So I missed this on U.K release, heard mixed things about it, but god damn is that a beautiful poster.
Designed by Iron Jaiden
So I missed this on U.K release, heard mixed things about it, but god damn is that a beautiful poster.
Designed by Iron Jaiden
Roberto Bolaño - The Consummate Exile
By its very nature, the life of an exile — and Bolaño may be remembered as the consummate exile — is fraught with jarring shifts that play havoc with memory. What’s interesting is that he embraced his sense of displacement as if it were the ultimate source of strength. He seemed less interested in his (and his characters’) past, in verifiable dates and events aired out for analysis, than he was in the experiential portfolio derived from mental and physical peregrination.
Probably all of us, writers and readers alike, set out into exile, or at least into a certain kind of exile, when we leave childhood behind. Which would lead to the conclusion that the exiled person or the category of exile doesn’t exist, especially in regards to literature. The immigrant, the nomad, the traveler, the sleepwalker all exist, but not the exile, since every writer becomes an exile simply by venturing into literature, and every reader becomes an exile simply by opening a book.
Mikel Dunham - The Apocalyptic Tradition (Los Angeles Review of Books)
(Source: lareviewofbooks.org)
dear anyone who has read Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan
I very very much want to discuss that second-to-last essay, “Violence of the Lambs.”
Or, at least, share a mental fistbump over how awesome its ending was.
It’s online in full, here. But oh god, that image. They went very literal with that.
Cheers for the link - that was a good read. Not sure what to make of it all. Love the last two paragraphs - his ranting on the fourth page reminds me a lot of Werner Herzog’s monologue at the end of Encounters At The End Of The World (which I would actually suggest watching under any circumstances because it’s fantastic, but it does also have some relevance to the article). In fact I bet Herzog would love this whole theory.
Interviewer: You’ve long argued for the decriminalization of marijuana. Do you smoke weed?
Barney Frank: No.
Interviewer: Why not?
Barney Frank: Why do you ask a question, then act surprised when I give an answer? Do you think I lie to people?
Interviewer: I thought you might explain why you support decriminalizing it but don’t smoke it.
Barney Frank: Do you think I’ve ever had an abortion?
Awesome.
Nice.
84th Academy Awards Nominations Announced « the diary of a film awards fanatic
These are the categories they announced live, the rest will be added as soon as they’re released.
Best Picture:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War HorseBest Director:
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree of LifeBest Actor:
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
George Clooney – The Descendants
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyBest Actress:
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Viola Davis – The Help
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With MarilynBest Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Nick Nolte – WarriorBest Supporting Actress
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Octavia Spencer – The HelpBest Animated Feature
A Cat In Paris
Chico and Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
RangoBest Adapted Screenplay:
The Descendants – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Hugo – John Logan
The Ides of March – George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Moneyball – Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter StraughnBest Original Screenplay:
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Margin Call – JC Chandor
Midnight In Paris – Woody Allen
A Separation – Asghar FarhadiBest Foreign Film
A Separation (Iran)
In Darkness (Poland)
Footnote (Israel)
Bullhead (Belgium)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)I’m extremely happy for Terrence Malick and The Tree of Life, but where is Drive or Melancholia, especially Kirsten Dunst?
EDIT: Oh, and also Shame and Michael Fassbender…
So Iamsambell says pretty much exactly what I was going to say. I will add however what a pleasant surprise it was to see J. C Chandor get a nom for Margin Call, it really was rather excellent, and having seen it on the same day as Moneyball (and thus determining that it is a valid comparison to make) it was significantly better (I liked Moneyball, about as much as I expected to, but it was good and not great which I feel that Margin Call was).
Nevertheless the Oscar’s are always a disappointment and always seem restricted to such obvious choices. I’ll post my predictions at some point, but with little enthusiasm.
![[O]n the right side I spot a parochial native of Santiago de Chile, a government or bank official, clerk or bureaucrat, a good man who has never left Chile, his little hat says as much, startled as he walks through Hyde Park with a stern look on his face (though his sternness is of the most helpless variety), as if he were thinking abstruse thoughts. On the left side of the picture a girl, possibly a nanny, pushes a baby carriage that isn’t seen: only the handle appears in the frame. This girl is English: her eyes gaze at the carriage that I can’t see and the child who I can’t see, but by the expression on her face it’s clear that she’s elsewhere, a much warmer place, the tropic of geometric forms, the tropic of geometric exiles. The photograph doesn’t end with these two figures, who actually only frame it and thereby give it a twist: between the Luciferian nanny and the parochial Chilean from Santiago, but further in the distance, a couple stroll arm in arm toward the photographer and foreground, which thus becomes a promise of the future, as if the fate of that ideal (and eminently British) couple were the peripatetic Chilean and the baby we can’t see and the baby’s questionable caretaker. But even here the photograph doesn’t end (because this photograph and maybe all photographs have a beginning and an end, though as a general rule we never know for sure what they are), or the staging of the scene doesn’t end: in the background there are three tiny silhouettes, this time in the exact center of the lens, three silhouettes poised at the point where the placid Hyde Park path merges with the horizon, silhouettes that may either be approaching Larrain’s camera or moving away from it, probably approaching, three silhouettes that are like three black holes or like three tiny scratches in the fateful serenity (and clarity) of this photograph.
Roberto Bolaño, describing Sergio Larrain’s photo in Between Parentheses](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly9tunn3pv1qcnhipo1_500.jpg)
[O]n the right side I spot a parochial native of Santiago de Chile, a government or bank official, clerk or bureaucrat, a good man who has never left Chile, his little hat says as much, startled as he walks through Hyde Park with a stern look on his face (though his sternness is of the most helpless variety), as if he were thinking abstruse thoughts. On the left side of the picture a girl, possibly a nanny, pushes a baby carriage that isn’t seen: only the handle appears in the frame. This girl is English: her eyes gaze at the carriage that I can’t see and the child who I can’t see, but by the expression on her face it’s clear that she’s elsewhere, a much warmer place, the tropic of geometric forms, the tropic of geometric exiles. The photograph doesn’t end with these two figures, who actually only frame it and thereby give it a twist: between the Luciferian nanny and the parochial Chilean from Santiago, but further in the distance, a couple stroll arm in arm toward the photographer and foreground, which thus becomes a promise of the future, as if the fate of that ideal (and eminently British) couple were the peripatetic Chilean and the baby we can’t see and the baby’s questionable caretaker. But even here the photograph doesn’t end (because this photograph and maybe all photographs have a beginning and an end, though as a general rule we never know for sure what they are), or the staging of the scene doesn’t end: in the background there are three tiny silhouettes, this time in the exact center of the lens, three silhouettes poised at the point where the placid Hyde Park path merges with the horizon, silhouettes that may either be approaching Larrain’s camera or moving away from it, probably approaching, three silhouettes that are like three black holes or like three tiny scratches in the fateful serenity (and clarity) of this photograph.
Roberto Bolaño, describing Sergio Larrain’s photo in Between Parentheses
The Beat Generation
Allen Ginsberg came to Rosset’s party, with his digusting black straggly beard, a white T-shirt beneath a dark, double-breasted suit, and tennis shoes. With him there was a whole crowd of beatniks who were even more bearded and filthy. They have all moved from San Francisco to New York, including Kerouac, who did not come tonight, however.
Arrabal’s Adventure
The beatniks naturally fraternize with Arrabal, wo is also bearded (his Parisian under-the-chin beard and their unkempt beatnik beards), and invite him to their to listen to his poetry readings. Ginsberg lives with another bearded man as man and wife and would like Arrabal to be present at their bearded couplings. When I got back to the hotel, I found Arrabal looking frightened and scandalized because they wanted to seduce him. This Teddy Boy who had come to America to scandalize others is totally terrified at his first encounter with the American avant-garde and suddenly is revealed as the poor Spanish boy who up until a few years ago was still studying to become a priest.
He says that at home the beatniks are very clean, they have a beautiful house complete with fridge and television, and they live a quiet bourgeois ménage and dress up in dirty clothes only to go out.
From the frequently hilarious, occasionally questionable American Diary 1959-1960 by Italo Calvino published in Hermit in Paris.
Literature brushes past these literary creatures and kisses them on the lips, but they don’t even notice.
– Labyrinth - Roberto Bolaño available at The New Yorker here.
Song That Everyone Should Listen To Of The Day: Handsome Furs - The Radio’s Hot Sun
Yeah so it’s years old and I probably should have come across them before what with Dan Boeckner being Wolf Parade’s frontman but I’ve only come across Handsome Furs this week, and they’re bloody great.
Also La Blogotheque do awesome videos, here’s one of The Antlers.
He was something of an anachronism: a great novelist who was not a great writer.
–
The Book Bench: In the Labyrinth: A User’s Guide to Bolaño : The New Yorker
Totally wanna beat this dude upppp! Intellectually and with my fists!
(via aliciakennedy)
It gets worse:
“The Third Reich” should join that shelf marked “For Completists Only,” on which also sit “Antwerp,” “Monsieur Pain,” “The Romantic Dogs,” “Between Parentheses,” and “The Skating Rink.”
Oh and of course:
Avoid “2666” for as long as possible, and for heaven’s sake, don’t start with it. The book is a desert of negative space across which the panting reader will search in vain for the traditional pleasures of the novel: form, character, coherence, meaning.
The latter bit did actually make me laugh out loud - it’s a good line, just one that emphatically doesn’t apply to Bolaño.
(via aliciakennedy)
Bit late but… yes.
Beloved Street Art
This very easily made my morning.
The first trailer for Dear Esther (the re-release) has gone online and it’s rather exciting. The original game is a free mod for the Source engine, but the whole game has now been rather beautifully remade, additional scenes have been added and new dialogue inserted. Dear Esther treads a thin line between computer game and novel - it’s irrelevant as to which it really is - it is a wonderful story, and told quite brilliantly. I encourage everyone to give it a go.
EDIT: I’ve possibly not done enough to sell this. Dear Esther really is a work of art, the voice acting and writing are superb, and the whole tale is presented to you as you explore a mysterious island at your own speed. Exploration leads to further contemplation from the ever present narrator. This is a narrative told carefully and slowly, it requires you to think as much as it does to ‘play’. Whatever medium one decides it belongs to, it is magnificent.
Top 10 Films of 2011
A note about how these were picked: essentially they’re films I saw in the cinema in 2011 and which weren’t rereleases (otherwise both Apocalypse Now and Days of Heaven would be sitting very near the top of the list). Considering I watch a lot of films at Film Unit and that we get films later than most cinemas, I may be including stuff that was technically released in 2010 (I haven’t bothered to check). There’s also one film that I saw very early at a press screening – it’s UK release date was 2012 but I saw it in 2011 so yes, I’ve employed that most strict of criteria: my own viewing schedule. Obviously there’s stuff I didn’t see that would probably warrant a place on this list if I had.
10. Arrietty
9. Tree of Life
8. The Skin I Live In
7. Hanna
6. Melancholia
5. Beginners
4. Animal Kingdom
3. The Guard
2. Shame
1. Drive
A few additional comments:
Drive was always going to be top – after seeing it with a few friends none of us could shut up about it for weeks afterwards. I’ve been a fan of Refn for ages and I think he’s turning into one of the best directors currently working. Everything about Drive is pitch perfect. To put it simply: its bloody brilliant.
I kind of feel that Shame is probably a more important work than Drive, but it is also something that I’d struggle to watch again. McQueen is an intense director, both Shame and Hunger are difficult, uncomfortable works but that is precisely what they should be considering the subject matter. McQueen comes across as a master in perfect control of his work – and as ever Fassbender delivers an exceptional performance – definitely the best of the year (though not quite as good as his performance in Hunger).
The Guard was one of those films that completely surpassed my expectations – same with Hanna – I’d heard good things but was essentially unsuspecting of how fantastic they would be.
The Guard has some unsurprising similarities with In Bruges but I felt that it was better in every single way – Gleeson is fantastic, the writing hilarious, and the story more engaging. I was totally unprepared for how emotional it was. I’ve tried (seemingly hopelessly) to try and convince everyone I know to see it – it seems to have drastically overlooked by a lot of people.
Hanna was just kick-ass – it’s rare I enjoy an action film but Hanna was superbly directed and choreographed; a perfect example of how to shoot action without making it a barrage of noise, editing and bewilderment. The soundtrack was of course excellent. The ending located in an abandoned theme park allowed for some quite surreal sequences which I loved. Tom Hollander’s performance was terrifying – that whistle…
Animal Kingdom was breathtaking – dark, tense, and arresting. I had huge expectations for it and it easily surpassed them. It comes across as uncomfortably realistic.
Beginners was, again, a pleasant surprise, wonderfully funny, occasionally heartbreaking and, of course, the lovely Melanie Laurent means it is definitely something I’ll return to. Christopher Plummer deserves every award he gets as well.
Tree of Life actually counts as a disappointment, but my expectations were so high for it that it still warrants a place on the list. It’s unbelievably beautiful and thought-provoking but its deliberately loose structure is tiring at times. Still the universe scenes alone are some of finest scenes ever, and demonstrate the sheer wonder that cinema can provoke.
On a similar not Melancholia provides similar visual thrill, particularly in its opening shots. I was surprised to find that Melancholia was nowhere near as difficult as I expected (Von Trier does of course have a certain reputation, and his much referred to “no more happy endings” statement affected my expectations). That’s not to say it’s exactly positive, melancholic is the easiest and most obvious description but it is fantastic film-making and a visionary take on depression and the end of the world.
The Skin I Live In was strange, twisted and shocking, as expected. It’s very difficult to describe, but certainly harder to forget.
Arrietty I’ve talked about before, sumptuous, beautiful and charming it is perhaps the easiest film to recommend on this list, if only because I can’t really imagine anyone not liking it.
BAFTA Nominations Are In
BEST FILM
THE ARTIST Thomas Langmann
THE DESCENDANTS Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
DRIVE Marc Platt, Adam Siegel
THE HELP Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn SlovoOUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Simon Curtis, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Adrian Hodges
SENNA Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Manish Pandey
SHAME Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Abi Morgan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo,
Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN Lynne Ramsay, Luc Roeg, Jennifer Fox, Robert Salerno,
Rory Stewart KinnearOUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
ATTACK THE BLOCK Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
BLACK POND Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
CORIOLANUS Ralph Fiennes (Director)
SUBMARINE Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
TYRANNOSAUR Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
INCENDIES Denis Villeneuve, Luc Déry, Kim McGraw
PINA Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
POTICHE François Ozon, Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
A SEPARATION Asghar Farhadi
THE SKIN I LIVE IN Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin AlmodóvarDOCUMENTARY
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD Martin Scorsese
PROJECT NIM James Marsh, Simon Chinn
SENNA Asif KapadiaANIMATED FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN Steven Spielberg
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Sarah Smith
RANGO Gore VerbinskiDIRECTOR
THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE Nicolas Winding Refn
HUGO Martin Scorsese
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN Lynne RamsayORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
BRIDESMAIDS Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
THE GUARD John Michael McDonagh
THE IRON LADY Abi Morgan
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: Woody AllenADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
THE HELP Tate Taylor
THE IDES OF MARCH George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
MONEYBALL Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Bridget O’Connor, Peter StraughanLEADING ACTOR
BRAD PITT Moneyball
GARY OLDMAN Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
GEORGE CLOONEY The Descendants
JEAN DUJARDIN The Artist
MICHAEL FASSBENDER ShameLEADING ACTRESS
BÉRÉNICE BEJO The Artist
MERYL STREEP The Iron Lady
MICHELLE WILLIAMS My Week with Marilyn
TILDA SWINTON We Need to Talk About Kevin
VIOLA DAVIS The HelpSUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Beginners
JIM BROADBENT The Iron Lady
JONAH HILL Moneyball
KENNETH BRANAGH My Week with Marilyn
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN The Ides of MarchSUPPORTING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN Drive
JESSICA CHASTAIN The Help
JUDI DENCH My Week with Marilyn
MELISSA MCCARTHY Bridesmaids
OCTAVIA SPENCER The HelpORIGINAL MUSIC
THE ARTIST Ludovic Bource
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
HUGO Howard Shore
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Alberto Iglesias
WAR HORSE John WilliamsCINEMATOGRAPHY
THE ARTIST Guillaume Schiffman
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Jeff Cronenweth
HUGO Robert Richardson
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Hoyte van Hoytema
WAR HORSE Janusz KaminskiEDITING
THE ARTIST Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE Mat Newman
HUGO Thelma Schoonmaker
SENNA Gregers Sall, Chris King
TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY Dino JonsaterPRODUCTION DESIGN
THE ARTIST Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
HUGO Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
WAR HORSE Rick Carter, Lee SandalesCOSTUME DESIGN
THE ARTIST Mark Bridges
HUGO Sandy Powell
JANE EYRE Michael O’Connor
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jill Taylor
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Jacqueline DurranMAKE UP & HAIR
THE ARTIST Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
HUGO Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
THE IRON LADY Marese Langan
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jenny ShircoreSOUND
THE ARTIST Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener
HUGO Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley
WAR HORSE Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard HymnsSPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN Joe Letteri
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery
HUGO Rob Legato, Ben Grossman, Joss Williams
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White
WAR HORSE Ben Morris, Neil CorbouldSHORT ANIMATION
ABUELAS Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan, Francesca Gardiner
BOBBY YEAH Robert Morgan
A MORNING STROLL Grant Orchard, Sue GoffeSHORT FILM
CHALK Martina Amati, Gavin Emerson, James Bolton, Ilaria Bernardini
MWANSA THE GREAT Rungano Nyoni, Gabriel Gauchet
ONLY SOUND REMAINS Arash Ashtiani, Anshu Poddar
PITCH BLACK HEIST John Maclean, Gerardine O’Flynn
TWO AND TWO Babak Anvari, Kit Fraser, Gavin CullenTHE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
ADAM DEACON
CHRIS HEMSWORTH
CHRIS O’DOWD
EDDIE REDMAYNE
TOM HIDDLESTONJust one question. Where the f**k is The Tree of Life?
Good question about Tree of Life but then on other hand - they’ve actually nominated Drive. So this is immediately 10x better than the Golden Globes.
(Source: oldfilmsflicker)
