I suddenly found myself with a basketful of things to share, so here is a potpourri of links to explore in more depth:

The great Jerry Saltz, who has been a tireless champion for gender equality in the visual arts, has done his best with the 2010 Whitney Biennial: 52 percent women! Regina Hackett at Another Bouncing Ball and Jerry himself at New York Magazine.

Museums using new media: Some are farther along than others. Judith H. Dobrzynski at Real Clear Arts. On that same topic, if you are not familiar with Art Babble, time to discover this great site.

An online celebration at the New York Times of the remarkable Wim Wenders film, Wings of Desire. Leave your comment. I did.

The long term costs of the recent (and now ended) era of museum expansion (AKA “the Bilbao effect.”) Robin Pogrebin in the New York Times.

Blogger extraordinaire Maureen Doallas has highlighted me and my work in a posting that left me feeling speechlessly honored. Writing Without Paper.

And I can’t end today without thanking my children for sending us a sumptuous bouquet of Peruvian lilies. Thirty years ago Dave and I began this joint adventure called partnership, and the three extraordinary humans who came about because of that decision so long ago are and will always be the most miraculous gifts of my lifetime.

I love this movie…

Poster from Wings of Desire (via Wikipedia)

My son came home with the new Them Crooked Vultures CD (John Paul Jones – Led Zeppelin, Dave Grohl- Foo Fighters/Nirvana, Josh Homme – Queens of the Stone Age).  It’s interesting.  I enjoyed it!  Their last song on the CD ends with a circus song that sounds just like the beginning of the Nick Cave concert on Wings of Desire, which I watched last night and am going to have to watch again.  It’s absolutely mesmerizing and reminds me a little of City of Angels.   And it’s no wonder!  When I went to get the IMDB link for “City of Angels”, I noticed the Director for “Wings of Desire” was the writer for “City of Angels”.    Wilhem based the idea of angels becoming human off of Rilke’s poetry.   It’s the existential angle – going from one who observes and preserves reality to one who is fully willing to participate in it.  The fallen angel, so to speak.

Anyway, it’s been a while since I’d thought about Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.  It was fun to watch their concert on “Wings of Desire” and its’ good to know they are still around!

Last Saturday, Kristen and I were talking about the music history workshops we taught with some bad-ass GRCA alums for the Girls Now! conference. As you can imagine, it’s hard to pare down nearly a century’s worth of female contributions to popular music into a 75-minute PowerPoint presentation and have it be fun and interactive as well. Thus, we made sure to include many music videos and performance clips that hopefully engaged our girl attendees. One such clip was Christina Aguilera’s Grammy performance of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” apparently beloved by Patti Smith. Afterwards, Kristen mentioned that it was possible to do an entire section on cover songs and wished we had more time to highlight and discuss more interesting examples.

Too right, Kristen. In fact, I think I started this section of the blog to cull together noteworthy cover songs, as I think covers are fascinating. What does song selection and interpretation say about the artist? How do their personae, generic alignments, and identity markers give the source material new meaning? What does it mean for Solange Knowles — aka Ms. “Fuck the Industry (Signed Sincerely)” — to cover an indie rock song like Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness Is The Move,” which was originally inspired by Wim Wenders’s Wings of Desire and includes a sample of “Bumpy’s Lament” in her version? What does it mean for Cat Power to adopt the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” as a signature song and create several arrangements of it ranging from stripped-down folk to soulful rave-up? How does Tori Amos blow apart Eminem’s misogynistic murder fantasy in ”‘97 Bonnie and Clyde” by orienting herself as the dead wife in the trunk? 

Tori Amos as Bonnie; image courtesy of hereinmyhead.com

(Note: For further insight into the last song mentioned, I recommend reading Lori Burns and Alyssa Woods’s “Authenticity, Appropriation, Signification: Tori Amos on Gender, Race, and Violence in Covers of Billie Holiday and Eminem.” Also, I might need to get around to unpacking the cover art for Amos’s Strange Little Girls at some point.)

Continuing why I hope to be an on-going discussion, tonight I selected two songs originally recorded by James Brown and Sam Cooke. ”It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” has always seemed to me to be an ode to chauvinism. ”A Change Is Gonna Come,” however, is an anthem for social change that came to define the Civil Rights Movement. But think about what additional meanings these songs may have when performed by Christina Aguilera and Sharon Jones.  

so the three films i’m going to talk about are (in the order they are to be viewed, not in the order in which i love them):

in the mood for love

marie antoinette

wings of desire

these films are all favorites of mine, all time favorite favorites, best movies ever and i can’t pick which one would be my all time #1. it’s too hard. they have influenced how i think, feel, dress and view the world. i could do a full on blog for each one. the only way to settle it would be to have them fight for my favor but no matter who won i would be disappointed. sigh.

so instead i’m going to focus on the amazing fashion/style of each movie and talk about how to pick out an outfit from each one. now, this is an imaginary internet shopping outfit, i’ll list real prices but nothing is really affordable. i imagine the outfits i pick out to be like inspiration for you to go out and find your own at your local vintage shops and nordstrom racks.

i wish, sometimes, that this blog was one of those blogs where i am like a maria von trapp of  fashion and i can say “hey! remember that amazing white coat rachel weiss wore in the brothers bloom???? well, here is how to make it in a half hour with the fabric from your old sofa and six nickels”. but guys, i am just not that girl. so enjoy.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

as i mentioned before, this is a movie that is seriously up for best movie ever award. it’s so beautiful and tragic with the most amazing costumes and music that it might melt you into the floor. it did me. hong kong 1960’s. hot, hot, hot tony leung. unrequited love that is so soft you can barely hear it but it’s deafening. is this another one of my quiet films? you betcha.

wong kar wai, i think, is all about the skin tight, crazy, crazy tight cheongsam. it’s what he puts all his ladies in and they all look amazing. if you are going to try this look, be sure to either have gone to the gym and dieted for at least two years before. like that all grapefruit diet. it was really hard to find cheongsam that didn’t look like bad prom night, but here it is a beautiful one clocking in at $129.99:

if you are looking for a gorgeous cheongsam of your own, please do not be deterred by the picture of paris hilton that instantly pops up when you google “cheongsam”. there are a lot of affordable ones and to achieve the full wong kar wai treatment, you’ll have to take it to be tailored. but you really can’t argue with those lines. they are beautiful. from here i’ll take you to proper accessories to give yourself the look of the heroine mrs. chan at the climax of the movie: stark reds and blacks.

stella mccartney red trench for $658. love those classic sharp lapels.

14k white gold and black pearl dangle earrings for $312

a black miu miu leather nappa shoulder bag for  $1,150

and dont’ forget your pumps! beautiful christian louboutin new decoltissimo 85 patent pumps for $565:if you want to go chan to the max, you’ll also need some silk stockings, a beehive and some killer black eyeliner. i suggest calvin klien for lingerie, mac for make up and some aqua net for hair (i used to have a roommate with a beehive and she swore by that stuff).

MARIE ANTOINETTE

so if you have been reading this blog for a bit you will know i am obsessed with sofia coppola’s marie antoinette. i have already talked a lot about how incredibly ornate yet quiet this film is. it’s really astonishing. and it is so, so beautiful and detailed. eating with your eyes, i call that. but i’ll shut up now and let you see for yourself, if you have not already.

now, all the blogs and magazine articles i checked out in prep for this blog in regards to marie antoinette inspired fashion, which seemed to peak around 2006 (but in my opinion is always in style) were all like “OMG! don’t over do it, pick ONE color you like or do ONE loud thing that is MA inspired and tone the rest down or you’ll look costume-y.” and you know what i say to that? FUCK THAT SHIT. i think if you’re going to pull together a marie antoinette inspired number you better look DECKED. it’s marie antoinette for crying out loud! i don’t want to see that you put on a jeweled cameo necklace over your black turtle neck because you were “inspired” by marie antoinette. no, no. if you are channeling the great MA, you better turn it out. that being said, i give you my marie antoinette outfit….waist up first:

first, pompadour your hair until it looks like candy floss.

then some tarina tarantino tulle flower clips scattered about in baby blue, clocking in at $70

pretty dangling pink earrings from betsy johnson for $41

next, a stack of fake pearls. necklaces, from top: pearl-and-chain necklace, $1488, pearl-and-safety-pin necklace, $963, tom binns; single-strand pearls, price upon request, mikimoto. stolen from marie claire, i think.

personal fave, the ostrich-feather vest, $3,275,  givenchy by riccardo tisci

underneath which will live this beautiful knit corset by ditu who only gives you prices and sizes on requests.

now waist down all valentino, poor you…

valentino red silk organza miniskirt for $495

then scare yourself up some baby blue tights and finally, finally, stuff your pretty manicured tootsies into…

these beauties are hot off the spring 2010 runway and i don’t have a price. i’m guessing they will cost you some kind of organ or access to your dna.

last step, powder your nose and rouge your cheeks. mac can help there (they don’t pay me to promote them so hard and i don’t work there, i swear, i just believe in the goodness of mac). and you have marie ala 2009. voila!

WINGS OF DESIRE

i feel like wim wenders, the director of wings of desire, would not be super happy to see his beloved ode to berlin end up on a blog that is mostly-ish about fashion but, whatever. this film isn’t especially fashion heavy like the other two but it is so beautiful, every word, every picture. it’s a love story to a city. it’s a love story to love. it’s a love story to life.

mostly black and white, it will occasionally blast into color and give you the greatest of shocks. “the world is such an amazing place!”,  you will think, “i didn’t know!”. set with adoration in the bleakness of berlin late 80’s (with a surprise nick cave guest spot! could this movie BE cooler?) it follows the story of an angel who becomes fascinated  by a circus performer, the etherial marion the acrobat. played beautifully by solveig dommartin. columbo is also in it. it’s amazing. there’s really no key outfit to this movie, just some fun bright circus colors, the colors of berlin and the graffiti and the architecture there. so i just had fun playing with what i thought marion would dress like.

it was hard to post something that didn’t look like porn off the american apparel website (which, sadly and gladly? i don’t know how i feel about that place, is where you go for 80’s inspired basic pieces) but i found this cute red turtle neck dress for $32…but remember when buying from AA always buy like 6 sizes bigger then you are. okay, enough with the AA frowning upon.

i loved this beautiful, exquisite burberry coat (can i get enough burberry coats? no i cannot) in purple over the red, having fun with my circus theme but not going too far. plus, marion wears trenches in the film. everyone wears trenches in the film. this coat is $1,084.

next we got some steve madden duffled boots with a fun fringe that isn’t too western for europe i don’t think clocking in at $159.90

finally, accessories. well, she’d need some sensible black stockings for that outfit because berlin is COLD in the winter time, she could pop into KaDeWe for those suckers and you could fly to berlin and do the same (or go to macys). marion loves big red lips, so again i’d send her to mac, because they do that well for people who understand lipstick (not me, sad to report).  then we have silver art deco earrings by hq design for $157

and last but not least for that wild red, pre-tori amos (tori amos copied it) hair i have some fun peacock feathers. marion needs feathers because she is an acrobat and closer to angels then she knows.

even though this picture looks very fancy, i can guarantee that YOU who are probably closer to bankruptcy then a glam career with the circus, can make that headband for under $7. why do i say this? because despite my earlier “i’m not maria von trapp” bit, i did make two feather headbands with a friend this summer that are NICER then the ones i see for sale for $30 and we made them for under $5. so there’s my dab of thrify this post. and here’s my dab of columbo, who really makes the film.

and please, please, pretty please, go check out these movies if you have not yet! they are so wonderful and beautiful and will make you feel all kinds of sad pangs and wild joys. if you watch them for the first time, i would love to hear you thoughts.

ain’t art grand?

Hello! It’s Sunday. And Sundays, well, Sundays are boring, right? Right.

Went and saw 2012 yesterday, as promised. It was, well… Hmm.

My first reaction to it: Ehhhh. Not horrible, but not great. It’s exactly what’s advertised on the tin, I’ll put it this way. You’ve got a lot of real actors doing some cartoon shit while the world goes to hell all around them. The cast, when you think about it, is actually quite impressive. Also, Woody Harrelson’s in the mix too.

My second reaction to it: Why the fuck didn’t this come out in the middle of the summer?

Third reaction: Comedy of the year, hands down.

Especially in a year when, if you think about it, the big comedy was… what? The Hangover? Right? Get serious. I never saw the movie, I won’t lie, but for a lot of reasons. Primarily, things like the trailer. Did you see it? It looks like it was made for retarded boys. But, you know what’s even worse than the trailer? Listening to people who actually liked the movie. They sound like retarded boys, don’t they? Anyway.

But I really feel like 2012 deserves a good proper Counterforce review. It really does. It’s really our kind of movie, and I mean that in the best and worst possible ways. I don’t know that I’m the man for that job. Benjamin Light, I’m looking at you. Are you the man for that job?

Anyway, I went and saw the film yesterday with Conrad Noir and walking out of the theater, still buzzing from all that ridiculousness, we saw this:

And we thought, “Dear God, who gave that man wings.” Much less Wings Of Desire and much more Red Bull: The Movie.

But then we got into a little conversation, talking about this and that and action heroes of the 80s, mostly cause we’ve been watching a lot of that horrendous/wonderful action movie fare from that decade, and we were talking about how action stars back then were so… foreign seeming. And maybe that contributed a lot to their allure. Maybe it also made some of the ridiculousness easier to stand, too?

For example there, Benjamin Light and were discussing a week or so ago what a remake of The Terminator would look like – since the franchise is up for sale, and should be sold to Joss Whedon, of course, cause why not? – And I brought up the question, “Does the killer robot from the future have to be Austrian?” Commander Light emphatically assured he that it indeed had to be. I’m taking his word for it.

Anyway, so Conrad and I, discussing action stars today, talking about guys like Dwayne Johnson, and how, in our minds, he’s not really latched on with America. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the idea of a “non-conventional” action star quite a bit, i.e. a non white guy running around screaming at people, doing high kicks, and blowing copious amounts of shit up. So why hasn’t “The Rock” caught on with us? I posit two possibilities:

1. In a grab for “credibility” or attempting to “not being as big a joke as he is,” he ditched his silly little wrestling moniker, “The Rock,” and went with his real name: Dwayne Johnson. Except, we can’t root for a guy named Dwayne.

2. Not foreign enough? Perhaps? I suggest investigating this has merit. Especially since it seems American action-loving fans get a bigger hard on from a ponce like Jason Statham than Dwayne Johnson.

Then, walking out of the theater, Conrad and I were looking at the various posters on display, the coming soons and the current releases. Part of me still wants to see This Is It. I’m a Michael Jackson fan, I won’t hide it.  But I’m also a huge Richard Matheson fan, and while I have serious reservations about the movie, I also kind of want to see The Box.

But I don’t know that I trust Richard Kelly anymore. Donnie Darko was okay when it first came out, before you put it through any real tests of serious thought or logic and saw through it’s masturbatory philophosizing. It’s a glorified remake of Last Temptation Of Christ that doesn’t fully pan out. But Kelly also went on to make – speaking of Dwayne Johnson – the gloriously bad Southland Tales.

Look, I’m not going to talk about the Philip K. Dick pastiche that was Southland Tales here. I’m just… not. I’m not going to do it. All I’ll say is I went into that movie wanting to like it. And I sit here now feeling like I’m a veteran of that war. It’s like Richard Kelly is George W. Bush and I was some dumb kid who supported the Iraq war until I went into the fucker and got my bits and pieces all cut off. Now I’m shell shocked.

But, yeah, there’s The Box, directed by Richard Kelly, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, based on the Richard Matheson story, “Button, Button,” and was previously adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone. We’ll see if I ever see it.

And again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Tomorrow’s the start of the “work week.” I’d love to Weeks In Review here at Counterforce, but lately it’s just me rambling and I’d feel bad directing the two and a half readers of this site back to more of me rambling. Poor fuckers. Oh yeah, the season finale of Mad Men was last Sunday. And we had a Friday the 13th happen this past week as well. There you go. Oh, and: Young women having sex with sea creatures. Now there you really go.

But again, here we are. It’s Sunday. Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see… Oh! Tonight was the airing of the latest Doctor Who special over in the UK, “The Waters Of Mars,” the start of the end of David Tennant’s run as #10. You can catch it online if you’re good, if you’re very good, and it’s dark. And a bit sad. And leaves you kind of sweaty and breathless too.

Also tonight is AMC’s remake of the classic 60s show, The Prisoner. I’d watch it, but I’m not sure I want to see my childhood get raped so thoroughly and with such production values. Ian McKellen is a good choice for just about anything, but Jim Caviezel? I think I hate you for that, AMC. Honestly, Jim Caviezel makes Keanu Reeves look like Marlon Brando to me.

Oh well, here we are. The weekend’s almost over. I went to the movies to watch the end of the world as we know it and…

I went to see Wings of Desire last night. It’s a multilingual experience in and of itself: the film speaks German, English, French and then some. Where I saw it it was shown with Swedish subtitles, quite good ones as far as I could tell, and underneath those, way down on the screen, much smaller and dimmer, there were Finnish subtitles. The Finnish subtitles usually appeared a good while after the Swedish ones, contained less information and, sometimes when there was too much said to fit all speakers in, chose a different person whose lines to translate. Add to this the fact that the sound in the theatre started out too low and that my knowledge of both German and French is rudimentary at best, anyway. Not that my Swedish is in any way fluent enough to read subtitles comfortably.

The film was good, and well suited to my current mood, and once people (after an hour) finally had all calmed down (I did have to turn my head to get the couple behind me to Shut Up, can you believe it), it was really nice to see it with a full house. Just don’t ask me to tell you my favourite lines – I have no idea. The only one that stuck was “Wenn das Kind ein Kind war…” I tried to listen as much as possible – easy with English, surprisingly not  impossible with German, even more surprisingly very difficult with French (which I’ve studied more than I have German). When I couldn’t hear or understand, I quickly checked the Swedish subtitles (bigger letters, higher up, available earlier) and if those whizzed by before I could make any sense of them, I turned my eyes lower to the Finnish ones, hoping they had bothered to translate the bit I’d missed.

A rather active sort of cinematic experience, rabbit ears turning and eyes leaping from language to language.

Martin Scorsese was the head speaker at this year’s Blu-Con 2.0 symposium in Beverly Hills. And he seconded what those of us already hooked on Blu already know:

“Blu-ray is going to extend the lifetime of a movie… I have a daughter who’s 10, and she can’t tell the difference between old films and new films. [That makes me] very excited and optimistic as a filmmaker and a film lover.

BD’s potential to replicate the original theatrical experience is the best I’ve seen in forty years of [movie] collecting. Blu-ray offers the ability to see the film as it was intended.”

He also added that Blu-ray has the potential, when mastered correctly, to offer:

“a film grain texture which I think is very important in recreating the film experience.”

He then went on to praise Criterion for their hi-def remastering of the brilliant and sumptuous 1948 Powell/Pressburger film THE RED SHOES, due for upcoming release on Blu-ray:

“It’s like experiencing the film for the first time again. It’s not just the details of the eyes or such; it creates a completely different experience.”

Scorsese talked about how a poor presentation can greatly alter a movie-watcher’s experience of a film:

“There are subtle things, like not being able to see the actor’s eyes. With Blu-ray, you don’t have that problem.”

As a Blu-ray collector and filmmaker myself, I can personally attest to just how incredible Blu-ray is. When used correctly. There are a few Blu-ray discs out there that don’t live up to the potential of the medium, but the majority of films I’ve watched and own are simply outstanding. It is genuinely a very different experience from watching standard DVD or, lord help us, video.

Criterion’s new release of Wim Wenders’ WINGS OF DESIRE is a revelation. I owned the previous DVD release and I can tell you right now that these are two very different film-watching experiences. Same goes for the newly remastered Blu-ray edition of the Hitchcock classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST, which was given a stunning new 8k transfer. The detail and texture now possible in the Blu-ray format has opened a door to allowing people of all ages to experience films, both new and old, in ways not possible since the time of a film’s original theatrical release. For anyone who loves film, or simply enjoys watching a movie now and again, Blu-ray is the only way to go. Unless you own a 35mm projector and a damn good print of your favorite film.

Director: Wim Wenders

*** This is a special extended blu-ray review written for killerfilm.com.

The Film:

Guardian angels are no strangers to film, but I don’t know if they’ve ever been depicted quite like they are in Wim Wender’s “Wings of Desire”. They’re humble looking men dressed all in black – curious observers longing to be human. They have the power of suggestion and can elicit hope into some of the wary, but in other cases their inability to interfere with the human world is a tremendous burden.

Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) are angels in the divided city of Berlin. They have, as we find out, existed since the beginning of time – before humans inhabited the Earth. Their purpose is left ambiguous. They simply eavesdrop on fantasies and thoughts, the power to listen to an entire city’s deepest fears. Their prescence seems to be felt by some, but they cannot touch or manipulate the world in any way.

Their world is black-and-white. They have the transcendent power of absolute freedom, but that freedom is also restricting. Damiel wonders what it would feel like to take off his shoes and wiggle his toes about. The simple pleasures are what make us human. Being an angel, a being incapable of such simple pleasures, is a world completely void of color.

The film is shot by the legendary Henri Alekan, who photographed Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast”. The camera is always in motion, a sweeping effect that not only echoes the movement of angels, but entrances us in the film’s intoxicating beauty. It’s effect on me was perhaps only parallel to the lush visuals of Resnais’ “Last Year at Marienbad” – it’s a movie with the power to completely envelope you in it’s world.

When Damiel decides to shed his wings for the human world, the film looks like another universe entirely. The writing, however, a purposely meandering and relentlessly curious sort of uncensored thought process, weds the segments together beautifully.

“Wings of Desire” is, for it’s visual beauty alone, one of the best films of it’s decade. It’s unlike anything you’ve seen before – a meditative, surreal dance through a war torn city, the angels as our tour guides.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: The new high definition transfer of “Wings of Desire”, presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, is absolutely stunning – you’ll be floored by the beauty within just a few minutes. Comparing screenshots with MGM’s prior DVD release of the film, this is unquestionably the best “Wings of Desire” has ever looked. The black-and-white sequences are crisp and sharp, and when colors are incorporated they are vivid. It’s a remarkable presentation, and unquestionably one of Criterion’s best blu-ray transfers to date.

Supplements:

Audio Commentary: I have not heard the commentary track from the original release of the film, but this appears to be somewhat close to it in terms of content. Independent DVD producer Mark Rance recorded six hours of interviews between Wim Wenders and Peter Falk, and the new Criterion edition of the film contains a newly edited version of the interviews. I’m not sure how much carries over from the previous DVD release, but there are some interesting stories told throughout the runtime.

The Angels Among Us: This documentary, originally released in 2003, interviews the key figures behind the making of the film: director Wim Wenders, writer Peter Handke, composer Jurgen Knieper, actors Bruno Ganz, Otto Sander, and Peter Falk, and Brad Silberling, director of “City of Angels”. The piece is very satisfying – an indepth study of everything from pre to post-production. One of the most interesting bits discusses how Peter Falk was first approached, and how he initially responded to the concept (“i’ve heard of ex-convicts and ex-wives… but ex-angel?” (43 min).

Cinéma cinemas: This is an episode, entitled “Wim Wenders Berlin Jan. 87″, from a French television program. The piece is a behind-the-scenes short recorded during the making of the film. There are some intimate looks at Wenders directing his actors, particularly a lengthy conversation between he and Falk (9 min).

Deleted Scenes and Outtakes: The Criterion issue of the film includes a total of nine deleted scenes. The original sound from the film is unavailable, so the audio track only includes the score and a commentary by Wim Wenders. There are some bizarre scenes that would’ve completely changed the tone of the film completely, such as a scene where one of the angels begins a sort of comedy routine by mocking humans. More startling is the infamous slapstick scene involving a pie fight, which Wenders reveals that he had never really intended to use. The outtakes are also silent, only accompanied by the film’s score (32 min of deleted scenes, 7 min of outtakes).

Gallery: This is a well-presented gallery of production notes and images from the shoot. It’s very informative, particularly in discussing individual frames from the film (such as the iconic image of Damiel peering down over Berlin from a Church’s roof).

Alekan ‘85: In 1985, a documentary was to be made about the legendary cinematographer Henri Alekan. That film was left unfinished, but this disc presents some excerpts from an interview the filmmaker had with Alekan. He is well-spoken, elegant, and unsurprisingly, has a wealth of insight about the role of a cinematographer (10 min).

Alekan la lumiere: This is another excerpt from the unfinished documentary on Henri Alekan, presumably what was meant to be the first half hour of the film. The documentary is a hands-on look at how Alekan works on set with lighting and how he achieves several in-camera effects – it serves as a wonderful tool for the aspiring filmmaker, and yet it is still equally charming for the curious admirer. A wonderful, indispensable feature (27 min).

Remembrance: Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander directed a film about  about actor Curt Bois in 1982 entitled “Remembrance”. This feature gives us several lengthy segments from the short, autobiographical features about the nature of acting. It’s not quite as illuminating as the Alekan documentary, but it’s still a terrific brief character study (30 min).

Trailers: The disc includes two trailers – one, a more traditional edit, entitled “German Theatrical Trailer”, and another hilarious piece entitled “Wen Wunderts Promo Trailer”. In the latter, Curt Bois confronts Wim Wenders and criticizes him for not making comedies. “Are you telling me that all your films are-” “Deadly serious.” (4 min).

Conclusion: This was my first exposure to “Wings of Desire” and I completely fell in love. It’s first ninety minutes or so merely meander – the camera literally soars through Berlin and introduces it’s inhabitants. It’s truly subversive entertainment, as deeply profound and intoxicating as anything i’ve ever seen. “Wings of Desire” is, truly, one of the best movies of the 80’s. With a flawless transfer and a wealth of special features, this is an easy recommendation – an essential addition to any blu-ray collection.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Just how high will Cobra rise? Watch the film and find out!

Il Divo

The highly acclaimed film from Italy. Stephen Holden of the New York Times says, “Ranks alongside the best of Martin Scorsese  and Francis Ford Coppola”!

Taking of Pelham 123

Re-make of the 70’s classic! Starring Denzel Washington and a devilishly goateed John Travolta!

Fear(s) of the Dark

Animated tales of terror from the likes of Charles Burns, and others. From producer Guillermo Del Toro.

They Killed Sister Dorothy

The SXSW award winning documentary!

Orphan

So what is wrong with Esther?

Wings of Desire

See my review below in the short list…

Dupa Wings of Desire nici macar gandurile nu se mai simt in largul lor in stinghereala. Dintr-un bun simt, dintr-o nevoie de expansiune, n-as mai putea sa-mi permit ganduri meschine. Meschine prin lipsa de insemnatate, prin lipsa excesului, prin lipsa potentialului din ele. Trivialitate.

Dupa Pessoa, n-as mai putea scrie. Adevaratul lui jurnal – si nu falsul – ce jurnal devine asumat doar prin interpunerea unui nume, a unui personaj fictiv trasat in date biografice oarecum diferentiate de ale autorului, dar care nu lasa nici macar un singur eveniment de natura mundana sa transpara in inregistrarile lui zilnice? in constiinta lui? in scotocirea  care si-a retezat toate legaturile cu celalalt.

Si-atunci, din mijlocul ratarii si mediocritatii personale, prefer sa mor un pic. Doar pana dimineata.

*****

Your dreams, hopes, aspirations
Have all turned to dust
You’ve nobody left now to talk to
And you’ve no-one left now to trust
Should I mourn your decline
Should I be nice to you
Where do I draw the line

No, I will drink to your decline
I will drink to your decline

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Tiger Lillies: The Decline

Jag kliver in i taxin och säger bara ”Das beste Currywurst in Berlin, bitte”.

Chaffisen kastar en blick på mig genom backspegeln och upprepar frågande ”Currywurst”?

”Bitte.”

I detta är Berlin som alla andra städer. Vill man veta var det bästa gatukäket finns så frågar man en taxichaffis. Nu är det här med ”den bästa Currywursten” en extrem smakfråga. Precis som med all annan mat med någon slags förankring i en folksjäl så råder en ständig och ibland hätsk debatt om hur den ska lagas, hur den ska serveras och var man kan få tag i den bästa.

Som betraktare kan man bara hålla sig på den säkra sidan och referera till den historia som finns bevarad kring Currywurstens tillkomst.

Currywursten serverades första gången 1949 av korvkioskägarinnan Herta Heuwer.

Historien förtäljer att hon var uttråkad av de rätter hon redan hade på menyn och att hon med hjälp av de ingredienser som stod till buds; tomatpuré, Worcester sås och currypulver; gjorde en ny sås som hon serverade över en korv skuren i bitar. Till wursten fick man ett litet brötchen. Currywursten var född.

Det är inte svårt att se ett glåmigt och krigssargat Berlin med ett magert utbud av råvaror men ett stort behov av förnyelse klamra sig fast vid denna nya comfort food, vars currytillsats gläntade på ridån mot en mindre sliten värld lite längre bort och

Currywursten spred sig som en löpeld över staden.

Som mest hade Herta nitton anställda som dängde Currywurst till Berlinborna.

Idag serveras 80 miljoner portioner per år och man har nyligen invigt ett museum till Currywurstens ära, lämpligt beläget vid Checkpoint Charlie, en av de mest ryktbara gränsövergångarna mellan öst och väst-Berlin och en annan viktig milstolpe i stadens historia.

Taxichaffisen släpper av mig vid taxistationen som ligger bredvid ”Berlin and Friends”, en vit vagn med serveringslucka. När jag ställer mig i kön så kan jag inte undvika att känna mig lite som Peter Falk. Hans rollfigur ”Filmstjärnan” hängde här i Wim Wenders klassiker ”Himmel Över Berlin”. Det sägs att Wim fortfarande trycker sin Currywurst här efter en sen kväll på krogen.

Nu är det söndag förmiddag och inga filmstjärnor syns till. Desto fler Berlinbor har ställt sig i kö för att köpa Currywurst till brunch.

Den lilla blonderade tanten som bemannar vagnen lutar huvudet lite snett åt sidan när jag kommer fram,

”Jaaa?”

”Zwei Currywurst Bitte”

”Ja. Mit Brötchen?”

”Ja, und ein Bier bitte”.

”Genau”

På mindre än 60 sekunder har tanten (som för övrigt är en lite mindre öststatsglåmig version av tanten som serverar Filmstjärnan wurst i ”Himmel Över Berlin”), skurit korvarna direkt på papptallriken, slevat på tomatsås och pudrat på ett tjockt lager currypulver.

”Bitte”, säger hon.

”Vielen Dank”.

Jag äter korvarna nästan lika fort som hon serverade. Tanten ler nöjt när jag beställer två till.

”Du hast hunger”.

Jag flinar och nickar. Så står jag där i solskenet och njuter mina korvbitar. Den tomatsöta såsen och den lagom skarpa curryn tävlar om uppmärksamheten på den sista brödbiten.

Jag klunkar min öl och blir för en kort stund ett med staden och dess invånare.

”Ich bin ein Berliner”.

(stinky on the road)

]]> http://movieoverdose.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/the-movie-overdose-35-show-notes/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:23:18 +0000 Sam Unsted http://movieoverdose.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/the-movie-overdose-35-show-notes/

Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire

So, much to note from this week’s episode. Remember to check us out on Twitter, Facebook, iTunes and email us with any questions. All the links and information for that are now on the left side of the page.

The News…

• Darren Aronofksy taking on the Tonbridge heist (via /Film)
• Highlander to be remade by Justin Lin (via Rope of Silicon)
• Poster for The Rock’s Tooth Fairy (via JoBlo)

Trailers…

Paranormal Activity – Capitalism: A Love Story – This is It – A Christmas Carol – New Moon – Gentlemen Broncos – Up in the Air (see below)

Notes & Corrections…

Oh dear, this is what happens when Sam has been ill… September Issue director RJ Cutler did not direct The War Room, he produced it for DA Pennebaker. The film also follows the first Clinton campaign, not the second.

The story about Steven Spielberg and his experience watching Paranormal Activity.

Wings of Desire is to be released on Criterion edition, in Blu-ray also, in November.

At last to guess, instead of always knowing. To be able to say “ah” and “oh” and “hey” instead of “yea” and “amen.”

~ Damiel, from Wings of Desire

Just a question for those who have ever seen Wim Wenders sublime poetry-on-celluloid, Wings of Desire: Have you ever wondered exactly what all those ever-observant Rilkean angels were forever scribbling down in their notebooks?

It could only have been haiku.

Praise this world to the angel, not the unsayable one,
you can’t impress him with glorious emotion; in the universe
where he feels more powerfully, you are a novice.  So show him
something simple which, formed over generations,
lives as our own, near our hand and within our gaze.
Tell him of Things.  He will stand astonished.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies (translated by Stephen Mitchell)

As I came up the mountain, out of the misty valley into the sun. The fire on the cattle range, the potatoes in the ashes, the boathouse floating in the lake. The Southern Cross.  The Far East. The Great North. The Wild West. The Great Bear Lake. Tristan da Cunha. The Mississippi Delta. Stromboli. The old houses of Charlottenburg. Albert Camus. The morning light. The child’s eyes. The swim in the waterfall. The spots of the first drops of rain. The sun. The bread and wine. Hopping. Easter. The veins of leaves. The blowing grass. The color of stones. The pebbles on the stream’s bed. The white tablecloth outdoors. The dream of the house in the house. The dear one asleep in the next room. The peaceful Sundays. The horizon. The light from the room in the garden. The night flight. Riding a bicycle with no hands. The beautiful stranger. My father. My mother. My wife. My child.

~ Dying motorcyclist, from Wings of Desire

Three reviews from the gents today as they go on a journey around hipster America in Away We Go, want more Julia and less Julie and feel robbed of precious life by Gamer. They go on to chat about telling the story of a major heist, remaking Highlander and reviving the career of The Rock. They celebrate the brilliance of Wings of Desire, remember how fun Robocop is and delve in the world of American Vogue in The September Issue. They concluding trailer round-up includes a couple of key disagreements, a couple of resounding agreements and, in a shocking development, sees Sam defend Michael Moore.

Download The Movie Overdose Episode 35

Show notes to follow later.

Today is the birthday of one of Australia’s premier exports, Nick Cave. Cave has made his mark in many arenas: music, novels, poetry, and film, and probably a few more. His work with his band, The Bad Seeds, changed the landscape of literate rock. Their appearance in one of my favorite films of all times, Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire, is the stuff of legend. The use of his song, Red Right Hand, in mainstream television’s The X-Files creeped out an entire generation (and made John Milton roll over in his grave).

Just this month he has released his 2nd novel, The Death of Bunny Munro, garnering some formidable reviews. Find someone, anyone, who read his first novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel (check out Cave reading an excerpt), ask them what they thought, and watch them turn into a sunken eyed, twitchy haint right before your eyes. His two poetry/lyric volumes, King Ink and King Ink II, may take you places you never really wanted to go. His 14 minute epic song, “Babe, I’m On Fire,” with its possessed accompanying video, is so mesmerizingly over-the-top it brings you right back to where you started, well beyond spent.

Have the feeling I could go on for days? Right, mate. So rather than experience all this literate goodness vicariously, sit back and enjoy the tender ballad “The Ship Song” and be charmed right out of your chaps/knickers.

Happy B’Day, Mr. C.

Don

PS. Wonder if he’ll be having a Birthday Party?