FILME: GAROTOS DE PROGRAMA

Título Original: My Own Private Idaho
Gênero: Drama
Duração: 103 minutos
Ano de Lançamento: (EUA) 1991
Estúdio: New Line Cinema
Distribuidora: Playarte
Direção: Gus Van Sant
Roteiro: Gus Van Sant, baseado em história de William Shakespeare
Produção: Anthony Brand, Allan Mindel, Laurie Parker
Elenco
River Phoenix (Mike Waters)
Keanu Reeves (Scott Favor)
James Russo (Richard Waters)
William Richert (Bob Pigeon)
Rodney Harvey (Gary)
Chiara Caselli (Carmella)
Michael Parker (Digger)
Jessie Thomas (Denise)
Flea (Budd)
Grace Zabriskie (Alena)
Tom Troupe (Jack Favor)
Udo Kier (Hans)
Sally Curtice (Jane Lightwork)
Robert Lee Pitchlynn (Walt)
Mickey Cottrell (Daddy Carroll)
Sinopse: Dois jovens garotos de programa ganham a vida nas ruas. Mike Waters é um sensível narcoléptico que sonha com a mãe que o abandonou enquanto vive às voltas com Scott Favor, obstinado filho de um rico empresário de Portland e seu grande objeto de desejo. Navegando em um mundo volátil de viciados, ladrões e mendigos, Mike leva Scott em uma jornada direto das ruas para as estradas abertas da América em busca de um lugar distante chamado “lar”.

Comentário: ótimo filme com uma grande história e diálogos incríveis.

MÚSICA: ROISIN MURPHY – OVERPOWERED

River was such a beautiful boy…  He truly was a gift.

Source : http://newslite.tv/2009/11/02/twitter-seance-contacts-spirit.html

A psychic who held a Twitter seance for Halloween, claims to have contacted Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix.

Tweance was organised by psychic Jayne Wallace who used Twitter to let people suggest questions for celebrity spirits and posted the ghoslty answers.

During the session she says Jacko told fans that he is at peace and does not think anyone was responsible for his death. He also said he is happy about the release of the ‘This is it’ movie.

Other famous dead folk she tried to reach included William Shakespeare, but unfortunately his spirit was too ‘weak’ to answer questions… maybe he is just more of a Facebook ghost.

LINKS
Tweance   

On a personal level, 1986 was a pretty big year in my life. Arguably the most significant. I was conceived and born within the confines of 1986. Pretty damn important. Despite the importance of this year, I do not remember a damn thing. Based on pictures, though, I was especially adorable.

1986 was also a ridiculously excellent year in popular culture, and making the call on what to present has been one of the hardest decisions of Twenty-Three. But, I have made the call, and so begins this adventure in self punishment.

Stand By Me is a 1986 coming of age film adapted from Stephen King’s novella, The Body. I haven’t read the novella (I do intend to) but the film is so excellent that I’m going to go out on a limb and say something that I will probably never say again in my life: it is impossible that the book could be better.

Adaptation or not, Stand By Me is a perfect balance of drama and comedy, brilliantly scripted and acted, and incredibly genuine. On the ridiculously slim chance that you dislike the film, the scenery is gorgeous so at the very least it’s pretty to look at.

The story follows four boys; Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern on an adventure to find the body of another kid their age who had gone missing a few days earlier. They rag on each other, try to beat the shit out of each other on at least one occasion, narrowly escape death, and bond with one another along the way. Each boy has a fucked up back-story with which they are trying to come to terms (with the exception of Vern, but I get the sense that he’s just pathetic and probably the kind of kid that would be in special ed if he were 12 today), and we watch them come into their own over a two-day mission through the woods.

The film switches beautifully between comedic scenes:

and some emotional scenes (some seriously good acting by River Phoenix here):

and dramatic scenes (River Phoenix as Chris Chambers seems to be considered the best performance of this film, but tell me that Corey Feldman’s Teddy Duchamp is anything other than excellent here):

And what a line with, “I’m gonna rip your head off and shit down your neck!” I wish I could have thought of shit like that when I was 12. I wish I could think of shit like that now.

I cannot possibly do the film justice. Stand By Me is not my favorite movie, but probably makes almost any top-5 list I could create. It is an amazing piece of cinema, and something I believe everybody needs to watch at least once in his/her life, if for no other reason than to be reminded of a time when you had a gang of friends who would have gotten themselves killed for you without a second thought.

And given an opportunity probably still would, because they know you for who you could be rather than who you are or aren’t.

The film’s final verbal communication with the audience is through an adult Gordie (played by Richard Dreyfus, credited as simply “The Writer”) typing the close of the memoir that Stand By Me exists as. The line reads, “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”

And it’s perfection.

Return to Paradise, starring Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche and Joaquin Phoenix

Sheriff (Vince Vaughn), Lewis (Joaquin Phoenix) and Tony (David Conrad) are three  pals who take a vacation in Malaysia. Enjoying the scene and getting a little high don’t seem like a bad idea. Tony and Sheriff need to get back to New York. They don’t hear from Lewis for a while…

Lewis is in big trouble. Drug possession is a major crime in Malaysia and he has been caught with all their drugs. Now he is facing death sentence, and being kept in prison under the most primitive conditions. Lewis’s lawyer Beth (Anne Heche) comes to New York to track the two friends down, because there is a chance to save Lewis. Since the some of the drugs were theirs, Malaysian court will not hang Lewis if they come back and admit to their crime. They will each get three years and then get their freedom back. If only one of them goes, he will get six years. However they see what an awful shape he is in through the video records. He is bordering on the verge of insanity. Now David and Sheriff have a life-altering dilemma. Should they go back, plead guilty and suffer the same conditions? Lewis seems like a lost cause and do they want to go through the same treatments and conditions? But if they don’t, their friend will be hung- because of a crime they helped commit. Beth has a very short time frame- 8 days- to persuade the two, and David has a fiancée (Vera Farmiga) that seems quite determined to keep David out of prison. Things also get more complicated as Beth and Sheriff seem to feel an attraction and connection towards each other…

It is one of the most haunting and thought-provoking movies I have seen and I find the script quite original and brilliant. The dilemma in itself is perfect. Can you risk losing 3 or 6 years of your life, trusting a government whose willing to hang a man for possessing drugs? And by drugs, we are not talking about heroin, but hashish. How much do they love their friend? But on the other hand, they are at fault as well. And by not giving up their freedom for a certain period of time, they will have caused their friend’s death. So which will it be? The agony of spending time in a jail that is disturbing enough to make their friend into someone they don’t recognize? Or will they live with the guilt for the rest of their lives?

It is an excellent what if question. The question is awfully difficult and the choices are terribly unpleasant. It is easy to say you’d of course go and help your friend, and claim you’d do the right thing, but we don’t really know if we could do it, if/when push happened to come to shove. David suffers from it. Sheriff suffers from it. The existence of dilemma makes the characters to go through a conflict. It will also show them who they really are. Beth’s situation isn’t that easy either, especially after she starts to fall for Sheriff.

The acting is just intense enough. The characters are not over or underplayed. It is one of those movies that glue you to your seat without any action scenes. If any of you have taken a disliking towards Vince Vaughn because of the same type of fast-talking comedic characters he seems to play too often (Old School, Wedding Crashers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), this movie is going to persuade you that he can act. In fact, this one is the first movie I have ever seen Vince Vaughn and I’ll always be a fan. I wish he could make more movies like this. And it is no secret that Joaquin Phoenix (The Gladiator, Walk the Line, Quills) is a great actor. Even though he is the younger brother of the deceased River Phoenix, I always seem to make the mistake of thinking Joaquin as the older one, since River died at the age of 23. Talented family.

Anyhow, please make time to see this film. It’s modest yet powerful. It’s worth it.

It’s hard to believe, but 16 years have passed since River Phoenix left this world.  Such talent, such grace, such beauty (and not just in the physical sense).  May he always rest in peace.

August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993

Ontem à noite tirei meus cisos. Lado direito, em cima e embaixo. O dente de cima tinha três raízes, era uma coisa gigantesca. E acho que de Tiradentes (Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, e não o feriado de abril) pra cá, pouca coisa mudou na incrível arte de arrancar dentes. Cá entre nós: é uma pedreiragem. Chama um mestre de obras com um alicate que ele faz isso. É uma barbaridade disfarçada de jaleco e ferramentas prateadas. Estou traumatizada.

[Falou a fresca]

.

Então hoje estou em casa. Bebendo líquidos (sem canudinho, o que pode arrebentar os pontos, então estou bebendo pelo canto da boca e babando de leve. Uma coisa linda.) e lendo um pouco.

.

.

Estou lendo Anybody Out There, da Marian Keys (autora do best seller Melancia, quem já leu?) e, peraí, NOSSA. Um big wow para esse livro. É muuuuito engraçado, eu ri demais, senti como se uma conversa minha com a Manoela, Aninha ou Teresa (totalmente nonsense e pontuadas por alguns gritinhos surpresos e caretas) tivesse sido transportada para um livro. É o máximo!

Isso é, até o fim do primeiro 1/4 do livro.

É quando você descobre o verdadeiro mote da parada, a razão de tudo. O quebra-clímax. E aí você desanda a chorar.

E deixa eu te falar: sou babaca. Choro mesmo. Me descabelo. É como seu eu estivesse lá dentro sentindo a dor dos personagens, é uma coisa incrível.

 [olhos cheios de lágrimas agora. falei que eu era babaca]

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***

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Outra coisa importante que me dei conta é que no dia 30 de outubro, em 1993, River Phoenix vivia seus últimos momentos. Fiquei pensando aqui como deve ter sido esse seu último dia (River morreu na noite de 31 de outubro, em Holywood). Ele estava gravando um filme que nunca ficou pronto, Dark Blood (e depois fiquei pensando na solução que encontraram para o último filme do Heath Ledger, que também ficou incompleto, e que convidaram vários atores para interpretar o seu personagem, numa ideia bem nonsense, mas realmente interessante). Então pensei que seria interessante lembrar do River por seu trabalho, e não por sua morte (morrer de overdose para mim é algo estúpido, não é como ser atropelado por um caminhão, não é ocasional, todo mundo sabe que pode acontecer), e coloquei o meu DVD de O peso de um passado para rodar. E da cena da dança ao som de James Taylor (I’ve seen fire, and I’ve seen rain…) pra frente, eu já começo a chorar. Ou seja, eu devo passar pelo menos 1/3 do filme chorando.

[falou a chorona]

.

;

It just feels so good, it’s sucha a great escape, you know. It really is. It’s such a great fantasy. It has nothing to do with the idea of movies, just getting lost. Having an excuse to get that far out of your head is just a really good feeling.

River Phoenix

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Então é isso, gente. Vou pra casa do namorado assistir a trilogia do Poderoso Chefão e beber coisas geladas. Beijos.

No, I’m not talking about marrying Joaquin or God-forbid becoming a River.  I’m talking about when everything you know is taken from you, how are you going to respond?  Are you going to lie down defeated?  Or will you rise from the ashes and use the situation for your higher good and for the greater good?

I have a friend who had a pivotal moment in his life.  One day he came home and his dream home that he had built in the woods for his wife and daughter burned to the ground.  Fortunately, no one was in it, but he called his wife to tell her to come home that the place had burned to the ground, and she responded, “I’m not coming home.”  So there you go, he got a one-two punch.  But from it came a beautiful gift.  One, he decided to escape the corporate rat race, moved to the West coast, and became a nutritionist/personal trainer/lifecoach.  Now he’s helping a lot of people:  this may have never happened had his life as he knew it had not collapsed around him.  He also maintains that he is always happy, he worked through his demons and came out of the ashes as a Phoenix.  This is what I am determined to do. 

I do not believe that Bad Shit does not happen for a reason.   I now have nothing – a couple nights ago I lost my purse with Everything in it.  Of course, I can replace none of it right now as I am broke and don’t have a job.  But I do have this:  people around me who love me and are giving me their encouragement, support and love.  And that is priceless.

We still miss you, River…

Travelling the world in the 90’s, I saw the great influence of American Pop Culture wherever I go, Tom Cruise’s 1986 TOP GUN poster stapled on a barber shop in Boystown, Pattaya-Thailand, Brad Pitt’s 1994 Legends of the Fall poster in a “mostly censored” movie rentals in Al Khobar-Saudi Arabia, Leonardo Dicaprio’s life-size cardboard cutout in the streets of Lan Kwai Fong-Hong Kong, 90’s Jason Priestley and Luke Perry of  90210 all over the notebook covers of teenage girls (and boys) in my highschool in Manila, I have to confess I bought my first Tiger Beat with River Phoenix cover to wrap my textbook for my drudging calculus class.

James Dean
(February 1931 – September 1955)

In “a  fun experiment” by Irina Aleksander on her article “The New Male Beauty” (June 23, 2009) for The New York Observer. She suggested that the latest “It boys”sort of look alike– High School Musical’s Zac Efron, Twilight’s Robert Pattinson, Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford, Star Trek’s Chris Pine, Hairspray’s James Marsden, Fantastic Four’s Chris Evans and the list goes on, and she calls it the NEW MALE BEAUTY: those wide-set eyes, the narrow nose that flares up at the tip just so, the childish puffy cheeks and the not-too-rugged jaw lines, topped with carefully placed strands of layered hair. (http://www.observer.com/2009/style/new-male-beauty)

Although I agree with her that this twenty-something James Dean doppelgänger’s has been dominating the box office and prime time tv this decade, whats new? Since James Dean starred in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), he’s reincarnation’s in the “Male Beauties” of the 60’s (Warren Beatty), 80’s (Tom Cruise), 90’s (Leonardo Dicaprio) has always been prominent. The 2000’s Young Hollywood cannot deny that “another swoopy-haired, pretty-faced actor dominating the box office” has started in the 50’s. Although I was born in the 80’s and Tom Cruise was the king, I acknowledge that on my list of top 10 Male beauties of all time, it’s a not a Mr. Pattinson or a Mr. Efron topping my list- its the original, Mr. Dean.

River Phoenix
(August 1970 – October 1993)

The American film actor who starred in Gus Van Sant’s 1991 Semi-documentary footage of Seattle street hustling “My Own Private Idaho” is one of the reason I fell in love with american filmmaking, not only its sexiest Homosexual road movie ever made, its casted perfectly with beautiful talented stars all at the top of their respective games. The film’s success solidified Phoenix’s image as an edgy actor with leading man potential, without even trying, he is the most authentic reincarnation of James Dean’s beauty and talent in the 90’s.

Brad Pitt
(December 1963)

Yes, it’s not a surprise Mr. Pitt’s in the list, hailed as one of the world’s most sexiest men over and over in some top 10 list all over the world. But I can’t help but put him in this one, because am only human. Most of my favorite movies of all time are starred by Brad Pitt, and three of the sexiest and most beautiful characters that the silver screen ever produced he had played – J.D., the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis’s character in the 1991 road movie “Thelma & Louise”, as Louis de Pointe du Lac in “Interview with the Vampire” (1994) – the most referenced vampire of this decades’ teen vampires and Tristan Ludlow in the 1994 drama “Legends of the Fall”, how can I resist?

Johnny Depp
(June 1963)

There is something so mysterious about this American actor that I find so mesmerizing and beautiful, after 50 films and running, from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” to “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” to “Pirates of the Caribbean”, he just makes me ask for more.

Joe Dallesandro
(December 1948)

Aesthetically speaking if the Greek philosophers will have a perfect mold for the male beauty, it will be “Little Joe”s face. Thanks to Andy Warhol, the 70’s underground films will always have their nude James Dean. Although he never become a mainstream film star like Mr. Dean, Mr. Phoenix, Mr. Depp and Mr. Pitt –Mr. Dallesandro is a sex symbol of the 20th century in his own right, and an iconic beauty on my list. Like Mr. Phoenix he starred as as a beautiful teenage street hustler in the 1970’s film Flesh and hailed as one of the 10 most beautiful men Scavullo had ever photographed. As a photographer how can i disagree?

Gabriel Aubry
(January 1976)

“Quick, name one male model.” asked by Lauren Streib on her article “The World’s Most Successful Male Models” (May, 07 2008) for Forbes Magazine. Gabriel Aubry, Mark Fisher, Marlon Teixeira, Jon Kortajarena, and Greg Knudson and yes, Fabio doesn’t count. In my personal list of Top 10 Male Beauties of all time, it only make sense that half of them are models and three out of five are signed with Wilhelmina Models in New York City. All five of them have the movie star good looks minus the Zoolander ego that plagued most male models this decade.

Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, the only male model to ever appear on the cover of Uomo Vogue while appearing in 4 different campaigns at the same time, in the same magazine. Aubry is a Canadian male model, that has been the face (and body) of blue chip clients like Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Valentino, achieved supermodel status after modeling for Hugo Boss.

Mark Fisher
(January 1976)

One source of male beauties for me back in college are the men’s fashion magazines, I have converted my room in a mini-magazine library and nobody can avoid all the muses for more than four decades of the legendary photographer Bruce Weber, Mark Fisher is my favorite. Mr. Fisher is an American model best known for his campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, Polo, Versace and Ralph Lauren. In my book he is one of the original male models that carries the James Dean charm without even knowing it.
Fisher was born in Detroit, but grew up in Atlanta and considers himself a little boy from the South.

Marlon Teixeira
(September 1993)

Signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Teixeira appeared on Dior Homme Campaign, the provocative Diesel Ad shot by Terry Richardson, the face of the 2009 Christian Dior Summer/Spring collection to name a few. The brazilian beauty is half Portuguese and has Indian and Japanese origins and at the very young age and early of his career he is becoming one of the top working male model now.

Jon Kortajarena
(May 1985)

Those chiseled cheekbones, full pout and sexy stare has placed Spanish male model on my top 10 male beauties, signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Kortajarena has been the face of Just Cavalli, Tom Ford, Bally, Etro, Trussardi and now on his film debut on the upcoming directorial debut of designer TOM FORD “A Single Man” (2009) with Colin Firth, and Julianne Moore.

Greg Knudson
(November 1978)

Whenever people ask me who’s my favorite model I ever photographed, this American male model, native of california always come to mind, I never thought I’ll ever meet a real life James Dean in my lifetime, but I did, and his body covered by Oriental tattoos of his gang membership in his teen years, a troubled teen like the characters that James Dean, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp would usually play in their films and his striking resemblance to Brad Pitt is uncanny.

Excerpt from my book Acknowledgement “STARK”: I remember buying my first photo book, Just Between Us by LA photographer Greg Gorman, when I was in Fine Arts college majoring painting. I will never forget that, because I had never before spent so much money on a book; but that day and from this day on I knew it was all worth it. The moment I saw Greg Knudson on the book cover in the display, I considered him the most beautiful person on the planet, and I still feel he is.

When I shot him in LA last year—8 years after I bought the book—Greg told me I might be the last photographer he would ever work with since he is thinking of retiring; he has worked with most of the top photographers in the 1990’s. Now he is gracing my photo book, and I am elated.

As we all know River Phoenix is one of those people who left this Earth too soon. He died in October of 1993 of an overdose in Hollywood, just when his acting career was taking off. While he is one of my 90s fashion icons, he also embodies what “grunge” means to me.

You will be missed…