Give me somebody to dance for, give me somebody to be!

(Lyrics: Let Me Dance for You | Chorus Line, 1985)

Finally, finally, I jumped on the Black Swan bandwagon on Sunday evening having wanted to see the film for a-g-e-s; and I really rather enjoyed it. I'm not saying it was the best film ever made in the history of fabulous films but there was a certain intensity and vulnerability to Nina that was consistently believable no matter how outlandish her imaginings became.

There were some sublimely ridiculous moments that only felt acceptable once it was clear these were figments of Nina's shattering imagination; there were also some moments of profound clarity. The theme of control was dominant; Nina was excessively controlled by her mother, by the ballet company, and by herself, although her grip on that control loosened dramatically; ultimately the element of her psyche that had given in to the Black Swan was her controller.

Incidentally the casting of Barbara Hershey and Natalie Portman as mother and daughter is smart and intuitive; the two look alike for a start, and have the same stony fragility that would lead one to believe that Nina has been forged in her mother's image.

And here is a lovely trailer, gleaned from the Casa de YouTube:

Black Swan got me thinking about another dance film I love...

Staying Alive.

Yes, Sylvester Stallone's seminal commentary on... staying alive; the sequel to Saturday Night Fever; set five years on from Tony Manero's first, legendary outing.

(Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in this tribute is borne of genuine affection!)

(uploaded to YouTube by chakasmoothjazz)

This scene is fabulous (and here it's dubbed in Spanish, awesome!) -- let's disregard the fact that the same dance steps are performed in the film in sequence over... and over... and over... sometimes in slow-mo.


Things to love in this scene especially:

Cynthia Rhodes' casually archetypal 80s get-up at the start of the scene (that beret!)

Screengrab from DVD

The kitsch cityscape stage set (I wanted this on my bedroom wall, no joke)
The kitsch city jazz score
Finola Hughes' hair-dancing
The line: "Got any messages? ...It's an inside joke."

And earlier, the line: "Guys like you aren't relationships, you're exercise!" from this hardcore rock chick with her simu-sartorial friend:

Screengrab from DVD

This film = the reason I love the 1980s.

Tray tray cool et tray tray chic

OK, so I had a little break, had a little think, had a little confidence boost from a friend and am resurrecting Amateur Eye with the proviso that I don't feel compelled to post gratuitously every other day!

So... a couple of weeks ago I made a trip to IKEA for... I forget exactly: I'm determined to undertake a massive framing/reframing project at home so I was looking round the framing department when I spotted these absochuffing fabulous postcards:

Kort postcards, designed by Maria Dahlgren

These are rocking my designer-wannabe world at the moment. I had to make a return visit yesterday (yes, to IKEA... I have a Problem!) to pick them up, to ensure I had them. Am planning to frame Stockholm and Göteborg as two cities I've visited.

And then! And then! By some freakish coindicence today I was Googling "apple mugs" to track down some foxy little graphic mugs I spotted in Stylist magazine months ago... and ended up on the Hus & Hem store site where, lo and behold, all I could see were Maria Dahlgren prints on trays and tea towels, like this:

London tray designed by Maria Dahlgren from here

I think I'm in love.

(Lyrics cribbed lovingly from: Tres Tres Chic | Mocean Worker)

**UNDER CONSTRUCTION**

Top 10 Tuesday #6!

Me (during the ad break in Glee): So... what should I do as my next Top 10 Tuesday?
Friend Caro: Adverts! Top 10 adverts!

Top 10... Adverts

I actually avoid adverts whenever possible so... I don't have many favourites! Most of these are from the dim and distant past; adverts I didn't hide behind the sofa to avoid!

In no strict order!


10. Ohhh-ohhhh, Vitalite | Vitalite

 9. Lionel Richie | Walkers Crisps (I was looking for the ad, in Swedish, with Ulrika Jonsson but alas. This is still pretty good though!)

8. Creature Comforts

7. Fruit and Nut Case | Cadbury's Fruit & Nut

6. Total Eclipse! | Jaffa Cakes

5. Yeah! Yeah! | Phones 4 U

4. Wyclef Jean, I'm Arrestin' You... | Virgin Mobile

3. Secret Lemonade Drinker | R Whites Lemonade

2. Mr Soft | Soft Mints

1. If You Like a Lot of Chocolate... | Club Biscuits (The Wizard of Oz)

[Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by any of these companies! I just like the adverts. 'K? :)]

Friday Photo Day #5

...And now for something slightly different...

I'm having trouble streamlining this blog. It lacks cohesion at the moment and I think it lacks any sort of conviction or 'voice'. I called it Amateur Eye, after all, so I'm never going to impart any words of any great, profound artistic understanding but still... I sort of want to scrap the whole thing and start again.

But... until that day when my much-needed cohesion is found: today's focus (notice how I blithely use the word 'focus' having just ascertained that this blog lacks any?) is... this film: High Art (director and writer: Lisa Cholodenko, 1998)

It's not a photo... per se. But it's filmed in such a way that so many of its frames could be a photograph taken by, say, Nan Goldin (whose life and work has influenced the film). (Cinematographer is Tami Reiker.)

The leads are mesmerising: Radha Mitchell as the wide-eyed but ultimately ambitious editor Syd, the fabulous Ally Sheedy as Lucy, a formerly celebrated photographer now struggling to find her own focus (waaait, I see a theme here) and Patricia Clarkson as her lover Greta, a once-great German film actress, with some of the best, most barbed lines in the film: "I'm Greta. I live for Lucy. ... I mean, I live here. With Lucy." ... "You know, Fassbinder always told me, the ugliest quality in a woman... is vanity."

 

Also worthy of an honorable mention: Syd's "boss", Harry (played by David Thornton). Vile, misogynistic, self-serving... ugh. Ultimately brilliant. The scene where he bluffs his way through a meeting with photographic ingenue Dieter Schult (Rudolf Martin -- Buffy's Dracula!), is contradicted by his glacial colleague Dominique and goes on to belittle Syd... just perfect. Art-world-power politics.

But I digress.

The soundtrack is also astounding -- written by Shudder to Think; it's trippy, sultry and transcendent. A perfect fit.

Thanks Day Thursday # 5

From A Year of Thanks

#005

Top 10 Tuesday #5!

Yes, I know, it's Wednesday. Tuesday disappeared into the ether with the same rapidity as two bowls of Ben&Jerry's Phish Food disappeared down my gullet. But here is this week's...

Top 10 Places I'd like to visit

10. Dublin, Ireland -- for the craic

9. Barcelona, Spain -- for the architecture

8. Chicago, USA -- for the film connections

7. San Francisco -- for a second time -- because it's fabulous

6. Giza, Egypt... -- for the pyramids and the camels

5. Sweden -- again -- because it's incredible

4. Hope Cove, Devon -- for writerly inspiration

3. Tokyo, Japan -- for the bright lights and quirk

2. Paris, France -- for the heck of it/photographic opportunities

1. New York, USA -- for the shopping experience

 

All piccies are from Microsoft except no. 4. I took that one. :)