Whitney Dail spends most of her time daydreaming about space, especially anything sixties Space Age. She rides her bike almost every day, loves researching and staying informed about current issues in contemporary art, enjoys watching road-cycling races (grand tours), and has a vast knowledge of British subcultures. Whitney is currently seeking her masters in Arts Administration at SCAD.
I just watched Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which is one of three screenplays written by Roger Ebert. What a totally bizarre and non-sequitur film. The dialogue is pretty memorable (“You’re a moonchild,” and in response, “You’re a bitch.”). The cuts between scenes were jagged and quick, which made it even more absurd. All in all, the soundtrack completed the film. Which, by the way, I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. What a fun movie! I went into without expectations and found it completely entertaining.
And the movie as a whole? I think of it as an essay on our generic expectations. It’s an anthology of stock situations, characters, dialogue, cliches and stereotypes, set to music and manipulated to work as exposition and satire at the same time; it’s cause and effect, a wind-up machine to generate emotions, pure movie without message. The strange thing about the movie is that it continues to play successfully to completely different audiences for different reasons. When Meyer and I were hired a few years later to work on an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie called “Who Killed Bambi?” we were both a little nonplussed, I think, to hear Johnny Rotten explain that he liked “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” because it was so true to life.
School is back in session today where I resume my 12 hour days of full-time job + class after work + homework all night. The more education, the merrier. One of these days, I’ll stop being a student. At least it isn’t as bad as being Steven Shorter.
The liberal idea that, given enough education, these millions will grow into self-aware, creative human beings is nothing more than an exploded myth. It can never happen.
Just a quick note… Thanksgiving came and went! I have many thanks to give. After thoroughly stuffing myself, I am fully prepared for the holidays and no longer a grinch or a scrooge.
Planet of the Vampires is a sci-fi horror film by Mario Bava (most famous for Danger: Diabolik) full of vibrant colors, great costumes, and plenty of creepiness. An earthly crew responds to a distress call on a distant planet only to find a mysterious body-snatching, parasitic race of aliens intent on escaping their own doom. But don’t be fooled—the vampire factor is just symbolic. Even though it takes place in an unnamed future, it all boils down to the persistent fear of conformity as a result of 1960s.
You must become one of us. All you have to do is want it. Just let one of us join you. It will give you this wonderful new complexity. —Sanya
Where the Wild Things Are: An Exercise in Nostalgia
True: Where the Wild Things Are is an emotionally charged movie. Whether or not it counts as a PG-rated children’s movie or not is arbitrary because the real audience is actually the grown-up. I can’t remember the book. However, I do remember the connection and the sense of belonging that I felt when I read it so long ago. Maurice Sendak’s story inspired Spike Jonze’s movie so I wouldn’t really call it an adaptation. Like a lot of my friends, I grew up reading Sendak’s books. It is marvelous that Sendak believed and understood that children are knowledgeable and aware of their surroundings more than grown-ups think they are. Jonze definitely acknowledges this sentiment in the movie. Besides the amazing recreation of the wild things, the whimsically down-to-earth sets, and the quiet acting, the movie was an unforgettably nostalgic moment in an hour and thirty-four minutes. As the Small Faces say, “It’s all too beautiful.”
I read an interesting e-flux article called “Subjects of the American Moon: From Studio as Reality to Reality as Studio” by François Bucher. I say interesting, but I mean entertaining. Boucher speculates the death of cinema, the television as a control devise, and the idea of the 1969 moon landing as a fabricated film production rather than a historical, live broadcast. While some individuals believe the actual moon landing is a hoax, Boucher’s claim that the (supposedly) contrived landing on the moon as the “epitome of an image” is alluring.
Personally, I feel a sense of human accomplishment when I think of Neil and Buzz walking on the moon on July 20, 1969 (with Michael Collins in orbit)—I believe in NASA. But Boucher says that the moon landing is veritably a moment of hyperrealism. Since cinema ended with television and television is merely a means of control, then the moon landing is the “ultimate illusion.” I like the idea of the moon broadcast as a separate entity apart from history. On the other hand, I believe in the dream of the moon as a symbolic triumph. The history of the moon is magnificent, but it’s also a magical image. I guess you could say I’m under the moon’s spell. Then again, I’m forever nostalgic for Kennedy’s Camelot and the hopeful utopia of the 1960s.
The moon is crafty like witchcraft, and like cinema—an illusion whose founding myth in the twentieth century was the funky animated trompe-l’œil staging of Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon in 1902. Has any story been more perfect and coherent?
In 1969, the moon is the epitome of an image, whether of the cinematographic dream or of the poem that humanity has written through the centuries. Taught to differentiate a simile from a metaphor, we learned that the moon is not “like cheese,” but that it “is cheese.” Mission accomplished: we are the subjects of the American Moon. It made the people of the United States universal just before its echo was blown into the endless cave of 24-hour live.
Brothers Bloom was a complete surprise! I haven’t seen Brick, but the writing for this movie is really well done—from the dialogue down to the set-up of each frame. It’s an easy conclusion to take notice of the Wes Anderson style and even a tiny bit of Jean-Luc Godard. Not to mention to spectacular wardrobe. For instance, the Charlie Chaplin-like look, the hats, ascots, Penelope’s orange dress, and the fabulous sunglasses worn by Bang Bang (pictured above). I love that Penelope was introduced wearing a dress by Vera. As soon as it is available on DVD I will provide screencaps to illustrate my loves… Take a quick trip to each location from the movie through a website of sketches. The official movie blog is on tumblr too.
