Posts tagged Paris
“The September Issue” Over The Top
Sep 16th
Over the Top
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE is an excellent documentary about the making of the September 2007 issue of VOGUE magazine and its legendary editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, said to be the inspiration for the Meryl Streep character in the 2006 THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.
Wintour is called the single most important figure in the $300 billion fashion industry. That is a lot of dresses, shoes, accessories, makeup, a lot of woman, and by that I don’t mean Wintour, but all the women all over the world, as well as the ones in every man’s life.
Now, I know what you are thinking: “Sure, women will like this movie, because it is all about fashion and clothes, but will men like it, too?
Of course, women will love it for the fashion, and men will love it for the beautiful models. You will see beautiful outfits on beautiful women and ugly, atrocious outfits on beautiful women.
As someone in the film says, “Anna is the most powerful woman in the United States.”
Why? Because Vogue is the so-called “Bible” of the fashion industry, and if VOGUE–meaning Anna Wintour–gets behind something, it sells.
However, as Anna herself says at the beginning of the film, “There is something about fashion that can make people very nervous.”
The film begins in 2007 in New York City, and we see what goes into the making of the September issue of the magazine, because “September is the January in fashion.” A film crew was given access to everything, including the offices, the private lives of the editors and creative directors, the photo sessions, and the trips to Paris, Rome, and London for the fashion shows, meetings, and photo shoots for the cover with actress Sienna Miller.
The film also spends a lot of time with Grace Coddington, the magazine’s creative director and “resident genius,” as TIME magazine called her.
She and Anna started working at the American VOGUE on the same day 20 years ago, and Grace serves as some of the comic relief in the seriousness of the film, as we see her frustration after spending a lot of time and money on portions of the magazine only to have Anna take them out at the last minute or order a reshoot.
THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE is over the top, but fascinating, just like fashion.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Revolutionary Road” Death of the American Dream
Feb 19th
Death of the American Dream
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD has admirable qualities, but it is also a disappointment in many more ways than one.
Admirable, of course, is that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, it was directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes, and it is based on the acclaimed 1961 novel by Richard Yates.
One of the disappointments is built into the story, which takes place in 1955 and is about what was known as “the American Dream.”
According to BREWER’S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE & FABLE, the American Dream is “a phrase epitomizing the democratic ideals and aspirations on which America had been founded, the American way of life at its best,” and back then that included a happy marriage, two children, a house in the suburbs, and a fulfilling job that is rewarding.
When the film opens, we see Frank and April meet at a party in New York City. Frank is a veteran of World War II, and April is studying to be an actress.
We skip ahead to when they are already married and April is appearing in a community-theater production with disappointing, humiliating results. Frank says to April, “Well, I guess it wasn’t exactly a triumph or anything, was it?”
On the way home, they get into an argument, Frank stops the car, he calls her “sick,” and she calls him “disgusting.”
Then we see a flashback to when they bought their house in Connecticut on Revolutionary Road.
Frank commutes to his boring job in New York City, and on his 30th birthday he does something that we hope is out of character.
April believes that Frank is the most interesting person she has ever met, and she tells him her idea that will change their lives forever. She wants to sell their house and everything else they have, move the family to Paris, and she will work to support the family while Frank will have all the time he needs to figure out what he wants to do.
Frank agrees, because their whole existence is that they are different from everyone else and that they are “special.”
However, they aren’t really special; they just think they are and have deluded themselves into believing that, especially when something happens at work that makes Frank get cold feet about Paris.
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is the death of the American Dream with many false endings.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
The Pink Panther 2 – Movie Trailer
Feb 6th
Steve Martin returns to the role made famous by Peter Sellers in this high-concept sequel to the 2006 comedy hit The Pink Panther. The world’s most valuable treasures are being stolen. The legendary Pink Panther Diamond is the latest to disappear, and Chief Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese taking over acting duties from Kevin Kline) is assembling a team of international experts and detectives to track down the thief and recover the missing artifacts. The latest addition to the crack team is Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Martin), the intrepid yet awkward French detective who always seems to get his man. Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer reprise their roles as Clouseau’s partner, Ponton, and love interest, Nicole, respectively, with Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina, Yuki Matsuzaki, and the Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai rounding out the team that will travel from Paris to Rome in search of the priceless gem.