Material Archive

Going to see this film tomorrow: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

 

Excited!

Wes Anderson's New Movie: Moonrise Kingdom

Excited to see this!

Woody:

My week in pictures & other random stuff I like:

Addicted to this song:

 

A Matter of Taste: Serving up Paul Liebrandt

 

 

Quite enjoyed this little documentary about Paul Liebrandt. His absolutely tireless determination and passion made me perma-smile throughout the whole film. I never tire of watching people that care so deeply about something. And unlike the recent El Bulli doc, this one is full of commentary and personal disclosure.

Read a fun article about when Paul came to cook for Jeffrey Steingarten at his home for 2 weeks here.

Recette filmée : Macarons

It's cute Delia:

 

El Bulli: Cooking in Progress

Keen to see this! Might go tomorow – message me if you want to join ;-)

*** Update!

I saw it and really enjoyed it.

It's received many bad reviews criticizing it's lack of interviews or voice over, but for me it was a voyeur's delight. It's a style of filmmaking that allows you to simply observe without the lens or bias of an interviewer – you simply spend the entire time listening to the occasional exchanges Ferran Adrià has with his staff and watching them experiment tirelessly – drawing your own conclusions instead of being spoon-fed every insight.

My take-away – the man is very precise and understands that the core of what he is selling is something magical, creative and inspiring – an experience to remember.

Midnight in Paris

Charming, silly film with an enviable Hermès, Chanel and Goyard laden wardrobe sported by Miss Adams.

Last night I saw: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

"Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the result of Herzog's exclusive access to the recently discovered Chauvet caves in the South of France, and their extraordinary cave paintings, dating back 32,000 years."

 

Pop Pilgrims New York: The Royal Tenenbaums house

 

Night and the City

 
@itbitme and I recently watched this classic film noir. The cinematography was beautful!

Awesome People Hanging Out Together

Eartha Kitt and James Dean





Andy Warhol & Alfred Hitchcock





Errol Flynn and wife Nora Eddington with Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles

Michael Jackson & Steven Tyler

Ella Fitzgerald & Marilyn Monroe

Karl Lagerfeld & Grace Coddington, 1974

Mick Jagger, William S. Burroughs & Andy Warhol, 1980.





Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart & Marilyn Monroe, 1953





David Bowie, Iggy Pop & Lou Reed


See more here.

Melissa McCarthy steals the show in Bridesmaids as "Megan"

 


The movie was funny yes – but the best part was the character Megan played by Melissa McCarthy. Watch her in some extra outtakes above and enjoy a fresh take on women.

 

One to watch: Bill Cunningham New York

A documentary about New York's original street style photographer from Zeitgeist Films.

A Brief History of Title Design

From Art of the Title

Annie Leibovitz shoots Marie Antoinette

 

Maxim Dalton's Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Board Game

 

I know more than a few people that would love this as a gift – myself included. Sold out currently – but hopefully they'll be a reprint soon. Here are some detail shots – click to see larger!

 

The Last Picture Show

Finally watched this classic film over the weekend. Having grown up watching Cybil in Moonlighting, and knowing Jeff most notably as "the Dude", it was charming to see them as their younger selves in what is a sweet coming-of-age, slice-of-life film.

Name them all in a minute: Go!

Marie Antoinette

If you turn the volume off and just watch this film while you play some music – it's a spectacular feast for the eyes.

Finally, I watched Rushmore

I cannot understand why I waited so long to see this film... LOVED it!

Big Night Final Scene

Shot in one take – perfect every time I watch it.

Alone in the Wilderness

Without a doubt, this one of my all-time favourite documentaries.

Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin on the shore of Twin Lakes in Alaska. The first summer he scouted for the best cabin site, and cut and peeled the logs he would need for his cabin. He returned the next summer to finish the cabin where he lived for over 30 years.

You can buy the videos here.

Scott Pilgrim xo

 

Thought it was adorable.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

 

Fun movie - but the best part by far is Val Kilmer's character "Gay Perry".  The dialogue between him and Robert Downey Jr's Harry Lockhart is sharp, quick and unexpected. Refreshing to see a gay character not be so predictable and one dimensional.

You must watch this: Herb & Dorothy...the documentary

An amazing story about two of the most unlikely art collectors you could ever meet.

Rebel Rebel

So as you can likely tell, I'm on a bit of a classics binge of late. After a lifetime of hearing about James Dean's magnetic qualities, I can finally say I see what they meant. He certainly did possess that je ne sais quoi movie star air. The movie itself, Rebel Without A Cause (1955), was a little more somber than I had expected and Wood's character was a bit irksome to say the least, but I enjoyed it.

This is Benjamin. He's a little worried about his future.

I finally watched this classic, after years of missing the full meaning of all the pop-culture references, and quite liked it despite the zany ending. In addition to the deft dialogue, the look is so of the period and Anne Bancroft's voice and style were the epitome of chic.

Exit through the Gift Shop

 


I didn't prior, and still haven't, read a word about this film yet so that my reaction wouldn't be tainted. My verdict? I enjoyed it. I love street art – always have. The film itself though leaves you constantly guessing if the whole thing, the documentary that is, is just one massive put-on. Which part is real and which is a joke at the viewers' expense I suspect will be greatly debated. Have you seen it – what did you think?

The Best

 

An Education: ★ ★ ★

Lovely film – absolutely worth seeing. There's a scene in it where Carey Mulligan's character has an exchange with the Dean of her school, played by Emma Thompson, and in that moment, you feel she was robbed of the Oscar. She's one to watch!

Yabba Dabba

 


 


 

Tory Burch Fall 2010



Magic!

Mint and pink with a hit of silver or gold = happiness.

This is Fig Newton – how insanely cute is this cat?


Anna's coat is perfection. Prada me thinks...


Miss Peyton does a self-portrait.

Givenchy

Gimmie

My BF

Taylor Swift

First movie I remember seeing in the theatre.

She did that for his birthday. Sweet isn't it?

His Dudeness

Just because it never fails to make me smile.

Mr. Fox is:

 

...quite adorable. Loved it.

Oscars: Best Dress

Ok, I tried to pick a favourite dress from this year but they all put me to sleep. Even though I have a soft spot for Maggie's Dries dress, it still wasn't quite right. Michelle Williams' 2006 Vera Wang paired with Chopard diamonds is still my all time fav – no one this year even came close.

Air Raid Freshmen Bitches!

 
Just finished an incredibly long week at work - so much so that I actually came home and fell asleep at 4:30pm - very rock star of me. Anyhow, I'm up now and watching D&C which is always like reliving my high school experience on film. Love Parker Posey especially in it. See a where are they now round-up here.

Do you like our owl?

J. D. Salinger: "Holden Caulfield is unactable."

 

Here's the transcript:

R. D. 2
Windsor, Vt.
July 19, 1957

Dear Mr. Herbert,

I'll try to tell you what my attitude is to the stage and screen rights of The Catcher in the Rye. I've sung this tune quite a few times, so if my heart doesn't seem to be in it, try to be tolerant....Firstly, it is possible that one day the rights will be sold. Since there's an ever-looming possibility that I won't die rich, I toy very seriously with the idea of leaving the unsold rights to my wife and daughter as a kind of insurance policy. It pleasures me no end, though, I might quickly add, to know that I won't have to see the results of the transaction. I keep saying this and nobody seems to agree, but The Catcher in the Rye is a very novelistic novel. There are readymade "scenes" - only a fool would deny that - but, for me, the weight of the book is in the narrator's voice, the non-stop peculiarities of it, his personal, extremely discriminating attitude to his reader-listener, his asides about gasoline rainbows in street puddles, his philosophy or way of looking at cowhide suitcases and empty toothpaste cartons - in a word, his thoughts. He can't legitimately be separated from his own first-person technique. True, if the separation is forcibly made, there is enough material left over for something called an Exciting (or maybe just Interesting) Evening in the Theater. But I find that idea if not odious, at least odious enough to keep me from selling the rights. There are many of his thoughts, of course, that could be labored into dialogue - or into some sort of stream-of-consciousness loud-speaker device - but labored is exactly the right word. What he thinks and does so naturally in his solitude in the novel, on the stage could at best only be pseudo-simulated, if there is such a word (and I hope not). Not to mention, God help us all, the immeasurably risky business of using actors. Have you ever seen a child actress sitting crosslegged on a bed and looking right? I'm sure not. And Holden Caulfield himself, in my undoubtedly super-biassed opinion, is essentially unactable. A Sensitive, Intelligent, Talented Young Actor in a Reversible Coat wouldn't nearly be enough. It would take someone with X to bring it off, and no very young man even if he has X quite knows what to do with it. And, I might add, I don't think any director can tell him.

I'll stop there. I'm afraid I can only tell you, to end with, that I feel very firm about all this, if you haven't already guessed.

Thank you, though, for your friendly and highly readable letter. My mail from producers has mostly been hell.

Sincerely,

(Signed, 'J. D. Salinger')

J. D. Salinger

Here's the link to the original post: Holden Caulfield is unactable.

I need to wake up: Tu Vuo' Fa l'Americano

Big Night

At the urging from a friend, I finally watched Big Night over the holidays and loved it. MB rightly pointed out that there were many parallels to our industry. Namely, the tension between maintaining a profitable business, while producing work that consistently meets one's own high standards, while still satisfying the sometimes gauche and pedestrian tastes of clients. The dynamic between the brothers are also hit home with me on a personal level. Even with the best of intentions, business partnerships are so hard.

Beautiful things

Yes - that's Ellen Page!

Evan Rachel Wood

Evolution of the leading man by Brandon Bird

See more here.

The Runaways

Even if this gets the crappiest reviews ever, I'm still going to see it. ;-P

A Single Man

 
Tom Ford's directorial debut was stunningly beautiful and heartbreaking – I cried like a blubbering fool throughout the whole damn thing. As would be expected, every detail was considered – there wasn't a frame in the film that didn't have great lighting, composition, pleasing colour palette or elegant set design. Colin Firth's acting was the best I've seen from him yet and the story was universal and truly moving despite the ending, which left me feeling slightly cheated. Not sure if Ford is planning to continue with this particular career path, but if he does, I for one, will be glad! He certainly is a Renaissance man.

Sherlock Holmes in a word: amusing

The film was exactly was I expected – a fun, Hollywood schlocky romp. What I didn't expect was to be so taken with Mr.Downey. At 44, the man with a troubled past, still has some serious sex appeal. Meow. Jude, on the other hand, did not even register.

Review: The September Issue

The September Issue was a fun way to spend an hour plus, but ultimately I was underwhelmed. It simply didn't give a huge amount of insight into Anna Wintour, or the enormous amount of work behind putting a magazine to press. After the umpteenth shot of Grace Cottington looking forlorn, staring off in to the distance, or marching up and down a hallway lined with clothing racks, I started to feel that the documentary's director missed an opportunity to make a real statement about the industry at large. Instead, the result was something that never moved beyond a portrait of how Grace works so hard and Anna just ruthlessly edits her work down.

There's obviously so much more to the equation and the film just barely scratches the surface, never showing the thinking behind what inspires the various editorials or how changes in the economy or societal values influence how cultures dress themselves. As someone who has art directed and produced many fashion shoots, I can attest to the amount of thought, inspiration and crazy logistical details that go in to each and every photograph in a story, and sadly so little of that behind-the-scenes magic was really touched upon.

As for Wintour, who is widely regarded as the most important and powerful person in the entire fashion industry, she surprised me by failing to give any real insight into why fashion is important to her or valuable to life in general. Her main point in the film was that many people feel intimidated by fashion because they don't feel like part of the cool group. Be that as it may, was that really the key idea I was meant to leave with? Surely we already know that Vogue doesn't exist simply to exclude people? I mean, come on, give us something to chew on Anna! You've had a whole career of defending your vocation to your disapproving family, society, and the fickle media. Surely you have something to say about how we live in the most accessible time in history, where anyone can look great at any budget and how good design has never been more democratized and available. Or what about how fashion is about beauty, individuality and the creative process, and is as noble an art form as any –  inspired by so many factors that reflect what's happening in culture and our collective value system? You could have gone on to talk about how it's about personal expression and pleasure, tribalism, belonging and can bring as much happiness to our lives as any other interest.

I know I'm getting a little heavy here but it's a subject close to my heart that I have obviously had to defend many times in my career. People that judge a love of fashion as being merely frivolous and snobby really miss the point. They deny themselves the power of using clothing as a communication medium and most importantly, as means of creative expression and pleasure. I'm disappointed that the queen bee of fashion didn't use this rare look into her world as an opportunity to say something more profound. But who knows, maybe there isn't a deeper layer for her or perhaps the elusive media persona she has cultivated over the years has rendered her mum.

Underwater Movie Magic

This looks like a reoccurring dream I've had. From Pinewood Studios in Britain.

Eat Pray Love – The Movie

I must have been asleep when they announced this, I had no idea Julia Roberts was cast to play Elizabth Gilbert. Not that I should be surprised by the choice, Julia didn't exactly look anything like Erin Brockovich either! Above are some stills from Julia shooting on location now.