbers

Irrefutably terrifying.

These are disgusting aliens which crawl along the sea floor in the far east and consume food with their anus. But hey – who am I to judge? Kahloon (one of the director’s at Peccadillo) assures me these are delicious and ‘very good for your knees’. I have my suspicions.

5. Ambergris

Nom nom nom.

Doesn’t Ambergris sound like a delicious, nectar like drink you might find in the South of France, being supped from chalices by beautiful, frisky socialites? Well, it’s not. It’s actually a hard, faecal-smelling substance scraped from the intestines of sperm whales and then bottled into expensive perfumes. That’s right; we live in a world where sperm whale poo is sexy.

6. Asses’ Milk

This guy likes it.

Shut your mind, this is the milk of a donkey, and nothing else. In ancient Arabia and Rome women would rub asses milk onto their genitals as a stimulus, and, if you’ve ever heard that myth of Roman Emporer Nero’s wife taking baths in milk, it was in asses milk, for sexy reasons.

I think finishing on Asses’ Milk is always a good call. So there we have it – my top 6 picks of weird aphrodisiacs from around the world. Just FYI, I have a really weird thing about fresh orange juice. If I’m ever drinking it around you, you don’t want to know what I’m thinking.

KING OF ESCAPE is released on DVD on March 23.

The Times’ ★★★★★ Review for EASTERN BOYS

On 6th December 2014, the day we released EASTERN BOYS in the UK, the wonderful Wendy Ide from THE TIMES published the following ★★★★★ review of our ‘nail-biting’ film. Have a read below:

Some films take a while to engage their audience. Others, like EASTERN BOYS, grip you from the first frame. This constantly surprising picture by Robin Campillo (writer of THE CLASS) opens enigmatically. The camera hovers high above the Gare du Nord in Paris; it might have been shot by a surveillance drone. We pick out a group of young men, eastern European immigrants, looking for the opportunities that a crowded station offers. Daniel, an older man, moneyed and suited, gazes at Marek, one of the younger men, with something between hunger and longing. They arrange a meeting at his apartment the next day.

Then the tone of the film changes dramatically – the whole gang turns up. He watches as they drink his booze and empty his home of everything they can carry. It’s a brilliant sequence – sexually charged; fluid; dangerous. The camera gets in close, weaving through the dancing bodies at a party that the host has no choice but to join. It’s a credit to Campillo’s confident writing that despite this trauma a persuasive relationship grows between Daniel and Marek. And that, in a meticulously structured, nail-biting final act, Daniel will do anything to secure a new life for Marek.

– Wendy Ide, The Times

Highlights of 2014 – Part One

In this first look back at 2014, we present the personal highlights from three members of staff, starting with our newest member Will Harwood. Will originally came to Peccadillo as part of our Work Experience programme and somehow managed to get a full-time job:

EASTERN BOYS

“Having rescued me from the wasteland that is London For Graduates, I’ve never been more thankful for Peccadillo Pictures. I’ve always admired and respected the work done here and now to be on the inside of one of the most exciting ventures in UK film is, clichéd as it may seem, a dream come true. I’m so grateful to have gotten the chance to work on the brilliant EASTERN BOYS by Robin Campillo (and am still trying to steal a poster from the office…) and very much looking forward to learning more each day, and asking, pleading, begging Tom and Kahloon to take me to a film festival with them…

Here’s to the 2015: I hope you enjoy it as much as I’m going to. ”

Next up is Nicky Davidson from our Home Entertainment and technical dept:

Stranger By The Lake

“My highlight of this year is working on the incredible STRANGER BY THE LAKE. It was an honour to see the release of what has become not only one of my favourite films of this year, but of all time. And I am super excited about releasing Alain Guiraudie’s previous film, the hilarious countryside romp, KING OF ESCAPE in the new year.”

And Finally Ollie Charles our Communications Manager:

52 Tuesdays

“It brings a great amount of joy and a big smile to my face when I think on the huge amount of films that we have released during 2014. For me, one of my highlights this year was working during the newly named BFI Flare; a wonderful celebration of LGBT cinema from around the world. Not only did we have a great selection of titles in the festival including 52 TUESDAYS, REACHING FOR THE MOON, WHO’S AFRAID OF VAGINA WOLF? and G.B.F. but it also is a great reminder of the fabulous LGBT film community around the world.

Whilst I mention it, releasing G.B.F. was another of my highlights for me as a publicist but also as a huge fan of the film. We welcomed director, Darren Stein and actor, Michael Willett to the UK for the festival where laughs were had all round (and even a slight controversial moment during the festival!). Over the summer we were delighted to welcome Diego Quemada-Diez, the incredibly talented director of THE GOLDEN DREAM. Recently highlighted by Mark Kermode as the best foreign language film of the year, it was so important that we work to release this film and tell audiences around the country about it. This film truly embodied the power of cinema and I am so glad others caught this urgent and essential film.

Michael J Willett from GBF

During the end of the summer, I was invited to Locarno Film Festival and take part in a group of juniors that worked in the film industry across the Europe. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet people but also showed to me who my future colleagues would be in this industry and made me realise, we are all working to secure a wonderful future for film.

The BFI London Film Festival was an incredible moment for me, especially working with Desiree Akhavan who came to London for the premiere of her hilarious comedy, APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR. It was great to see so many press and audiences getting involved with the discussions around this film and I am proud to have witnessed the best Q&A during the entire festival this year!

Appropriate Behaviour

In the last quarter of the year we released three films that remain as some of my favourite ever Peccadillo films. Within weeks of one another we released BOYS and THE WAY HE LOOKS, which are hugely important films to me, because they open discussions about young people and sexuality. They don’t assume homosexuality is an issue but instead follow characters that just are – it was a wonderful breath of fresh air to be able to bring these films to a younger audience, and hopefully allow these people to come out and learn to be comfortable with themselves from an earlier age.

Eastern Boys

Finally, my favourite thriller of the year was Robin Campillo’s EASTERN BOYS, which was an intelligent tale set in the outskirts of Paris, so rarely focused on in film. Robin came to London for the release and it was so wonderful to hear his tales. Looking forward we have a great slate of films for 2015 and I cannot wait to get started and bring more great filmmakers to audiences.”

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