THESE IMAGES ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER AND ARE NOT MEANT TO BE EXHAUSTIVE, BUT JUST THINGS THAT CATCH THE EYE AND STIR THE HEART.
(PS. IF THERE’S AN IMAGE OF YOURS HERE, AND YOU WANT ME TO TAKE IT DOWN, JUST EMAIL ME. THANKS!)
THE GREAT ACTOR KATI OUTINEN NOW AND THEN
ALLI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL
I’m researching middle-aged romances in cinema. Unusual ones. Anti romantic comedy. I rewatched Fassbinder’s ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL this past weekend. First time I’ve seen it in maybe… 25 years? What a film! The story is so moving, the details interesting, and the style a delight. I had forgotten the funny combination of naturalism and artifice in this movie. Time to rewatch ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS and FAR FROM HEAVEN.
JENNIFER PACKER, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN (BREONNA! BREONNA!), 2020
Artist Jennifer Packer has a solo exhibit at the Whitney Museum from Oct. 30, 2021 - Apr. 17, 2022. I’m really exited to see these paintings in person. Check out this video interview with her on the Whitney website where she talks about process and her ideas about painting/portraiture.
I FOUND THIS OLD JANE CAMPION QUOTE SAVED ON MY COMPUTER TODAY
“There are some things that are real, that you can see, that you can observe, like the moon, and grass and things. But for ideas to become real, they have to be played on your senses.”
FELLOW MISFIT, YOU KNOW I WOULDN’T ORDINARILY DIRECT YOU TO A TED TALK
but this one by writer Lidia Yuknavitch might make you cry.
WENDY RED STAR
virtually visited the Pratt Fine Arts Department tonight. The work she presented was so beautiful and her talk very thoughtful. She spoke about her artistic collaboration with her daughter- they worked on projects together all around the country for a few years and then her daughter decided to ‘retire’ at 11 years old LOL. There was something about how much the two of them seemed to learn from each other, as well as how much they learned about their community’s history that was very inspiring.
I’VE SEEN LUCRECIA MARTEL'S THE HOLY GIRL BEFORE…
but somehow on this viewing today I am just so inspired. There’s a fairly classical story conveyed in this movie, but it’s slow to take flight, it’s told elliptically, and the framing, blocking, and sound deepen and complicate it. I adore this young actress (who plays the lead character) and wonder where she is now.
SEE THE SEE
It’s funny how you forget about certain movies, and then when you remember them, maybe many years later, you can’t believe you ever forgot them in the first place because they made such a strong impression. Maybe movies like this live in our subconscious and affect our imaginations even though we can’t name them. Yesterday in class, when we were talking about one of the student’s scripts, I was reminded of the Francois Ozon movie SEE THE SEA. I saw this in a movie theater in New York in the early 2000s and was blown away. I need to watch it again and see how much of the way I remember it is true.
LINDA MANZ
I remember being in a video store in the early 90s with a friend. I’m not sure if it was in Providence or Louisville, but I can vividly picture him being three steps in front of me, and I can see his profile as he turned to me excitedly and said, “I really think you’re going to like both these movies. They’re by the same director.” He was holding up VHS sleeves for BADLANDS and DAYS OF HEAVEN. He was right. I was transfixed by both those movies from the first second forward- and I still am today. They are dreamy, beautiful, funny, sad, romantic, mysterious, and inspiring. So many things have changed in the decades since then, and a number of those changes are just, overdue, necessary, exciting, etc. But one thing I really miss is first hearing about great movies, music, events, from the mouths of my friends, rather than from the internet.
I could listen to Linda Manz’s voice in Days of Heaven while falling asleep. The sound of her young voice- the actual sound of it- as well as the way she phrases things- makes me feel comforted and hopeful- no matter what she’s describing. She’s like the best friend or sister you want there, with you, for the ride. Observant and adventurous. Cool without being showy. Poetic without being pretentious. And though I found her in an early 80s photo with Matt Dillon, Brooke Shields, and Christopher Atkins- she was the furthest thing from entrepreneurial or self-promotional and she was therefore never going to have a big movie career.
A year or two after I saw Badlands and Days of Heaven, another friend of mine kept telling me excitedly, “You really have to see OUT OF THE BLUE, it’s incredible!” It was one of his favorite movies, and if I’m not mistaken, he brought a VHS copy of it to Birmingham, Alabama, where I was living at the time. (Or did he mail it to me? I’ll have to ask him.) Anyway, Out of the Blue, which also starts Linda Manz, has not lodged in my psyche in the same way- I remember pieces of it but not the whole thing- and I’d really like to resee it. But what I do remember vividly is my friend’s loving infectious enthusiasm and his strong urge to share the movie. Can I say thank you, friend, some 25 years later? I probably said thank you then, but I was a young punk too, and I probably didn’t realize how fleeting all of those character-defining moments would be.
THE FUTURE LIBRARY PROJECT
I can’t imagine a more perfect project than the Future Library project by Scottish artist Katie Paterson.
PAINTINGS BY REZA SHAFAHI Iranian artist
Check out his IG @rezashafahiofficial