BEAUTY: Painting--Josie Morway

Sic transit gloria mundi ("Worldly things are fleeting") announces the enigmatic work of Josie Morway. Part photo realism and part homage to Old World Masters, her narratives feature animals in all their innate nobility with Latin phrases such as "Fortune joined with bravery in undisguised, uncorrupted faith," "He who guards, doesn't sleep," "I follow higher things," and "No herb grows in the gardens against the power of death." This combination makes me think of familiars, totems, spirit animals, and magic.

http://www.josiemorway.com/

R.I.P. Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder, actor, writer, director, died today at the age of 83. He will forever be Willy Wonka in our hearts...he delivered a multi-layered, touching, and hilarious character in the 1971 film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" based on the Roald Dahl book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Watch him embody the wisdom, sly playfulness, love, gentleness, and even sorrow of Roald Dahl's enigmatic character in this most beautiful, touching clip. The song is "Pure Imagination" by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.

R.I.P., Gene.
Hold your breath, make a wish, count to three...

BEAUTY: Interior Design--Burnham Design

As an interior designer, I often find white walls a missed opportunity for color. But in this masterful exercise in restraint, Burnham Design in Los Angeles uses white to invoke the whitewashed walls of the Mediterranean while mixing in materials and styles of Spain, Morocco, and Asia to form a beautiful and relaxing pan-ethnic statement.

http://www.burnhamdesign.com/

Loving, Not Living

"True, we love life, not because we are used to living, but because we are used to loving. There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness."
--Petrarch

Purple

Another meditation on a color...

...and of course, The Purple One. R.I.P.

The 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century

BBC Culture asked 177 film critics and historians for their input on a list of The 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century. And the results are actually quite fulfilling. When one looks at what has been created on film since the year 2000 (which, yes, BBC Culture admits is not technically the start of the 21st century), it's rather astounding to see that we are living in perhaps a new Golden Age of cinema. We have seen the rebirth of the auteur, and just take a gander at the list to refresh yourself with the many, many exquisite films that have been made in the last fifteeen years. Or make your acquaintance with several if you have not seen them.

100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
100. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010)
99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)
98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)
97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)
96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003)
95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007)
92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007)
91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009)
90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)
87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)
86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)
85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)
84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)
82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)
81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)
79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)
78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)
77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)
67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)
65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)
62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)
57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000)
55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013)
54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)
52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)
49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015)
47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)
46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)
44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)
43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)
42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015)
40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002)
37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)
36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)
35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015)
33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)
28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)
26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
25. ​Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)
20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)
19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
17. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)
16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)
10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)
7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014)
4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

I am absolutely THRILLED to see Terrence Malick's transcendent film "The Tree of Life" at #7 (previously here). I'm also extremely pleased to see on the list Charlie Kaufman's existential masterpiece "Synecdoche, New York (previously here), Wes Anderson's delightful and touching "The Royal Tenenbaums" (previously here), and the amazing, dreamy "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (previously here).

But of course I did not foresee David Lynch's pristine yet enigmatic "Mulholland Drive" (previously here) at the #1 spot!!!

Link to original article on BBC:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160819-the-21st-centurys-100-greatest-films

"Living In An Open Place" by De Lux

De Lux (multi-instrumentalists Sean Guerin and Isaac Franco) sing a giddy, compelling tune called "Living In An Open Place" that should have been my Summer Song this year! Oh well, a few weeks of summer are left, it's not too late to pop this on in the car and roar down the PCH...I love its electronic/disco/retro New Wave vibe and "perpetual motion" sound!

https://www.facebook.com/deluxband/
http://www.innovativeleisure.net/artists/de-lux/

Just For A Second

“Sometimes I feel like if you just watch things, just sit still and let the world exist in front of you - sometimes I swear that just for a second time freezes and the world pauses in its tilt. Just for a second. And if you somehow found a way to live in that second, then you would live forever.”
--Lauren Oliver, from her novel PANDEMONIUM

http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/

Happy Birthday, Tori

Today is the birthday of unique singer-songwriter Tori Amos and to celebrate, here are some videos of a few of her songs that have haunted me over the years: "Spark," "Winter," and "Silent All These Years."

Happy Birthday, Tori!

http://toriamos.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Ian Fisher

The lovely paintings of Ian Fisher capture clouds...but only clouds, candy-colored, out of context with our earth, an alternative dream world of atmosphere with nothing below.

Top to bottom: Atmosphere #24; Atmosphere #41; Atmosphere #44 (Theater); Atmosphere #50 (Follow You Into The Dark); Atmoshere #58; Atmosphere #64

http://www.ianfisherart.com/