Tonight the Night is Ours

I watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop" today & it left me feeling like I had watched the emperor pass by in his new clothes...  There has been some question over whether Banksy has been selling out since he's been making money from his street art, but I feel that he is entitled to do that because he had a message to convey.  He has contributed to a rise of a revolution, taking risks & honing his artistic ability.  

However, in the case of Thierry Guetta, I felt like he was just a cheap imitation.  He was just poorly mimicking what he saw & did not understand the first thing about art.  Perhaps my view is too idealistic & my significant other commented that it's art if people think is art.  I know this is an age old question, but I just felt so cheated by Guetta & he unwitting proved that people are mindless lemmings under the hype machine.  

On a side note, I thought it was really cool that one of Kate Moss & Jaime Hince's friends arranged for Banksy to break into their home & graffiti their bathroom.  Now, I wonder if that counters my argument regarding his "selling out." 

"The Edge of Love"

I watched "The Edge of Love" over the weekend.  The storytelling wasn't as good as I expected, but the costuming was beautiful.  Despite the World War II setting, the clothes look very modern, don't they?  I was wondering if Sienna Miller's fedora was an anachronism or not--as well as the knee-length hemlines without stockings...  It was beautiful to look at nonetheless. 

"Never Let Me Go"

I watched "Never Let Me Go" a month or two ago & it still lingers with me.  It is definitely not your typical science fiction movie.  It reads more like a period film.  The scenery is what you expect from an English movie with tweeds, thick sweaters & wellies.  It's visually stunning & the story is just so haunting that for the first time, I wonder if the book is as good as the movie. 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Cherry Bomb

I just finished watching "The Runaways" & just loved Dakota Fanning's wardrobe in the movie.  They described her as part Brigitte Bardot & part David Bowie.  I just love the 70's glam that's just a little roughed up. 

New York Loves Bill Cunningham

I got to watch "Bill Cunningham New York" at Film Forum over the weekend.  Cunningham is a "New York Times" street photographer capturing truly candid street fashion photos since the 1970's.  I couldn't get over how hard he works physically at the age of 80.  He also lived such an ascetic life.  For someone so well known & loved, I wished a less lonely life for him.  I hope to meet him one day.  It would be a dream to be a subject of one of his pictures, but I really would love to just get acquainted with him.  I adore anyone I can talk fashion passionately with!  

You can read about him in his own words here.

In Defense of Fashion

In “The Devil Wears Prada,” Andy (played by Anne Hathaway) gets a job working for "Runway" magazine (a thinly veiled parody of American "Vogue").  She starts her adventure as a recent college grad without any prior interest in fashion & later, develops a sense of style.

Along the way though, Andy's co-worker Nigel (played by Stanley Tucci) has to give her a pep talk, in which he says:

“Don't you know that you are working at the place that published some of the greatest artists of the century?  Halston, Lagerfeld, de la Renta.  And what they did, what they created was greater than art because you live your life in it.”

That line succinctly & accurately explains how I feel about fashion.  Fashion is not merely frivolous--it is commercial, expressive & cultural.  It's functional as well.  Fashion is often trivialized as being superficial & frivolous, but there is an aesthetic & cultural value to it.

It's always been a peeve of mine that at the end of the movie, Andy's boyfriend Nate (played by Adrian Grenier) accuses her of neglecting her relationships "for shoes & shirts & jackets & belts."  If someone is working hard in their job in fashion, is it not as valuable as someone working hard in any other industry?  Yes, it's not rocket science & curing disease, but it has intrinsic value as art & commercially.  Would it be as acceptable for someone working hard at say, 3M, to be chided by their boy/girlfriend in the same way?  It's probably just not as fun to watch.

The Darjeeling Limited

In one of the scenes in the movie "The Darjeeling Limited," Jack Whitman (played by Jason Schwartzman) & Rita (played by Amara Karan) sit together in a train car & share a smoke the morning after a dalliance in the bathroom.  "Where Do You Go To, Lovely" sung by Peter Sarstedt plays in the background.  When I heard a line in this song, I knew it had to be the title of my blog. 

Here is an excerpt below:

You talk like Marlene Dietrich

And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire

Your clothes are all made by Balmain

And there's diamonds & pearls in your hair, yes there are.  

You live in a fancy apartment

Off the Boulevard of St. Michel

Where you keep your Rolling Stones records

And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes you do.

You go to the embassy parties

Where you talk in Russian & Greek

And the young men who move in your circles

They hang on every word you speak, yes they do.

But where do you go to my lovely

When you're alone in your bed

Tell me the thoughts that surround you 

I want to look inside your head, yes I do.