we love scorsese

while i may not like his films as such (it's personal), scorsese may just about be the greatest film buff on earth. this man LOVES cinema. i mean LOVES. his eyes water. his mouth quivers. and he's done a beautiful thing.

so the Website may not be up and running yet BUT, here is the gist:
The World Cinema Foundation is a non-profit organization that will raise the cash to restore, preserve and distribute films from all over the world. neglected masterpieces. obscure jems. films that for some reason or another have been buried.

From AP, at cannes, where scorsese was launching the initiative:
``It was a great time to be alive, the late '50s, early '60s, and loving the cinema ... I'd like the younger ones to know this is where I got sustenance from, besides the Hollywood cinema. I think as an American, you see all the American films, we feed upon our own culture in a way. And we just keep digesting it, re-digesting our own culture. After a while there's no return, there's no nourishment, there's no depth. I believe that.''

what a downer

er




er




erm.

someone leave the light on...

not to be outdone by the japanese. the koreans, GOD BLESS, have developed a real talent for the psychological horror (dubbed K-horror). not since the shining has western cinema be able to produce something that is chilling. frightening. mysterious. troubling. encrypted. moving. tragic. and well, you know, the rest. so the ball is firmly in the court of the east (leaving hollywood to take the scraps and remake them, well or not). well after being thoroughly impressed with the tale of two sisters i didn't pursue other crackers. now i have. a bit more.
I LIKE.

love in time of the opium

tempted by temptress moon
and now trying to get to the bottom of the peony pavilion, from what i gather some take on farewell my concubine that takes its title from the most classic of Chinese kunqu operas. i feel there are a few linguistic barriers to say the least but am ploughing through what to my ignorant ears sounds like cat screeching. where is that opium?

the power of trilogies

a few years back, fatih akin, in his early thirties made the rather wonderful Head-On, which tapped into his own conflicted background for inspiration. this is what sight and sound had to say about it, back in 2005.

Head-On also shuttles between cultural codes. Having grown up in Germany with Turkish parents, the protagonists seem to feel equally (not) at home in either culture, quoting freely from both their Turkish and German cultural heritages. Yet the film presents this not as a problem of non-belonging but rather as an opportunity to construct multiple belongings. Instead of portraying the experience of exile in terms of homelessness and loss, Head-On emphasises its enabling side, what Edward Said called the "plurality of vision" it offers.

Fatih Akin has said that his film has no ambition to "represent" the Turkish minority in Germany. Instead, his protagonists are outsiders, "on a quest to find themselves." They seek to invent a new life, a new morality, and they pay a price for trying to do so. The film ends with the suggestion that for both of them the quest and the passion are ongoing. In the words of one Turkish pop song: "What would remain from the story, if there were not passion?"

At Cannes this year, his The Edge of Heaven made its debut. the second of what i am suppposing is a trilogy (``I conceived of the whole thing as a trilogy -- the Love, Death and the Devil trilogy.'') I for one, cannot wait. it won for best screenplay. and charlotte rampling handed over the prize. an added perk.




"Akin's work is so serene, contemplative and yet so complex that it bypasses any simple comparisons to recent convoluted choral works such as Crash and Babel and offers pleasing touches of Kieslowskian non-coincidences, though Akin is certainly not on the same level as the legendary Polish director of the Ten Commandments and the Three Colours Trilogy - at least, not yet," writes Boyd van Hoeij at european-films.net. "As an acting showcase, Auf der andere Seite is outstanding. Hanna Schygulla gives one of her most riveting performances in years, while the Turkish ensemble is excellent all-round."

it's good to see the AMAZING schygulla garner attention again. she herself compared the young german-turk to a young fassbinder.

darling little thing, it's hungry

India: An elephant in the eastern state of Orissa has turned to highway robbery for food. The animal is yet to harm a human but refuses to let vehicles pass until the driver has exited the vehicle and allowed it to search for fooood.

Forestry officials think that the animal is old and having a hard time getting food of it's own. Police have received a large number of complaints about the creature. Motorists have been advised to co-operate with the elephant lest it attack.

"The elephant then inserts its trunk inside the vehicle and sniffs for food. If you are carrying vegetables and banana inside your vehicle, then it will gulp them and allow you to go," said Prabodh Mohanty.

(Metro)

to cosmo

Will you stay in our lovers' story
If you stay you won't be sorry
'Cause we believe in you
Soon you'll grow so take a chance
With a couple of kooks
Hung up on romancing

sunday morning....

chillin' and singing to ella

...
We'll go to Coney
And eat baloney on a roll
....

la la la

And "My Fair Lady" is a terrific show they say
We both may see it close, some day

la la la

We'll turn Manhattan
into an isle of joy!

....

these shoes where made for walking

from testaccio to piazza del popolo. artichokes en route. skirting crowds. tiring maude out.

"that is so wigtit"

lil' pea hits rome

11 a.m. slightly hungover

music plays:

f: what the HELL is this?
lil pea: the brazialian girls!
f: i love it!

"citta' di merda"

Repubblica
By Attilio Bolzoni


a scuola oggi si studia la spazzatura

....Ecco altri disegni, altri bidoni, altre fiamme. Maria che paragona l'immondizia a un missile nucleare e ci scrive sopra: "La spazzatura è come un'avventura di paura". Giovanni che riempie il suo foglio di un grande fuoco e Salvatore di un grande fumo nero, Pasquale che fa saltellare i topi da un cassonetto all'altro, Marcella che fa arrivare i sacchi neri fino al tetto del suo palazzo di otto piani. E poi l'ultimo, anonimo. Una strada dritta, un bidone grande grande con le bottiglie che scivolano giù, un bimbo smarrito, una mamma che si tura il naso, un'altra bimba che è inginocchiata fra i rifiuti. E un solo commento: "Città di merda".

This Is Your Life (and How You Tell It)

By BENEDICT CAREY (New York Times)
Published: May 22, 2007
For more than a century, researchers have been trying to work out the raw ingredients that account for personality, the sweetness and neuroses that make Anna Anna, the sluggishness and sensitivity that make Andrew Andrew. They have largely ignored the first-person explanation — the life story that people themselves tell about who they are, and why.

health/psychology/22narr.html?ex=1180756800&en=f9f85fb499d1eb72&ei=5070&emc=eta1">read on

bad news

ok. so slightly tipsy at 9pm. so most should be forgiven
but i LOVE this song by bonnie prince billy. and for once, the (home)video, is strangely touching. all cowboys and brides on horse back.

"She lays like a monkey unclothed in the snow
And her voice it decays and before it does she goes,
I will never again deliver bad news."


am retiring to my own private idaho.

thankyou for not letting go of me, when i let go of you

acceptance speeches

and the nominees ARE.....



for acceptance speeches look no further.
dignified. short. to the point.
from the fairest of them all
vivien leigh'; self.ql_skeyphrase='vivien%20leigh'; if(window.event) self.ql_sevent=window.event.srcElement; self.ql_timeout = setTimeout('ql_doMouseOver(1)', 1000); self.ql_isOverLink=true; return true;" onclick="if(self.ql_timeout) clearTimeout(self.ql_timeout); self.ql_isOverTip = false; ql_closeiframe(); self.ql_skeyphrase='vivien%20leigh'; window.status='Search for: vivien leigh';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; if(self.ql_timeout) clearTimeout(self.ql_timeout); self.ql_isOverTip = false; setTimeout('ql_closeiframe()', 1500); ">vivien leigh


in real life she was of course stunning (that goes without saying). a raging drunk (g&t her poison). a nyphomaniac (excellent taste in lovers, lousy judgement in marrying a raging queen of a husband). she was an indian-born brit with emerald eyes, raven hair and porcelain skin who won two oscars, a rare feat, and all the rarer for playing two southern belles. the first the most coveted role in hollywood history, snatched from under the american contenders' noses by an unknown. AND a brit. travesty...
the looks faded, bitterness set in....it was almost too fitting, too heart-breaking to see her play blanche dubois. there was, though, the added bonus of getting raped by marlon brando'; self.ql_skeyphrase='marlon%20brando'; if(window.event) self.ql_sevent=window.event.srcElement; self.ql_timeout = setTimeout('ql_doMouseOver(1)', 1000); self.ql_isOverLink=true; return true;" onclick="if(self.ql_timeout) clearTimeout(self.ql_timeout); self.ql_isOverTip = false; ql_closeiframe(); self.ql_skeyphrase='marlon%20brando'; window.status='Search for: marlon brando';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; if(self.ql_timeout) clearTimeout(self.ql_timeout); self.ql_isOverTip = false; setTimeout('ql_closeiframe()', 1500); ">marlon brando's stanley when the man never looked finer.
all in all it was a tragic life. with some real highlights.



only the greatest film of all time. the only one i know completely by heart....



to vivien. my first screen love.



ps i think i got sidetracked. i did mean to post something about nominations. oh well.

O-O-H child...

O-o-h child things are gonna get easier
O-o-h child things 'll get brighter
O-o-h child things are gonna get easier
O-o-h child things 'll get brighter

Someday we'll get it together and well get it undone
Someday when the world is much brighter
Someday we'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Someday when the world is much lighter

** this song makes me happy. this song makes me sad. this song takes me back. to a sad time. to a good time. i love this song. and i love nina simone..


o-o-h child....

it took a man to say it best

on the right of women to be equal

not just any man, but joss whedon. click on the above. which will also re-direct you to a most-excellent site. full of opinions. and the occasional rant.



this was the trigger.

rough and tumble

training in full swing. have definitely got myself a dubious rep as a gracious fouler. and am getting gently reminded to pipe down. i really don't mean to knock people down. apparently my "grinta" will serve us well when we come up against some nasty napoletane in perugia june 28. am loving our trainers. a nonno, the nonna (who holds the balls). the son and the daughter in law. all journalists. a family-run affair. the definite underdogs.

something caught mine eye....

and on closer inspection...





Yay!! greta is everywhere!

rome's most beguiling shop

closed for what seemed like a small eternity

today, walking past. i saw it was open for business. two old men were mending dolls. wonderful. i always hated dolls but when they are this creepy, and with their heads lopped off. i love them.

trying to lay the myths on autism to rest

The Science and Fiction of Autism
Laura Schreibman
"Autism is a complex and incurable constellation of bizarre behaviors, impaired cognition, limited language, and most distressingly, a lack of responsiveness to other people, and it has been the center of impassioned debates for decades. What is it? What causes it? How can it be treated?

In The Science and Fiction of Autism, one of the country's leading experts in behavioral treatments approaches autism through the context of its controversies, showing where extraordinary and unfounded claims have falsely raised hopes, stirred fears, and ruined lives. Arguing that autism is an entirely biological disorder, however complex its neurological origins, Laura Schreibman lays waste to the beliefs that it is caused by "refrigerator mothers" or the MMR vaccine, as well as to the simplistic claims that it can be cured by a variety of unsubstantiated treatments.

Drawing from her own long clinical experience with autistic children and their parents, Schreibman arms her readers--students, educators, psychologists, and parents alike--with information and arguments to deal with the onslaught of good, bad, deficient, and irrelevant ideas about autism."

“bad science can lead to as much mischief as no science.”

in a rare event, in Rome, June 15. Aula Magna, Sapienza University

i could cry

the dull flame of desire

thanks to alberto for the reminder.

"dark and twisty"

anything thoroughly depressing with a "dark and twisty" premise such as the following: young married woman works as a receptionist in a hotel and pimps herself to the guests and subjects herself to all sorts is naturally a film that will capture yours truly's attention. why does this woman do it? well, it's something to do with the mother being a slag and the father a dick. ho hum....
from the same director of KISSED, the incredibly moving story of a woman in love with corpses, comes suspicious river. three cheers for the maple leaf. willing to go where no one else will.

this week's canadian cracker

well not sure if it's a cracker cause i've yet to watch but it looks promising. and of course it has katherine isabelle, the one who er...SNAPS, in the cult classic GINGER SNAPS

"Thoughtful writing, phenomenally restrained performances, gorgeous cinematography...
a taut brittle thriller." (NOW Toronto) errr. well it didn't get much of a distribution, eh, outside of that great land to the north.


also was particularly thrilled to find out about
squeegee kids, thanks to wikipedia.
The sometimes pejorative term squeegee man (or woman) refers to an individual who, washcloth in hand, washes the windshields of cars trapped in traffic and then demands payment from the drivers. Most drivers find this activity objectionable when the service is unnecessary and unsolicited—the common case—because they feel coerced into paying, if only to avoid causing a scene.


well an encounter with the above, is the trigger.

Update1
** 2 hours later. have since seen it. and, yes, it's a CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKER.

spring awakening

would Frank Wedekind approve?

am still digesting the shock this has been turned into a musical but willing to suspend belief. it's got stunning reviews. and well. the most sacred of cows and the unlikiest of subjects often do make the best musicals, especially for those who like me detest the genre by and large (erm with notable exceptions). must read more.

ganzies

gao gao

i love my little cos. he's crusty and dribbles.

titty time

just opened in front of my house

lethal. god help me.

tomato man!

f: allora come va?
tomato man: una favola!

great moments in teen crud

well, i love this scene. i do.
from the song by one-hit wonder six pence none the richer...

Kiss me down by the broken tree house
Swing me upon its hanging tire
Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat
We'll take the trail marked on your father's map (erm)

to everything that is cheesy and corny in this oft-told tale of the ugly duckling turned stunning swan. though in my book she was cuter with the specs and overhauls, still...
oh and, can we dwell, on the fab casting. rachel leigh cook (who played parker posey as a child in house of yes.) to freddie prinze Jnr. (Mr. Buffy in real life). to the sassy Anna Paquin. to the dark and twisted clea duvall. oh i could go on and on. the school sets are the same ones as sunnydale high and the slayer herself makes the briefest of cameos as a cafeteria waitress. lest we forget, this pygmalion-esque teen crudder features the GREATEST prom dance scene ever to the beat of fat boy slim. what can i say? cheesy and corny am i.

the bronte obsession

it comes in tidal wives. but when it hits me. it hits me hard.

for my two cents. the bronte sisters (1979) was the best rendering on screen.

ok. i cannot wait

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

tulsa

l: vieni?
f: errrrrrr

i say this with uncommon frequency...

but am starting a detox.
this ``squiffy squishy folk-music loving poppet'' (copyright amy "saucy wench" brown)needs to recharge her batteries after staying out till 4am driving around paris with the roof down, blasting france's equivalent of classic FM, pretending to conduct a string quartet while her friend renato held the wheel and lent a decent tenor to the musical exploits. ho hum. i blame the coq au vin.

good times. good times.

last night's dream

jesus pasta!

he may be thousands of miles away from his home in Rome, but the ever-present Miiiichael has rallied to the cry of the disgruntled and disaffected.

"I've ordered 500" (of the above)


rockin' check your mailboxes boys and girls.

family day bullshit

am done. done with demonstrations. manifestations. protests. rallies. gatherings. strikes. gay prides. any kind of pride. any kind of parade and charade that involves getting on streets. and being a twat. blocking traffic and talking bullshit. until we have something real to say. something to contribute. can everyone please stay the fuk home and shut the fuk up, pipe down, work and get on with their lives? i don't need adulterous hypocrites and vatican syconphants ranting nor do i need trannies with their fake tits in my face and offensive outing and ostentatious rebuttals. am done with left or right. done until someone with a sincere heart and an agenda-free message stands up and grabs the mike. until then, am officially sitting this one out. if jesus came back and saw what was done in his name, he would never stop throwing up, woody allen once said. am sure oscar wilde would agree, after all he did say on his death bed, either i go or the wallpaper goes. his decision, then as today, would stay unaltered. he took off. the wallpaper being the world today. people today. us today.

that little b*tch

i still can't believe she chewed up my glasses

love

oats can see this coming a mile away. and i just cannot help it.
and i probably could help it but i won't. at the risk of sounding banal. and oh so trite.

love is a miracle. it comes once, maybe twice in a lifetime. you never know when it will hit. how much it will hurt. how much it will make you feel, till your spine tingles in a pain that is somewhat willingly soothing. how everything by comparison,... pales. how easy it came. and how uselessly it slipped away. the questions you ask. the things you could have changed. the sacrifices you were willing to make. even those completely unfitting to yourself. the lies you will tell. the truths that you won't say.
all that. for that instant. for that moment. when it all comes together. and the decades past and the years to come that don't amount to anything. because everything that you will live now and then and forever more stand hinged on seconds, minutes of perfection that you won't capture anywhere else. but the search continues. for that thing you cannot find. that thing that just...happens.

OId married couple strikes again

one-act play I

f: oh she has a blog bless her
o: she's very outspoken, that one
f: mmmmm..yes..she doesn't mince her words. clearly am utterly smitten. ho hum.
o: dont' state the obvious, dear. it doesn't become you

--

Live it Out

On the day we were supposed to leave
You changed your mind at the station
You had a nice apartment
There was a good bar downstairs
Your old friend worked there

I'll go anyway, I'll go anyway
They won't refund the ticket
It's a good story

But I don't want to live it alone
Crash to take a chance
I wanna live it out
I know I'm already dead
No concrete adversity
Only traps of our own actions
How we wanted it to be
Now I'm never gonna see you again
You checked out

Vertabrae by vertebrae
Roll your way out of a coma
Look up, the nurse is smiling
What luck, the nurse is me
Your old body is dead
Your body's dead, you're a word instead
In my sleep I repeat it
It's a good story

But I don't want to live it alone
Crash to take a chance
We were gonna live it out
Look at you, you're already dead
How will you remember me
Digging ditches out of boredom
Said you would never leave
Now you're never gonna be here again
You turned off

``i did what i thought was right''

well, well. as i sat down with a cup of tea. rubbing my hands in glee in anticipation of blair's resignation speech...
no one was more taken aback than I, when instead, i burst into tears.
i never liked blair, his politics or his personality and doubted his sincerity but goddamit. he left with a bang. that was a cracker of a speech.
when i look at the desolation that is italy's political landscape i have to tip my hat to a man who was for better or for worst, was a leader, who stuck to his guns and took responsibility for his failings, putting his balls on the chopping board. at times like this i'm proud to call myself british.
yes, he did what he thought was right.

Homefire - ``the antidote to summer festivals'' ?

Emily Haines, Metric's enigmatic, energetic frontwoman, has taken it down a notch on her debut solo album, Knives Don't Have Your Back, out September 26. On the 11-track set, Haines veers away from Metric's method of "taking pretty melancholy themes and putting a lot of energy behind them," and instead highlights dark themes with strings, horns, and powerful keys. "It's how people who've known me for a long time remember me -- as someone who plays the piano," Haines said. "All this ROCKNROLL came after. I thought I should release some of the work since I seem to still do it all the time and feel compelled to do it." (Spin.com)

Touring Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton.........
June 1 Birmingham Glee Club (£8.00) 0870 241 5093
June 2 London Bush Hall (£10.00) 0870 400 0688
June 3 London Homefires (£22.00) www.ticketweb.co.uk
``The festival equivalent of a campfire singalong'' (Guardian Unlimited)