an american in paris

Two things make me envious about this picture:
1. It's still scarf weather in Paris.
2. In some parts of the world you can drink a beer in public without the worry of a citation.

Damn, those Europeans. They are always light-years ahead of what we're doing.

The Sartorialist has now moved onto the Paris men's shows. Check it out here.

p.s., Can I work for Tim Blanks?
The former host of Fashion File now reports for Men.Style.com and his witty and intelligent way of thinking about and reporting on fashion, particularly mens, is something I look forward to with great excitement every season. Somehow he saw Bruce Weber and Leni Reifenstahl references and the influence of gymnastic uniforms in the Calvin Klein show. Quite simply, he's a new hero of mine.

the moody blues

I just watched the credits roll on Jean-Pierre Melville's "Army of Shadows", to which my eyes are still absorbing like a dry sponge in desperate need for moisture. It's an compromising look at a group of morally complex anti-heroes that appears to have been washed in varying shades of blues and greens, but reduced of its brilliance. This is a world of people who hide in between allies, corners, corridors, and various other discreet haunts. The color palette is pallid and drained to the core. Shadows mask the gang of Resistance leaders who try to act as charitable apparitions, but in the end their environment is as dark and clouded as when we met them at the beginning.

Take notice of the hardened beauty that cinematographer Pierre Lhomme creates in "Army of Shadows":

This is a film that's also informed by its textures. The heavy knit winter coats, Simone Signoret's cinnamon-tinged thicket of hair, and the sand encrusted dilapidated walls of a prison cell culminate in a cinematic feast for the senses. It's an exquisitely shot film that really pops with the new transfer thanks to genius minds at the Criterion Collection.

See it.

photos courtesy of dvdbeaver and the british film institute

let's go little kitty kat

"Get Me Bodied"
Beyonce
Live on the BET Awards

How do you top your own writhing-on-the-floor routine at last years at the BET Awards? Drop it like it's hot in the only pair of $100,000 gold Balenciaga leggings.

courtesy of just jared
Yeah, uh huh. I wonder what Monsieur Ghesquiere thought of this.

not the heimlich

"The Heinrich Maneuver"
Interpol
dir., E. Elias Merhige

One of the best disturbing yet appropriate payoffs in a music video that I've seen in a while.

first look: margot at the wedding

"Margot at the Wedding"
dir., Noah Baumbach
2007

I wasn't too crazy about "The Squid and the Whale", but this looks like something Woody Allen would have made in the 80s. And yes, that's a good thing.

my voyage to italy: pt. 4

The Sartorialist is capturing the scene at Milan Fashion Week for men.style.com and I can't help but be reminded of the dapper and chic men of Florence and Rome that I saw last summer. This photo in particular is very much the definition of a the business men I'd see in my neighborhood in Florence. They would parade about during their daily siesta like the coolest of peacocks, proud and confident in their suited armor that is at once very stylish but comfortable and functional enough for them to ride their bikes to and fro. This common display of elegant and practical workwear is hard to find here in the States but in Italy you can find it at every turn.

a woman under the influence

Remember that wonderful morsel of information I had a while back about Cloak's Alexandre Plokhov lending his vision to Versace's menswear line? Well, now we can bask in its perfectly alchemic results. It is the eve of the ten year anniversary of Gianni Versace's death and it seems Donatella Versace is finally moving away from his identifiably Milanese pretty boy aesthetic progressing into a more neutral and refined definition of the Versace label. Her last womenswear collection was some of her best work and some critics even called it "minimalist." The thought of a paired down Versace may sound sacrilegious but maybe this is what Donatella has been wanting to say and do but never found her footing under the intense cloud of success hanging over her head that her brother had created. How could she betray the aesthetic that established the label? The flair and sexiness of Versace is still there, but thanks to her new partnership with Plokhov, we're seeing something fresh and exciting for the menswear label. Plokhov's New Wave punk and militaristic man of substance is giving Versace the aspiration to grow in a place where everything is not so pink and covered in Medusa heads.

Say goodbye to:

Versace, Spring 2006

Welcome looks from Spring 2008:


This look in particular reminds me of Cloak's Kraftwerk inspired Spring 2007 collection.


Although I was not there to witness the construction and allure of the clothes in person, the ideas that come from these pieces makes me willing to follow in this new pursuit of Donatella's and Alexandre's.

century club

The American Film Institute has just revealed their newly edited list of the best 100 American films of all time to commemorate the tenth anniversary of their initial list. The first list was released around the time I'd just discovered film and I remember my mother would take me to Blockbuster and we would cross off at least two a time and I would gorge on the supposed finest in American cinema. Well, my tastes and knowledge of cinema has significantly evolved since that formative period and looking at the list of the eighty or so films that I eventually saw, I'm perplexed by the absence of some notable films that are just as deserving and powerful as the ones included. The criteria for inclusion is rather vague, but you wonder if nominated films like "Shrek" or "Pirates of the Caribbean" are films that have some weight and timeless resonance. I'm not sure I want my generation of film to be remembered for an ogre. These lists are often meant for discussion and frustration, so I'll begin with films that should have been on the first list:

Five films that should have made the cut:
1. "Badlands", dir. Terrence Malick
A dreamy and somber riff on bandits as heroes, teenage love, and the Old West--true American cornerstones.
2. "Nashville", dir. Robert Altman
Yes, "MASH" is good but Altman had a better run in the 70s with "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "The Long Goodbye", "The California Split", but he was at his most articulate on the American mosaic in this masterpiece.
3. "Dog Day Afternoon", dir. Sidney Lumet
My favorite Pacino performance and a great movie about New York in the late 70s in all of its filth, sweat, and heat.
4. "Shadows", dir. John Cassavetes
American independent cinema at its finest and a more relevant look at interracial love than Hepburn and Poitier could have ever touched.
5. Any Hal Ashby film from the 70s.
Ashby's oeuvre in the 70s is always hideously overlooked. His peak period was poignant, moving, and peppered with a dash of rebellion. They're films that really speak about something but do it with humor and true sense of humanity.

Thanks to Wikipedia, you can look at a comparison chart of films that made it this time and the films that were removed.

I'm curious why more modern films don't make the list. Perhaps there's that old tension that exists in art between what is perceived as older is better and newer as less significant. Not so, I think. If this argument is to be made, then I don't know if some of the new choices justify the revisions. Do "Toy Story" and "The Sixth Sense" reveal something us as a culture?

Here are five films of the past decade or so that should have made the list:
In no particular order...
"Election", dir. Alexander Payne
Tracey Flick is the embodiment of the new overachiever that I not only went to high school with but in a way has become the new expectation for students across the country. We've always been told that if you work hard it will pay off, but what happens when the football player becomes the new golden god at school? Payne is deft in his observation of high school nowadays and Reese Witherspoon has never been this good since.

"Boogie Nights", dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
It's pastiche cinema at its finest. Touches of Scorsese, Altman, and "I Am Cuba" are all over this brilliant film about the American Dream in all of its porn-soaked glory.

"Lost in Translation", dir. Sofia Coppola
My personal favorite American film of the past five years, this film is as close to perfect as a filmmaker can get. Sofia Coppola confidently expresses her depth and cinema knowledge in this quiet masterpiece. It's funny, relevant to a young generation of people who are not sure who they want to be, and crafted with an ease and capable hand.

"Brokeback Mountain", dir. Ang Lee
In the new millennium cowboys fornicate in tents and kiss hard around corners so their wives won't catch them in their secret passion. A beautifully directed, written, acted, and edited film, this is the film that will be forever be remembered as an exceptional piece of film and not the "gay cowboy" movie.

"25th Hour", dir. Spike Lee
This may not be a perfect film but not only does it allow for one of the best actors of the past decade to shine (Edward Norton needs an Oscar!), but Lee dares to go where no other filmmaker would go after Sept. 11. His New York is still fraught with racial complexities but now an emptiness pervades a part of the city and an uncertainty about life after 9/11 is palpable.

Are there any you think should be included?

surf's up!

It's only been the first few days of Milan fashion week and already a trend has reared its fleeting little head. Surfwear has captured the disparate but iconoclastic minds of Alexander McQueen, Giorgio Armani, and Christopher Bailey for Burberry Prorsum. I'm not sure I'm going to follow this one, but it is a valid source of inspiration for the modern man who wants his clothes functional, adaptable to his environment, and ingrained with a sense of security and long lasting quality. It may seem like a stretch but that's exactly what you want out of swimwear and fits what we should desire from clothes in general.

A more direct approach at Alexander McQueen

An electric blue jacket that could double as a wetsuit at Burberry

Beach ready sportswear at Empirio Armani


Does this mean boogie boards are the "it" accessory of the season?

la dolce vita

D&G Fall/Winter 2007

I normally do not appreciate the hypersexual-futuristic-robot theme in the current Dolce & Gabbana advertisements, but I have to admit that I like this new spectacle for their fall/winter line. Sharp tuxedos paired with a mad dash of blood red. That's glamour and a smart ad for a brand that is nothing but unrestrained sex.

Click here for more.