OK, I am mainly writing this blog post because I wanted an excuse to use this punning title. (And if you don't get the pun... see here.) But yeah, yesterday was Thursday, and I went to see a restored print of the classic movie The Red Shoes at the Castro Theater. I'd never seen it before, and, since it's been called one of the most beautiful Technicolor movies of all time, the big screen was the place to do it!
The organist primed us for the movie by playing songs like "Once Upon a Dream" and a really thrilling "I Could Have Danced All Night." And we were a knowledgeable, appreciative audience: there was scattered applause when Powell and Pressburger's names appeared in the opening credits, and again after the "Red Shoes Ballet." Speaking of which, I had no idea that the ballet was going to be so trippy, full of trick photography and nightmarish elements. I mean, there are dream ballets in movies like Oklahoma or An American in Paris, but this was closer to expressionism or Fellini or something like that--absolutely mind-boggling!
I also think that seeing this movie with a Castro audience meant that I was with people who'd appreciate its campy, theatrical side. Take, for instance, the scene where Moira Shearer learns that she will dance the leading role in the new ballet. She's wearing an evening gown with a huge net petticoat, a billowy satin cloak with a long train, and scores of jewels including a tiara, while ascending the crumbling stone steps of the impresario's villa. On the one hand, this image resonates like something out of a fairy tale--the young princess entering the enchanted castle. On the other hand, it is the height of camp.
And a lot of The Red Shoes is like that--it is simultaneously a hard-headed look at the sacrifices that art requires, and a florid melodrama, or fairy tale, or allegory. The plot is familiar from other backstage dramas, but the tone is indescribable--I'd probably need to see it again to get a handle on it. The movie has been credited with inspiring thousands of little girls to become ballet dancers, but I know that if I'd seen it as a four-year-old ballerina wannabe, it would have frightened me! It is still frightening in its implications: that art is a godlike, implacable force that demands everything of its devotees, including their lives.
I've said before that I tend to go through phases where I get obsessed with one art form at the expense of others--I feel now that I may be beginning an obsession with dance, physical expressiveness, the way that really talented performers can infuse choreographic gestures with emotion. It started with the figure skaters at the Olympics, and now, with The Red Shoes...
Friday, March 5, 2010
Balmain
Iv had no chance at all to post any collections from fashion week but thanks to your amazing blogs out there I have been able to have little reviews :)
I really miss the comfort of having my laptop!
(collage from fashiongirl)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Winner of Teddys Pride Bad Breadth reducer.
Hi there readers,
what a beautiful day it was today in Quebec.
So today is the day we are picking a winner for
0ne month supply of Teddy's Pride for dogs and cats.
It's that famous product that kills bad breath with it's Probiotics.
So sadly there weren,t so many people that answered, probably because I asked a little question that demanded the readers to read carefully the blog where they sell Teddy's Pride.
A lot of people don't like working for their prize so they just move on to the next giveaway.
So I want to thank and congratulate the ones that took the time to stop and read the posts and answer the question.
It'll be between you that the prize will be drawn.
As usual I'm using Ransom.Corg to pick the winner
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
2
Timestamp: 2010-03-04 19:37:13 UTC
Swagbucks
Good day to everyone
I want to talk to you about Swag Bucks
It's a place where you can use this as your homepage, and whenever you use it to search for whatever word or search you do, you get swag bucks rewards, one at a time and sometimes more.
You can buy a whole bunch of products and also get swag bucks back. You can also get more swag buck by getting referrals, whenever they get swagbucks you get swagbucks, so the more referrals you get, the more swagbucks you get.
It's really fun shopping in the Swagbucks store.I want to talk to you about Swag Bucks
It's a place where you can use this as your homepage, and whenever you use it to search for whatever word or search you do, you get swag bucks rewards, one at a time and sometimes more.
You can buy a whole bunch of products and also get swag bucks back. You can also get more swag buck by getting referrals, whenever they get swagbucks you get swagbucks, so the more referrals you get, the more swagbucks you get.
You can trade in some of your stuff.
And last , you can redeem your swagbucks.
So to get to know how things work down at Swagbucks
simply click on Swagbucks.
If you need any other information, please let me know.
Thanks for reading me
Nathalie
BTW this can become really big, give it a try.
Swag Bucks
Good day to everyone
I want to talk to you about Swag Bucks
It's a place where you can use this as your homepage, and whenever you use it to search for whatever word or search you do, you get swag...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
I want to talk to you about Swag Bucks
It's a place where you can use this as your homepage, and whenever you use it to search for whatever word or search you do, you get swag...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
"No man is feliz till he's six feet under": Oedipus El Rey
Blind, a modern-day adaptation of Oedipus Rex by Craig Wright, just opened in New York to bad reviews. But, perversely, I almost wish that I could see it for myself... because I recently saw another new adaptation of the Oedipus legend--Oedipus El Rey, by Luis Alfaro--and it was really amazing. So I'd be curious to see this other play to learn why Wright gets it wrong (ha!) and Alfaro gets it right.
It sounds like Wright's play, like Sophocles' original, focuses on the ninety minutes it takes King Oedipus to discover that he has killed his father and married his mother--a single scene, played out in real-time. But Alfaro's play dramatizes the backstory: he shows the young Jocasta giving birth to Oedipus, and how exactly Oedipus killed Laius and fell in love with Jocasta. It is vivid, it is fluid, and it covers a broad emotional palette. In ninety minutes, there's a tender love scene accompanied by a haunting a capella rendition of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," a rousing party celebrating Oedipus and Jocasta's wedding, a dream sequence where Oedipus converses with prophetic owls, and a truly shocking and gruesome ending. There were only six actors--Oedipus, Jocasta, and a four-man chorus who take on other roles as needed--and minimal scenery, enabling the play to cover so much ground so swiftly.
Sophocles' play is a detective story with a cathartic punch at the end, but the detective-story parts of the plot are glossed over in Alfaro's version. It's much more of a human drama, all the way through. He streamlines the original myth: Oedipus learns the truth shortly after marrying Jocasta, rather than after they have four children together. Also, in his version, Oedipus's foster-father is Tirésias, the blind prophet, not some random king of a neighboring city--which is such an amazing way to reinforce the theme of blindness that runs through the play, and makes Oedipus' decision to gouge his eyes out that much more resonant.
The Los Angeles Chicano setting of Alfaro's adaptation also lends it interest--I particularly liked the Chorus's translation of Sophocles into a contemporary Hispanic idiom, especially the final moral: "No man is feliz 'til he's six feet under." But I came out of Oedipus El Rey thinking less about how it was a "Hispanic play," and more about how it rewrote a familiar myth in a compelling and moving way, with a great storytelling instinct.
Oh, one more thing: I loved how Alfaro made the Greek concept of "hubris" intelligible to contemporary audiences by writing Oedipus as a very young, very cocky man. So not only the will of the gods, but Oedipus' youthful arrogance is to blame for what happens--he's sure that Laius deserved to die and that Jocasta will go to bed with him. And Joshua Torrez, who according to his playbill bio is only just out of college, did a great job in the role.
Oedipus El Rey has been a critical and commercial hit for the Magic Theatre and has been extended to March 14.
It sounds like Wright's play, like Sophocles' original, focuses on the ninety minutes it takes King Oedipus to discover that he has killed his father and married his mother--a single scene, played out in real-time. But Alfaro's play dramatizes the backstory: he shows the young Jocasta giving birth to Oedipus, and how exactly Oedipus killed Laius and fell in love with Jocasta. It is vivid, it is fluid, and it covers a broad emotional palette. In ninety minutes, there's a tender love scene accompanied by a haunting a capella rendition of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," a rousing party celebrating Oedipus and Jocasta's wedding, a dream sequence where Oedipus converses with prophetic owls, and a truly shocking and gruesome ending. There were only six actors--Oedipus, Jocasta, and a four-man chorus who take on other roles as needed--and minimal scenery, enabling the play to cover so much ground so swiftly.
Sophocles' play is a detective story with a cathartic punch at the end, but the detective-story parts of the plot are glossed over in Alfaro's version. It's much more of a human drama, all the way through. He streamlines the original myth: Oedipus learns the truth shortly after marrying Jocasta, rather than after they have four children together. Also, in his version, Oedipus's foster-father is Tirésias, the blind prophet, not some random king of a neighboring city--which is such an amazing way to reinforce the theme of blindness that runs through the play, and makes Oedipus' decision to gouge his eyes out that much more resonant.
The Los Angeles Chicano setting of Alfaro's adaptation also lends it interest--I particularly liked the Chorus's translation of Sophocles into a contemporary Hispanic idiom, especially the final moral: "No man is feliz 'til he's six feet under." But I came out of Oedipus El Rey thinking less about how it was a "Hispanic play," and more about how it rewrote a familiar myth in a compelling and moving way, with a great storytelling instinct.
Oh, one more thing: I loved how Alfaro made the Greek concept of "hubris" intelligible to contemporary audiences by writing Oedipus as a very young, very cocky man. So not only the will of the gods, but Oedipus' youthful arrogance is to blame for what happens--he's sure that Laius deserved to die and that Jocasta will go to bed with him. And Joshua Torrez, who according to his playbill bio is only just out of college, did a great job in the role.
Oedipus El Rey has been a critical and commercial hit for the Magic Theatre and has been extended to March 14.
Mary Pickford: Her Second Hundred Years in Film
MEET THE MUSIC MAKERS:
SILENT FILM ACCOMPANISTS, THE EIGHTH SERIES
MARY PICKFORD: HER SECOND HUNDRED YEARS IN FILM
Tuesdays at 2:30 pm
April 6, 13, 20, 27, 2010
Bruno Walter Auditorium
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
111 Amsterdam Avenue
between 64th and 65th streets
(212) 870-1700
http://www.nypl.org/
SILENT FILM ACCOMPANISTS, THE EIGHTH SERIES
MARY PICKFORD: HER SECOND HUNDRED YEARS IN FILM
Tuesdays at 2:30 pm
April 6, 13, 20, 27, 2010
Bruno Walter Auditorium
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
111 Amsterdam Avenue
between 64th and 65th streets
(212) 870-1700
http://www.nypl.org/
ADMISSION FREE
Mary Pickford the first international star of the cinema, made her film debut in 1909 at the Biograph Studio on 14th Street. The public adored the girl with the golden curls and everyday her popularity grew. For there was honesty to her performances that she understood, which compared to the stage, cinema required her acting to be much smaller for the camera, with subtle reactions and gestures. Rarely playing upper-class women, she soon specialized in depicting children on screen, and she was upfront in meeting everything that that life threw at her. Now as then people are glad to know this spunky creature that never seems to grow older.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 2:30 pm
SPARROWS, Blue Ray DVD, tinted and toned , 110 minutes
Directed by William Beaudine, 1926
Starring: Mary Pickford, Gustav von Seffertitz, Charlotte Mineau, Spec O’Donnell, Mary Louise Miller, Lloyd Whitlock, A.L. Schaffer, Mark Hamilton, Monty O’Grady, Muriel McCormac, Billy Butts, Jack Levine, Camille Johnson, Florence Rogan, Mary McLane, Sylvia Bernard
Directed by William Beaudine, 1926
Starring: Mary Pickford, Gustav von Seffertitz, Charlotte Mineau, Spec O’Donnell, Mary Louise Miller, Lloyd Whitlock, A.L. Schaffer, Mark Hamilton, Monty O’Grady, Muriel McCormac, Billy Butts, Jack Levine, Camille Johnson, Florence Rogan, Mary McLane, Sylvia Bernard
In the middle of the Louisiana Bayous, Mama Mollie (Mary Pickford) looks after a barn load of orphaned children, protecting them from a sadistic overseer in SPARROWS.
Carolyn Swartz a former student of jazz teacher Charlie Banacos, she played professionally in jazz trios and quartets while pursuing a graduate degree in film studied from M.I.T. While working on a movie in Berlin, Carolyn began to play for silent films. She has accompanied films at the Arsenal Kino, the Collection for Living Cinema, Judson Memorial Church, Goethe House and Scandinavia House in New York, where she now lives.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 2:30 pm
RAMONA, DVD, b&w, 17 minutes
Directed by D.W. Griffith, 1910
Starring: Mary Pickford, H.B. Walthall, Francis J. Grandon, Kate Bruce, W.C. Miller, Charles B. West, Dorothy West, Frank Opperman, Gertrude Claire
HULDA FROM HOLLAND, DVD, b&w, 56 minutes
Directed by John B. O’Brien, 1916
Starring: Mary Pickford, Frank Losee, John Bowers, Russell Bassett, Harold Hollacher, Charles E. Vernon
Based upon Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel RAMONA, was filmed on location in California, with Mary Pickford wearing a dark wig. The United States premier of HULDA FROM HOLLAND the formerly “lost” Mary Pickford feature-film, was filmed in Bayside, Old Saybrook, and Manhattan was restored by the National Film Archives, Prague, Czech Republic. It is the tale of a family of orphans brought to the United States by a kindly uncle, but due to a traffic accident he is unable to meet them at the Battery. THIS IS THE UNITED STATES PREMIER SCREENING OF THIS RESTORATION.
Ben Model has been a silent film pianist for over a quarter of a century. He grew up watching silent films and learned his scoring technique from master film organist Lee Erwin. He has accompanied films in Europe and the United States at festivals, museums and universities. He has recorded numerous scores for silent film on DVD. With film historian Bruce Lawton, he produces The Silent Clown Film Series. (Thanks Ben for the still from Hulda!)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 2:30 pm
THE HOODLUM, Blue Ray DVD, tinted and toned, 84 minutes
Directed by Sidney A. Franklin, 1919
Starring: Mary Pickford, Ralph Lewis, Kenneth Harlan, Max Davidson, Melvin Messinger, Dwight Chittenden, Aggie Herring, Andrew Arbuckle, Paul Mullen, Buddie Messinger
In THE HOODLUM spoiled Amy Burke (Mary Pickford) must choose between staying wither millionaire grandfather and leaving for New York Lower East Side slum in order to remain with her sociologist father.
Bernie Anderson has worked alongside orchestrator Douglas Besterman, and studied with noted silent film accompanist Lee Erwin and Ashley Miller of Radio City Music Hall. He is a recipient of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ Frederick Lowe scholarship. For fifteen years he has been the organist for the Union County Arts Center. In addition he had recorded scores for silent films on DVD.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 2:30 pm
LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY, DVD, 94 minutes
Directed by William Beaudine, 1925
Starring: Mary Pickford, William Haines, Walter James, Gordon Griffith, Carlo Schipa, Spec O’Donnell, Hugh Fay, Vola Vale, Eugene Jackson, Joe Butterworth, Oscar Randolph
LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY divides her time between looking after her policeman father and brother and getting into mischief with the other juvenile gangs.
Andrew Earle Simpson is chair of the Music Composition program at Catholic University of American Washington D.C. He has composed opera, chamber, choral, vocal music, and is the recipient of awards from the American Music Center, the American Composers Forum, and the Loeb Classical Library Foundation. He is a regular performer of silent films at AFI Silver Theater, The National Gallery Art, and Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
The series is programmed by Joseph Yranski.
All programs are subject to last minute change or cancellation.
The series is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts,
a State Agency.
Special thanks to the Mary Pickford Library, and the National Film Archives, Prague, Czech Republic, for making this series possible.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
An Artist of Universal Humanity - Akira Kurosawa
Machiko Kyo and Toshiro Mifune in RashomonIt's not enough Turner Classic Movies is doing a Akira Kurosawa 100th birthday retrospective during the month of March, The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, California is also paying tribute to this master of cinema for the next six weeks. Lucky lucky LUCKY Bay Area residents get a chance to see some really magnificent films on the big screen. I'm a huge fan of Kurosawa's work and am figuratively and literally jumping for joy at this happy turn of events.
I received my schedule in the mail today and have already missed seeing Seven Samurai, Scandal and Rashomon (dammit).
The Stanford always tries to show the best prints available and has a good relationship with UCLA, Eastman House and the Library of Congress. Exciting to note that Kurosawa's 1985 film Ran will be a brand new print struck from the camera negative. This is one film not to be missed.
If you live in the Bay Area, do try to make it to Palo Alto for this important retrospective. When I'm not in Palo Alto, I will be planted in front of the tube with some sushi or a bento box and a nice Sapporo admiring and wallowing in the work of a real master.
Arigatou gozaimasu!!
Photo of the Day: Luck of the Irish
Although I hate to admit it, spring is closer than we think and now with the 2010 Winter Olympic games over (Go Canada!) we must think of what's next. In just three weeks we have good 'ole St. Patrick's Day coming up and what better way to celebrate than in this emerald green sequined Burberry Prorsum mini dress. I just love long sleeved minidresses especially when accompanied by strappy heels.Enjoy!
Amanda
Monday, March 1, 2010
Good Day
Hi and good day
I wanted to let you guys know that when I wrote my post
yesterday, I started it off by saying Hello
but I completely forgot to put the ''o'' at the end of it.
But thanks to a nice lady called ',The Redhead Riter''
She left me a comment about it, so I could let you know about it.
So now instead of reading Hell, please simply mentally add an ''o'' and read
Hello. Sometimes my mind wants to go too fast.
But while I am here, I wanted to let you know about the 30% sale that
was going on for the month of March at Recupefashion.
You know you can buy anything on this site.
let me show you a couple of items that you could buy.
Thanks for shopping at Recupefashion.
Let me know if you need any help with anything.
Remember, if you want to buy anything , you have to let me know so I can re invoice you
with the new price.
Thanks so much
Nathalie
CheerNo Social.Shoes
Dear CheerNo★Friends!
We know it's been a while since our last release, RL has been a little bit busier lately, and we are working on our RFL Clothing Fair items, so you won't have to wait long to see what CheerNo★ has prepared for you once Spring finally arrives.
We know it's been a while since our last release, RL has been a little bit busier lately, and we are working on our RFL Clothing Fair items, so you won't have to wait long to see what CheerNo★ has prepared for you once Spring finally arrives.
As a little apetizer, we just released the CheerNo Social Shoes, another adition to our recently premiered CheerNo★Shoe Line; they come in 4 different styles (Zebra / Tiger / Leopard /Black) classy, elegant and urban, just what you need!
Lots of Love,
Casa★CheerNo
Casa★CheerNo
CheerNo Social.Shoes
Dear CheerNo★Friends!
We know it's been a while since our last release, RL has been a little bit busier lately, and we are working on our RFL Clothing Fair items, so you won't have to wait long to see what CheerNo★ has prepared for you once Spring finally arrives.
We know it's been a while since our last release, RL has been a little bit busier lately, and we are working on our RFL Clothing Fair items, so you won't have to wait long to see what CheerNo★ has prepared for you once Spring finally arrives.
As a little apetizer, we just released the CheerNo Social Shoes, another adition to our recently premiered CheerNo★Shoe Line; they come in 4 different styles (Zebra / Tiger / Leopard /Black) classy, elegant and urban, just what you need!
Lots of Love,
Casa★CheerNo
Casa★CheerNo
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Just saying hello Sale of 30%
Hell and good day to all of you
I thoguht of stopping by today to simply say hello
I have nothing new for the moment to post and so I just wanted to take
the time to say hello to all of you and see how you all were doing today and
the past few weeks?
With March coming down on us really fast it came to me that it was time for another sale and i decided it would be a 30% discount on everything in the store.
So go on shopping everywhere in the store and then let me know what you want and I'll simply invoice you the new price including the 30% discount.
Let me know how this sounds!
Don,t worry about shipping, the more you buy, I'll make it one shipping price for your multiple items.
IT'll be worthed.
LEt me know if you have any questions
Thanks
Books for sale at Bonanzle
Good afternoon
I would like to let you all know
that I am now selling used books,
great books too,
They are hardly used may I add.
They are at great prices also.
I am selling these books at
I've started to add some book today but will be adding some everyday.
I've got so many books in my house an I just can't carry all these boxes anymore
at the flea market now that my back has been operated.
So I turned to the internet for that also.
IT's really great for a lot of things.
I've also got french books,
Here are a few so far.
So If you are looking for books to read while in the train on your way to work,
or while you are on break at work, or on sunday afternoons while sipping on a great sup of hot tea.
There is nothing like curling up in your favorite chair and reading up a good book, by the way the books I'm selling are in top condition and some are even collector's items.
Thanks for your time.
Nathalie
9 Reasons why you shouldn't buy an animal from a pet shop.
When my husband and I were about to move to our new place, I told him I’d like to get a cat, so we planned to adopt one. We didn’t get that far, however, because as soon as the landlady unlocked the...
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