The Criterion Collection, a video-distribution company selling “important classic and contemporary films” to film aficionados, just released Belle de Jour on BluRay and enlisted fashion illustrator David Downton to provide art for the cover and interior booklet.

Read the rest and see Downton’s other (sexy!) piece at Criterion Confessions. Buy the Criterion Belle de Jour at the Francophilia Amazon store!

If your Valentine happens to be both a Francophile and a cineaste, I think s/he might be quite pleased with Universal-France’s three-disc compilation, Nouvelle Vague: Chansons et Musiques de Films. The set includes selections from soundtracks composed by Michel Legrand, Georges Delerue, Miles Davis, Maurice Jarre, Serge Gainsbourg, Bernard Herrmann, and on and on, for films by such directors as François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle, Claude Chabrol, Phillippe De Broca, Jacques Demy, and on and on.

Read more at Cinespect and buy Nouvelle Vague: Chansons et Musiques de Films at the Francophilia Amazon Store!

Oh dear. They should have done their French homework!!

You see, bite is a slang word for penis… Petite bite can be literal, of course (in which case, I have my doubts about “big compliments” and “dazzle and delight”), but it can also mean “a nobody,” or “an insignificant person” (C’est une petite bite.).

Hope you’ve enjoyed today’s French lesson! Here’s a bonus: Nancy’s is running a contest for a free trip to Paris!

Irma La Douce was a childhood francophile favorite! Just unearthed, the amazing storyboards for the movie’s animated trailer. See them all on Michael Sporn Animation, and at the bottom a video of the trailer itself.

Via Drawn. Make you nostalgic? You can buy a DVD of Irma La Douce at the Francophilia Amazon store!

An entertainment phenomenon is taking France by storm. Bref. is a hilarious and racy TV series, each episode of which lasts about 1.5 to 2 minutes (as the name implies). The format is a high-speed montage of experiences in the life of the endearingly pathetic protagonist played by Kyan Khojandi.

Bref. depicts the modern daily life of single, late 20- and early 30-somethings in Paris and is full of great slang. A hip and creative professor could come up with some fun activities around this series for advanced — university/adult — language learners.

The show airs weeknights in France during Le Grand Journal (prime time variety show), and if you’re not in France, you can watch them all here. But be warned, most of these videos are probably NSFW. You can follow the show on Twitter too: @BrefSerie.

Be looking for spinoffs in your own country (though I doubt they’ll be nearly as spicy). It’s only a matter of time!

Photographer Janol Apin does a series of photos in the Paris métro consisting of visual puns based on the names of the stations. Above: one meaning of boulet is “ball and chain.”

The perfect francophile stocking stuffer! Buy this rooster bottle stopper at the Francophilia Amazon store! Only about  $8.50!

Some entertaining interactive games on this site. We failed miserably at the cheese game, (shot above), but had fun nonetheless!

A fascinating documentary on the story of the iconic Paris bookstore Shakespeare & Co.

From Google videos: Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man.

Auction sale of the Fabienne & François Marchal Collection of Fairground Art at Drouot Montaigne on September 28-29, 2011. Held by Cornette de Saint-Cyr with nearly 900 lots including a portable Alfred Chanvin & anon. carousel with wooden horses. The entire collection will be displayed at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre from Sept. 23-26.

Read the rest at Morbid Anatomy.