'L'Avventura'- a little drawn out but beautiful. Loved the stark ending.
It is beautiful in large part due to Monica Vitti
'The Strangers' - Actually quite tense. Great score by tomandandy (can they do no wrong?) and use of sound and atmosphere. Loved the masks and reason for the killing- "because you were home." !!!!
and
'If....' (Lindsay Anderson, 1968)- Some great moments (slo mo look of desire between boy and gymnast) and an ending that sticks with you.
Also features this great track:
Working to the bone these days at the hospital. One old lady really got to me. She was shaking and begging me to show her the way home.
Saw M83 last night at The Mod Club. It was a beautiful show.
The vid for their single "graveyard girl":
Woke up and watched 'Hellraiser' for the first time. Loved it. Creative, dark and hot and pushing the envelope. Why don't they make horror movies like that now?
Sigur Ros has a new album coming out. Too bad the new video and song sucks. A departure in a bad way. I love them and the work of Ryan Mcginley (and you think pairing the two would create a dream team) but go to their website and check out the vid for yourself. You will be disappointed. Hopefully the rest of the album doesn't sound like "Gobbledigook."
I finally watched 'Nightmare on Elm Street' for the first time late last night. Loved the imaginative dream sequences and blurring of reality and dreams. Johnny Depp was looking pretty good getting sucked into the bed by Freddy!
Philip-Lorca diCorcia is a photographer I have just discovered and here are a few examples of his work (from his "Hustlers" series). From 1990 to ’92. DiCorcia photographed male prostitutes in Los Angeles at the height of the conservative crackdown on “indecent” art and in the wake of the Reagan Adminstration’s tardy response to the AIDS crisis. Apparently he cheekily paid them with money he’d received from a 1989 National Endowment for the Arts grant- brilliant! I love how the series blends and blurs the line bewteen a documentary perspective on hustlers and the Hollywood myth of the male prostitute. I like the cold, detached feel.
Last night I finally caught 'Water Lilies' at Inside Out. I meant to see it at the Toronto Film Fest then at the Cinefranco Film Fest but missed out. It played to a full theatre of mostly lesbians. And I loved the film! It is beautifully shot and well acted. I really appreciate the attention to little details and the importance of gesture in the film. Why does everything need to be spelled out in North American cinema? 'Water Lilies' also features a great score by Para One, known for his electro sound on Institubes. http://www.myspace.com/paraone
I also finally payed a visit to the Glad Day Bookshop- the first Canadian and second longest surviving lesbian and gay bookstore worldwide. I don't know what took me so long. Though it is a bit cramped between the shelves, it is a nice feeling. http://www.gladdaybookshop.com/
Check it out if you are ever in Toronto.
I picked up C. Bard Cole's 'Briefly Told Lives' based on Dennis Cooper's praise for it on the back cover and I can't put it down! The story "Used to Dream" really grabbed me.
I also picked up the new 'Remixed and Remastered' dvd of one of my old favs, Gregg Araki's 'The Living End.' Can't wait to see (and hear) the fresh, new print.
Dandelion pollen was drifting around on the breeze today. I had my interview for next year. One more year of film school left and then the real world. How scary. Anyway, you submit two scripts and have an interview and the profs select who gets to direct next year. My interview went well. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I picked up the new Presets album. I'll let you know what I think.
