There are no signs, there are no stars aligned.
First of all, OMG RACHEL WHAT. It's an old photoshoot, but it's kind of insane and amazing. She looks really bored in some pictures, like she "has to take a wet shit" in others, and just crazy dominatrix in others.
Second, MOVIES. Specifically, A Single Man, The Doom Generation, and Broken Embraces. I tried to make it a Penelope Cruz double-feature today, but I could not even bring myself to theater-hop Nine. I have no intention of giving Rob Marshall any of my money either. Maybe I'll piggy-back it with An Education next week.
A Single Man is easily one of my favorite movies this year, and my reaction to it was similar to how I felt for Little Ashes and A Serious Man (has there been A Serious, Single Man mash-up? it would be so many shades of win). I found the images clearly very painterly, and I love any film that just kills me with gorgeous framing. Tom Ford wouldn't be expected to do anything less, I suppose, but I still found the imagery of the film incredibly haunting and beautiful. There were many shots that made me cry, simply as individual frames, very similar to the coffee-making shot in A Serious Man. I wish I could be intelligent and coherent about A Single Man, but I just found it to be so genuinely beautiful and affecting. There were so many specific things that I died for- not literally, of course- like the Strunk daughter in the bank, the scorpion in the glass, Charley's pink cigarettes that matched her fingernails, the shot of Jim and George sitting together on the couch.
I need to reread the novel, after bawling pretty hard during the ending while on my break at work on Christmas Eve, and probably post excerpts here. Its effect on me is very similar to how I felt about Brideshead Revisited. After reading it, I felt irrevocably changed, like someone had yanked out my intestines through my eyes and mouth, and that salty inside emptiness, coupled with my brain working overtime, just made me fall in love. Definitely going to have to see the film again soon and not just for bonus! Lee Pace, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Erin Daniels.
One thing that I love- and hate- about films is marketing, and I think that the first step toward me loving a movie is its trailer. I really cannot stop watching A Single Man's trailer. Way to go, Weinsteins:
The critics quotations are really obnoxious, but the music ("Carlos" from the yet-to-be-released soundtrack) and the editing is fabulous. The first time I saw the preview, I teared up.
The trailer reminds me quite a bit of Little Children, with its use of sound effects and isolated images. Both films feature that occasionally bland look to enhance the mood of the main characters as well.
Both films reminded me of Sam Mendes's Revolutionary Road too. This whole idea of suburbia and disappointment and domesticity, and the way those ideas relate to one another, is present in all of them, but I think A Single Man is the only one to articulate domestic life as a worthy ideal. As with the first two movies, the Revolutionary Road trailer uses sound and painterly images to great effect. My heart breaks every time I hear Nina Simone's "Wild is the Wind," coupled with those shots of April and Frank, separate and together, specifically in the kitchen. The frame where they stand, looking in opposite directions, and the shot of them fucking on the counter are some of my favorites in the film.
The bland crossed with the colorful- and, of course, Julianne Moore- remind me of Savage Grace, which is one of the most beautifully-shot contemporary films I've ever seen. It's not necessarily factually-accurate, but the mood of the movie perfectly matches that menace in the book. And certain shots in the trailer, mainly the ones of Julianne Moore fucking Eddie Redmayne, give me chills every time I see them.
All of those films mentioned, I adore, and they're all based on books I love as well. A Single Man and Revolutionary Road left me a weepy mess at the end, which is always a good sign, I think. I love art that moves me physically, and that's probably why I adored all of those films and books. There's something I love about the guttural response to art, whether that's me on my bed, crying over April Wheeler and George Falconer, or leaning back in my ancient bathtub, exhaling Nat Sherman smoke cooly with Savage Grace perched on my wet knees. To have this intense reaction to art makes me feel validated and alive as a human being, and I honestly think I look prettiest while smoking colored cigarettes outside movie theaters or walking through downtown Portland in the evening with faint mascara tear tracks on my face. That's probably why I loved the experience of watching In the Mood for Love at the Fifth Avenue Cinema so much last month. I cried EVERY DAMN TIME that musical cue played and there was this gorgeous montage of Chow and So's isolation.
But back to CURRENT MOVIES: I was incredibly disappointed with Broken Embraces. It doesn't feel like a Pedro Almodovar film. There's nothing unique about it visually, and the pacing is so off. It felt like he was trying to combine the genres of the telenovela and Hitchcock thriller, and it just felt disjointed. Certain shots were very moving, specifically Penelope Cruz lying on an examining table and the shot of Lluis Homar shuffling down steps with his son, but on the whole, it was far too obvious and derivative. I kept consciously thinking, "This is ripped off of Peeping Tom," and not in the madcap way Tarantino references Westerns and kung fu movies. It would make an interesting companion piece to Inglourious Basterds, if only for a discussion of its love of cinema. Whereas Tarantino has a real human understanding of how film obsession plays out in people's minds though, Almodovar's feels very slapped-together. I kept hoping Melanie Laurent would show up and do a reel change; it's that not-good. I mean, yes, the Twilight-True Blood reference was funny, but, ugh, if you're going to talk about trash cinema, you've got to do it in a way that lets the audience in on the absurdity. The just-plain-bad cinema within Broken Embraces' narrative comes across as sloppy and insincere, unlike in films like Ed Wood and True Romance. It's pretty hackneyed, and Penelope Cruz is not nearly as enchanting as she should be on-screen. The film is also WAY too long. It's around two hours, but it felt like fucking five.
I get paid on Friday- technically, Thursday night- and it's going to be way more than I'm used to, since I worked so many holiday hours, and I think I'm going to need to use the money for DVDs. La liste est:
+ The Last House on the Left: The remake is one of my favorite horror films recently, and the cinematography reminds me a lot of The Virgin Suicides and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which are definitely in my top ten. The trailer wins Best Creepy Use of Music too, tying with Halloween II. "Sweet Child O' Mine" is terrifying, didn't you know?
+ The Doom Generation: I watched it with grammar_glamour last night, and I wasn't sure at first if I hated it or loved it. I'm settling on the latter now though, mostly because the Technicolor, lollipop visuals won me over, and the hedonistic, Repo Man-esque violence and absurdity kills me. Rose McGowan has never looked better. I need icons from this film now. You can actually watch the whole film on Youtube, courtesy of Lionsgate.
+ Brideshead Revisited: Matthew Goode is fast becoming my favorite person in the world, and I love that all of his queer roles are in this post. I might actually watch him in Leap Year, which is a terrifying observation.
+ Watchmen, Ultimate Cut: My opinion of this film has flipped since seeing it in theaters, but I've always loved Zack Snyder's commitment to the original text. I've heard nothing but fabulous things about the long cut, and it sounds like that adoration was really respected in the presentation of the set.
+ Brewster McCloud: One of the best and craziest Robert Altman films ever. I'm so grateful I took the Altman course and got to see the film. It's one of my all-time favorite movies, if only for Shelley Duvall's insane car chase, Sally Kellerman's angel wings, and all the bird shit.
+ The Uninvited: Speaking of beautiful cinematography in horror films, this is easily on the list of my favorite movies, visually. I tend to stay away from remakes of Asian horror movies, but Emily Browning and Elizabeth Banks are so incredible, I gave this one a shot. It's very creepy and atmospheric, and the use of blue on-screen does me in. Certain shots are very reminiscent of other movies, but I feel like they're more tributes than rip-offs, such as the shot of Emily Browning in the bathtub, like Jess Weixler in Teeth.
+ Halloween II: Rob Zombie is one of my favorite contemporary directors. His images are so grotesque and beautiful at the same time, and I really love that he tried to make this film so much grittier than anything else. The violence is pretty hard-to-watch at points, which completely separates it from the slasher genre. I've only seen a cam copy of the film so far, but I was still struck by his use of whites and blues on-screen, especially during Sheri Moon Zombie's scenes. They're easily the most frightening part of the movie, but he basically wins at life for the un-cynical fact of his characters dressing up as Rocky Horror people. The bootleg trailer, which the Weinsteins unwisely rejected, showed up online, and it's much better than the theatrical trailer, and has the best use of a classic song in recent memory, though not as great as Bobby Vinton in the original All the Boys Love Mandy Lane preview:
Oy vey, this post. I love trailers with distinctive sound and pretty pictures though. SHARE SOME WITH ME.
Second, MOVIES. Specifically, A Single Man, The Doom Generation, and Broken Embraces. I tried to make it a Penelope Cruz double-feature today, but I could not even bring myself to theater-hop Nine. I have no intention of giving Rob Marshall any of my money either. Maybe I'll piggy-back it with An Education next week.
A Single Man is easily one of my favorite movies this year, and my reaction to it was similar to how I felt for Little Ashes and A Serious Man (has there been A Serious, Single Man mash-up? it would be so many shades of win). I found the images clearly very painterly, and I love any film that just kills me with gorgeous framing. Tom Ford wouldn't be expected to do anything less, I suppose, but I still found the imagery of the film incredibly haunting and beautiful. There were many shots that made me cry, simply as individual frames, very similar to the coffee-making shot in A Serious Man. I wish I could be intelligent and coherent about A Single Man, but I just found it to be so genuinely beautiful and affecting. There were so many specific things that I died for- not literally, of course- like the Strunk daughter in the bank, the scorpion in the glass, Charley's pink cigarettes that matched her fingernails, the shot of Jim and George sitting together on the couch.
I need to reread the novel, after bawling pretty hard during the ending while on my break at work on Christmas Eve, and probably post excerpts here. Its effect on me is very similar to how I felt about Brideshead Revisited. After reading it, I felt irrevocably changed, like someone had yanked out my intestines through my eyes and mouth, and that salty inside emptiness, coupled with my brain working overtime, just made me fall in love. Definitely going to have to see the film again soon and not just for bonus! Lee Pace, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Erin Daniels.
One thing that I love- and hate- about films is marketing, and I think that the first step toward me loving a movie is its trailer. I really cannot stop watching A Single Man's trailer. Way to go, Weinsteins:
Click to viewThe critics quotations are really obnoxious, but the music ("Carlos" from the yet-to-be-released soundtrack) and the editing is fabulous. The first time I saw the preview, I teared up.
The trailer reminds me quite a bit of Little Children, with its use of sound effects and isolated images. Both films feature that occasionally bland look to enhance the mood of the main characters as well.
Both films reminded me of Sam Mendes's Revolutionary Road too. This whole idea of suburbia and disappointment and domesticity, and the way those ideas relate to one another, is present in all of them, but I think A Single Man is the only one to articulate domestic life as a worthy ideal. As with the first two movies, the Revolutionary Road trailer uses sound and painterly images to great effect. My heart breaks every time I hear Nina Simone's "Wild is the Wind," coupled with those shots of April and Frank, separate and together, specifically in the kitchen. The frame where they stand, looking in opposite directions, and the shot of them fucking on the counter are some of my favorites in the film.
The bland crossed with the colorful- and, of course, Julianne Moore- remind me of Savage Grace, which is one of the most beautifully-shot contemporary films I've ever seen. It's not necessarily factually-accurate, but the mood of the movie perfectly matches that menace in the book. And certain shots in the trailer, mainly the ones of Julianne Moore fucking Eddie Redmayne, give me chills every time I see them.
All of those films mentioned, I adore, and they're all based on books I love as well. A Single Man and Revolutionary Road left me a weepy mess at the end, which is always a good sign, I think. I love art that moves me physically, and that's probably why I adored all of those films and books. There's something I love about the guttural response to art, whether that's me on my bed, crying over April Wheeler and George Falconer, or leaning back in my ancient bathtub, exhaling Nat Sherman smoke cooly with Savage Grace perched on my wet knees. To have this intense reaction to art makes me feel validated and alive as a human being, and I honestly think I look prettiest while smoking colored cigarettes outside movie theaters or walking through downtown Portland in the evening with faint mascara tear tracks on my face. That's probably why I loved the experience of watching In the Mood for Love at the Fifth Avenue Cinema so much last month. I cried EVERY DAMN TIME that musical cue played and there was this gorgeous montage of Chow and So's isolation.
But back to CURRENT MOVIES: I was incredibly disappointed with Broken Embraces. It doesn't feel like a Pedro Almodovar film. There's nothing unique about it visually, and the pacing is so off. It felt like he was trying to combine the genres of the telenovela and Hitchcock thriller, and it just felt disjointed. Certain shots were very moving, specifically Penelope Cruz lying on an examining table and the shot of Lluis Homar shuffling down steps with his son, but on the whole, it was far too obvious and derivative. I kept consciously thinking, "This is ripped off of Peeping Tom," and not in the madcap way Tarantino references Westerns and kung fu movies. It would make an interesting companion piece to Inglourious Basterds, if only for a discussion of its love of cinema. Whereas Tarantino has a real human understanding of how film obsession plays out in people's minds though, Almodovar's feels very slapped-together. I kept hoping Melanie Laurent would show up and do a reel change; it's that not-good. I mean, yes, the Twilight-True Blood reference was funny, but, ugh, if you're going to talk about trash cinema, you've got to do it in a way that lets the audience in on the absurdity. The just-plain-bad cinema within Broken Embraces' narrative comes across as sloppy and insincere, unlike in films like Ed Wood and True Romance. It's pretty hackneyed, and Penelope Cruz is not nearly as enchanting as she should be on-screen. The film is also WAY too long. It's around two hours, but it felt like fucking five.
I get paid on Friday- technically, Thursday night- and it's going to be way more than I'm used to, since I worked so many holiday hours, and I think I'm going to need to use the money for DVDs. La liste est:
+ The Last House on the Left: The remake is one of my favorite horror films recently, and the cinematography reminds me a lot of The Virgin Suicides and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which are definitely in my top ten. The trailer wins Best Creepy Use of Music too, tying with Halloween II. "Sweet Child O' Mine" is terrifying, didn't you know?
+ The Doom Generation: I watched it with grammar_glamour last night, and I wasn't sure at first if I hated it or loved it. I'm settling on the latter now though, mostly because the Technicolor, lollipop visuals won me over, and the hedonistic, Repo Man-esque violence and absurdity kills me. Rose McGowan has never looked better. I need icons from this film now. You can actually watch the whole film on Youtube, courtesy of Lionsgate.
+ Brideshead Revisited: Matthew Goode is fast becoming my favorite person in the world, and I love that all of his queer roles are in this post. I might actually watch him in Leap Year, which is a terrifying observation.
+ Watchmen, Ultimate Cut: My opinion of this film has flipped since seeing it in theaters, but I've always loved Zack Snyder's commitment to the original text. I've heard nothing but fabulous things about the long cut, and it sounds like that adoration was really respected in the presentation of the set.
+ Brewster McCloud: One of the best and craziest Robert Altman films ever. I'm so grateful I took the Altman course and got to see the film. It's one of my all-time favorite movies, if only for Shelley Duvall's insane car chase, Sally Kellerman's angel wings, and all the bird shit.
+ The Uninvited: Speaking of beautiful cinematography in horror films, this is easily on the list of my favorite movies, visually. I tend to stay away from remakes of Asian horror movies, but Emily Browning and Elizabeth Banks are so incredible, I gave this one a shot. It's very creepy and atmospheric, and the use of blue on-screen does me in. Certain shots are very reminiscent of other movies, but I feel like they're more tributes than rip-offs, such as the shot of Emily Browning in the bathtub, like Jess Weixler in Teeth.
+ Halloween II: Rob Zombie is one of my favorite contemporary directors. His images are so grotesque and beautiful at the same time, and I really love that he tried to make this film so much grittier than anything else. The violence is pretty hard-to-watch at points, which completely separates it from the slasher genre. I've only seen a cam copy of the film so far, but I was still struck by his use of whites and blues on-screen, especially during Sheri Moon Zombie's scenes. They're easily the most frightening part of the movie, but he basically wins at life for the un-cynical fact of his characters dressing up as Rocky Horror people. The bootleg trailer, which the Weinsteins unwisely rejected, showed up online, and it's much better than the theatrical trailer, and has the best use of a classic song in recent memory, though not as great as Bobby Vinton in the original All the Boys Love Mandy Lane preview:
Oy vey, this post. I love trailers with distinctive sound and pretty pictures though. SHARE SOME WITH ME.