Pringle of Scotland (love the jumper)
Rabu, 20 Januari 2010
where the boys are
Here are some of my favorites from Milan, Fall 2010 menswear collections. Who do you love?
Selasa, 19 Januari 2010
rainy red carpet
Sabtu, 16 Januari 2010
"after me, the flood"
My friend Rio at Le Chic Batik let me borrow her DVD of Valentino: The Last Emperor. It's a supple documentary: both eye candy and some insight into the life of the haute couture icon on the eve of his retirement.
The film's director, Vanity Fair editor and writer Matt Tyrnauer, provides a considerable amount of access. Valentino Garavani's world is as grand and lavish as his name and brand. The doc is fairly glossy but there is some emotional resonance in the heated but loving relationship between Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti. His business partner for over half a century, Giancarlo illuminates the difficulties of staying afloat in a risky, ever changing business. In the lead-up to Valentino's grand retrospective, the film has quick visions of plenty of usual suspects (among them Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Talley, and an amusing cameo from Joan Collins) but it's also about the grunt work: it's fascinating to watch the extraordinary skill of Valentino's seamstresses. At times, I wanted the camera to linger more on individual dresses.
In the bittersweet finale at the Temple of Venus in Rome, there is the sense that a grandiose touch will forever be absent in the fashion world. The documentary is a fitting tribute and celebration of the creative, prodigious mind who has delivered decades of dazzling work.
More great images here.
Jumat, 15 Januari 2010
Kamis, 14 Januari 2010
raising the barr in fashion
The stylings of the late 80s / early 90s are back and sometimes the best (and most fun) resource for looks of the era are found on our beloved sitcoms.
Are you feeling it?
I relate to Dan's choices in plaid.
Selasa, 12 Januari 2010
top 10 films of 2009
For film lovers, this will likely be remembered as the year of Avatar. James Cameron's sci-fi action romance is already a towering global phenomenon. But that film does not make my Top 10. There was a lot of unusual works that relied less on CGI and more on authenticity, good writing and good acting. Those were the films that moved me the most.
Here's my top 10. What are some of your favorites?
There were a lot of perfectly good films in '09 that didn't make this list. All of them are unique visions and worthy of some kind of praise.
10. Seraphine
Martin Provost's sublime, loving film shows the relationship between an artist who literally lives on and through her work and the man, Wilhelm Udhe, who by happenstance discovers and nurtures her talent. It's an illuminating picture and never condescending.
9. Bright Star
Jane Campion's dramatization of the romance between Fanny Brawne and John Keats is a lush, sweet and ultimately tragic affair.
Not Almodovar's best by any means but still a masterly depiction of lost, unfinished art, a doomed affair and a film within a film within a film.
Funny use of the Book of Job in the life of Jewish professor in Minnesota suburb. One of the more personal Coen Brothers films with wonderful cinematography by Roger Deakins.
6. Crazy Heart
Familiar but surprisingly lithe country singer redemption tale with a career best performance from Jeff Bridges and a rousing T Bone Burnett score.
Tarantino's cinematic revenge on the Nazis recalls screwballs like To Be or Not to Be and spaghetti westerns.
Pertinent to our era, George Clooney is perfectly cast as slick corporate assassin who begins to realize his alienation.
Powerful, unsentimental drama of abused teen who is awakened through reading and writing. Mo'Nique gives an unforgettable performance as abusive mother.
Unsettling look at the roots of evil as mysterious events unfold in a German village on the eve of WWI.
The skill Kathryn Bigelow displays as a director in the film's bomb dismantling sequences are at times breathtaking. But this is also a careful and unusual character study that refreshingly offers no answers or simplistic depictions.
They include
Goodbye Solo, The September Issue, An Education, The Cove, Everlasting Moments, The House of the Devil, Invictus, Me & Orson Welles, 35 Shots of Rum, In the Loop, The Headless Woman, (500) Days of Summer, The Last Station, District 9, Summer Hours, Away We Go, Drag Me to Hell, The Girlfriend Experience, A Single Man
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