How to Steal a Million Dollar Face

Irma Vamp

Maggie Cheung is a fierce feline in a fabulous catsuit. Irma Vep.

Bubbles

My sister takes these breathtaking microscopic photographs of plant cells as part of her research for her Masters architecture project. She experiments a lot with back lighting in order to get the blues, violets, purples, and greens. Just further proof that Mother Nature knows beauty best.

In Flight

Forget Me Not scarves are like the chic woman's parachutes.

Ginger

Shirley Manson, major rock goddess.

FLORABOMB

V Magazine Oct 2011

Photography = David Schulze

Styling = Catherine Newell-Hanson with Artwork by Christopher Favale

Ignore the Dead Girl on the Floor

I'm addicted to Balenciaga's Resort 2012 Video directed by Steven Meisel. The Phillip Glass soundtrack really adds a sense of impending doom or mystery to the whimsy of the pastel prints and fun silhouettes. Click to see the video.

Positive and Negative Space

Photo Courtesy of saywho.fr

I've always been obsessed about shadows, silhouettes, figures --- the positive and negative spaces of images, the black and the white, the opposites. You get the drift. Even when I was a child I put on a stellar shadow puppet play for my fourth grade class that was the envy of every student. Something about Giovanna Battaglia's AMFAR Stephen Sprouse dress fascinates me. Everything is defying gravity in this outfit. The dress is essentially a skirt suspended across one shoulder --- how it does not fall off her shoulder, I'll never know. Add to that the strategically places black bra cups over the two most important areas of a woman which the dress/skirt neglects to conceal. The creativity in Giovanna's experimentation with the exposee makes this outfit so modern. And sexy sexy sexy.

Graffiti on My Street

Perhaps inspired by the documentary Gasland. Or is it a commentary on the irony of mountain spring water in plastic bottles too congested for our environment?

Body Art

Ornamentation comes in many incarnations.

Ravenhaired Girl Likes Blonde Redhead

I love Blonde Redhead's haunting vocals. They're coming to Winnipeg June 20th, Calgary June 22/23, and Vancouver June 25th so watch out!

The Quote of the Century

Toi Jamais

BAMcinematek has been presenting a series of Catherine Deneuve films every day of this month. Each night is different, and I decided to sneak off to BAM on Wednesday for the 2002 musical, comedic, mystery-farce film 8 femmes. I have to say that Catherine Deneuve still looks incredible for her age, and every part the legend. Her song solo "Toi Jamais" proved that she only has the acting talent in her package but a sultry, easy voice to boot. Damn those Libras. And remember how young she was in Belle du Jour? Deneuve is a completely different woman now.

Let's not forget Fanny Ardant either, who I first saw in Kapur's Elizabeth as Mary of Guise. They say that supporting actresses are sometimes more important than leading actresses (was that Shakespeare that suggested that?), since they reveal the protagonists. Although I am an avid fan of Cate Blanchett, Ardant's fifteen minute screentime in Elizabeth was so memorable --- particularly the scene where she wipes the blood off of a young, twelve year old soldier on the battlefield and sends him back to the Queen of England. "Tell that bastard Queen not to send children to fight Mary of Guise!" Ardant's dialogue with Geoffrey Rush before he beds her and assassinates her creates a quick screen moment where we see Ardant's sly seductive smile. When I saw that smile again in 8 femmes, it was like a deer hitting a car windshield. I, and apparently much of the cyber world, cannot get enough of how Ardant smokes those long cigarettes in the film, all the while smiling slyly. Did she or didn't she kill Marcel?



The film's plot and suspense reads like an Agatha Christie novel, and the comedic timing is like a Woody Allen film. The entire cast is rarely on-screen altogether at the same time, and there are no Jean Renoir long camera shots here, which builds up a type of whodunit suspense. The movie's vintage 50's/60's style is also Hitchcock-like in how there is an implied association between shots, almost like a game of Clue. (Was it the maid with the knife in the bedroom? Or Miss Scarlett in the dining room with the revolver?) And since the movie is a about women, Francois Ozon couldn't forget to throw in the French knack for unexpected twists by making sure Deneuve and Ardant have a lesbian moment.

And from the first picture in my post, you can tell whose shoes belong to who --- each pair as diverse as each individual vixen. Ironic, non? Despite any murderer's attempt to hide the trails left behind of a crime, a person's all-encompassing individuality is like a signia. There is no denying who that person is or what you can expect them to do or what they could have the potential to do without you eventually being lead to them...even if they have a few dark secrets along the way. I also just love all the colors and patterns in this film! I guess it's only appropriate now that Prada and Jil Sander's collections use so much of it this Spring right?

Julie

I was probably thirteen years old when I watched Julie Christie in Doctor Zhivago. She was so gorgeous with her nude lipstick, thick brows, bleached blonde hair and tanned skin. Her hair here is pretty kickass too.

I've been far, far away...

I've been on vacation. Literally. Life had its shortcomings lately, so the best medicine for the soul was to run away to paradise.

Art Cinema

I must have skipped the Art House Cinema period during 2004 because I most certainly do not remember the release of this tiny Kubrick-like film by Thomas Vinterberg called "It's All About Love". The film was unfortunately panned by everyone for because it didn't justify a certain level of confidence in its storytelling that is usually expected of Vinterberg. But for what it's worth, the 2-hour long movie was worth watching for its beautiful cinematography, imaginative plot and circumstances, eerie soundtrack, fantastic art direction and a pair of gifted actors.

Plus, the movie posters kick ass!

More Maya Deren

Copycat

Okay. So this was mine and my sister's attempt to be super artsy fartsy and photograph subjects in the style of Maya Deren's work. It doesn't really do her any justice, since Maya is a fortress all on her own, but it still looks pretty wicked, right?

Maya Deren

Ever since I wandered into the basement of the MoMA to see the Maya Deren film exhibit back in late August, I have been obsessed. I'm so impressed by her talent in cinematography as well as film editing. Her sense of proportion is so unique, and still looks incredibly modern now. They say a woman makes a better Film Editor in Hollywood anyways.