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Tuesday 27 July 2010

News of the abolishment of the UK Film Council actually made me feel sick, I am first and foremost angry and saddened that Jeremy Hunt the culture Secretary has decided to pull the plug on a institution that is so obviously needed, lets be honest British Films are a rarity, do we really need them to become more rare?. I understand the costs of making films is up there and for some who are not film fanatics may find it hard to justify how large amounts of money are injected into single film projects but quality does cost and not everything can be done on a shaky digi cam with a tape recorder and lamp shade. I don't know what this means but it just seems for me that Britih film has taken a step back, I also wonder what will happen to so many unfinished projects still reliant on promised money, will they fall to the side and be ignored like the so many school repairs and the scheduled BFI expansion. All the coalition has done so far to justify the cuts on anything seemingly unfair is blame the previous government for creating a black hole, of course I have to admit that Labour overspent but was this the price in being too fair?. This will cause a lot of uproar and I can only hope Hunt reconsiders or forms something stronger than the Film Council which was created by the previous Government and allocates lottery money to Film makers, how will people cope with just BBC Films and Film 4 the last hope for an industry that is already struggling. I am already tired of this Government and feel the country is becoming one that is populated by rich and a place where only they can survive, I don't want to go into the issue of housing and homelessness that the UK suffers from slashing of benefits to cutting funding on various projects whilst we have the mayor spending vast amounts on schemes and new transport such as the ridiculous bike scheme to the replacement of Bendy buses in a time when money is scarce(lets not forget it was Ken who set about reforming the east London line the only thing I am yet to praise). I am scared of what next the abolishment of the British Fashion Council?

Sunday 25 July 2010

Inception


Inception, rare as it is for me to care about Hollywood blockbusters, as well many just seem to be a waste of time and hours of my life I will never get back, in the case of Inception, Time flew by and it managed to keep me entertained although a good portion even from the beginning was spent explaining the rules of the world the movie is set in: A dream within a dream within a dream. I found the most interesting part of the movie to be the story between Leo Dicap and Marion Cotillard, other than that the film made me feel nothing, I wasn't disappointed nor impressed and I hate the indecisive feeling of being unable to form a strong enough opinion on which to criticise or applaud a film but that was the case.

I did like how they took a role call of indie actors such as Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy and too a lesser extent Lukas Haas and placed them within a mainstream film that some have claimed to be artsy, I did'nt find the film baffling at all and really believe it is a marketing tool as much Leo Di Cap asking viewers to view the film twice. Yeah Right.

Fiona Banner- Black Hawk Down

I don't actually know why or how this happened but I think its since Boris V Ken, that I became interested in politics, I simply see it as although fashion, art, music, film are my main interests they can only reflect the times and sometimes help shape them but it is politics that have the power to change them.

Enough said on that, I've also become an avid reader of the Guardian and use its website to keep me informed on the going ons in the wider world as well as the cultural one.

At present there is a hoo-ha about Channel 5 and it being bought out by Richard Desmond who owns celeb trash mag OK!and the Daily Express amongst others. He has already said he plans to revive Big Brother after channel 4 has ditched it and Top of the pops style after the BBC Finally extinguished the original, Does all Desmond plan to do is cherry pick the cast off's of others.

It's not hard for Channel Five to carve out an id of their own, not just an outlet for the various CSI's and Aussie shows such as Home and Away & Neighbours but to create fresh and original exciting drama's and this is what baffles me, to me its not hard for the channel to be unique, simply offer viewers what they want , focus on the specific demograph the channel overall wants to target or do as 4 does so well and create multi level programs aimed at a diverse range of people.

As Sad as it is people love Celeb gossip and in the case of OK!, the Celebs in question are not really Celebs they are just people groomed, styled and packaged as Celebs in order to create content, I honestly think hiring decent presenters to present a half decent show aimed at teens that incorporates the going ons of the world from possibly a hit US TV show, A celeb show(sad as it is) , A decent fashion programme that actually talks about high fashion and presented by credible people within the industry as it is something that has not been explored to deeply or correctly since the clothes show. Of course there is the educational programmes, News, Art shows, docs, debates, talk shows etc that could be enticing and different from the other channels and what they already offer.

I am mainly concerned about my age group 16-34 is not represented by the channels well enough and there is a big enough gap in which 5 can successfully fill. Will it? probably not and all this is just wishful thinking.

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Bret Easton Ellis







Dear Wendy

Slowly grew on me as I watched it and it slowly pulled me in, I thought that the film was mainly about the darkness within us all how objects of destruction can give power to the powerless, outsiders such as these who through the weapons find mutual interest and form a band of outsiders, it took an outsider from the outside to be brought inside and awaken the more sinister meaning of a weapon and unravel the groups manifesto which like all manifestos is full of holes and contradiction, it being set in a small american miners town where there is not much to do for a teenage, it also adds the western style feel to the end of the film with the cops shooting the bad guys and the cat and mouse techniques used what brings it to modern day is the matrix style effect in which the bullet entering the body is shown and the damage it does as well as the line of fire shot from the dandies gun shown how it hits the police men. The first person narrative is cool and the film overall with its weird story is different and sometimes difference is good and this case it remains good not able to exceed to great

Jaiden rVa James Forever



Monday 19 July 2010


Elephant by Alan Clarke

Apparently one of Korine's fave films and where Van Sant got the title for Elephant

A film or short where absolutely nothing happens but a series or compilation of shootings, seemingly random

The camera lingers on the murdered bodies for at least 40 seconds it helps the viewer to adjust to the random act of violence that has been committed
The first spoken word is at 17 minutes although brief,

There is a stillness prior to every shooting the anticipation of waiting for a violent act to befall these people who are in some cases just walking down the street, walking in the park or playing football it is in these cases where the victim is first on screen rather than the victor that the stillness and waiting are abruptly put to an end opposed to the killer who commits the crime and is seen from their angle which is less spontaneous

The final shot being the most explicit with a shot to the head

Sunday 18 July 2010


Dazed has inspired me so much and also supported us ( Jaiden rVa James) and I really feel honoured to have been on its pages, what inspires me most about Dazed is its humble beginnings, An idea born from the mind of youths ( Hack & Rankin) now a media empire and taste maker/ trend setter in its own right, today I went to Material to buy the latest copy of Dazed and got a free back issue with the purchase, I really wanted to find vintage Dazed like this for example but I searched and the oldest was 99 with Blur on the cover so I opted for Jan 05 lyrics and literature special. Any way cool cover from Issue 7, I hope to interview Hack one day and learn about his journey more.

Finished Imperial Bedrooms and my thoughts is that Bret Easton Ellis is the brand and this book well written but rather bland in comparison to his other titles such as Less Than Zero and American Psycho.

The type front on the book is so big and the title so small basically saying to me your buying into the author, I wouldn't deter anyone from buying the book especially if you are a follower of his work as the book was well written, good, fun and enjoyable. Just to be honest it left me wanting more, never the less it was a cool read
, it's just for an author that has been a way so long and is as highly acclaimed and respected for the follow up to a book that set his career into motion to well to give a bit more feeling

Imperial Bedrooms By Bret Easton Ellis "The Crossing Place" from Sascha Ciezata on Vimeo.



Shot on a i-phone

Re-bel has a new web address



The website will be updated reguarly and I intend to do web exclusive interviews just like the one I did of the actors and director of Give Me Your Hand all to be found @ http://www.re-belmagazine.com/



If you see me walking around in a neon Chris Kane bondage dress you will know why

Friday 16 July 2010






Alot of my friends think James Franco is hot, a lot of them think he's cool, in all honesty I know not much about him except he is a writer/artist/film maker/actor and have not seen much of his work in any of the things he does, the only film I've seen with him in it is Milk and well Spiderman and I don't think you have to act to be in films like Spiderman, rumours are plenty he is gay, so what, reinforcing those rumours is the fact he has a penchant for gay roles and here we are again another gay role playing Allen Ginsberg in Howl, we all know one of Hollywood's last taboo's is being a gay heart throb I personally think it's ridiculous and await the day with bated breath that someone any one half decent looking steps forward and becomes an icon of gay males for a generation someone to aspire to.



Things I did/ brought today

So I went Serpentine to see Wolfgang Tillmans never been and did get lost and frustrated in hype park, but the show was cool and Tillmans use of capturing the world a round him with what it seems little effort amazes me, his abstracts are what I truly love as to me they are nothing more then accidental beauty. Afterwards I purchased some post cards of his work and it amazes me that I picked unintentionally the most homo erotic and sexual ones on display, it says a lot about me and my tastes and that I love provocative works and I always say there is a darkness in me that i lean towards really dark works. Like Sally Mann's work I was most interested in the beauty found in darkness her images of decomposing bodies blew me away, I find what happens to the body after death natural and captivating and this series displayed at the photographers gallery caught me more than any other of work.

Thursday 15 July 2010

the
Jacob
Go Versace

Kris Van Assche “Portrait” by Joost Vandebrug from Materialiste Paris on Vimeo.


I strongly disagree with KVA vision for Dior the floaty vampish clothes actually bore me and don't conjure the luxurious beauty/ sophisticated elegance I believe Dior Homme should exude, I am just one person who can't afford to buy into the brand but if I could I definitely wouldn't.
I really like this image styled by Way Perry for Wonderland quite some time ago

Tuesday 13 July 2010


Tores= Yum

Love

Slava's pics always do something for me

Mala noche


Techniques
Extreme close ups, fast track accounts of what happened told by main actor in the way it switches to first person narrative

Mala noche pretty bold covering of homosexual sex although not covered too intensely it featured a bedroom scene that suggested and said enough even by todays standards, the shots of extreme close ups of hands as well as the darkness and close up of face shots, getting the vaseline from the bathroom, being turned around and asking roberto to slow down, the scene with the camera with the. Switching of styles and going into colour to emphasize the use of recording on another cam.

The diary entries in the dark where it is like Walt is talking to a psychiatrist

The movie in itself is political in the way Mexican immigrants were treated and also highlighting the liberation of being gay, showing a gay mans desires for another
Damien Hirst- After the flood

Possible reference to Noah's Arc, a signal/ sign of new begging and God knows we need one

Sunday 11 July 2010