Saturday 30 May 2009

PANIQUE AU VILLAGE (A Town Called Panic)


If you haven't come across Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier's Panique au Village (A Town Called Panic), it is a wonderfully strange and funny world that is full of joy and heart.

Here's the trailer for the film...



And Le Grand Sommeil...



Links:
A Town Called Panic
Panique au Village - The Film (French)
A Town Called Panic (YouTube)
A Town Called Panic (Atom Films)
A Town Called Panic Wiki
Film review (Twitch)

Sunday 24 May 2009

Saturday 23 May 2009

Ex Libris Jack Raven: TOVE JANSSON's MOOMINS

For more than five years, I have been reading to my son Jack Raven an ample selection of children's literature. In this new series of posts I'll be introducing the artists and writers that rank among his favourites.

We are currently working through Tove Jansson's Moomin books which are full of wonder, wisdom and invention. Nine books were originally released in Swedish between 1945 and 1970 as well as five picture books and a series of comics written and illustrated by Jansson. The Moomins are a family of furry, hippo-like creatures who have a somwhat Bohemian outlook on life.

What I find so compelling about these stories are the strong characterisations and honesty all set within a world full of challenges and frights that remains benign without being banal. For my son, it's quick pace and curiosities keep him enthralled, its humour keeps him smiling, and its invention has him thinking.

The publisher Sort Of Books has recently released lovely editions of the picture books The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My and Who Will Comfort Toffle? in the UK. For information about Moomin books where you are, visit The Moomin Trove.




Links:
The Moominvalley of the Tampere Art Museum
Sort Of Books
The Moomin Trove
Tove Jansson Wiki
Moomin Wiki
Tove Jansson (Guardian)

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Monday 18 May 2009

Lars Von Trier's ANTICHRIST


Lars Von Trier is one of my favourite directors, I enjoy the horror genre, and the concept of nature (chaos?) being the manifestation of evil is interesting. The shot above of the road and car being swallowed up by the forest is exemplary of the sumptuous, Gothic imagery from Director of photography, Anthony Dod Mantle.

The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Defoe as a grieving couple who take refuge in an isolated cabin after the death of their child.

Interview Collection (SiouxWIRE - 2007)

Introducing TOM VEK

Eclectic, raw, unassuming, intelligent, chaotic and fun, Tom Vek should be on your radar. Having released his debut album We Have Sound in 2005 while completing a graphic design degree at Central St. Martins, London, he is now working on a follow up with Island Records.

Links:
Tom Vek
Tom Vek (MySpace)
Tom Vek (LastFM)
Tom Vek Wiki

Friday 15 May 2009

JENNY SAVILLE

Supermarkets here in the UK have essentially banned the image below on the cover of the Manic Street Preachers new album. Now being shipped in plain slipcases, Jonathan Jones at the Guardian ponders whether this is evidence that painting's power is in tact.

I really love some of her paintings though she does feel to be in transition. Her work is gaining confidence and I'm eager to follow her career.

Jenny Saville was born in Cambridge, England 1970. She currently lives and works in London.


Links:
Jenny Saville - Paintings (The Saatchi Gallery)
Jenny Saville interview (Guardian)
Jenny Saville bio (Gagosian Gallery)
Banned Manics sleeve... (Guardian)
Supermarkets cover up Manics CV (BBC)
Jenny Saville Wiki

Thursday 14 May 2009

DON QUIXOTE Ressurection


Bringing much warmth and inspiration to my heart, Terry Gilliam's project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote looks to have risen from the ashes of its ill-fated start which was documented so well with Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe's Lost in La Mancha.

Here is the official press release...

GILLIAM BACK IN THE SADDLE WITH “DON QUIXOTE”

Director Terry Gilliam is set to bring his long-held dream of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote to the screen, producer Jeremy Thomas announced today.

Gilliam, former Monty Python star and maverick director of Brazil, Twelve Monkeys and The Fisher King, has teamed with Thomas to bring his iconoclastic vision of Don Quixote to life. Screenwriter Tony Grisoni (Red Riding Trilogy, In This World, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) has worked with Gilliam to re-imagine the legendary adventures of the idealistic Spanish knight. The new film will revolve around a filmmaker who is charmed into Don Quixote’s eternal quest for his ladylove, becoming an unwitting Sancho Panza.

This is the latest twist in one of the most remarkable stories in cinema history. The filming has been a saga as epic as Cervantes’ 17th-Century classic on which it is based. Nine years ago, the original shoot suffered a series of setbacks captured in the documentary Lost In La Mancha, which became a hit in its own right.

Terry Gilliam averred: “DON QUIXOTE RIDES AGAIN.”

Jeremy Thomas said: “I’m delighted to be working with friends again on this irresistible project.”

Tony Grisoni added: “There's no escaping some pacts. Nearly ten years on I find myself lending a hand to get that crazed, giggling bedlamite back in the saddle. I'm talking about Don Quixote. In spite of God and the Devil, he shall ride again!”

RPC’s CEO Peter Watson was in charge of the complicated task of reassembling the rights. “I’m thrilled we now have the ability to put this film into production.’

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote has been re-developed by Thomas’ Recorded Picture Company, and is scheduled for a Spring 2010 shoot.

Gilliam’s latest film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus premieres in Cannes on Friday 22nd.

Recorded Picture Company’s previous films include nine-time Academy Award winner The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast, Crash, Young Adam and The Dreamers. Recent films include the upcoming Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly-starrer Creation, written by John Collee and directed by Jon Amiel.
HanWay Films is handling international sales. Upcoming titles include Scott Hicks’ The Boys Are Back starring Clive Owen, Gurinder Chadha’s comedy It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, Sam Taylor Wood’s Nowhere Boy about John Lennon’s teenage years, feelgood comedy We Want Sex starring Sally Hawkins, and thriller Harry Brown starring Michael Caine.

Links:
Terry Gilliam to Take Another Tilt at 'Don Quixote (NY Times)
Terry Gilliam Restarts 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Aintitcool)
Terry Gilliam Moves forward with Don Quixote, Take Two (FirstShowing.net)
Dreams: Terry Gilliam Fanzine
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