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Noirvember

These are Matthew Sweet's five rules of film noir, in honor of a gloomy month that calls for some equally dark movies...I do love a femme fatale.

Labels: movie pick, movies

Whip It

One of my favorite summer movies is Whip It. The directorial debut of Drew Barrymore it's an inspiring coming-of-age story set to the beat of girl pop-punk bands and roller derbies. Bliss (Ellen Page) is a misfit in her small Texas town and dreams of leaving. After seeing her first roller derby she tells the women of the Hurl Scouts team (loads of hilarious team names in this film) that they are her "new heroes." Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) tells Bliss to "put on some skates and become [her] own hero." And this is the basic premise of the movie: becoming the person you want to be. Bliss gets knocked down and around a few times both figuratively by life and literally in the roller rink, but step-by-step she becomes her own person in her own terms. Unlike other teen films where the protagonist discovers who they are through a transformation dictated by someone else, Bliss shapes her life and her future herself. It's a fun film with a good message and suits the hot summer months perfectly.

Labels: movie pick, movies

Style Crush: Anna May Wong

Anna May Wong might not be immediately recognizable today unlike some of her contemporaries (she acted alongside Buster Keaton and Marlene Dietrich to name a couple), but she was the first Chinese American movie star and a fashion icon in her own right. Her long and varied career spanned both silent and sound film, television, stage, and radio. In 1922 the New York Times commented,“She should be seen again and often on the screen.” Of course being an Asian-American in the 1920s and 30s severely limited the roles offered to her; anti-miscegenation laws meant she couldn't be cast as a romantic lead opposite of a white actor. American directors even passed up her as a lead for Chinese roles casting white women to play Chinese characters instead (see German actress Luise Rainer as O-Lan in The Good Earth). Still in the late 1930s, she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures, portraying Chinese Americans in a positive light. These smaller-budgeted films could be bolder than the higher-profile releases, and she used this to her advantage to portray successful, professional, Chinese-American characters.
While she was first and foremost an actress, once quoted as saying "I am wedded to my art," Anna May Wong was also a fashion icon in her day. She cultivated a stylish flapper image and in the 1930s was on various "Best Dressed" lists. When I admire Anna May Wong I appreciate her beauty and her fashion sense, but also admire her talent and ability to thrive in a time when the odds were stacked against her.

Labels: movies, style icons, vintage

Favorite Films Masterpost

*photo by J.R. Eyerman at the opening-night screening of Bwana Devil, the first full-length, color 3-D movie

It's always difficult for me to pick favorites; I'm always hard-pressed to name my favorite author or candy or book from childhood or even dress or outfit and yet we are constantly asked to pick favorites. The frequent request for a favorite movies master post has led to today's post listing a few of my favorite movies by genre (genres as defined by me anyway). I haven't been very good at posting movies recently, but I'd love to get back into the swing of things because there's nothing better than a couple of hours escaping into a fantastic film and then discussing it for awhile afterward. Anyway, back to today's subject: favorites. The movie that is probably closest to being named my overall favorite is Charade--it has all my favorite elements: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, plot twists, intrigue, comedy, and a gorgeous wardrobe. It's a bit of a Hitchcock copy, but with so much wit and humor that it stands on its own apart from more traditional thrillers.