I’ve been taking full advantage of the dark, air conditioned theaters this summer, I really don’t remember going to the movies this much since I worked down the street from Hollywood Theater. I used to be soooo into summer, relished in it, romanticized every second, and now it’s just hot, everyday, all day, and here we are, in the global boiling years. Movies I saw»» Barbie, Oppenheimer, Indiana Jones, went to my first ever movie alone (!!) and saw Past Lives (full on audible weeps at the end), Aliens in 70mm, But I’m a Cheerleeder, Theater Camp, a documentary about The Cramps and The Mutants playing a show at Napa State Mental Hospital (incredible), looking forward to seeing the new Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (animation looks siiiiick), and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure in 35mm.
Seriously was so devastated to hear about Paul Reubens, I wasn’t expecting to tear up as much as I did….realizing what an impact he’s had on so many artists I admire just got me all verklempt. I remember watching Pee Wee’s Big Adventure as a kid and thinking it was so magical and funny and imaginative and whacky, the whole sensibility just really stuck with me. On a trip back east visiting the MoMA, sometime shortly after I had moved out west, I didn’t realize going in that some of the props from the playhouse would be there on display, I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of that iconic zig zag puffed shiny red vinyl diner booth door, the one where so many special guests walked through. See you later Paul, thank you for the endless inspiration and reminding us of our goofy and playful sides <3 <3 <3
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Album of the month
Shirley and Company
Shame Shame Shame
Hearing the song Shame Shame Shame by Shirley and Company via a disco playlist for the first time blew me away, truly. This doesn’t happen often, but I felt compelled to buy it on vinyl, I couldn’t believe I was able to find it on ebay in such good condition. After a quick wikipedia search I found after Shirley Goodman’s success as the duo Shirley & Lee she worked as a sessions singer for Sonny and Cher, Dr John, and was a backup singer for the Rolling Stones on the album Exile on Main St. Goodman briefly retired from the music industry but was swayed by Sylvia Robinson to record the lead vocals on Shame Shame Shame…. what a gift! what a talent!! Thank you Shirley <3 There’s an amazing video of Cher and Tina Turner covering Shame Shame Shame in matching outfits from 1975, you should probably go watch immediately.
Movie of the month
Desperately Seeking Susan, 1985.
I’ve seen so many movies in the last month but I think movie of the month will be dedicated to older films or ones that aren’t currently in theaters. I watched Desperately Seeking Susan recently after listening to Like a Virgin rave about it (now on the Criterion channel!) and loved how strange it was. For some reason I imagined or thought this movie was going to be a romcom? I wasn’t expecting Search Party meets David Lynch?? Into it-the fashion, a baby John Turturro cameo, the chemistry between Madonna and Rosanna Arquette, and of course 80s NYC.
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In the studio…….
I was messing around in Cinema 4D a bunch at work this week (damn I love the work perk of them paying for all the expensive software, which, as they should :)), I got into a pretty good groove and watched a tutorial on how to create balloon text. The process was giving me some ideas of playing around with more text in C4D in the future, I often forget how vital just messing around and experimenting is to “the process”.
Looking through tutorials on youtube for c4d as opposed to after effects can be pretty sparse, and also because of the system update (where the entire interface changed) it gets difficult to follow along since tools are in completely different places now. I’ve heard excellent things about blendr and would like to try it again sometime. The phrase below read “oy vey.”
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I could probably keep going and going but I’ll save some stuff for next time. Even tho summer technically ends on September 21rst…I hope y’all have are able to enjoy the rest of your summer, stay cool and eat all the ice cream. Thanks for reading, see you next month!
