I BELIEVE IN LOVE. I MEAN, THERE'S GOT TO BE SOMETHING FOR PEOPLE TO CLING TO BESIDES TV, RIGHT?

{Quote and GIF from Gregg Araki's 1993 film Totally F***ed Up}

{FUN FACT: James Duval (in the t-shirt) also played Frank the Bunny in Donnie Darko}

CINEMAGRAPHS

{all cinemagraphs from cinemagraphcollection.com}

I AM WHAT TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCE HAVE MADE ME

I'm just now hearing this Schoolboy Q song from the mixtape "Habits and Contradictions", and it's a doozie. You can imagine riding out to war, praying to stay safe but also to be forgiven, and the video just adds another layer to that. A man sitting alone waiting for something external to happen, but also standing at an moral crossroads in an inner world - where has complete control over the choices he makes. Scorcese-esque.

{Title: quote from Jimmy Darmody in Boardwalk Empire - a wounded soldier who left university to fight in WWI. Emotionally scarred from what he's experienced and with only combat skills to fall back on, he falls into the world of organized crime when he returns home}

YOU TOO, BIG GUY

{Music: ScHoolboy Q - Blessed Feat Kendrick Lamar}
{Title: Quote from Brad Pitt in Fight Club, after Lou beats him up for brawling in his basement}

THEM THAT'S GOT SHALL GET, THEM THAT'S NOT SHALL LOSE. SO THE BIBLE SAYS, AND IT STILL IS NEWS... MAMA MAY HAVE, PAPA MAY HAVE, BUT GOD BLESS THE CHILD THAT'S GOT HIS OWN

Found a really cool topic on IMDB's messageboard section - (that website is a freaking goldmine people). The question is: "Are there any recurring themes or similarities among your top 10 films?"

Well, yes actually. Mine are (in no particular order): 

MY TOP FILMS 
1. William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117509/ 

2. Disco Pigs 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0236157/?ref_=sr_1 

3. A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473488/?ref_=sr_1 

4. This Is England 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/?ref_=sr_1 

5. The Basketball Diaries 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112461/?ref_=sr_1 

6. Frida 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120679/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 

7. Raise the Red Lantern 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101640/?ref_=sr_1 

8. Divorce Italian Style 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055913/?ref_=sr_1 

9. 28 Days Later 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/?ref_=sr_1 

10. Underground 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114787/ 

COMMON THEMES 
1. Good soundtracks 
2. About Artists or aspiring artists 
3. Young people coming of age and trying to find themselves 
4. Really saturated colours, or a gritty ambience (or both) 
5. FRIENDSHIP!!!! Hanging out with a group of friends, capturing that sense of having fun 
6. Close, intense, passionate romantic relationships that turn turbulent 
7. Tragedy 
8. Creative use of multiple types of art form within the film - (poetry, painting, music, etc) 
9. Well written, solid scripts 
10. Strong story arcs - sh*t HAPPENS 
11. Modern settings 
12. Mostly male protagonists, but the main women always seem to be intelligent, intuitive and artistic

[title: from Billie Holiday's song "God Bless the Child That's Got His Own"]

I CAN FEEL THE NIGHT BEHIND ME

{title: quote from the film Stealing Beauty, starring the luminescent Liv Tyler}
{music: James Blake's "Limit to your Love". Feist also covered it, so check out that version if you like this.}

TOUGH LOVE

My fave songs from Annie (1982). So cute! So spunky! I also love 30s fashion, even if some people consider that statement an oxymoron.

CINEMATIC

{Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Bandwagon}

I'LL GET YOU, MY PRETTY

Shoes what I want.

{from Forever21, nelly.com and Zara}

{title: quote from The Wizard of Oz, duh!}

I WANT TO BE NEW TO YOU

Penelope Cruz singing in Volver, one of my favourite Almadovar films

MASSIVE MAINLINE ECOLOGICAL CHAOS

{title: a quote from the 1991 film Slacker

{art: peace fingers from obey clothing}

SHALL I BE HER?

Realized I haven't actually posted a picture of myself on my blog for a while so there I am :)


Also... how cool is this website!!!??? Pictures of people hanging out in Venice Beach, CA... SoCal looks amazing...


{Title: A quote from the film My Week with Marilyn. Watched it last weekend, pretty good.}

THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Aagh! How good does Rumblefish look?! I want to find/devour it.

GLORY BE

One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday is watch Inside the Actor's Studio. Russell Crowe is so intelligent and wise and likeable in this interview, I really learned a lot.

WHO WANTS CAKE?

The funniest dinner party ever from my current favorite TV show, Californication. Who's at the table? Writer Hank Moody and his longtime girlfriend Karen, and their daughter Becca. Family friends Charlie and Marcy Runkle who have had a little too much refreshment on the way over. Mia - the impish daughter of a man Karen's left for Hank on her wedding day, and who also has a schoolgirl crush on Hank. Sonja, who got with Hank once and her fiancee Julian, a new-age spiritual guru and self help entrepreneur who may or may not be full of it. And Lew Ashby, a successful record producer who Hank met in jail and his date, who Hank also got with, (but by mistake). If that isn't confusing enough, there's a big surprise at the end of this meal for everyone .... I think that deserves a slow hand clap. 

UP AND AT 'EM

Here's what I wore one day.

And for today's movie we have Divorce, Italian Style (Divorzio all'Italiana). This guy is unhappily married, and in love with another woman. BUT, it's traditional Italy and they are good Catholics - they can't split up. So, he decides he's got to kill his wife. The thing is..... it's HILLARIOUS. A "black comedy" they call it. In this video, he's at the beach with his wife and her parents, when he runs into the girl he's infatuated with. Have a look-see. 

CWY

This blatantly had to make it onto my blog at some point...! Cab Calloway leading a big band while the Nicholas Brothers dance in Stormy Weather, starred in by Lena Horne. Absolutely, incredibly classic.


{The title, CWY is how you write "Cherokee" in the Cherokee language. Written Cherokee is "syllabary", which basically means that each character represents a syllable. So, "TSA-LA-GHEE" (the word "Cherokee" in Cherokee) has three syllables, so it only needs 3 letters - CWY. Sequoyah invented the written Cherokee language all by himself. Smart man. Here's what the whole alphabet looks like:

}

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

28 Days Later was a film that both introduced me to the work of Cillian Murphy and cemented my desire to live in London. An interesting fact, since 1. At the time I was living in Paris, from which most people don't want to move 2. It's a movie about the last survivors of a zombie apocalypse.



{This post's title comes from the lyrics of theme tune to Mr Rogers' Neighborhood}
{Music: Grandaddy - AM 180}

LOLA EAT WORLD

A million (late) apologies for my extended absence from the blogosphere. Inexcusable really, so I won't make excuses. Instead I'll get right back into it and share - my philosophy of life. It ain't complicated people (anything but) - just make yourself happy. 


I may be the Queen of obscure quotes, cult indie movies and random cultural references, but some of the things that make me happiest are good old fashioned singing and dancing. 


Let's pause for a moment and illustrate this with an example from The Jungle Book. Disney gets it right. Baloo the Bear definitely gets it right. If you want to see my exactly how, just skip to 4:10. It's soooo cute.








Let's top that up with the incomparable combination of Mozart, Lauryn Hill, Whoopi Goldberg, and the celebration of being Joyful. 








I just have to smile. Coming up: Fashion Week! 

THE OVERALL SHOW WAS CONSIDERED FAIRLY HUMOROUS, BUT DESPITE THE SLICE-OF-LIFE APPROACH, THE PROGRAM WAS CONSIDERED ONLY MILDLY REALISTIC AND BELIEVABLE, AND MANY DID NOT IDENTIFY WITH IT. NEGATIVELY RECEIVED.

[This post's title is an excerpt from the network testing results for Seinfeld's pilot show, which aired on 5th July, 1989. They were wrong. Ha.]

[First and third images are screenshots from the Pedro Almadovar film Dark Habits. Second Pic is one I took of Stonehenge, and last pic is a random tiger from here]