july 24, 2010

Life in a day.

watch

For the past few weeks, uh ok months ok ok, ever since we signed up for Netflix, I've been watching nothing but Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. D says I am obsessed. My poor husband had no choice but to watch it with me, night after night, one after the other. And when D throws in the towel and says enough, I watch it in my iPhone. I even downloaded the infamous tun-dun sound bite to make it my message alert tone. Yes, I am obsessed.

 via

via

I'm now on Season 7 Episode 21. Five more seasons to go... before I move on to Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Ha!

But this week I took a break from this obsession and watched:



and



It was refreshing. Pollock was really interesting to me. I've always been drawn to great artists and their demons. Plus Ed Harris did a really good job, both in acting and directing.

But I especially enjoyed watching Bill Cunningham New York, simply because I found the man in the blue jacket fascinating and the fact that nobody really knew anything about him. He seemed to me as this well-mannered, soft spoken man who wouldn't hurt a fly. But watching the film gave me something more than validate my perception of him. It was watching him educate his eyes. I thought that was brilliant. 

breaking the cycle

Back in Bangkok. Oh that's right, I forgot to mention that I was in Penang when I wrote my last entry. It seems that I only get to blog when I'm away. Hopefully this blog post will break the cycle.

I miss blogging. D and I noticed that we both don't blog anymore. We don't write. We don't read books, listen to music or watch documentaries. We've become, dare I say it, boring. We blame TV. Crap TV. Too much of it. So, to rectify this, we cut our cable (goodbye E! and all the mindless shows that are on it) and have subjected ourselves to limited (internet) TV time to make more time to read books, listen to music and watch documentaries again.

Speaking of which, I picked up Truman Capote's Music for Chameleons recently, and have been pleasantly absorbed in it. I got stuck reading Zadie Smith's White Teeth for awhile. I had to switch books because I was struggling with it. Not that it wasn't good but because I had to get used to sitting down and reading again. I fear that crap TV has made me more restless, making it impossible to just sit still for a minute or two. So I decided to stick to short stories until I can sit through a novel again. Hopefully I get back to the groove of things and finally finish a book.

Last weekend, I also caught this fascinating documentary based on the equally fascinating lives of Herb and Dorothy Vogel. Have you seen it? It's called Herb and Dorothy, by Megumi Sasaki. I found it to be delightfully quirky and infinitely interesting. Made me want to go to New York, see their Manhattan apartment and pick their brains on minimal and conceptual art. Go watch it. I highly recommend it.

HERB & DOROTHY Trailer from Herb & Dorothy on Vimeo.

like the sunshine

Sunday morning. Catching up on my Google Reader feeds. Listening to Pandora while at it. This song comes up.  It's painfully beautiful. First heard it played on my all-time favorite movie. Perfect for a gloomy Sunday morning.



Happy weekend, kids.

watch.

I'm a big fan of films that make a difference. People who make a difference.

ginsberg

Thanks to D for introducing to the infinitely interesting world of the Beat Generation. He downloaded the film Howl for us to watch. After weeks of sitting in our hard drive, neglected and almost forgotten, we finally got to watch it last weekend.

Then he made me listen to this.

It made me laugh out loud. I bet you would too.

fancy this

I've missed out on a lot of things going around the web. But I do pop in once in a while and find some things that must be shared.

A beautifully shot film by Kinga Burza for Kate Spade New York.

A wooden quilt from giddygiddy.

Bunny Diana.

Lovely French enameled lockets from Beklina.

control

D downloaded this film awhile back for us to watch. But somehow, we never got around to watching it until HBO started playing it. We caught it the other night, and I've had this song stuck in my head since then.

a banksy film

If you haven't seen it yet, you should. You must! It's a sneak peek in the fascinating world of street art, with a hilarious twist towards the end.

if you want to sing out, sing out

How was your weekend? The weekend started as early as Thursday for us here in Bangkok as we celebrated the Queen's birthday. Thanks to the gloomy weather, D and I opted to stay in and sleep all weekend. We capped off our relaxing weekend by watching the cult classic Harold and Maude. Have you guys seen it? You must!



Maude is just made of pure awesome. I wish I can grab life by the balls like she did when I grow older.

the weekend

D and I have been pretty busy putting our wedding website together. And I am happy to say that it is coming together quite well, and will soon be available for your viewing pleasure.

Last Friday, we took a break from the website work and attended a Thai indie film screening. A former colleague knew one of the actors who starred in one of the films and invited us to get local feedback and support. The film screening featured 3 short films by 3 Thai directors.

Hush! by Tanis Pintong
Siam Missed Connection by Krisada Keith Kanivichaporn
The Misbehavers by Nattawut Poonpiriya 

D and I were genuinely impressed by the films, especially The Misbehavers. Definitely worth a watch!


Misbehavers,the trailer from A Washing Machine Production on Vimeo.


The film was shown at the House RCA. My first time to watch at House and I was fascinated with the walls in the theater lobby.

A massive wall to play a game of connect the dots.
There was another wall that resembled a page out of Where's Waldo?
Too cool! I felt like I was a kid again. 

LV for Darjeeling Limited

I am itching to travel! And when I do, I want my stuff packed in this irresistibly quirky looking luggage set!

Louis Vuitton "The Darjeeling Limited" Luggage Collection

Remember these from that infamous movie by the talented Wes Anderson? 

[Photos from Highsnobiety and The Telegraph UK]

feed thy love for travel

It's been months since my cable provider took out Nat Geo Adventure from the channel listing, and yet I am still mourning the loss. You see, I turn to Nat Geo Adventure to stimulate my brain after watching a bunch of shows that do the reverse. It also helps me to dream of far away places and feed my love for travel. I miss watching Lonely Planet: Road Less Travelled, Bondi Rescue, Pressure Cook, Banged Up Abroad, Word Travels, and Food Lovers Guide to the Planet to name a few. Weekday afternoons will never be the same again.

Speaking of feeding my love for travel, I want to get my hands on a copy of A Map for Saturday. Have you heard of this film? I caught a bit of this film once on Nat Geo Adventure. I want to watch the whole film and be inspired to follow suit.

It's an inspiring documentary film on how producer Brook Silva-Braga quit his job at HBO to travel the world. I really, really, really wish I can do the same.

nothing left for me to do but dance

As expected, D and I had a blast watching the US vs. England football match (1-1 YEAH BABY!). So much fun that the sun was already rising when we went to bed. So naturally, today was spent recuperating from last night's festivities.

Spread out on our couch and glued to the TV, I was happy to catch Napoleon Dynamite on HBO and was reminded of that awesome dance scene.



When Team USA scored a goal, I wanted to bust a move just like Napoleon.

Hope you had a great weekend too!

let's get lost

D and I are big Chet Baker fans. We discovered that we shared a fascination with this amazing musician when one day, D started humming But Not For Me and I chimed in. Since then, we've been spending lazy days glued to our laptops with Chet playing in the background.

A month ago, D and I watched Let's Get Lost, a documentary by Bruce Weber that gave us a look into the life and career of the infamous jazz trumpeter.

It was brilliant. In fact, many have claimed it as a masterpiece. The film was beautifully shot in black and white. Friends, family, ex-wives and children shared insightful anecdotes about the man, giving you a clear depiction of Chet Baker the musician, Chet Baker the idol, Chet Baker the heroin addict. I love how Weber was able to capture how Baker evolved from early days in his career in the 1950s to his decline in the 1980s.

If you love Chet Baker as much as we do, then this is a must-see for you.



[Photo from Wikipedia]

viva la cuba

D and I had a Cuban inspired Labor Day weekend. The long weekend was spent watching films about Che Guevara, drowning our ears with Cuban jazz, and enjoying Cuba Libres and Mojitos at home. We didn't really plan on it. It just sorta happened.

 
D downloaded Che, the two part biopic of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Che Part 1: The Argentine, focused on the Cuban Revolution and how Fidel Castro and Che Guevara successfully toppled Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship. Che Part 2: Guerilla, on the other hand, focused on Che's attempt to bring revolution to Bolivia, which led to his capture and death. Benicio del Toro played Che to the T and rightfully so, won Best Actor Award for it at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008.

I would have to admit I knew little about Che Guevara before watching the film. Before watching the film, Che Guevara was just a face I usually see in shirts sold in Khao San Road, a personality that I would almost immediately equate to Communism. Watching the film gave me a better understanding of the man and what he fought for, definitely different from how Americans portrayed him. Che was charismatic and a true revolutionary who fought for a united America.

Enamored with Che's life, D and I wanted to know more about him which led to us watching Diarios de Motocicleta, also known as The Motorcycle Diaries. This film, directed by Walter Salles, was about the journey of the young Che Guevara, played by the talented Gael Garcia Bernal, and his friend Alberto Granado. The two embarked on a  motorcycle road trip across South America. The original plan was to travel 8,000 km in 4 months to explore the Latin American continent they only knew by books. Such a noble undertaking for a 23-year old medical student who was a semester away from a medical degree. Needless to say, Che and Alberto discovered Latin America in a way that changed who they were and what they believed in.

It was fascinating to see a different side to Che Guevara and  to get to know who he was before he lived a revolutionary life. You can say that this is where it all began. It was evident in his thank you speech on his birthday that he celebrated at a leper colony in Peru:

"Even though we are too insignificant to be spokesmen for such a noble cause, we believe, and this journey has only confirmed this belief, that the division of American into unstable and illusory nations is a complete fiction. We are one single mestizo race from Mexico to the Magellan Straits. And so, in an attempt to free ourselves from narrow minded provincialism, I propose a toast to Peru and to a united America."

Have you watched these movies? If not, maybe you should. 

[Photos from Wikipedia and iMDb]

RDJ love

 Well, hello there cutie.

So have you guys watched Iron Man 2 yet? I heard mix reviews - good ones from geeks and bad ones from non-geeks.

I'll take the geek reviews. They know what they're talking about.

[Photo from calories make me happy]

a Bret Easton Ellis marathon

During the recent Songkran holiday, D and I opted to stay in and celebrate the Thai New Year cooped up in the house, ordering fast food delivery and watching movies we've long downloaded but never had the time to watch. Among the movies we watched during the 3-day stay-cation were Less Than Zero and Rules of Attraction, which if you didn't know by now, were movie adaptations of Bret Easton Ellis novels.


Rules of Attraction
Directed by Roger Avary

I remember hearing a rumor in highschool that James Van Der Beek was gay. The reason? Because of a kissing scene he did for the movie, Rules of Attraction. I can now say for certain that the said rumor is completely false. But at that time, it was hard to even bring up the topic. Because back in the day, most girls wanted to marry Dawson Leery and secretly wanted to be/to kill Joey Potter.

I found Rules of Attraction... interesting. To be honest, I didn't know what to make of it at first. I found myself confused and almost in disbelief that this depicted what most American students would consider a typical college experience. It also didn't help that the story began in mid-sentence, which caught me completely off guard.

But after discussing the movie with D (because we're geeks and that's what geeks do), it shed some light on the point that Bret Easton Ellis (and to some extent Roger Avary) was trying to prove -- and that is, there's no point.

 There's an interesting review on iMDb by this guy that goes by the name DeviousMrBlonde, and I feel that he said it all. In his review, he said: "This certainly will not be everybody's 'cup of coffee' so to speak. Too many people like their movies to wrap everything up at the end and have everything explained to them and for Lassie to save the day. If you are one of these people then don't bother. On the other hand if you like a movie to challenge you then I am sure you will find ROA superb."

He then adds, "Take some morally corrupt but beautiful people and show how much of a waste they are. Nobody ever listens to one another and everybody is out for number one...These people and their actions are the perfect allegory for our ME culture."

He also mentioned that the reason some people don't get this film (or book) is because of an apparent culture gap. That's how I felt. I couldn't relate to it because I didn't have that kind of college experience and so I found it hard to wrap my head around the somewhat appalling and offensive attitude and actions of these college kids. Nonetheless, it was interesting in a way that it challenges you to become open-minded and encourages you to open your eyes to other people's realities, and ultimately encourages you to not be confined to society's moral standards. 


Less Than Zero
Directed by Marek Kanievska

 I remember watching this movie on HBO when I was kid and thinking what "give good head" meant. I thought, "Does that mean he has a good head on his shoulders? or maybe he gives good advice?" I never got over that scene in my head. Years later, I found out that "to give good head" has nothing to do with your ability to give good advice or being smart.

But at an early age, I knew I liked it. Robert Downey Jr.'s character, Julian, fascinated me. I guess you can say that's when my fascination with broken people started. Like Blair, I wanted to help Julian and look after him as he goes through withdrawal. I wanted to be Clay, Andrew McCarthy's character, and be the best friend you can rely on. Like them, I too wanted to party like there's no tomorrow and live a life of excess. I wanted to be one of them.

 It's refreshing to watch the movie now that I have a better understanding of what "give good head" or "want a bump" means. I still like it. In fact, more so now than before (and I want to read the book!). If you haven't watched it yet, maybe you should.

D and I have yet to watch American Psycho. That's definitely next on our list.

[Photos from iMDb]

a sparkle of cruising energy

I think I love you, Timothy "Speed" Levitch

Last year, D introduced me to American actor, speaker, author, voice actor and tour guide extraordinaire Tim Levitch by making me watch the 1998 documentary film made by Bennett Miller, The Cruise. The attraction was almost instantaneous. His fast talking style, ease in use of high falluting words, and evident passion for NYC struck my fancy. In no time, I was reveling in a slight school girl crush on this amazingly fascinating man.

The brilliance of the film, in my opinion, is how Miller captured the equally beautiful and captivating characters of Levitch and New York City. The viewer is given a fresh new take of New York - seen through the eyes of Levitch himself whose relationship with the city is often likened to a torrid love affair. In The Cruise, New York is "a living organism" and Levitch's relationship with this living organism is "as vitriolic as a relationship between oneself and any human being."

I, personally, found the film highly stimulating - visually, emotionally and intellectually. Visually - New York has always fascinated me. It's one of the cities I'd like to explore by foot; to wander around the streets and quite possibly admire or hate the Grid plan. Emotionally - Levitch stirs up passion. His evident love for NYC makes you want to establish a love/hate relationship with a city of your own. You almost feel like he quintessentially embodies the character of the city that he lives in. Intellectually - In the first 5 minutes of the film, you can pretty much tell if you want to keep listening to what this guy has to say or cover your ears to keep that high-pitched, nasal voice from resonating in your eardrums. I'll admit that there will be a point wherein you'll stop and think: What the F is he talking about? But his quirky insights can draw you in and leave you contemplating on whether you want to appreciate the flower or let the flower appreciate you.

Here's a snippet of the film. But I highly suggest you watch it in its entirety.




After 9/11, Speed Levitch came out in another film by Richard Linklater, who you might remember as the brains behind Dazed and Confused and Waking Life. The new film is called Live From Shiva's Dance Floor, which many has claimed as The Cruise Part 2. Go watch it. 

[Photo from IMDb]

the factory girl

For the longest time, I've had this inexplicable fascination with American actress, socialite, model, heiress and one of Andy Warhol's muses, Edith Minturn Sedgwick or more commonly known as Edie. In fact, at one point I wanted to die and be reincarnated as her (actually her or Bjork... or maybe some sort of hybrid of the two). I think what drew me to her is the fact that she's such a complex individual who fought a lot of demons in her life. But in essence, she is a talented artist who unfortunately got caught up with the wrong crowd and ultimately made poor decisions along the way. She's the kind of girl you desperately want to help but in a twisted way, you also want to become. Andy Warhol himself was enamored by her, and evidently other people were too.

 Andy Warhol and his muse

 Photo by fellow superstar Gerard Malanga 

Ciao! Edie

Sienna Miller played her in the biographical film Factory Girl directed by George Hickenlooper which was released in 2006.  If you haven't watched it yet, what are you waiting for?

[Photos from Mode Parade, dreams and articulations, Faintly Amused, and  posterwire.com]