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I have always loved Annie Leibovitz, she has the gift to capture the person in a picture, not the celebrity. Her works are always exceptional, she is one of my favourite photographers.
But not even my admiration for her can take over my love for Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian ballet dancer, actor (of course you remember him from Sex and the City but believe me, though he is perfect in the series, his other roles are brilliant as well, he was also nominated for Oscar back in 1978...).
Now they collaborated with Gisele Bündchen on a Disney Dream Ad. Gisele is Wendy, Mikhail is Peter Pan himself and Tina Fey is Tinker Bell. The scene is called "Where you never have to grow up"... Though Disney ads don't impress me much at all, I like this picture because Mikhail is in it and he was just the prefect choice for Peter Pan.
Besides, Mikhail is 60 today, so Happy Birthday to him!
Back when she was "just" the girlfriend (then wife) of Marilyn Manson, I did not pay any attention to Dita Von Teese. Then named marriage ended and I've heard she refused to ask for any spousal support. I remember I thought: 'she has enough dignity to concentrate on the love that has broken instead of money - unlike most stars'. And then, I've seen her as the face of MAC Cosmetics, and on the streets of LA, and on the red carpet and I've read some things she had said and suddenly I realized, this woman has grown on me.
She is sexy (of course, she's a burlesque artist), feminine, elegant, intelligent and self-conscious: isn't she what all women should be? Proud of the curves, showing what looks good and secretly hiding what doesn't (she once stated: "I make a point to never, ever point out my physical flaws ... this is advice I give to women as often as I can. People don't notice the things we see in ourselves that we hate, so why direct them to it? Living with your flaws doesn't mean you should tell people about them"), plus, she really is an artist who does not care about all the tabloids and keeps her private life private. That doesn't stop her from attending all the great events Hollywood organizes though and she always manages to be the belle of the ball with her effortlesly chic appearence.
Not to mention her toned, skinny yet femininely curvy and attractive body - due to her job, she knows exactly how to use it. And this is the other thing I find impressing about her: she poses nude for shoots and strips on stage yet sans looking cheap and her 'real life' outfits could be worn by conservative ladies as well.
She also has an ironic sense of humour, and that's the kind of humour I like the most... Example: "Some people say what I do isn't very liberating. I say it's pretty liberating to get $20,000 for 10 minutes work."
When I think of old Hollywood glamour in the 2000s, she is the one who comes to my mind - not without any reason: she works hard on her look and says, "I advocate glamour. Every day. Every minute."
Ladies and gentlemen, the body artist of the 21st century.
I must confess, I am not a Paris/France fan. The reason might be a terrible experience when I was forced to wait 8 hours at Concorde Square in the cold and since I did not know the city, I had nowhere to go, I had seen what I wanted to and there is hardly any other 'activity' I hate more than waiting. But when a friend of mine has stated he disliked French movies, I thought I had to protect them and I happened to name about a dozen French films I adore. And then there is Chanel, of course and Lacroix and Vuitton and... so, in one word, fashion. French fashion.
And when my mother claimed the other day there were no handsome French actors, that was the point when I realized, even if I am not as obsessed with the City of Lights as much as most girls are, there are some things I must defend. And French actors certainly make the list.
I admit, my taste in men is not the usual taste either. And while most women disagree with me when I say Jean Reno and Daniel Auteuil have that certain something, here are three talented men that I am sure many women do find good looking and, let me say, sexy.
First, a classic: Jean-Paul Belmondo. Not the typical 'oh so pretty, oh so perfect' man, but there is nothing I hate more in men than perfect beauty. For example, Orlando Bloom does not impress me at all but I can't get enough of Benicio del Toro. Another example: Brad Pitt means nothing to me but I find Adrien Brody absolutely attractive. So here is Belmondo, with his characteristic nose, in my idolized Godard movie, Breathless (he has made more film with Godard, perfect match). Check the moves, the gestures, the expression of the face... Even if they are parts of his character, it makes him impeccable.
The young generation: Louis Garrel. He is loved in French by many many fans, most of the world knows him from Bertolucci's Dreamers where he had some romance-like relationship with Eva Green.
And last, but definitely not least, the icon: Romain Duris. His voice, his mouth, his intelligence, his hair, his movies (with only a few exceptions)... - the most popular young French actor nowadays. You might recognize him from L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) or from Arsène Lupin and I recommend you to watch him in De battre mon coeur s'est arreté (sorry, I don't know the English title). His performances are really touching, one of my favourite actors.
Usually I don't believe it is possible to declare something the "best album ever", "best band ever" and so on because there are different fields, different artists, therefore it would not be sincere.
But I used to be a HIM fan for years before their last three albums disappointed me and basically, I still like their FIRST three albums and know every song by heart. While the "diabolical romance" thing is not my cup of tea, I do think they used to make beautiful, sensitive, arty and valuable gothic rock music (not really sure about the genre though, it's too complex to be so) before they, in my opinion, unintentionally have become radio-friendly and pop music like and forgettable (but, not that forgettable, since as I have already said, their first three albums are anything but that).
And now, years and years after first listening to the album version of Wicked Game (it can be found on the first album, Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666.), I do think if I say this Chris Isaak cover is "the best cover of all time" to me, it's something I will confirm again and again. Not only because I like Ville Valo's deep voice more than Isaak's and not only because the lyrics are wonderful and the instruments, oh God, now that is what I imagine when I think of 'rock', even if it's not really accurate - I can't help it.
Not only is Wicked Game a good cover, not only is it better than the original, no. It is something that, compared to the Chris Isaak version, is like comparing an elephant to a mouse. I respect Isaak and even like some of his songs but what these Finnish guys made back in the 1990s to his song is something very few (if any) artists can do to a well-known song: make most people think the original is just a pityful testing version.
Here it is, the video (okay, this is not the best one, and remember: men wearing earrings was fashionable back then) but for the best result, I suggest you listen do the song in stereo, good quality.
HIM - Wicked Game Video
Hey, this is my 100th post...!! :)
So, as you all know by know, Victoria Beckham is the new face of Marc Jacobs, Kirsten Dunst poses for Miu Miu and Kate Bosworth is the new Calvin Klein Jeans model. Well, Mrs. Beckham leaves me unimpressed and I find her ads nothing special - just a usual Marc Jacobs campaign (the lights, the simplicity).
However, Kate Bosworth was a great choice for CKJ, not only because, as the company stated, she is 'all-American' but because in her weekdays she is the jeans-and-something-interesting kind of girl and the pictures are nice as well:
When it was official that Kirsten Dunst would be the face of Miu Miu, I've read on many blogs that it was a bad choice considering her sometimes 'beggar-like' appearence (but I still think she has some great and inspirational everyday outfits). But, as you can see in the pictures below, the ads are anything but cheap or homeless looking:
My favourite is the second picture, I adore the dress... And the colours are great as well, though it is nothing new, we've seen it all before.
The Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest has a Picasso, Klee, Kandinsky exhibition (until 27 january), that for me, a Picasso fanatic was something I could not miss.
Of course it was not only the three artists whose works are shown, amongst others there are paintings/sculptures by Gris, Laurens, Friesz, Braques, Feininger... and I could go on and on.
I really love the works of Henri Laurens, his sculptures and the painting Pierrot are wonderful but obviously the main attraction for me was Picasso. There were 14 works by the Master, mostly lithographs. The first one I saw was the Two Saltimbanques:
I really love his (compared to his long life) earlier works when he was "just" drawing figures (like Dressing of hair from 1923), it perfectly shows his talent and special point of view, even without the brilliant cubism.
But there were paintings by him as well, like Head of a man:
And his coloured linocuts are marvellous...
(Sorry for the über-small pictures...)
In one word, there is no word to describe him. Okay, maybe one: genious.
The exhibition's pieces are owned by the Rupf Collection.
And since I was there, I also checked out the Hundertwasser exhibition that was a totally different world, not only because there were tons of people but because his colours, glitters, titles and works are unique. It seems he was in love with windows, streets and houses... and with creating works.
Tears of an artist:
The windows are going home:
This one above is a tapestripe, pretty huge and vibrantly beautiful. I think he is the kind of artist whose creations can only be fully understood if you see them live because the colours and the details are lost if you see them in pictures. So if you can, do visit a museum where his works hang - it will be an exceptional experience.
Okay, I promise I won't blog about movies for a while (maybe a week...?) but I've just seen Cassandra's Dream and I feel the need to talk about it (by the way, I am up to watch Atonement so I might break my word for a few lines about that...).
For your information, it's the new Woody Allen film and, of course, it is brilliant. The atmosphere is a bit Match Point-like but it does not mean the film itself is like Match Point. No, it is way different. It's not a love story (not really actually, since there are girls in it): it's about what some are prone to do for family, for money, for both.
We have two brothers (Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell, needless to say, good acting skills guaranteed in the film)who can't make their way to success: Terry (Farrell) is a gambler and Ian (McGregor) has had a lot of businesses, all of them are over and is planning to start a new one. Debts lead them to ask money from the family 'cow' they have milked a thousand times: uncle Howard, millionaire. But when he happens to ask something from the men, they gotta think it over a few times whether they are able to do him the favor: he asks them to kill someone.
But, unlike in many movies, the point is not really if and how they commit it: nooo, the Maestro is more complicated than that.
I am not into telling about the plot, so more about the details... Another movie in London (he seems to be bored of old NYC), another movie without him as a star (he usually stays away from starring in his dramatic works). The score is wonderful again (but my favourite is still the music from The curse of the Jade scorpion), the pictures are beautiful (taken by Hungarian artist Vilmos Zsigmond - pure genious!) and the screenplay is the usual perfection.
To quote The White Stripes, "I don't care what other people say, I'm gonna love you anyway", Woody and I know I am not the only one.
In sum: if you like dramas (and this one is not a light thing, it's really hard to 'digest'), this one is for you.
PS. I am still anxiously waiting for his Barcelona project, especially because Barcelona is one of my fave cities in the world (and I don't have too many)!
Most of the time I consider Nancy Meyers's movies the 'you watch them once and never again' kind of movies - light, funny but not too much to tell. The only exception is Something's gotta give that I still adore to watch over and over again though I have already seen it at least a dozen times.
The cast (Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Amanda Peet, Keanu Reeves) speaks for itself and the story is not the usual romance you can find in any Hollywood creations: despite focusing on teenage love or single women in their 30s looking for the perfect man, the troubled couple in love is the 50-something writer and the 63 year old playboy who originally dated named writer's twenty-something daughter (because he refuses to date anyone over 30).
It's not only the plot that's outstanding; the humour, the lines, everything is entertaining and witty. Unfortunately, probably due to the 'elderly romance', the film is rather unknown but believe me, it's a must-see!
There is not a single moment in it that's boring and unlike most of the light comedies, it really makes you think (but not in the depressive way - it makes you laugh at yourself, for example, when Erica cries and cries because Harry has left her, can happen to any of us).
What else to say...? Go and watch it. :)
