The Photography of Elliott Erwitt

[photos: http://www.andrewsmithgallery.com/]

Happy 78th Birthday Keely Smith!

Born March 9, 1932

"I used to be very quiet and very shy. I didn't talk. But I got older. My mother always said when you reach a certain age, you're allowed to say certain things you weren't before. And she was right."

Moon - My Review

I remember the first time I saw Sam Rockwell in a film.  It was 1996's Box of Moonlight, a quirky, rather whimsical little indie film that I watched because Catherine Keener was in it and I was in love with her from Walking and Talking. Unfortunately the film was a little too quirky for its own good, but Sam Rockwell was absolutely charming and adorable in it. I now had my eye on him and I've kept my eye on him all these years.  He has continually done excellent work in a wide variety of films but none of them have ever thrust him into the mainstream. 

I'm hoping that could change with Moon. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, a lunar employee who is working a three year solitary contract harvesting a precious resource on the far side of the moon.  His only companion is the station's computer Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). As he nears the end of his contract, only weeks away from going home to Earth and his waiting wife and child, he gets in an accident in his lunar vehicle. He wakes up in the station's infirmary with Gerty hovering over him and as soon as he is able goes out to inspect the sight of the accident only to find a man still inside the vehicle barely alive: himself. Sam Rockwell's dual performance is brave and authentic and acted with the utmost nerve and audacity.  Acting opposite yourself in such a tense and dramatic film has got to be one of the ultimate challenges as an actor and Rockwell pulls it off with aplomb. I was not surprised to learn that the role was written with him in mind.  He was so suited to it.  I hope Hollywood will finally sit up and take notice of him.

Equally impressive is first time director Duncan Jones. He pays perfect homage to sci fi films of the past like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Blade Runner, and even Dune. The film looks amazing, reminds you of all the best elements of those past films and yet still feels refreshingly new and unique. I eagerly look forward to what he will do in the future.

Happy Oscars Day!

The awards themselves are pretty much complete crap, but I love to watch the Oscars. The gorgeous stars! The pretty dresses! The ridiculously dramatic film montages! And every once in a while there is a surprise - something really fun and touching and exciting.

Like when Adrien Brody beat out the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, and Nicolas Cage to win Best Actor in 2002. That moment was amazing. He got a standing ovation, frenched and dipped presenter Halle Berry and then brought everyone to tears with his acceptance speech. We can only hope for something that awesome to happen during tonight's show.

You can watch the full clip of Adrien's win and speech by clicking here.

Lo-mob Photography App - so cool!

I downloaded this photography app to my iPhone called Lo-mob. The simple description says, "Lo-mob brings lo-fi and photographic experimentations to your mobile pictures." It's so freaking cool! You can either take a photo with the app or choose a photo directly from your phone's library and then it will give you a preview of over 25 different lo-fi analog camera effects to play with.

This is the original photo I started with. I took this at a small neighborhood carnival last week. That is the full moon just to the left of the ferris wheel and the bright light in the upper left hand corner is from the parking lot streetlamp.

And now the following is the same picture but filtered through several of the different lo-mob effects:

I think I may have found my new favorite app!

Film Scene I Love - Rebecca

Mrs. Danvers tries to coax Mrs. De Winter into jumping - from Hitchcock's Rebecca (the scene ends at 2:45 in)

Dame Judith Anderson is soooooo deliciously creepy in this scene.

One of my favorite real life couples. . .

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift
Yes, I know they weren't really a couple. And I guess I could have put them as one of my favorite onscreen couples (they were scorching there too!), but I loved their real life relationship. They were best friends and loved each other dearly and took care of one another.

Aren't they gorgeous together?

Happy 99th Birthday Jean Harlow!

Born March 3, 1911
Died June 7, 1937

"Must I always wear a low-cut dress to be important?"

Bea and Rock - YES!

Seriously. Bea Arthur and Rock Hudson singing about sniffing, swigging, and puffing may be the best thing that's ever been sent to me from youtube.

Cities at Night

This is a few years old, but you may not have seen it before. Astronaut Don Pettit rigged up a gizmo that films the Earth’s lights without the blur of travel. It’s really cool and kind of haunting. It’s 10 minutes long but worth your time. . .