Ushering In the Ox
Spent most part of the CNY break lost in movies. I don't think I had watched so many shows back to back.
Let's see.. there's Last House on the Left, Wes Craven's first movie made in 1972, about two teenage girls who ran into a gang of escaped convicts while on their way to a rock concert and ended up getting raped and murdered. The interesting twist was that the gang stumbled into one of the girls' homes seeking shelter, were found out and subsequently killed by the parents themselves.
Initially I found it surprising that there was so much violence for a movie made more than 30 years ago then I read that it was partly a reaction to the footage that was coming out of Vietnam war during that era.
Then I watched a slew of random movies while over at my aunt's place.. Rush Hour 3, Yes Man, Catch Me If You Can, God of Cookery, Unleashed.. then I came back and saw Blow-Up, an art movie made way back in 1966.
The interesting thing about Blow-Up is that the lead character is a fashion photographer modeled after David Bailey. The look of the movie is so contemporary, I found it amazing. By chance I saw the documentary 7 Photographs that Changed Fashion, which had Rankin attempting to emulate 7 photographs from Cecil Beaton, Erwin Blumenfeld, Avedon, Bailey, Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts.
The most shocking thing is Guy Bourdin's background and personality. Most of the old masters' personalities were usually described in a positive light but Bourdin was actually quite notorious and controversial; his wife committed suicide and 3 girlfriends attempted suicide while they were with him. Apparently he was an archtype of the obsessed and supremely talented artist.
CNY this year is different from past years. Grandmother, who's usually going around talking to everyone, is mostly resting this year. Radiotherapy is very exhausting and has caused huge ulcers to form on her mouth.
I hope she gets better.
Sigh.
It's been such a rough year.
Let's see.. there's Last House on the Left, Wes Craven's first movie made in 1972, about two teenage girls who ran into a gang of escaped convicts while on their way to a rock concert and ended up getting raped and murdered. The interesting twist was that the gang stumbled into one of the girls' homes seeking shelter, were found out and subsequently killed by the parents themselves.
Initially I found it surprising that there was so much violence for a movie made more than 30 years ago then I read that it was partly a reaction to the footage that was coming out of Vietnam war during that era.
Then I watched a slew of random movies while over at my aunt's place.. Rush Hour 3, Yes Man, Catch Me If You Can, God of Cookery, Unleashed.. then I came back and saw Blow-Up, an art movie made way back in 1966.
The interesting thing about Blow-Up is that the lead character is a fashion photographer modeled after David Bailey. The look of the movie is so contemporary, I found it amazing. By chance I saw the documentary 7 Photographs that Changed Fashion, which had Rankin attempting to emulate 7 photographs from Cecil Beaton, Erwin Blumenfeld, Avedon, Bailey, Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts.
The most shocking thing is Guy Bourdin's background and personality. Most of the old masters' personalities were usually described in a positive light but Bourdin was actually quite notorious and controversial; his wife committed suicide and 3 girlfriends attempted suicide while they were with him. Apparently he was an archtype of the obsessed and supremely talented artist.
CNY this year is different from past years. Grandmother, who's usually going around talking to everyone, is mostly resting this year. Radiotherapy is very exhausting and has caused huge ulcers to form on her mouth.
I hope she gets better.
Sigh.
It's been such a rough year.