Links 2/26

Happy Friday Monday!

I haven’t been posting much/at all this past week because I’m traveling and on break and in Spain (and tomorrow I’ll be meeting my parents in Malta).  But this evening I’m being antisocial and hanging out in my basement room, and I have a few links to dispense with.

• A few exciting trailers:
  On Chesil Beach, with Saoirse Ronan, based on the novel by Ian McEwan. I’m kind of excited because 1) Saoirse and 2) Ian McEwan. But I tried to read On Chesil Beach and had to put it aside. I just wasn’t interested, but that’s been my experience with every McEwan novel that wasn’t Atonement.
  MFing PANDAS
  More films to get excited about (Thanks, Bob!). I’m so here for a Lizzie Borden biopic. And Ocean’s Eight. And Incredibles II (as I’ve said 50+ times). And Padmaavat (which I haven’t talked about yet). And Jamie Lee Curtis returning for Halloween. Gasp.
• All I do is think about movies. Here’s a spicy biopic. Weirdly inspiring and heartwarming story, actually.
• Speaking of biopics- Lupita Nyong’o is going to play Trevor Noah’s mother and it’s perfect.
• On breaking the stigma around vaginal health and getting familiar with your vulva. Are we such strangers because of a prudish and anti feminine culture of because it’s located at such a weird and difficult to see place on our bodies? I don’t know.
• What it feels like to slide downhill at 90 mph.
• A review of one of my favorite films of all time.  The dubbing never bothered me anyway.
• The new choir teacher.
• An Olympics streaker in tutu and monkey penis pouch. You do you.
• I love Livia Marin’s Nomad Patterns series.
• Adorable and hilarious illustrated guide to dog breeds.  Check out the creator’s tumblr here.
• A lovely personal article about the promise of gay Olympians like figure skater Adam Rippon.

Friday Links 1/19

Happy Friday! I have the day off, which is many kinds of wonderful (not least because I get to go out and buy a pastry and check some travel guide out from the library and maybe find a waterproof pair of boots.)
(You know, the real problem is that I just want these ten year old riding boots to be new again, or to find a pair of Chelsea boots that are pretty similar. But the Vogue right now seems to be for combat boots or boots that are combat-adjacent so I’m having some trouble).

Anyway, links!

• Collider (one of my favorite youtube channels on the film industry, frequently mentioned on the blog) doesn’t usually discuss anime, but Emma’s here to decode some common visual tropes and gags.
• More things I’ve learned from my amazing and diverse ISIPCA classmates? Dan from Australia taught me about ‘Firehawk’ raptors, which spread bushfires to flush out their prey.
• There’s a Star Wars-themed Creperie in Paris. The dishes are named after the planets by which they were inspired.  Not at all vegan-friendly, but I’m so amused.
• I know I hate on GP’s goop, but this is actually a pretty good article about how our negativity is in many ways an adaptive strategy, a self-defense mechanism to protect us from past threats- and so a lot of negativity may no longer really be necessary (and may actually be counterproductive) to leading happy lives.  I know I sound super woo woo so I’ll stop, but it does resonate with a lot of what I’ve observed and thought re: my own negativity and cynicism.
  But yeah, no, I only skimmed the article.
• What do I really want? Continuing to love Mari Andrew’s illustrations.
• Also Poorly Drawn Lines’s send up of this classic Lion King scene.
• Screen Junkies (another favorite youtube channel on the film industry) presents their annual Screens awards for the best and worst in movies and television.
• Unforgettable movie style moments. Some (Keira Knightley’s green Atonement dress) would definitely be on my own list (which, hey, will maybe happen someday).
• I hope you made it through Blue Monday (the most depressing day of the year, apparently) okay. If you’re still feeling a bit of residual down-ness, here are some lovely feel-good movie dance scenes. I still always listen to Dancing Queen when I need a boost. I have to say I think Moses Supposes from Singin’ in the Rain is actually more feel good than the title song, but whatever. Again, maybe this is a moment when a personal list is needed.
• You’ve heard of the KonMari Method. Maybe you’ve even partaken in some Swedish death cleaning (I’m only 22 and I know I have. One needs to be prepared)- now t’s time for the hot decluttering trend of 2018: American Apocalypse Purging.
• Another anticipated 2018 film (see earlier post): Love, Simon.
• I watched I, Tonya and thought it was pretty good (Blades of Glory is still the best figure skating film), but you know what I’d love to see? A film about figure skating legend Surya Bonaly. Because a backflip is almost as difficult as the Iron Lotus.
• The mindset of men and women re: sex and during sex itself, and how this influences the way women write about sex.  A really interesting read.
• A very cogently written account of the issues with Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water. It’s always brilliant when you find an article that explains your gut feelings. Beautiful film, serious problems.
• There’s a Colette film coming! Keira Knightley’s going to star! I’m not sure those two go together! But I love both separately!
• On Aziz Ansari and sexual assault vs sexual coercion: I don’t believe sexual coercion is sexual assault. But it’s not exactly enthusiastic consent either.  I don’t think it’s too much to ask men to interpret mixed signals, particularly when sexual violence against women is so common and fear of the consequences of refusal is so real.
• If becoming a perfumer doesn’t work out, maybe I can go into gourmet ice cream.

Wartime Romance Films: All’s Fair

Coming out of Dunkirk last week (guys, it’s amazing- go watch it (except for the erasure of everyone who wasn’t a white man from WWII)!) I was inspired to write a list of great war films.
When I got on it the next day I realized belatedly that war film knowledge is really a big gap in my film expertise.  I haven’t watched most of the classics yet (Bridge on the River Kwai, All Quiet on the Western Front, Das Boot, Patton, etc.) and I couldn’t get more than a few minutes into Saving Private Ryan when I tried to watch it a few months ago. (It’s just so overblown and melodramatic).

My list would have been solely Hacksaw Ridge and Dunkirk, and we can’t have that- even if I do write movie pairing posts sometimes.

So I decided to ease into the subject with a genre I know a little (okay, a lot) more about- wartime romances.

My criteria were vaguely as follows: 1) There must be a war that actually took place in reality. 2) The plot must primarily follow some kind of romantic trajectory- the love story can’t be a secondary consideration, which rules out things like Hacksaw Ridge and Watch on the Rhine.

Be warned- it’s a bit of an eclectic list, but all are worthwhile in my book.