THE JOKERS, 1959
Photographer Bruce Davidson and his 1959 ‘Brooklyn Gang’ photographic set documented rebellious teenagers called The Jokers. His images exposed the shady side of a seemingly “innocent” time period.
Wynton Marsalis Group Live - New Years Eve
What a way to bring in 2012 with Wynton Marsalis and his group. Thank NPR for providing the audio for this. If you can’t appreciate this, kill yourself.
Paths of Glory
It’s becoming more and more evident that the tension between individuals and the institutions they serve have reached a boiling point. See: The greedy financial sector, the corruption of political bureaucracy and the broken education system. This led me to recently revisit the 1957 WW1 movie, ‘Paths of Glory’. Stanley’s Kubrick brilliant anti-war film on the failures of the institution and the tribulations of politics and management. A favourite amongst the legendary directors and the creator of ‘The Wire’, David Simon.
Source: gregwashington
Senna
With the recent success of the ‘ESPN Film’ series and their vanguard ‘30 for 30’ documentary series, there has been an enormous thirst for sports documentaries. The great aspect of these films is that it shows the hidden and often concealed story lines that sports fans often aren’t generally informed about.
‘Senna’ was one of my favourite documentaries in 2011. Growing up watching Formula One with my father, I can only recall the vague memories of the sport. The cars, the iconic race tracks, the drivers. Of course I recall the legendary Ayrton Senna as he dominated the F1 scene and his untimely death at San Marino. I was not aware of all that entailed before that moment. The person he was, his battle with the politics of the sport and probably the most overlooked sports rivalry/feud with his F1 teammate Alain Prost. Highly recommend this film as well as the soundtrack by Antonio Pinto.
BOOKSHELF PORN
Not sure why I love ‘Bookshelf Porn’. Whether its the look of hardcovers shelved, the organized chaos or the idea that it satisifies my OCD tendencies but this blog collection is great.
INFLUENCERS
INFLUENCERS is a short documentary by R+I Creative that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends become contagious today in our culture.
Best Movie Posters of 2011
One might debate today’s importance of movie posters. The legendary Saul Bass designs have been replicated to exhaustion and movie trailers spearhead online hype and fandom. Even so, the first impression of a movie poster displayed in front of the theatre cannot be replaced.
This year, we’ve seen some great poster designs, which range from the simplistic photography for ‘Shame’ to the homage of ’70s exploitation cover ‘Hobo with a Shotgun’. Flavorwire released their top picks for this year’s best movie posters. Criterion fans rejoice.
A rendering of what Toronto could look like in 2014.
