reading corner
Thistlefoot - GennaRose Nethercott
'All stories are true' is a line I wrote in a letterboxd review of Suzhou River. It's a line in Thistlefoot too, a re-imagining of the Baba Yaga folktale in which her great-great grandchildren inherit the house with chicken legs. The pogroms in Russia are the backdrop to this tale, where an ancient enemy seeks to destroy the fleeing house. Great blend of modern day and folklore. This passage below made me think of Palestine, and how we're witnessing catastrophic levels of violence and cruelty that are being denied and justified all at once.
A dead child is a dead child. A massacre is a massacre. Memories must be told. Hands beget hands. Mothers beget children, who beget daughters of their own. Generations pass, and suddenly, we forget. Our descendants are born yearning and they do not know why, for they have forgotten. Their hands are full of fire. Their legs are trembling to flee. The body remembers. The soured air remembers. We cannot forget. I cannot forget. And if I am to remember, so too, I vow, will you.
Three Assassins - Kotaro Isaka
The more delicate a woman looks, the more likely she is to be calmly concealing a pistol.
So much leaner than Bullet Train, which is crowded with a cast of colorful characters but just as witty and vividly violent.
music notes
Wish You Hell
- Wendy
Wendy’s debut EP Like Water
was forgettable. Not because it was ballad focused, but because it felt too safe and lacked character. A beautiful empty room. Wish You Hell
isn’t exactly daring, but it is much livelier. Its music video is awesome too, reminiscent of Heathers.
Blossom
- D.O.
Bright, winsome, wistful. Much poppier than his other EPs. Might not be the earth shattering music some fans wanted, but it is enjoyable. This is the music Kyungsoo likes, more mellow than EXO's output. But it isn’t boring. About Time
is an instant classic.
Switch
- IVE
My favorite k-pop release this year. Not one weak or filler track on here. Super refreshing, what juicy fruit and colors sound like: neon yellow and green. It just has so much bounce.
IVE have a very soft and feminine image, and keep a cool distance, as their song Ice Queen
attests. I noticed in their stages for Accendio
how their choreo lacked exertion and it struck me that it's because of how feminine they are. I think Yujin's voice is my favorite; I like Leeseo's too, she might be nasally but she sounds so adorable. Main vocalist Liz is by far the most skilled but like the choreo, their voices are tame, airy, subtle. No adlibs or layered vocals, but they do sound just fine. Heya
is perfect, a lot punchier and not as elegant but still tailored to them. It’s their version of an ITZY song.
This is my ranking of 4th gen girl groups:
ITZY
a wall
NMIXX
IVE
STAYC
I hope this doesn't come across as mean-spirited...all of these young women are so so so talented. ITZY has the vocals, dance and versatility. I can't rate NMIXX's performances yet but they're the best singers. IVE & STAYC aren't really notable for either. I hope I don't sound mean 😭 NMIXX could comfortably sing ITZY songs but only ITZY could also embody the other group concepts. But this is just to say that I will continue tuning into IVE lol. I love their sound. They're definitely the Disney Princesses of k-pop 💕
screening room
I had an Audrey Hepburn mini marathon in honor of her 95th birthday.
Roman Holiday (1953) dir. William Wyler
The controversy over How Green Was My Valley winning best picture in 1941 over Citizen Kane is misplaced. The real theft is this movie losing the prize to From Here to Eternity. While Eternal Flop1 also won best director, supporting actor/actress, screenplay and cinematography, at least Audrey and William Holden stopped it from getting best actor and actress. Sorry to Deborah Kerr and Montgomery Clift.2
Sabrina (1954) dir. Billy Wilder
There couldn't be a more perfect follow up to Roman Holiday. She is just so incandescent here. It was the first of her makeover roles, where she's transformed from a mousy thing into a glamorous creature. Audrey really was a better actress than she’s given credit for. The tenseness and longing as she spies on David and Gretchen is brilliantly communicated while her back is to the camera; she still has dignity and poise even when she's being rejected by Linus.
Sabrina is a weird girl. I know Audrey was still too beautiful even before her chic haircut and wardrobe, but she convinces the audience that she is an invisible, ugly duckling. She follows her crush and the girl he spirits away for hanky panky, she makes a suicide attempt (there's a whole other post about its humor fyi and I'm in favor of it) then peeks her head out from the car she's hiding under when she’s discovered. A weirdo loser 💖🥹
There was a point after her makeover that I sighed aloud, "Can I be her?"
Audrey picked this cap out herself! According to Hubert de Givenchy,
Audrey always added a twist, something piquant, amusing, to the clothes. Though of course I advised her, she knew precisely what she wanted. She knew herself very well—for example, which is her good profile and which is her bad. She was very professional. No detail ever escaped her.
The play Sabrina Fair is one of the most charming things to ever exist. It’s too bad we’ll never get to see Joseph Cotten and Margaret Sullavan as Linus and Sabrina, because their dynamic seems a lot more organic than Audrey and Humphrey Bogart’s. But this movie is just too delightful.
My Fair Lady (1964) dir. George Cukor
I wasn't much of a fan of this pompous movie, but it's actually so much fun despite its formality. Not as loose as a musical typically is. For example, the derby scene where all those wealthy high class people are standing around like mannequins is the film's signature visual. Eliza is the one who disrupts the rigidity. At first she's looked at as an unsightly weed, but actually she was a flower all along; she just needed the proper care.
No one can convince me that Audrey wasn't perfectly cast. Julie Andrews created the role onstage and her bitter friends were very nasty about it all, as were the press. Audrey got the part because she was the bigger star and Jack Warner was a nincompoop. Who is at fault? Exactly.
What just tickles me is how George Cukor and Cecil Beaton (the film's set & costume designer) fought over Audrey. Now imagine a new version of this story where Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering are two messy queens trying to make Eliza their own creation. ?!
Two for the Road (1967) dir. Stanley Donen
A cynical movie about marriage, praised for its nonlinear storytelling, featuring Audrey at her most tough and vulnerable. There was nothing artificial about her in the movies, but she's just so real here. Maybe because she plays a flawed woman, not just a naive ingenue. Stanley Donen's love for her shines through every frame. He directed her in a frothy fashion musical (Funny Face), a witty caper movie (Charade), and something as earthy and raw as this.
Her wardrobe is also filled with some really cool '60s pieces, in particular a funky mod minidress that would look poorly tailored on anyone else. I don't think her thinness had anything to do with it either. I guess it's like Givenchy once said, she just had a way of installing herself in clothes that no one else did.
Amadeus (1984) dir. Milos Forman
Not as austere as I thought it would be. No murder either. I was expecting something ultra refined and as opulent as this film is, it's also a lot of fun with plenty of cheek. It’s not a biopic, more of a character study with prime hateration on display. People say Salieri inspires them to be bigger haters,3 but his hatred accomplished nothing. Where are the successful haters at??
A Moment of Romance (1990) dir. Benny Chan
A new addition to my canon with all my favorite tropes, Andy Lau's breathtaking beauty, neon, and an '80s feel. It's similar to my other all time fave, As Tears Go By: a gang member falling in love with an innocent. In both movies Andy's world is closed off by violence and love seeps in through a small opening. So tremendously lush despite the tragedy lying in wait.
Ballerina (2023) dir. Lee Chung-yeon
After watching the BBC doc on the Burning Sun scandal, the main theme of this movie is thrown into even sharper relief. Filming women without their consent is called 'molka' in South Korea, a pervasive crime that usually goes unpunished. This film hinges on an act of molka that leads a ballet dancer to take her own life. But her best friend honors her final request to take revenge.
As I've said before, women's pictures are no longer what they were in the 1940s and '50s, examining the rich interior lives of the fairer sex. Now they are violent action thrillers. What sets Ballerina apart is its female focus. Jeon Jeong Seo is revelatory as the avenging angel, undaunted and fearless in her pursuit of justice. A gloomy loner who comes alive with love and affection for her late friend. Glistening neon and pulsing bright colors prove that the genre's typically muddy lighting is not needed. These kinds of films can be colorful, even warm.
Later days, dudes and dudettes! Hope you’re all basking in lovely weather ☀
I don’t hate the movie! But next to Roman Holiday it’s nothing…
Burt Lancaster deserved to lose 😁