cinematographic: irma vep, les vampires

(Sometimes, I'd really prefer to edit these collages in my own programs and not the Polyvore function. Look at all that extra white space!)
I'm sorry to show two collage posts in a row, but I couldn't do an outfit shoot this week due to an allergic reaction to some eye makeup remover. Visine, you have never done me wrong before, but wow. I'm looking rather like I've been punched in both eyes here. So...recommendations for another makeup remover, anyone?
Beauty disasters aside, this particular collage was inspired by a favorite picture from the early days of film. Les Vampires, a 1915 film serial created by Louis Feuillade, follows crack journalist Phillipe Guerande on an investigation into the sordid activities of a secret crime gang calling themselves The Vampires. Intriguing as any modern mob movie, the film is shockingly original, intelligent, and sometimes just plain fun. The world of The Vampires as depicted here is grim, a desolate, surreal Paris overrun by crime, but this is no joyless drama. Tricky, inventive characters, downright hilarious plot twists and periodic comic relief from the heroes and the villains lighten the mood considerably.
Silent films have a bad reputation amongst general audiences due to the often slow buildup of plot, but the payoff in Les Vampires is totally worth the wait. Since the serial is 10 hours long, capping the whole story would make for a ridiculously long post. Instead, here are the major characters and some highlights:

Phillippe Guerande, journalist. With an amazing hairstyle, there.

Irma Vep, femme fatale and a major player in the Vampires gang.

Mazamette, undercover agent. Well, sort of.

The Grand Vampire, in disguise, with Irma Vep.

Juan-Jose Moreno, head of a rival gang and enemy of the Vampires.

The color changes in the film communicate the time of day. Blue is for night, green for outdoor daytime, sepia for indoor daytime. Next time you see a modern movie that overuses the blue and orange filters, you'll know just how old that trick is.

The iconic ballet scene.

This man performs some pretty impressive stunts throughout the serial, scaling walls, shimmying down drainpipes and hopping rooftops, all without wires. 

Now how could that face be anything but innocent?

I'm told I look a bit like her. What do you think?

I'll almost certainly be returning to this film in another post. Irma Vep's various menswear-inspired costumes are too lovely not to show.

Read more...

cinematographic: a casual day for harley quinn and poison ivy

Laura and I have been spending this week playing through Lego Batman on the Wii (pretty much the only games at our sad non-gamer skill levels), even though she utterly loathes the Bat franchise. Me, I'm a big fan. And one of the reasons I'm such a fan is the range of utterly awesome female characters.
(This is also one of the many reasons I'm not such a big fan of the current Batman movies. But that's neither here nor there.)
Some of the most enjoyable Batverse stories involve various teamups between the girls. Lovable screwball Harley Quinn and sarcastic femme fatale Poison Ivy together make an amazing gal-pal villain pairing. I like them best in the animated series, where their friendship seems the most believable (and the most fun.) Keeping with the tradition of cartoons giving better writing to women than many adult TV shows, their initial meetup episode remains a strong favorite.

We start out with good ol' Harls flooring it in the getaway car, so that the Joker can get his last kicks in with Batman.

Of course she screws it up.

Manages to be funnier than the Joker, to boot. But you know how boys overreact to one-upmanship.

Freshly dumped.

Striking out on your own can be hard...

...especially when other criminals unknowingly interrupt your crime spree with theirs! Good thing Gotham cops are easy for a couple of girls to evade. The beginning of a beautiful frienship, indeed

Neither Batman nor Joker are pleased about this development.

Nor the cops! The ladies' string of successful crimes also gives me a glimpse of one of my other fave gals, Renee Montoya. 

Who would have thought that simple street harrassment could end in one of the funniest sequences in the series?

Bats, even Alfred thinks you're looking at porn. Where have you been all episode, anyway?

Meanwhile, Harley can't resist giving the ex a ring. Considering what she's been up to, this might not have been so wise.

Batman, you should know better than to drop in without calling first.

Owned.

Unfortunately, the plan to kill Batman is interrupted by the Joker, who has tracked Harley's call to Ivy's hideout. A girl can't even make her own dough without the boys trying to grab a chunk, sheesh.

Of course, seeing as it's the Joker, someone's gonna get killed with Joker toxin. Look out there, Pammy.

It doesn't work on her.

It *really* doesn't work on her.

Ivy and Harl make their escape, purposely smashing into the Joker's parked car on the way. This is a kind of petty vengeance I can get behind.

Unfortunately, saying "No man can take us prisoner!" is a pretty surefire way to get yourself caught by the one female cop on the job.

Read more...

cinematographic: ariel, the little mermaid

I saw this dress and immediately thought of the scene in Disney's The Little Mermaid where Ariel first gets her legs, and has to wrap herself in a a piece of shipwrecked sail fabric. 

Screencap from Disney Screencaps

Haven't got this movie either, even on VHS. I'd put it on the must-have list, but frankly, I fear the DVD re-coloring. This is also one of the reasons I refuse to replace my Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast tapes. It just ain't right. 
...I'll just go chase those kids off my lawn now, shall I?
The Little Mermaid isn't my favorite Disney flick, but I'll never understand all of the backlash this film took about the altered ending. Maybe it's because I didn't find the original H.C.A. ending that engaging. (Fairy tales with hammered-on religious messages don't really thrill me, although I swear I've read a version that didn't have that in it at all.) Or maybe it didn't seem like pandering to me because there were plenty of kids' movies when I was young that were bittersweet, sad, or just plain nightmare fuel. 
Orrr maybe it's that the added Ursula bridal plot made the movie about 1000x more interesting. 

Screencap of the most gorgeous almost-Disney-princess from film_stills

Read more...

cinematographic: evy o'connell, the mummy

Funny how the more editing I do on these collages, the fewer Polyvore views I get! Can't help it; it's fun. (And it helps to hide some of the problems with poor product images. Just saying.)

Although The Mummy had some terribly corny horror movie moments where I really wish someone had restrained themselves, I still think it was a pretty good successor of the Indiana Jones films. You've got your plucky, ragtag group of bantering heroes, a classic storyline, compelling visuals (only for 1999, in some instances), and the movie didn't take itself so seriously that there couldn't be slapstick. I know it caught plenty of flack, when it first came out, for the stereotyping, which I agree is a black mark on the film. Also a shame, because some of those characters could have been great.

These images of Evy are from the second film in the franchise, which was fun and had some great shots, but didn't quite capture me like its predecessor. The Mummy Returns is plagued (ba-dum-ching) with action sequences that are too long and too silly, the annoying kid, and a nonsense plot. Still, it's gorgeous to look at.

The Mummy Returns images from Eirythe's album, since I don't actually own any of these films. Yet.

Read more...

cinematographic: sarah williams, labyrinth

Labyrinth is a 1986 Henson Company fantasy production starring a young Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, and Bowie's trousers (if you've seen the film, you'll know what I mean.) This'll show my age, but it's also one of my favorite childhood movies.

The film follows teenager Sarah Williams through her struggles with coming to maturity, by way of a rescue mission. In a typical coming-of-age fashion, Sarah learns the hard way about responsibility, romance, consequences, and how to harness her own willpower. This sort of thing could have been dull in anyone else's hands, but the Henson team set up a fantastic world populated with artist Brian Froud's goblins and creatures, and their fabulous Goblin King Jareth (as played by Bowie.) Add stunning visuals, a fun musical track, the usual amazing Henson puppetry, Terry Gilliam's comedic style, and you've got me hooked.
And then there are the costumes.

Sarah's playtime dress, which every little girl I knew wanted desperately.

What's this, a real neighborhood, looking real? Do I ever miss on-site filming sometimes.

My face when I hold crying kids, too. Usually I'm not wearing a giant pirate blouse and brocade vest, though.

Goblin puppets, lookin' better than CGI since 1986. There is really something to be said for having people manually control the expressions and body movements of tangible fantasy creatures.

Who's there?

Oh shit, it's Bowie. Come to hit on you.  ...well, okay then!

Except first you have to solve a giant labyrinth and save your baby brother.

Are we seeing these straight-legged jeans? She's got moccasins on, too. Oh, so 80s. And yet...

Speaking of 80s....  I took about a million caps of the ballroom scene, but this post is not enough to contain the awesome of all the incredible gowns, masks, and decor. Another post, another day.

The famous Escher painting come to life.

One of the things I love about the film is that there's no Peter Pan ending here. Nor the ultimately depressing "it was all in her head" type of conclusion. Instead, we are left with a positive note, not about eradicating childhood dreams, but about balancing adult life with fantasy.

And that's me out, before I get lost and post the whole damn movie.

Read more...