El Che lives on.

It's interesting how the personality and legend of Ernesto "Che" Guevara lives on in the new generation, a generation that, of course, has never experienced the era he spent fighting on the side of Fidel Castro. But, apart from politics, it's a great investigation to see how his most famous portrait is used all over the world - this time in a Converse ad, in a bit altered way...


Image source: adpunch.org

The Lady in the Lake.

I love reading a lot, but not even I could bare reading only serious, hard-to-digest works that have to be thought over and over again. This is why I undecidedly developed a method: one serious book and then one not-so-serious. But not serious here does not mean silly bestsellers but classic bestsellers by writer giants such as Agatha Christie. And, in my opinion, if you like Agatha Christie (and Hungary's very own Jenő Rejtő, also known as P. Howard), it's only a question of time until you take a Raymond Chandler into your hands, unless you start the whole circle with him.
His most famous novel is, without a question, The Lady in the Lake. What I like about detective novels - and Chandler is no exception - is that they are unpredictable. And even if I, trained by Christie, Columbo and other detective stories, suspected a little part of the ending, I must say it was an excellent read with a certain tension in it, not to mention the always growing excitement about how the more and more attached details will finally form a whole in the end.

However, there is an other Chandler work I like, even if it's just the movie version of it: The Big Sleep, this legendary piece of the film noir era, starring Humphrey Bogart and the magnificent Lauren Bacall is not only a great movie, but it also contradicts those who say movies of past times are just boring and slow steps that had to be taken to arrive here.

Ashamed.

I know I haven't been blogging for a while and I really don't have a good excuse for it. Last time I made a promise and a nice commenter reminded me that I failed to keep it. I am sorry for it and instead of making new promises (you know that Soul Asylum song: 'one more promise I couldn't keep'), I decided to write about a film I just watched and it left me sad, and all this after really good laughs.
This movie is Marley & Me, with Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. First of all, let me tell you how much I love Owen Wilson for his numerous roles, starting from The Royal Tenenbaums through You, Me and Dupree to The Darjeeling Limited. His characters tend to be similarly silly yet adorable and, of course, unbearably funny and this is what makes him good even in movies that are not so good.

As for the film itself, there is one thing I have to confess: I knew I would end up crying like a baby. Onscreen, for me it doesn't matter if the whole cast is killed brutally until the pets get rescued. And with Marley & Me, the dog couldn't be saved. But despite knowing all this before watching the film, I can honestly say I have not laughed out this hard in months - the first two third of the film is impeccably funny and free of all clichés. Then, the last third was so sad I can honestly say I have not cried because of a movie for... well, actually, I have never cried this much. I should be ashamed of it, too but who doesn't have at least a little teardrop in his eyes after watching Marley & Me has no heart.
I would recommend it to everyone, it's a good film, an even better lesson, and you will cry, cry, cry, just to quote Johnny Cash. First you'll cry of laughing, then you'll cry of sadness. MUST SEE!

Russell.

Even if I'm not really the fan of the nowadays very fashionable comedy á la idiots, I do have to admit that a certain British man called Russell Brand does have the talent, the personality and the speaking skills to be the next big thing.
I remember the days when hardly anyone knew him and then, with Forgetting Sarah Marshall he officially became an actor we should pay attention to. With his sharp accent, rather interesting hair and outfits and working with MTV he, of course, became a teenage idol but that's just a 'byproduct' - he can and hopefully will be greater than that. The proof is the aforementioned movie where he shared the screen with Jason Segel and Kristen Bell, yet no matter how famous they are and how well they played, he was the star of the film, without any doubt. So it's no wonder he is already a hardworking actor with many, many pictures to be made and it is worth to check out some of his appearances in various shows on YouTube. He might act like a totally crazy person, yet critics and fans say there is huge hope in him. And to tell you the truth, despite all my love for dramas and all my dislike when it comes to 'watch it once and never again' comedies, I do believe them.

The statue and the bird.

I can't recall who it was who stated, "sometimes you are the statue, other times you are the bird" but I think he was absolutely right. I don't think I need to explain the phylosophical meaning behind this quotation about abusing and being abused, loving without loving back and being loved without loving back.
Anyway, it seems seagulls share this thought and love the safety of looking at the world, behind the bird, what else?
The first picture is from Opatija, Croatia and the other one is from Venice, Italy.


My personal favourite is the first one, also because it reminds me of the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."

Enikő.

It was simply great to see Hungary's very own Enikő Mihalik on the Chanel runway, since the words successful, Hungarian and model aren't really put into a sentence in this order. But Enikő made it, with many runway appearances, covers and ad campaigns (including Gucci). I especially like her i-D cover and I truly hope she'll have many great opportunities, it would be nice to have at least one well-known model coming from this country.

Mixed feelings.

I love Vanity Fair, I love Tom Ford, I love Annie Leibovitz and I love Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley. What bounds them together is the March 2006 cover of Vanity Fair that is now the subject of an artistic joke, also shot by Leibovitz. This time the stars are Paul Rudd (who, apart from being the best actor of the team, is also the best impersonator in the picture), Jason Segal, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill.
And though I don't really like most of their movies - they might be funny and people call it the new type of comedy but still, they are all the same, silly, empty-headed, cliché stories you watch once and that's it -, I think this photo is interesting enough to post.


PS. Seth Rogen's face really is like Ms. Knightley's... Too bad he missed the pout.