Made in Dagenham

Photo Courtesy New York Times

The New York Times describes "Made in Dagenham" as a non fashion film where clothing plays a significant role in telling the story. The little red dress up above is supposed to be an important part of both the wardrobe and the storyline. What??? You mean it's actually possible to pay to attention to clothing while still sending a powerful message about politics/history/civil rights/whatever? SHOCKING!

Ok so maybe I'm feeling a little bit defensive because I recently received some fresh criticism about being interested in human rights AND art AND fashion. I know, oh the horror of having diverse intersts!!!

Anywhatever, I think I'm going to see this movie, I'm not familiar with the historical aspect of it, so I'll I'll either learn something new or be totally confused. Remember when I said I'd see a movie even if the plot was shitty but the aesthetics were great? Yeah I wasn't kidding.

Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival

Photo Courtesy bajanfuhlife.com

We've been having a great time watching the movies at the T&T Film Festival. We've seen a some of them good, some not so good, some just bizarre. My favorite so far is "Seventeen Colours and a Sitar". Directed by Professor Patricia Mohammed, the film is an interdisciplinary appreciation of the work of painter Rex Dixon and the sitar player Mungal Patasar.

The art is beautiful, the music is beautiful, the film is beautiful and it's all local. Please, find a copy and watch it, it's amazing. I'm so proud of our regional and local talent!

Never Let Me Go (The Novel)

Photo Courtesy Wordpress.com

I didn't forget. I just needed to get around to it.

So I've read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and it was great. It wasn't earth shattering but it was definitely a good solid read. The book presents itself as a study of relationships but the ethical questions typical to discussions on cloning are still there. If I could ask a question of the author I'd like to know "Why did the clones never get the urge to fight? Why did they just accept their fate to live a brief limited life and die a long painful death?"

These questions left a nagging feeling at the pit of my stomach for a few days after completing the book. The only problem is that now that the book was good I'm afraid that the movie might suck. Ironic isn't it? I read the book to better appreciate the movie and now I'm worried that the movie won't live up to the book.

Hollywood tends to make things suck. Hope that doesn't happen here.

Picture Me

I don't think I've ever mentioned it but there was a time when I considered a career in Fashion Journalism. I interned for the ultimate in high profile magazines and followed that up with an inetrnship for one of the industrys budding young designers. I always have and always will love fashion. As a shy teenager I embraced the fashion, painting and writing as media that could express all of the things that I was terrified to say. But, as soon as I tiptoed into the industry, I soon learned success in fashion usually comes at a heavy price. In some ways I was perfect for the fashion industry, I am quick, funny, hardworking and I posess the ability to devote myself to my work at the all costs (this isn't necessarily a good thing). But, if I were to continue on that career path I would have had to supress all of the aspects of my personality that I hold dear. I am kind, compassionate, emotional and will always be a little bit shy. As a fashion editor I would have had to be colder, more detached, agressive and brazen to the point of a complete lack of shame.

I am happy and more fulfilled in my choice to pursue a different kind of journalism, because at the end of the day print media is what I truly love. Also, as a fashion intern I was always torn by the thought that I wasn't doing enough to support my human rights causes. I still follow the fashion industry with avid ineterest but in the end the stronger passion won.

That said, I'm eagerly anticipating Picture Me a behind the scenes look at the modelling industry. I'm hoping it's a good critical study of the seamier side of the fashion industry, a side that I've seen first hand. I posted the trailer above and you can check out the review at ABC News.

Never Let Me Go

Image Courtesy Gossip Hut

My must see movie, Never Let Me Go screened at the Toronto film festival yesterday. Praying to the movie gods to make it a HUUUUUGE international box office success so that it'll be released in my beautiful but oh so small country.

Puhleeeeze make it happen!

Even Hollywood is Suffering

Image Courtesy Biz Box

You know the arts are suffering when even the big fancy Hollywood movie producers are griping about the economy. In the first part of this NYT article, Darren Aronofsky discusses the money woes he experienced when financing his movies after the finacial collapse in 2008.

Wow, I can only imagine how the small indie movie producers are faring.

Robin Hood

(Photo: Pop Tower)

My sister and I watched Robin Hood today. Great movie. Have I mentioned how much I love Cate Blanchett? Not only is she beautiful, but she consistently chooses rich material that fosters high quality movies. Babel, Notes on a Scandal, Elizabeth, The Lord of the Rings. All Good. All featuring Cate.

Robin Hood was one of my favorite books as a child. I bawled when he died in the end. After watching the movie I'm suddenly filled with the need to watch it again. Maybe after Dubliners? I've been meaning to get to that.

Favorite Movie

(Photo: Howard County Library)

So it seems like this is the week for favorites. I've talked about my favorite new word, my favourite quotes and now I'm going to talk about my favorite movie The Girl in the Cafe.

The Girl in the Cafe is a 2005 HBO TV movie starring the ever charming Bill Nighy and the equally captivating Kelly Macdonald. Nighy's character Lawrence strikes up a friendship with Macdonald's Gina. They hit it off so well that Lawrence, a government economist, decides to take Gina along to the G8 conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. Improbable? Yes. But what follows is a moving tale of love, politics and human compassion that hits all the right notes if you care about government. If you've ever wondered what would happen if the voices of logical but passionate individuals could be heard among the voices of diplomatic to a fault politicians, then you need to see this movie. Great subject matter, superb acting, I love this movie. So much.

Never Let Me Go

I recently posted about my eagerness to see Farewell, the French spy thriller staring Guillame Canet. I'm also looking forward to seeing Never Let Me Go, a sci-fi movie based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. I can't wait to the novel, I'm currently speed reading through a book of Hemingway's short stories (love Hemingway but not a fan of short stories) so that I can get to it. I'm not usually into sci-fi but the trailer looks promising and I love the costuming already. I'm definitely a judge-a-book-by-its-cover kind of person. I'm ashamed to say that I've bought several books just because the cover looked interesting and I will most certainly sit through an awful movie if the wardrobe is good. This isn't always a bad thing. I watched The Brothers Bloom because of Rachel Weisz's pretty orange umbrella and it was one of my favorite movies of 2009. I also read The Prophet by Khalil Gibran because of his beautiful illustrations and that novel has had a firm place on my top ten list for the last five years.

The only grey cloud on my movie going horizon is that there's a strong chance that these films will never be released in my country. Our local cinemas tend to favour the big blockbusters, so while Step Up 3-D and Resident Evil Afterlife are already on the list of coming attractions, Farewell and Never Let Me Go are nowhere to be found. Le sigh .... we desperately need an art house cinema in Trinidad. In the meantime I'm praying to the movie gods and keeping my fingers crossed.

Speaking of Movies...

I can't even describe how unbelievably hyperactively stupendiferously excited I am about Farewell.

French. Russia. Communism. Canet. Espionage. Need I say more?

Must see it NOW!

The Last Station

My sister and I watched The Last Station yesterday. It wasn't exactly what I expected but I enjoyed it. I'm a HUGE Tolstoy fan and I was a little disappointed because I expected the movie to be more literary and less rom-com-ish. Helen Mirren was amazing so for me this movie was more about Sofya, the charming prima donna, and less about Tolstoy. I'm currently reading Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf but since watching the Last Station I'm itching to pick up Anna Karenina.