I just saw Black Book and I was absolutely taken by the stunning Carice van Houten. I was equally smitten by Michiel Huisman (but for different, fairly obvious reasons). Apparently a heartthrob in his native Netherlands, he's not only an actor (who's in the romantic comedy Johan, which has been touring the U.S. film festival circuit), but he's also apparently the lead singer of some band called Fontane. Honestly, I don't care about the music so much. When you look like that, you can sing like Nickelback for all I care. More pics to come (including some rather skankariffic ones. God bless the Dutch!).
Jérémie Elkaïm is not only the French equivalent of Jim Halpert on "Le Bureau," the French version of "The Office," but he's also the wispiest sex symbol since Kate Moss, with a penchant for playing gay teenagers (three times already!). Jim Krasinski may be awesome and adorkable, but he's nowhere near this edgy.
Une affaire de goût (2000) - Bernard Rapp directed this French psychological thriller that ended up getting six César nominations (like a French Oscar). Jean-Pierre Lorit was nominated for 'Most Promising Actor' at the Césars for his role as Nicolas Rivière, a young, very handsome waiter who falls into the twisted hands of Frédéric Delamont (played by Bernard Giraudeau). Delamont is the CEO of a major company, but he's also freakishly paranoid and mildly psychotic. Anyways, Frédéric develops an unusual attraction for Nicolas, hiring him as his taster and molding him into a sort of younger clone of himself. The transformation is intense and engrossing, and Nicolas spirals into something he can't get himself out of, much to the dismay of his girlfriend, his friends, and his entire old life. He becomes just as addicted to Frédéric as Frédéric has become obsessed with him. It's not an erotic thriller. There's actually (and surprisingly) very little sex in the film. The tension is completely built on the passions of the characters and intensity for which each is confounded by the opportunities that confront them. It's a great watch for an easy night at home. 7.5/10
Pierrot le fou (1965) - The Tivoli in St. Louis was playing Jean-Luc Godard's classic nouvelle vague (that's New Wave to you) film for reasons unknown to me, but I still decided to watch it on a Friday night. In a nearly empty theatre, I was able to enjoy this film in all of its post-modernist glory. And on the most basic level, it was a visually mesmerizing experience. The sights, the colors, the entire visual mix was, even by my jaded eye, something to write home about. Godard somehow made a visual piece that still feels exciting more than 40 years later. For example, Godard made cut scenes consisting of deep zooms on both cheap comic strips and masterpieces by modern masters from Picasso to Renoir, creating a visual hierarchy that placed all of them on the same level in an unsettlingly nonchalant way. The Mediterranean coast of France could not have looked more idyllic, creating the perfect setting for a tale of false paradise and the troubles inevitable in male-female relationships, something like a glamorous postcard vision of Eden. Anna Karina (who was also in Godard's Bande à part) looked marvelous as usual as the insouciant but mischievous Marianne Renoir, cementing her place as my current favorite fashion icon. Along with Jean-Paul Belmondo as the hopeless, impeccably disheveled Ferdinand Griffon (who looked like a French Marlon Brando), the two easily draw comparisons in my mind to the American glamour bandits, Bonnie and Clyde. I don't know, this film gets better the more I think about it. 8.5/10
Joyeux Noël (2005) - Writer/director Christian Carion chose to take on what I would've seen as a very overwhelming task when he decided to make this film about the unbelievable events of Christmas Eve, 1914, on the battlefields on France in World War I. That meant bringing together the stories of German, Scottish, and French soldiers (all speaking their own languages in the film) into one coherent script. Yet, this film somehow manages to maintain an intimate, comfortable sense about it. Nothing is overwhelming, for better and for worse. There's a whole slew of vignettes in this film. Diane Kruger is absurdly gorgeous as a Danish soprano living with her German tenor husband in Berlin. It just so happens that she's actaully fluent in French, German, and English, which probably made the whole thing easier for her. Either way, bringing together so many vignettes was ultimately the film's undoing, because even with a running time just under two hours, there are still so many underdeveloped and unexplained happenings that you just feel a bit like you've been left out in the cold. The talent of the cast varies, but Steven Robertson, who played a man with cerebral palsy in Rory O'Shea Was Here, shines as a conflicted, tormented, delicate, young Scottish soldier. He's internally frustrated, angst-ridden, and confused, ready to burst any moment (and no, David, he isn't particularly attractive). Guillaume Canet, previously in Jeux d'enfants, is terrific as the French lieutenant torn between suspending war to preserve humanity or continuing to fight to preserve his integrity (he, on the other hand...). The event that brings them all together is magnificent in its own right, something worth thinking about even today. A fine film for a hot day, but maybe even better in December. 7/10
Death at a Funeral (2007) - This film has the typical dry, British wit that seems to complement the mild slapstick just fine. There were moments where I had a few minor chuckles, an occasional moment of genuine belly laughter, and many, many dry guffaws. The problem is that so much of this film reverts back to familiar territory that it's difficult for any of the situational humor to feel fresh. The jokes just feels far too much like the British humor I've come to expect. Matthew Macfadyen is a joy to watch, as are a few of the supporting characters, so expect to have a decently good time, but don't expect anything life-changing. Get it? Life-changing? See! That's about as funny as half the film was! 6/10
At the U.S. Open, hair looking better, but still in need of a chop.
Are you watching the U.S. Open? You should! It's a sizzler out there! On the women's side, the bottom half of the bracket was supposed to be an easy-as-pie, straight-shot to the finals for no. 2 seed (and defending champion) Maria Sharapova. Unfortunately, she lost to 18 Polish upstart Agnieszka Radwanska in the third round. Radwanska subsequently lost to another Russian blonde, Anna Chakvetadze, who's next up in the quarterfinals against Israel's Shahar Peer. Also still in on the bottom half is former champ Svetlana Kuznetsova, also from Russia, who has a match against unseeded Agnes Szavay from Hungary. No. 1 seed Justine Henin zipped past Serena Williams, and she now waits for the winner of the Venus Williams-Jelena Jankovic match to see who she has to beat to get to the finals. My vote is on Venus to face Henin in the semis, as she's playing the best tennis of her life right now, but if Henin pulls off a real stunning game, she could get past Venus and into the finals. Either Henin or Venus is going to win it all, I'm quite sure of it.
On the men's half, there's the same old story. Impeccable Federer plays Roddick next, Novak Djokovic is still the rising star, and all that jazz. The real news is that Federer actually lost a set to Felicano Lopez. Oh, Feliciano! He'd be the most gorgeous tennis player, if only he'd get his hair cut right. All the other attractive players have left Flushing Meadows (namely, Lopez and Richard Gasquet), but it's still worth watching to see Federer pound the marginally attractive Andy Roddick. And Djokovic is fun to watch. And not just because he always takes his shirt off when he wins. But because he also needs a haircut. He looks like a feather duster. So much potential!
Alleluia! This is old, from this past Spring, but any magazine cover with Gaspard is worth posting. Vogue Paris obviously has their priorities in order if they were wise enough to have Steven Klein shoot Doutzen Kroes (in Lanvin by Elber Elbaz!) and Gaspard Ulliel, probably two of the most gorgeous people in the world (in my opinion, at the moment, but you know how quickly I get bored and that can change...).
I know I'll seem like a massive loser, but when it comes out in 2008, I'm totally going to watch the new Star Trek movie. James McAvoy is going to play Scotty in the J.J. Abrams-directed iteration. And I'd like to say that isn't my main motivation for watching the film, but I'll admit that I've never seen a Star Trek movie before. But that's because of a lack of opportunity! Well, whatever. I'm completely shameless.
Baaaaaad news! The release date for Penelope has been pushed back to at least February because the production company has decided to shift their focus and now the film has no distributor! For those craving a McFix, Netflix something fast!
Made in Brazil is an excellent source for all things involving Brazilians and fashion (especially the models. Oh, the models!). They really make me wonder why I haven't learned Portuguese yet. David, my only reader, don't click on any of those links.
Starter for 10 (2007) - Whatever happened to the good old American romantic comedy? It seems like Hollywood has been outdone by the Brits. It's hard to compete when you've made a film that features a fresh ensemble cast (as opposed to Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Garner, or anyone else ever romantically linked to Ben Affleck), a slyly intelligent script that focuses on character-based humor (in contrast to drab slapstick), and doesn't feel one bit forced or familiar. It's exciting to watch something done well, to observe what happens when one succeeds in breathing new life into an otherwise pointless, overdone genre. It's pretty clear that I'm a big fan of James McAvoy. He doesn't disappoint here. He plays Brian Jackson, a working class chap from Essex who has a genuine thirst for knowledge and the doors it can open for him. He's caught between his old friends and his new life. Sound familiar? This should have been a boring romp through the same old class conflicts, but it wasn't. It's nothing entirely revolutionary, but Jackson's quest to become a better man when he enters university, to become valiant in the classroom and to fall epically in love, it's something endearing and admirable and all too familiar to the youth of today, even as this movie takes place in 1985. I won't ruin the film, but it's definitely worth a watch. 9/10
Becoming Jane (2007) - Yowza. I saw Keira Knightley's Pride & Prejudice, which was the latest adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, sometime two years ago. I liked it moderately well, as much as a desperate-to-charm romance starring a desperately starving actress and balding actor could possibly be liked. This, with an upgrade in cast, is a rather more splendid affair. Anne Hathaway plays the real-life Jane Austen, the woman behind all the words that have won over generations of women (and men). Hathaway is fit for the part, able to bring a certain winsome vulnerability to a woman who is so brashly independent and forthright in her thinking. Her pale, doe-eyed beauty is a sight to behold, even though it's obvious that she's been dumbed down to a certain dowdy extent. The real charmer here is James McAvoy as Tom Lefroy, Austen's greatest love and the inspiration behind many a love interest in many of her novels. McAvoy possesses a surprising and impressive versatility, from the titular lady's man with muscular dystrophy in Rory O'Shea Was Here to Idi Amin's suave personal physician in The Last King of Scotland. The binding tie in all his roles is a certain charm, one that is never solely arrogant, but rather one that masks a level of vulnerability, leaving one to wonder whether they should detest his very nature or fall madly in love. You don't want to root for him. You don't want to like. You know there's always something just a little off about his character. But nonetheless, it's inevitable that you'll be hopelessly attracted to whatever you can't quite categorize about his character. Hathaway and McAvoy hold together a story that is somewhat thin at times, somewhere between dryly comic and apologetically drab anytime the two are not on screen. It's their pleasing chemistry that keeps us watching, even as we know exactly how the story will end. If you have any ounce of admiration for either Hathaway or McAvoy, it's really quite worth a watch. 7.5/10
This is the type of thing that keeps ads on my blog, so suck it up and get used to it.
I've gone through the whole jeans shopping process for at least a good week of my life, I'm quite sure. That said, here are the current favorites in my closet:
1) Habitual 'Skinny Little Sister' jeans in The City wash - Perfectly skinny and super-long, which allows for agreeable bunching and gathering. Very nice back pockets too. The dark indigo wash is absolutely awesome, and they're the first jeans I've ever worn that were amazing enough to get two Bellevue...teenage girls...to stop dead in their tracks and comment on how they're "like, freaking the cutest jeans, like, ever." Like, whatever! Either way, they're surprisingly comfortable and haven't really stretched too much yet. They have them at Revolve Clothing, but I guarantee I spent nowhere near $200 on them. Not even $100. Yay!
2) Corpus 'Rye' jeans in Rinse wash - I got them from Revolve Clothing on sale, which I then used a coupon code on and got for an extra 20% off the sale price. Anyways, they're slim, but not skintight, meaning they're perfect with many more types of shoes and occasions. Corpus jeans run true to size, so I probably should've sized down, but I didn't. The wash is almost black, but not over-dyed, which means that they're a little more like raw denim than true black denim. Either way, they feel sturdy as can be, but the label says hand-wash or dry-clean. I'll figure that out when I get to that point...
3) Kasil 'Whitman' straight leg jeans in Baltic Blue wash - Azalea in San Francisco, now tobi.com, has some amazing clearance items from time to time, which is where I got these jeans for like $41, off from some extremely absurd price. They're simple and wearable and I wear them all the time when I don't feel like thinking about what I'm wearing. I think that means they're my "default jeans." It's nice not having to think about that, which makes their awesomeness even more awesome.
Who doesn't love comfortable denim? Is there anything more perfect than the perfect pair of jeans? And wouldn't it be nice if you clicked on any of the ads on the right side of this blog? I sure think so!
Hannibal Rising (2007) - Ewwww. Ick. But whatever. That was to be expected. Gaspard Ulliel plays the young cannibal, Hannibal Lecter, in the first English-speaking role for the actor. It's awkward and bizarre and rather gory, thanks to uncomfortably squishy noises relating to various body parts being manipulated in ways no body part ever should. But whatever. Not really worth a watch, honestly. 2.5/10
Jeux d'enfants (English Title: Love Me If You Dare) (2003) - In the world of psychotic, twisted French cinema, this movie certainly works hard to cement its place high atop the insanity. Marion Cotillard, who recently won raves for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie en rose, plays Sophie Kowalsky, a pretty, lower-class Polish girl who becomes the best of friends with Julien Janvier, played by French heartthrob delicieux Guillaume Canet. Their childhood friendship is based on their absurd dares, trading off the craziest stunts and pranks with the simple phrase <>. The years go by, they grow closer, then apart, things get complicated and all that jazz. Director Yann Samuel has created a stunning visual delight. His colorful, dreamy France isn't quite Amelie romantic, but it has a captivating charm all its own. Ultimately, the film decidedly falls short, collapsing under the weight of two characters who I really wanted to love and adore, but ended up simply watching. I didn't cheer for them, as much as I wanted to. They're beautiful trainwrecks, yes, but like Lindsay Lohan, the emphasis is somehow more on the trainwreck part than the beautiful, which means they must be plenty crazy. Cotillard and Canet are cute and handsome and oh-so-charming when they aren't playing these characters, and I love the idea of l'amour fou, but here I just wished there wasn't such excessive neurosis. A mental trip, but still very much worth a watch. 6.5/10
The Break-Up (2006) - A surprise, but certainly not a very pleasant one. Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn play a Chicago couple so impossibly hateful and spiteful that it hurts to watch. They fight in a manner that I suppose could have been bleakly comical, darkly humorous, but only if I had not been prepped to watch a more gentle romantic comedy. Thank the most horrendously misleading marketing campaign in the history of cinema. This movie was #1 the weekend it opened. I can imagine the hoards of people that left the movie feeling depressed and anxious about their own relationship status. It's like a slow-motion car accident you can't stop watching. I mean, it wasn't bad in terms of the script. The explosively bitter chemistry between Aniston and Vaughn is so needling and ripe that it does in fact achieve a level of believability that maintains my interest for the first hour or so. But then you just start questioning why anybody would want to watch all of this horrendously painful crap go down. It's simply masochistic. But Jennifer Aniston looks great, and not just because of her impossibly chic Prada dresses. Well, maybe because of the Prada dresses. But still. She looks better here than she usually does. It's a shame because there's really no reason to watch her. 3.5/10.
I hate to do this, but too bad. Who's reading this anyways? Haha!
1) Made in Brazil proves that living in Brazil may have severely negative effects on your own self-esteem. But it still may be good for your health overall...
2) Oh La La Paris has some great things to see. But dear god, don't click here. Or here. And definitely not here. Quelle skanky!
3) I'm going to watch Becoming Jane because I like Anne Hathaway better than Keira Knightley and James McAvoy more than Matthew Macfadyen (yes, that's how you spell it apparently).
Okay, so there are literally a billion denim brands out there. It's really starting to hurt my head. You can only be on top of the game for so long. But, really, there are some players who've had far too much time in the spotlight, and there are some who deserve more credit than they've been given. Here are 101 denim brands to love, hate and everything in between...
Brands I'm Beyond Sick Of: - True Religion - 7 For All Mankind
Brands That Are Loud But Don't Actually Suck: - Genetic Denim - J. Lindeberg
Brands That Just Suck: - Grey Ant - William Rast - Evisu Genes - Rich & Skinny - Meltin' Pot - People's Liberation - Taverniti So - Tag Jeans
Brands That Need To Tone It Down: - Just Cavalli - D&G - Dsquared2
Brands I Still Adore: - Earnest Sewn - Habitual - Union - Marc by Marc Jacobs
Brands That Bore Me: - Agave - Lucky Brand Jeans - Hugo Boss - Ermenegildo Zegna - Hudson
Brands I Still Want More Of: - Corpus - Cheap Monday - Diesel
Brands That Feel Good: - Loomstate - AG Adriano Goldschmied - Goldsign
Brands I Really, Really Like But Can't Afford: - Iron Army - A.P.C. - Rag & Bone - Rogan
Brands I Really, Really Like But Can't Remotely Afford: - Dior Homme - PRADA Denim - C'N'C Costume National - Helmut Lang
Brands Nobody Really Cares About: - Monarchy - Juicy Couture - Jean Shop - LA Denim Atelier - Affliction - April 77 - Brown Label - Crate - Kentucky - Red Engine - Fidelity - Denim Birds - Julian Red - Robin Jeans - TM Design London UK - Kill City - Public Opinion
Brands That Sometimes Look Good But Always Come At A Good Price: - Paper Denim & Cloth - Mavi Jeans
Brands I Like But Never Get Around To Buying: - Chip & Pepper - Levi's Capital E
Brands That Are Massively Overrated (And Overpriced): - Gilded Age - Nudie Jeans - PRPS - SBU - 5EP - Ever
Brands That Are Great But Still Massively Overpriced: - Rock & Republic - Ksubi - Acne Jeans - Anlo - Serfontaine - Kicking Mule Workshop - Stitch's - Saddlelites - Stronghold - Superfine
Like Eve in her video for "Tambourine", Nelly Furtado shows off a fantastically body-hugging Christopher Kane creation in her new video for "Do It". I like the song and I like the dress. Enough said.
Transformers (2007) - The most absolutely ridiculous/awesome movie I've seen all summer. It was such a terribly cheesy, crappy, pointless, plotless film, but it was such a treat to watch. The audience seemed to love it, or at least the first two hours of it, but then it got long and confusing and kinda of even more stupid. Director Michael Bay made a pretty good first hour, a decent second hour, but a fairly strenuous last half an hour, all of which combines for a film of absurd insanity. Megan Fox dresses the part of an action-movie girl with her magical cleavage provided by magical bras that somehow provided absurdly excellent push-up properties while completely failing to provide any coverage. That's the magic of fashion at work. She also has that slightly toothy thing going on, which combined with her eerily glassy eyes, makes her look like the stunned doll that men seem to love so much right now. Oddly, none of the males were really worth looking at, but Shia LaBeouf did provide an ample amount of comic relief. Too bad he isn't more a-dork-able. That's all beside the point. It was a fun movie for the summer. Buy popcorn (or smuggle in some refrigerated cookie dough). 6.5/10
I just saw Black Book and I was absolutely taken by the stunning Carice van Houten. I was equally smitten by Michiel Huisman (but for different, fairly obvious reasons). Apparently a heartthrob in his native Netherlands, he's not only an actor (who's in the romantic comedy Johan, which has been touring the U.S. film festival circuit), but he's also apparently the lead singer of some band called Fontane. Honestly, I don't care about the music so much. When you look like that, you can sing like Nickelback for all I care. More pics to come (including some rather skankariffic ones. God bless the Dutch!).
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