Mirror Images

I love when films collide. You always wonder if it is just chance, or rather great minds thinking alike. Sometimes it is the image, but other times it is the feeling or theme that unites two seemingly different films. What got me thinking about this was a comparison I read about certain scenes of Lars Von Trier's Antichrist and the films of Tarkovsky (who that film was dedicated to).

Most of the images below share a visual, but also something more. For example, the shots of Ingrid Bergman and Ebru Ceylan are not all that similar upon first glance- yet the reason I included both were because their characters are both surrounded by historic ruins (Pompeii and Ishakpasa) while they were dealing with their own crumbling relationships. This idea was also echoed in Wong Kar-Wai's brilliant In The Mood For Love during the final scenes at Angkor Wat.

The images of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall and Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullman are hauntingly similar, even more so when you realize that both films deal with two women becoming one (or three, depending on how you look at it).

Jules Et Jim and Bande À Part. I don't like to repeat things on this blog, but in this case, how could I not? Total freedom and endless youth. It doesn't get any better than this.

The stills from La Dolce Vita and Lost In Translation are remarkable because of what we can't hear or understand: the disconnect, the unfinished, and the fact that both endings make you wonder how they really end.

I could keep analyzing these all day. If you've seen the films of the first two images below (Ordet & Stellet Licht), the similarities should be pretty obvious. If you haven't, I don't want to ruin what is one of the most remarkable sisterhoods in all of cinema.

Sources From Top To Bottom:

Ordet Vs. Stellet Licht
Francesco, Guillare Di Dio Vs. Ordet
Jungfrukällan Vs. Offret
Viaggio In Italia Vs. Iklimler
3 Women Vs. Persona
Offret Vs. Das Weisse Band
Jules Et Jim Vs. Bande À Part
La Dolce Vita Vs. Lost In Translation

Access Granted

ACCESS GRANTED

Halfway through 2010, it has already been a really beautiful and unique year for music and film releases.
Here are the top 15 of each so far.






















TOP 15 DVD & BLU-RAY:

1. Red Desert - MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
2. Close-Up - ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
3. Contempt - JEAN-LUC GODARD
4. Chantal Akerman In The Seventies - CHANTAL AKERMAN
5. 8 1/2 - FEDERICO FELLINI
6. Lola Montès - MAX OPHÜLS
7. Vivre Sa Vie - JEAN-LUC GODARD
8. Days Of Heaven - TERRENCE MALICK
9. Tetro - FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
10. The Beaches Of Agnès - AGNÈS VARDA
11. Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors - SERGEI PARADJANOV
12. Katalin Varga - PETER STRICKLAND
13. A Star Is Born - GEORGE CUKOR
14. Une Femme Mariée - JEAN-LUC GODARD
15. World On A Wire - RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER























TOP 15 MUSIC:

1. Nº 3 - JJ
2. Stridulum - ZOLA JESUS
3. Rhizomes - EFFI BRIEST
4. Thank Me Later - DRAKE
5. Have One On Me - JOANNA NEWSOM
6. Clinging To A Scheme - THE RADIO DEPT
7. Does It Look Like I'm Here? - EMERALDS
8. New Amerykah Part Two - ERYKAH BADU
9. Heligoland - MASSIVE ATTACK
10. Teen Dream - BEACH HOUSE
11. High Places Vs. Mankind - HIGH PLACES
12. Cosmogramma - FLYING LOTUS
13. Nothing Else - LORN
14. Things Fall Apart - MARK MCGUIRE
15. Love And Its Opposite - TRACEY THORN

The Auteurs

THE AUTEURS

Of the countless great directors this world has seen, these are quite simply the greatest. Without them, our world and my life would not be the same.























MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI






















JEAN-LUC GODARD

ABBAS KIAROSTAMI


















CARL TH. DREYER

















FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT

Rodarte X JLG

RODARTE X JLG

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jean-Luc Godard's earth-shattering and cinema-defining À Bout De Souffle, Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte have designed three limited-edition T-Shirts inspired by the film. The most iconic of the three is a play on the New York Herald Tribune shirt worn by Jean Seberg. Available now at Barneys, Colette, and Dover Street Market.

Marx Et Coca-Cola

LES ENFANTS DE MARX ET COCA-COLA

Le Nouvelle Vague

LE NOUVELLE VAGUE

Lately all I can think about is the early, exciting days of the French New Wave. Jules Et Jim has been on my mind for months now, as has Band À Part, where the two images below are taken from. Watching Les Plages d'Agnès the other night reminded me just how much I love all of these films. They were dangerous, abrupt, funny, sweet, dreamy, romantic... but more than anything- they are free.

Double Feature

DOUBLE FEATURE

I love the idea of a double feature. Sometimes I think about how nice it would be to run my own theater. I would call it The Last Picture Show. I would only show double features. The idea of spending hours in a dark theater is so magical to me. These are what I have in mind:

Opening Night/Veronika Voss
Mister Lonely/Insignificance
The Anniversary/True Grit
All That Jazz/A Star Is Born
La Souffle Au Coeur/Le Petit Amour
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God/The Last Wave
Scarecrow/Gerry
Three Women/Persona
Rio Bravo/Frozen River
The Purple Rose Of Cairo/Goodbye, Dragon Inn
Return To Oz/Donkey Skin
Peggy Sue Got Married/The Virgin Suicides
Johnny Guitar/Destry Rides Again
Hammett/The Man From London
That Obscure Object Of Desire/Tristana
Syndromes Of A Century/The Mourning Forest
And The Ship Sails On/The Escape Artist

Pierrot Le Fou

Pierrot Le Fou
Jean-Luc Godard
France, 1968

This is Godard at his breaking point- he is ready for anything and seems to be running on fumes to get every last little bit out. He made so many films in the '60's, I still don't understand how he did it. Anna Karina and Jean Paul Belmondo are perfect in this, no one else could have played their parts, not even for a second. The new Criterion Blu-Ray is a revelation - everything is so bright and clear. I love the shadings he uses- green, blue, red screens- neon lights, Coca Cola, and of course the gorgeous Mediterranean setting. There is some anarchy in here, but it is so playful, with references to Laurel and Hardy, American pop culture and consumerism, and even a cameo by Samuel Fuller. There is so much going on in every scene, it is packed full of ideas and that urgency always comes across throughout the film. If Contempt was Cannes luxury and romance, Pierrot Le Fou is brash, witty, and bold. There are no apologies, only life. Is this Godard's best work? Maybe not, but it is probably my favorite. There is never a wasted scene or a moment of doubt, everything seems exactly as he wanted it to be, exactly as he envisioned. It certainly is two of the most joyous hours to be found in the world of cinema, and two hours which I know I will come back to again and again.