Dead Kitties
Digging around on my hard drive has revealed images of my long-dead kitties (Rowl and Sweet Pea) that I thought were lost long ago.
Free Ride | 8 August 2008
:: Bibliography ::
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Quartuccio, Brad. FreeRide! Party 2008. UrbanVelo.org. http://urbanvelo.org/images_public/freerideparty08/ (9 August 2008).
One Year Ago to the Day…
…I took these photos:
Not artistic at all, I know. But they do articulate my love of Bloomfield in springtime.
Renée Zellweger is Vertigo’s Madeleine!
Others have tried – and failed – to recreate Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo: In 1976 Brian de Palma created the interesting, if poorly executed, Obsession–a thinly veiled Vertigo knock-off. Sixteen years later, Paul Verhoeven would emulate the film’s visuals to a surprising degree in Basic Instinct. (A visual comparison of Basic Instinct and Vertigo can be found here.) Attempts to recreate key scenes from the film have occurred as recently as 2005. Now, it’s time to add another to the list; Vanity Fair’s March 2008 issue will feature a photographic homage to Hitchcock’s films, including Renée Zellweger as Judy / Madeleine in the final tower scene from Vertigo! (Roy)
I never would have expected Vanity Fair to pick Renée Zellweger to fill Kim Novak’s shoes. Although I admit that she’s a talented actress, Zellweger has never been in a role that required the vulnerability, complexity, and emotional scope that Novak had to bring to her character. And of all the scenes to choose! You’d think they’d pick an easy “grey suit” episode, but instead they chose the climactic dénouement in the tower. It is perhaps the movie’s most emotionally charged scene. However, as you can see in the video of the shoot (also below), Zellweger has more or less nailed it.
Zellweger’s performance at the shoot – described by Vanity Fair itself as “especially notable” – was both intense and impressive. (Windolf) This praise is pretty amazing, considering that there were five other Oscar winners and a huge amount of A-listers being photographed for Hitchcock’s other films. (Check out the article, cited below, for the full list and scans.) As you can see in the photo and video, everything in terms of the mise en scène was spot on: the coiffure, cosmetics, dress, earrings, tower interior… even Carlotta’s pendant.
At the shoot, Zellweger “was watching the scene over and over while getting her hair and makeup done, and when she came on set she started breathing really hard, almost hyperventilating. [...] She just absolutely exploded on the set and truly became that character like I’ve never seen before. We were in awe.” (Windolf) This method acting may explain why Zellweger’s performance lacked the subtle artistry that Novak brought to Judy’s character in both this and other scenes. (And in all fairness, it was just a photo shoot.) In addition to amplifying the emotions for a traditional camera, Zellweger herself may have been having an emotional reaction to Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak’s performances.
Revisiting Vertigo is something of an obsession for fans of the film. (Unfortunately, this Vertigo fanatic will not be close enough to visit San Fransisco when he goes to Anaheim, California this summer for the annual ALA conference.) Watch a YouTube video of the locations featured in the film here. Check out a stunning visual comparison of scenes from the film and contemporary photographs at Vertigo… Then and Now.
:: Bibliography ::
- Roy, Norman J., photographer. “The 2008 Hollywood Portfolio.” Vanity Fair (March 2008): 370-71. Accessed 8 February 2008. http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/20148385.html.
- Windolf, Jim. It’s the Hitch in Hitchcock. March 2008. CondéNet. Accessed 6 February 2008. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/03/behindthescenes200803.
Behold the Icelandic rage of gnomic Björk!
I’ve had to put an incisive, highly political post about Allegheny County taxes on the back burner because experimental pop siren Björk has attacked a newsperson… again! Hooray!
I love Björk. A lot. Like: ♥ ♥ ♥!!1! You may remember how her maternal instincts kicked in back in ‘96. (1996 if you happen to be reading this post in 2096, hahaha!) As the legend goes, Guðmundsdóttir went all WWF on a female reporter in the Don Muang Airport in Thailand when the woman was pestering her and her child. (Check out the video here for those of you who, like me, cannot resist the spectacle.)
This new event in the canon of Björklore also occurred in an airport: Auckland International. The ‘victim’ is Glenn Jeffrey, a photographer for The New Zealand Herald. He took a few pictures of Björk after her escort requested that he not. As Jeffrey walked away, “she came up behind me, grabbed the back of my black skivvy and tore it down the back.”
I’m sorry, but I would be ecstatic if Björk tore off my shirt in a fit of rage. (Check out The Herald’s article for an image of how much damage she did. Pretty good fillet of skivvy, that.) And I mean come on! She’s adorable. If her bodyguard asks you not to take her picture, tell him how you think it’s bizarre that “Who Is It” was left off Vespertine and that she owes you for the three year wait!
Having his shirt torn to ribbons by our favorite Icelander didn’t agree with Jeffrey. He’s vexed: “I don’t see being assaulted as I’m working as a press photographer as an acceptable thing. [...] If anybody assaults anybody you have the right to a legal recourse, whoever they are.”
What a whiner!
:: Bibliography ::
Vass, Beck. “Bjork assaults news photographer.” The New Zealand Herald, 14 January 2008. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10486682.
