more georgina

yes, thanks to the quick spearfishing of jean-lucien, i have a brand new silky shot of miss georgina hale to share with you. here she is, as phillipe, in ken russell's masterpiece, 'the devils.' wow. could she BE any more beautiful, i ask you? in this scene, she is gleefully witnessing the 'burning-at-the-stake-style' execution of her ex-lover. left pregnant and alone, she went on to bear her bastard child. she was also witness in the gallery as he was brought up on charges of witchcraft and heresy. she laughed and drank from silvery goblets as his flesh burned and sizzled. what becomes of phillipe and and her child are never expressed in 'the devils.' but her impact on the storyline cannot be understated. she, along with a lovesick, swooning, hunchbacked nun (played by vanessa redgrave) brought father grandier (oliver reed) to the men who would ensure to his destruction. you can never have too much georgina, ladies and gentlemen. she is criminally underrated as an actress. (at least in this country.) but i for one, will never pass up an opportunity to sing her praises. sigh. (click to enlarge)

happy birthday brian de palma

brian de palma... would i say he was one of my favorite directors of all time? well, if i was able to judge him on the power of one film, then i would have to say the answer is 'yes,' ... and that one film would be 'carrie.' released in 1976, and based very tightly upon stephen king's practically perfect novel, 'carrie' is one of the most genuinely terrifying pieces of cinema i have ever seen. there is not one scene that doesn't add to the taught, gory, gorgeous pageant of terror, pain, dolor, and electric cruelty. impeccably cast, the story drifts and jangles along through expert pacing, keen screenwriting, and once-in-a-lifetime performances. i think i read the book in one day. i checked it out from the Griffin Middle School library, and couldn't put it down until i had finished it. sissy spacek is carrie. completely. piper laurie devours every scene she's in with the zeal of a jackal. amy irving is very real and serves as a solid 'everygirl.' the audience anchors a bit of themselves onto her as the carnival of holy tragedy swarms around her. william katt is just as he should be; the dumb blonde. and let us not forget nancy allen, as the poisonously popular christine hargensen. she is venemous and sexy as one of the Earth's most malevolent and plainly meanest creatures ever to walk amongst us; a typical teenage girl. i don't remember exactly where i found this shot of nancy, just about to yank the rope that spills the pig's blood, but i love it. it sort of represents the crossing of a line. sort of a theme in that movie, now that i think about it. do yourself a favor, if you haven't seen 'carrie' in a long time. find a good copy and roll it. it is amazing, and still holds up by any filmmaking standards of today.

this is for life

death.

carroll and eli

...baker and wallach. okay, i realize i already gave kazan and his risque 'babydoll' a legitmate

'shout-out,' but hey, what can i tell you? my fingers still feel like typing, so... here we have a great close silky screen shot from kazan's mid-50's masterpiece 'babydoll.' this is from the infamous 'swing sequence,' one of the sultriest things i've ever seen on celluloid. ummm, i'm not gonna go into the plot or anything like that... but i will say that i read carroll's autobiography once, and she admitted being genuinely turned on by mr. wallach... and it shows. hot stuff.

(click to enlarge)

happy birthday elia kazan

okay, once again, i admit i don't know too much about elia kazan, the Man... but i DO know that he directed what may very well be my favorite black and white movie. and i noticed that today, mr. kazan would've turned 99 years old. he was also responsible for 'on the waterfront,' and some other stuff... forgive me, i don't feel like looking it up right now i've seen 'waterfront,' and i've seen 'babydoll,' and i have to say, i think 'babydoll' is the better picture. now, i can already hear people criticizing that stand... but i stand by it. i think 'babydoll' broke spooky, sexy new ground in cinema. i realize it was probably made with the intention of being sexy, but i'm not sure if the surreal spookiness was accidental, or if some ghosts just assisted with the final cut like, 'ghost in the machine'-wise... but there's certainly something witchy going on in that flick. even the sound is spooky, disjointed, and unexpectedly surreal. i'll never be able to reccommend this movie strongly enough; but at the same time, i DO realize that 'babydoll' is an acquired taste... like collard greens and vinegar; like homemade biscuits and liver pudding... like stove-stewed oatmeal, whole milk, rich butter, and brown sugar, 'babydoll' is a slumming indulgence of the highest order. what more can i say...

ferry frame

okay, i admit i don't really have a whole lot to say about this screen shot... except that i took it from a very groovy roxy music dvd i got from my partner some time ago. i'm just in the mood to post, so i guess anything goes. its weird, when i watch bryan ferry... i mean, he's incredible, and very 'lovely-to-me-in-the-face,' but... jean-lucien knows as well as i do that certain parts of his face bear an uncanny, even scary resemblance to a certain 'man-in-my-past.' i try not to think about that, about him, when i watch mr. ferry do his very fabulous thing. sometimes i'm able to turn it into a bizarro form of revenge. like, i watch bryan ferry, and enjoy his hot looks, knowing i would NEVER now entertain the other guy's looks, despite the similarities. like, the other guy can only wish he was as cool and flash and talented and sexy as bryan ferry. so yeah, i took this shot a long time ago from a 'deev,' and i think the tricking turned out alright. i think he was wailing out the marvelous 'roxy' song, 'do the strand' on some kind of tv program. man, he IS super-cool. (click to enlarge)

happy birthday chrissie hynde

hey, i readily admit, i don't know too much about miss hynde... like, her private life and all that. i DO know she's friends with morrissey, she's active in animal rights, and she is one of THE coolest rock stars of the last 30 years. she never fails to 'kick ass and take names,' rock-wise. i've always dug her minimalist-feminine 'look,' ...like, the black hair and all that mascara. she doesn't need to be a cupcake to command attention. all she has to do is like, sound like that. its hard for me to think of a Pretenders song that i don't like. like, even to this day, despite how many times i've heard it, if 'back on the chain gang' comes on, my very first thoughts are those of 'turn-it-up-edness.' she's hard, she's hot, she's rough... so you can imagine my surprise when i found this shot of her, so much softer, but still recognizeable, in a yearbook photo from the late 1960's. and today, she turns 57 rockin' years young. she's special... so special...