Fashionistas Of The Month (Oct' 09)

Every month I will be adding an image of everyday fashion at its best (male/female, and any age as fashion embalms us all).  These will be images taken by the fantastic Scott Schuman (see link at post footer).

The first was taken in London.  I love how the different textures are displayed with an easy assuredness, almost nonchalence with the underlying white vest top providing a platform for vivid and imaginative outlayers.

P.S. shoes like those should be curated!

This was taken on Rue St. Honore in Paris.

The white vest top again provides the rythmic underlay, but here the richest blues caress and overlap each other resulting in an opulent, cerulean cool.

The sandals finish off the outfit well in this instance.  Most men will generally wear sandals (desultorily) with any piece of clothing resulting in a completely distasteful look, but these are elegant and restrained which helps...

Many Thanks to Scott Schuman (thesartorialist.blogspot.com)

Won't Be Remembering The Name (Fame)

Remember, remember, remember my name... So the cast of a retrodden musical plead. But unfortunately, I have to say, I do not think I will be.

Fame, the re-make hit our screens earlier this month.  For me, this was a big deal.

I loved the original and I was in raptures over the West-End stage play, so waiting in cinema, I was eagerly anticipating and mentally rehearsing what and how Tancharoen (director) was going to deliver. 

Sadly, he didn’t and couldn't.  His background in made-for-tv concert films meant that cinematic flare was missing, sapping potential dramatic moments straight from the offset.  The picture from beginning to end was a let-down. If you had walked into the cinema with a blindfold on, you would have had no clue as to what it was you were watching. Assuredly, there were several ‘Fame-esque’ moments (sassy dance routines, and fame-hungry characters) but all in all, I would say, it was a pitiful attempt at trying to re-hype old buzz.

The film revolves around a handful of students, all trying to better their craft and 'make it big'. For me, none of the characters stood out, or ‘shone’, so if it were an audition, none of them passed the test. The acting is mediocre and the storylines, passable. I don’t know what went wrong with this film as it had such a great base to work from.  Perhaps, without sounding too cynical, the problem is in whom the intended target audience is.  I think the only thing that I did enjoy ever so fleetingly, were the actual dance performances. The dancing was seductive, enticing and at times inventive with the singing leaving me with goosepumps.

All-in-all Fame misses a trick by reaching out to a far younger audience than previous iterations.  I think it is safe to say that sometimes (nay, most of the time), classics are best left alone.

So sorry Fame, but I won’t be remembering your name.

Grade: C- (4.5/10)

(Thrills) of Summer

An un-romantic film from a broken-hearted guy’s perspective. As a woman, I never knew men could be so emotional. Lines such as ‘it’s not what they said, it’s the way they said it’ I thought, were only a part of a woman’s vocabulary. How wrong I was.

(500) Days of Summer, contrary to its name, is not about the longest heat-wave known to man. It is in fact an un-conventional film spreading a conventional message, ‘love hurts.’

Tom (played by a charismatic Joseph Gordon-Levitt) falls for his bosses new assistant, Summer (the glorious Zooey Deschanel). For him, its all hearts and roses, for her its ‘a bit of fun’ – (a line uttered by many a male). So when she ends things, we can’t help but to feel a little heartbroken ourselves.

The film is cleverly directed, bouncing back and fourth through Tom’s 500 days with Summer, much to the likeness of when you analyse every little detail of where the relationship went sour. You see things through Tom’s eyes. You see what he thinks, and what actually happens, again something that I think we are all guilty for. A terrific scene playing out to the sound of Regina Spektor's Hero is one of the most poignant this year.

This un-love story (as I like to call it) shows us ‘relationships’ for what they are and both Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are ace at playing their respective roles. Although for some Deschanel's 'kookiness' is not a new direction. We sympathise with them, we love them and we dislike them often at the same. It’s fresh, it’s witty and is definitely one to watch over and over with the girlies (and guys?!). But, oh wait, it isn’t a romcom. Or is it? A fateful romance dressed in rom-clothes perhaps?

Grade: B+ (8/10)

Glasgows Fashionista's must wait another year...

Having missed London Fashion Week this year, Glasgow would have be have been the next stop on the UK calendar (11-14th Nov).  However due to event partners, The Lighthouse, going into administration the event has been postponed until 27th October 2010...

The next stop on the world conveyor belt is Tokyo which premieres from 18th Jan.  More on that closer to the time.

For now a couple of photos of some of the standout designers from last year.

Ricky Sarkany

Benito Fernandez

N.B. I will publish posts on Men's Fashion as soon as the season starts in Paris next year!

Five Wes Anderson Moments

How we love a list in this country.  So neat and organised.  So quaint and accessible.

5) Hotel Chevalier





This short film which preceded the feature length, The Darjeeling Limited, is probably the better film.  The world in an oyster fits into these 12 minutes cohesively and ultimately thrillingly.

4) Owen Wilson's Guru Moment



3) Sixteen times a week...



2) The Jaguar Shark



One of his most moving...

1) Rushmore Revenge



Max and Herman ramp it onwards and upwards.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is released this forthcoming Friday. I'll have more on it in the next few days. Enjoy!

This Is It

I want to be hypercritical, but with mini nugget-like gems released every so often perhaps its best to hold back with any prior reservations...

Thirst Notice

Just a quick point regarding Thirst!

A list of cinema chains not showing this film.

Odeon
Vue
AMC
Cinema De Lux
Cineworld

A hearty round of applause to Cornerhouse (Manchester, of course) to have the decency to show the film. Focus Features what is going on??! Just one screen somewhere in the Midlands would suffice...

What To Watch (12th Oct)

It has been 6 months since I went on an unannounced and insouciant hiatus, but like the lover who just can't stay away, I just can't stay away.

Moving swiftly on to the weeks releases...

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (dir. Gilliam)

Without focussing on what we all tragically know, plaudits must go to Gilliam on finishing a film which he had every right to shut down. It would be expedient to note Depp, Farrell and Law filled in the eponymous doctor role (incidentally donating their fee to Ledger's daughter, Matilda).

The resulting picture is likely to maintain Gilliam's knack of unsettlingly vivid imagery but ultimately perhaps one in which an inculcation of the director's imaginarium of ideas, is one too bloated to swallow whole.

Thirst (dir. Park Chan-wook)

In all seriousness vampire movies are not all they are perceived to be. Recently comedy vampires and teenage vampires have been bestowed upon esurient, blood thirsty audiences gargling before the next available bite.

I would like to exculpate Sarah Michelle Gellar. But Stephanie Meyer is as much a culprit as the aforementioned 'teenage slayer'.

BUT! This is Park Chan-wook! The man who gave us the splendour which was Oldboy. I expect a fresh, quirky and almost balefully witty tale. Not, however, for the faint hearted.

HOME ENTERTAINMENT OF THE WEEK

Synecdoche, New York (dir. Kaufman)


It's difficult to describe the greatness of a film whose unwillingness to subscribe to the perceived standard, which is 'great', belies its position as a newcomer to the term 'classic'.

Synecdoche, pronounced Synecdoche (sic) is (in the daintiest of nutshells) the story of a writer seeking to tell truth and reality in a new theatre production. What follows is really a deontological study of ambition and missed opportunities (all part of the nature of humanity) leading to refined redemption.

No doubt this is a tough, almost infuriating watch as scenes flutter in and out of hazy dreamlike segues without a drop in dizzyingly intricate tone (the animated sequences just one such example). You will need to watch the film again and again just to luxuriate in its finer details. Some will call it insipid and overly indulgent. For me, it was transcendental.

Grade: A (10/10)