2.28.2012
2.27.2012
2.26.2012
2.25.2012
From the Film Reel: Lost in Translation
The friendship that transpires between Johansson and Murray is a kind of nothing - a breif period of talking, laughing, sharing silences - which has the potential to be life-changing; its unacknowledged longing made all the more poignant by the knowledge that neither will ever know of each other's subsequent diversions.
From the Film Reel: Midnight in Paris
"Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present... the name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in - its a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present."
The latest offering from Woody Allen takes us from one metropolis to another. First it was New York, then London and Barcelona and now Paris, but one component remains: the introspective, neurotic, painfully romantic protagonist. In Midnight in Paris, he comes in the form of Gil Pender(Owen Wilson), a successful Hollywood screenwriter frustrated with the life he leads in Los Angeles with his fiance Inez(Rachel McAdams). On an unplanned midnight walk around Paris, Gil slips into a parallel world which happens to be the protagonists crack whore world: 1920s Paris. There he meets a bevy of his idols: Ernest Hemingway, Belmonte, TS Elliot, the Fitzgeralds, and the most memorable of all: a lovely art-groupie named Adriana(Marion Cotillard), only to lose her to La Belle Epoque. In the meantime, the film allows its viewers to experience Paris as it should be: walking through the firelamp lit streets with a handsome, captivating stranger connecting over your shared love for Paris and gossiping about mutual friends like Picasso, Zelda Fitzgerald, Dali, Luis Bunuel and Ernest Hemingway. It almost becomes a game of "guess who's coming to dinner" where viewers are on the edge of their seats trying to work out who Gil will meet next, and in what way the past can influence Gil and vice versa. The perfect way to get lost and immerse yourself in one of the greatest cities in the world. Not only does this gem deliver a fresh take on nostalgia, it's a great hommage to the City of lights and the romanticism that it's famed for. Allen takes us on a journey which inspires us to remove ourselves from the dust of everyday life and immerse ourselves in a time greater than now through his story telling, urging us to daydream ourselves out of our daily frustrations.
Bonus points for using a classic Sidney Bechet number as background music. This film really had me at its opening scene. I just salivated at the shots of Paris. The Jardin du Luxembourg especially. How could anyone resist such beauty and charm from the city of romance?
Now I know that this isnt really Heminngway speaking, but his imagined person, I wouldn't dispute that Hemmingway would say such a thing.
Music: Talvin Singh - Traveller
Sonic bliss. Has the abilty to remove me from all stress. An oldie but a goodie.
2.10.2012
2.09.2012
Music: The Jelly Roll Blues
My endless facination with ragtime and early jazz rolls on. Currently yearning for the bygone days of style and class.
Stardust - Louis Armstrong
Fred Astraire and Ginger Rogers - Cheek to Cheek
Little Black Baby - Scott Joplin
Mano a Mano - Hugo Diaz
Darktown Strutters Ball - Alberta Hunter
Design: Charles and Ray Eames
“We worked very hard at…enjoying ourselves. We didn’t let anything interfere with what we were doing—our hard work. That in itself was a great pleasure.”
Charles and Ray are proof that the most magical of pairings and the greatest of art comes from passion, in each other and in what ou are doing. In this way, we should look to them as inspiration for our everyday lives.
EAMES: The Architect and The Painter
Soulmates and shared passions. These two are an absolute inspiration. Gotta get my hands on a copy of this.
Eye Candy
Belmonte
Neile Adams and Steve McQueen
Hellen Keller and Charlie Chaplin
Fight fire with fire: Tupac to Jada Pinkett. A relationship Jada refered to as a "platonic romance".
Tom Holden and Audrey Hepburn. Its been said that Tom fell head over heels for Audrey (and why wouldnt he?), but after much painful deliberation, Audrey felt she had to leave him after finding out he could not give her children.
2.08.2012
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