Darren, You Got Us Into This. You Get Us Out

"Don't Call It Love If They Don't Love You."
"Don't Substitute a Life to Satisfy Mine"

Darren Sylvester takes photos of sad looking girls with junk food among other cute things - and he's just released an amazing album which you can listen to a few tracks here

How good is the cover art?



also peep a video here of him performing live

Photographs of Teenagers /Almost Grown

CIGARETTES
IN THE MAILBOX

Stop!
warm glow
throughout humid night.
tired collapse
drifts
onto shadow-hidden faces.
could the answer
be the
discount wall panels
691-0061
or the
sign that says
perhaps one way?
to where
can we go?
sitting on the sidewalk
what? no cigarettes clenched
between dirty
fingers?
headlights in the distance
pass judgment
oh, thoughtful america.
they threw lit
cigarettes in
the
Mailbox


Someone described Joseph Szabo's work as photos of kids making out - it could equally be described as photo's of drunk teens. The best thing about this photo's is once again how they're black and white (ok I've already posted his pics back here-i know black and white is nothing new but I like it) and two that they are of real kids being as unselfconscious as anyone can be in front of a camera. You might also recognise his work from such albums as this

Guys that never read books. Guys that are very boring.

“In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because you kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them. When they got out of school and college, I mean. You figured most of them would probably marry dopey guys. Guys that always talk about how many miles they get to a gallon in their goddam cars. Guys that get sore and childish as hell if you beat them at golf, or even just some stupid game like ping-pong. Guys that are very mean. Guys that never read books. Guys that are very boring.”
— J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

I've been having a bad case of the nostalgia's lately. Feathered haircuts and flares. Faded film, overexposure and Super-8. Its a good thing I have a blog to get it out of my system so I don't go around subjecting the GP to my weird penchant for sun-bleached hair, sitting on peoples cars and frisbees and shit.

Don't Check Me Out!

This is possibly one of my favourite songs of 2009. Such a cute clip too - can someone please tour Pains asap? thankyou!

Welcome wool sweaters.

mixtape for winter

1. Idiot Heart - Sunset Rubdown
2. My Unusual Friend - Fruit Bats
3. California on My Mind - Wild Light
4. Separate Ways - Crazy Dreams Band
5. Walkabout - Atlas Sound w/ Panda Bear
6. There Is No Light - Wildbirds and Peacedrums
7. Lover - Nite Jewel
8. My Boy Builds Coffins - Florence and The Machine
9. To Clean - Woods
10. You Told A Lie - Camera Obscura
11. California (All the Way) - Luna
12. Heroes - Twiggy Frostbite
13. Your Heart Belongs in Tennessee - The Young Republic
14. Kissing Like It's Love - The Voyces
15. Carby - Discovery w/ Ezra Koenig
16. Dragon De Glace - Malajube
17. You've Won Me Over - Jessica Lea Mayfield

Winters nearly over - might as well appreciate missing summer while you still can.

For fifty bucks, I learned, you could “relate without getting close.”

“Pale, nervous girls with black-rimmed glasses and blunt-cut hair lolled around on sofas, riffling Penguin Classics provocatively… But it wasn’t just intellectual experiences. They were peddling emotional ones, too. For fifty bucks, I learned, you could “relate without getting close.” For a hundred, a girl would lend you her Bartok records, have dinner, and then let you watch while she had an anxiety attack.” - Woody Allen


I think we all need to appreciate Woody Allen's forays into literature more than we have already - well I do anyway. You can read the whole story here. Also i can't wait for my new glasess

Love is the gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everyone else.

The fickleness of the women I love is only equalled by the infernal constancy of women who love me.


The perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post.


"There is no love sincerer than the love of food. "

Some more of my favourite couples - Johnny Depp and Kate Moss - i think a nostalgification for 90s grunge americans and 60s new wave frenchies is starting to show on this blog. Cynical quotes on love courtesy of George Beranard Shaw (thanks Dale) and the realisation that none of my favourite couples are together anymore.


ps how awesome is their hair in these pics? most awesome.

Breakfast by Jacques Prévert

“He poured the coffee
Into the cup
He poured the milk
Into the cup of coffee
He added the sugar
To the coffee and milk
He stirred it
With a teaspoon
He drank the coffee
And put back the cup
Without speaking to me
He lit a cigarette
He blew some rings
With the smoke
He flicked the ashes
Into the ashtray
Without speaking to me
Without looking at me
He got up
He put his hat
On his head
He put on
His raincoat
Because it was raining
He went out
Into the rain
Without a word
Without looking at me
And I
I took my head
In my hands
And I wept”

— Breakfast by Jacques Prévert

I like how long and skinny this poem is - also that its called Breakfast and there's no food mentioned, which is kind of fitting if somebody you love is going to leave you - there really shouldn't be much on your mind except coffee, cigarettes and raincoats.

On a sidenote Prevert also wrote 'Les Enfants du paradis' - which I really need to see now more than ever.

There even were pills to keep you happy.

There even were pills to keep you happy. This is not very romantic but I find this funny, the thought that love stories with an unhappy ending can be healed using chemicals. - L'homme qui aimait les femmes (1977) Francois Truffaut

There are women that you can wonder if they got any interest in love. For others, they are carrying it on their face.

“Last night, I wept. I wept because the process by which I have become woman was painful. I wept because I was no longer a child with a child’s blind faith. I wept because my eyes were opened to reality - to Henry’s selfishness, June’s love of power, my insatiable creativity which must concern itself with others and cannot be sufficient to itself. I wept because I could not believe anymore and I love to believe. I can still love passionately without believing. That means I love humanly. I wept because from now on I will weep less. I wept because I have lost my pain and I am not yet accustomed to its absence.”

—

Anaïs Nin

And the only thing keeping you from drifting away is the other person’s eyes.

My heart stopped. It just stopped beating. And for the first time in my life, I had that feeling. You know, like the world is moving all around you, all beneath you, all inside you, and you’re floating. Floating in midair. And the only thing keeping you from drifting away is the other person’s eyes.”Wendelin Van Draanen, Flipped

More young adult fiction via tumblr - i must have been an emotionally stunted immature young adult - because at 11-14 (the target age of this book) i wouldn't have been able to relate to this para above. In fact at 25 I'm still struggling to be honest - but doesn't it fit beautifully with the image?

"There's only trouble and desire... and when you desire something you get in trouble but when you're in trouble, you don't desire anything at all"

Watch this at Boston.com

I miss Hal Hartley, Whit Stillman, Noah Baumbach, Richard Linklater films from the 90s - I really do - the wordiness, don't people write scripts anymore? I also miss Martin Donovan and Chris Eigman of the 90s.

Apparently someone called The Vicious Kind a return to that golden age of cinema for now. I don't know if I quite buy a Brittany Snow picture as any such thing but I'm very ready to be proved wrong.

MIFF - 8 - in short reviews

We're Livin On Dog Food - Richard Lowenstein

“Tell me there’s gonna be a difference between Nick Cave and Duran Duran There just isn’t.” - Primitive Calculators.

Richard L has done well for himself with the opinionated yet endearingly self deprecating lot he's gathered together to talk about Melbourne in the 80s and Dogs in Space. There are so many stand out quotes from this film with Clinton Walker and Stuart from Primitive Calculators being two definite highlights. Controversial and funny.

MIFF - 7 - in short reviews

The Beaches of Agnes - Agnès Varda

I wish Agnes Varda was my godmother. I find her so enchanting and endearing. Its hard to judge a film by a director that you love objectively. Its hard enough because when it comes down to it so much of film enjoyment is personal taste anyway. However Varda's films more than most come down to whether you like her or not, as her personality is such a big part of her films particularly the later ones - and this one a doco about herself by herself aka me on me.

Beaches provides interesting insights into her personal and professional life such as her and Demy's (Jacques Demy her husband) trip to USA in the 60s and their interaction with hippie and black panther culture. Also the fact that Jacques Demy died of AIDS a previously unknown fact I believe, and that Harrison Ford was told to quit acting post screen test.

However besides Varda herself one of the best bits about this film is Chris Marker's appearance as a cartoon cat and Stephen Hawking voice - in reference to his mysterious publicity shy persona. Now theres an answer for that dinner party question who would play you in a movie...

MIFF - 6 - in short reviews

Little Joe - Nicole Haeusser

The fact that Little Joe is made by his stepdaughter Nicole has a three-fold effect on this film. Firstly that the films production values are pretty low - what I affectionately term a 2-dollar shop doco. Secondly that things like Dallesandro's abandoned families are never really followed up. Thirdly that she has pretty much unlimited access to Dallesandro's life but an immense bias.

Tidbits of trivia like Dallesandro's relatively successful acting career and the fact that his body made Smith's album cover art are interesting - but the latter is merely referenced and never explained to the films detriment.

All in all this film is most interesting to anyone who wants to stare at Dallesandro's beautiful face for 90 minutes plus.

MIFF - 5 - in short reviews

Antichrist - Lars Von Trier

I don’t know how much effect any of the negative reviews or publicity has had or will have on Antichrist’s box office – if last night’s packed MIFF session was anything to go by it will only spur on the audiences curiosity and sales. Personally though I feel like it had a detrimental effect on my viewing of the film – since all I’ve heard about is one castrating scene, I spent the entire movie in a state of perpetual anxiety waiting for all hell to be broken loose on screen. Don’t let this happen to you – the gore doesn’t take place till the last 20 minutes and apart from the epic close up of Gainsbourg’s twat at the end its mostly just an observation of her descent in madness. It’s also beautifully shot and well acted – not that this matters much as most people will just go see it to find out what all the fuss is about.

I digress from MIFF for 15 minutes.

Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (Mark Leckey) from Anon. on Vimeo.

This year sees the 10th anniversary of Mark Leckey's short film, Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, perhaps the finest portrayal of nightlife ever captured.

MIFF - 4 - in short reviews

A Lake - Philippe Grandrieux.

Um, how to sum up ‘A Lake’? Extreme close up – minimal dialogue – heightened emotions – obscured narrative. This is almost like an instillation or experimentation with form that got turned into a feature. Its good if only because its so different from anything else you’ll see at MIFF.



An Education - Lone Scherfig

All star cast (Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson) and slick production values belie the slightly creepy subject matter. However I suppose its shows how much society has changed that whats creepy today was the norm only a few decades ago.

The dashingly good-looking Danny (Dominic Cooper) and the hilarious Helen (Rosamund Pike) are the support cast that steal every scene they appear in as well.

However the last 20 minutes and the neatly tied up sweet ending betrays the rest of this film that leads a viewer to believe that An Education is not your standard Hollywood feel good.

MIFF - 3 - in short reviews

Unmade Beds - Alexis Dos Santos

I know in my last post I spoke about struggling to review - and I'm about to do it again. However for another reason - this time its more about films that I feel are "supposed" to speak to me or worse "represent" me. I feel like they are too close to "my time" to speak unbiasedly about. On another note I wonder if back in the 80s people felt the same way about films like 'Dogs in Space'?

So this film is equal parts cringe (much of the music - Kimya and co should be banned from soundtracks post-Juno, sex scenes and throwaway "so indie" or "so deep" lines) and magic (the character Vera mainly - her costumes, looks, gestures) for me.

I do enjoy seeing these types of films in parts - even if its just to find out the kind of life I could be living or how people view a certain generation or will in 30 years...