Supermodel Documentary Hour! From Superstar. Remember this? I forgot how much I used to like this movie. This clip was much needed since I've been feeling sort of down lately. Got the post-school-finding-life's-purpose blues, you know. Saw My Date with Drew on TV tonight, it was pretty cute.
I love seeing positive representation of women in the media. Feminism doesn't seem to be doing so well here in Hong Kong; I've been hanging out with a new friend, the other day she complimented me, telling me that I was really funny, adding 'and I thought humour was only a male gene'. A red light went off in my head, there's something up if there is a lesbian walking around your city thinking women can't be funny. Something terrible is obviously up. How can little girls aspire to become their funniest selves when they don't know women can be funny? We need more positive female role models on our screens, so girls know they can grow up to be cool, funny, powerful, strong, smart, opinionated, creative, or just generally awesome. Via Jezebel.
Marwencol is a documentary about the fantasy world of Mark Hogancamp. After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark builds a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. Mark populates the town he dubs "Marwencol" with dolls representing his friends and family and creates life-like photographs detailing the town's many relationships and dramas. Playing in the town and photographing the action helps Mark to recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds of the attack.
Saw Force of Nature tonight, the documentary about Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, it was pretty good. I'm all about this dude, he's so cool, and using Arcade Fire's Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) during the closing credits is full of swag.
And since there's no one else around We let our hair grow long And forget all we used to know Then our skin gets thicker From living out in the snow
This is the poster art for the upcoming film For Colored Girls, the illustration is done by Marion Bolognesi. It's so great to see illustrations being used, it's completely striking in a sea of busy photographed movie posters.
Free time is awesome. Today I made an essential Artful Costumes film list on Mubi.com, complete with snazzy pictures, check it out, I had a lot of fun making it. I felt like I was putting my research skills to good self-indulgent use, obviously I haven't seen all 123 films so I had to look them up. I've also been reading a lot, right now I'm almost finished On Beauty by Zadie Smith, it took a while to get into but now I'm really enjoying myself.
Gregg Araki is a crazy bastard. I watched The Doom Generation tonight, it's one of those films that descends into gruesome bathos with it's many incredulous scenes of violence, I feel sick, or maybe it's all that coffee ice cream I had, but, argh, that last scene, intense. Along with the violence, the film is filled with so much delightful trash and kitsch and of course, Rose McGowan, she's been my favourite since Jawbreaker, I love her, everything that comes out of her mouth in this movie is pure gold. One last thing, there's cameos by Margaret Cho, Parker Posey and Heidi Fleiss.
Stills from Black Narcissus, 1947. I used to be obsessed with nuns and this movie seems to have that flavour of kitsch that I find so delectable. Tempted to watched this instead of cleaning my room.
This morning I went to see Catherine Breillat's new film adaptation of The Sleeping Beauty, it was so much to take in at 9 in the morning, the subway hadn't even started running yet and I was already in the theatre, I felt like a real cinephile. Breillat has such a gift for enchanting and the film is so wonderfully indulgent in parts and why shouldn't it be? It is afterall a story of a young girl's coming of age through a hundred years of imagination, fantasy and adventure. It's a shame there aren't more stills on the internet yet because these really don't do the film justice, so don't judge it by these pictures.
Women Without Men has been on my Mubi watch list since forever ago and I still haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. But, today I googled some stills from the film and aren't they breathtaking? Women Without Men follows the lives of four women in Iran is directed by acclaimed visual artist Shirin Neshat.
There are two films I really want to see for TIFF this year, the first one is All About Love by the acclaimed Hong Kong New Wave director Ann Hui, she is well known for her directorial work in Night and Fog, Boat People and The Way We Are. Hui's new film is about two queer women in Hong Kong, how could I not support that? It's pretty groundbreaking and gutsy considering how conservative Hong Kong culture is and the fact that the film won't be able to be distributed in China as they have a ban on films dealing with gay subject matter. The second film is !Women Art Revolution - A Secret History, it's "filmed over four decades, this inspiring cultural history tracks the struggles and breakthroughs of women artists from Judy Chicago to Guerilla Girls to Miranda July and more".
My friend Markus and I went to see Joan River's documentary last night and I was blown away. It's amazing to get a glimpse behind the legend that is Joan Rivers. Her work ethic is insane, that woman works incredibly hard and you really get a sense of how brave she is for working as a female comedian in the 1950's and also now, continually doing stand-up well into her 70's. Not to mention Joan Rivers is fucking hilarious. Go see it, tip: Varsity is like half off on Tuesday, how did I not know this? The poster art is really beautiful too, it's classy like the wood paneled phone she uses throughout the film.
I went to see The Last Mistress tonight at Cinematheque Ontario which is fast becoming my favourite place to watch a film. Anyways, the film is incredible, so elegant, it revolves around passion and inevitability and is complete with the most alluring cast imaginable. Asia Argento is amazing as La Vellini, watch her seduce, make out with her maid, suck the blood out of her lover's wound, cut his cheek with the knife in her hair and skillfully deliver bon mots such as 'Je déteste tout ce qui est féminin sauf chez les jeunes hommes/I hate anything feminine, except in young men, of course'. The whole thing is beautiful, and if nothing else watch it just to hear the sigh inducing French names: Ryno de Marigny, Hermangarde, Vicomte de Prony.
It's an image of cruelty and suffering, but also the beauty of man, the beauty of suffering, of the stoic suffering of a young man. - Catherine Breillat.
Free time is awesome. Today I made an essential Artful Costumes film list on Mubi.com, complete with snazzy pictures, check it out, I had a lot of fun making it. I felt like I was putting my research skills to 
Gregg Araki is a crazy bastard. I watched The Doom Generation tonight, it's one of those films that descends into gruesome bathos with it's many incredulous scenes of violence, I feel sick, or maybe it's all that coffee ice cream I had, but, argh, that last scene, intense. Along with the violence, the film is filled with so much delightful trash and kitsch and of course, Rose McGowan, she's been my favourite since Jawbreaker, I love her, everything that comes out of her mouth in this movie is pure gold. One last thing, there's cameos by Margaret Cho, Parker Posey and Heidi Fleiss.
Stills from Black Narcissus, 1947.
This morning I went to see Catherine Breillat's new film adaptation of The Sleeping Beauty, it was so much to take in at 9 in the morning, the subway hadn't even started running yet and I was already in the theatre, I felt like a real cinephile.
Stills from Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. I'mma see this next, I love a good period film so hard.
Women Without Men has been on my Mubi watch list since forever ago and I still haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. But, today I googled some stills from the film and aren't they breathtaking? 
My friend Markus and I went to see Joan River's documentary last night and I was blown away. It's amazing to get a glimpse behind the legend that is Joan Rivers. Her work ethic is insane, that woman works incredibly hard and you really get a sense of how brave she is for working as a female comedian in the 1950's and also now, continually doing stand-up well into her 70's. Not to mention Joan Rivers is fucking hilarious. Go see it, tip: Varsity is like half off on Tuesday, how did I not know this? The poster art is really beautiful too, it's classy like the wood paneled phone she uses throughout the film.
I went to see The Last Mistress tonight at Cinematheque Ontario which is fast becoming my favourite place to watch a film. Anyways, the film is incredible, so elegant, it revolves around passion and inevitability and is complete with the most alluring cast imaginable. Asia Argento is amazing as La Vellini, watch her seduce, make out with her maid, suck the blood out of her lover's wound, cut his cheek with the knife in her hair and skillfully deliver bon mots such as 'Je déteste tout ce qui est féminin sauf chez les jeunes hommes/I hate anything feminine, except in young men, of course'. The whole thing is beautiful, and if nothing else watch it just to hear the sigh inducing French names: Ryno de Marigny, Hermangarde, Vicomte de Prony.
