Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends, Otto Preminger 1950

I thought I would introduce myself to the work of Otto Preminger by delving into one of his film noirs, and so came along Where the Sidewalk Ends, starring Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney.
Being a fan of both the noir genre and typography, my heart was captured in the opening five seconds of the film. Talk about an impressive title sequence!

Sidewalks & gutters, so very noir

 "Why do you always try to push me in the gutter, Dixon? I got as much right on the sidewalk as you."

Dana Andrews

Andrews and Gene Tierney

"Preminger believes first in mise en scene, the creation of a precise complex of sets and characters, a network of relationships, an architecture of connections, an animated complex that seems suspended in space." - Jacques Rivette

Coffee & Paper

A morning spent with a cup of Blackstar coffee in my Rob Brandt mug, pouring through the latest issue of Smith Journal.
Smith is usually great, but when it has a feature article on a man who crafts miniature ships in bottles - you know it is going to be stellar.

Life can be so sweet.

Alexander's fears

Fanny and Alexander, Ingmar Bergman 1982

In this sequence, the young Alexander goes to visit his father on his death bed. The audience is shown quiet, subjective shots of details Alexander has noticed in the room, before he lays eyes on his father in bed.

It's a great sequence, with beautiful shot placement and editing, and reflects the stillness, fear and trepidation we feel in moments of mourning.

Mirror Images

On two consecutive evenings I happened to watch two films with great mirror scenes - Orson Welles' Lady From Shanghai (1948) and Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (1973).
The symbolism and meaning is obviously evident, but nonetheless it makes for some fantastic imagery.

don't mess with femme fatale Rita Hayworth

Hayworth and Orson Welles (who were married during filming)

the lovely Julie Christie

Lady From Shanghai is of course not one of Welles' best, but it is good, and it is accessible. And shot after shot in this climactic fun house scene is a winner! Beautifully crafted.

Even more so beautifully crafted is Roeg's thriller Don't Look Now. The way he manipulates images is amazing; the photography and editing are so effective. It also contains one of the best love scenes I've seen on film, truly lovely.

Check out the At The Movies 'Classic' review of it.

Note to self: Don't visit Venice in winter. When in Venice, avoid at all costs walking down its claustrophobic alleys at night. Avoid people in red raincoats.

Endless City Project

I first read about the Endless City Project in Occult zine.
It's basically a short story that has been displayed in street art form, down hidden alleys and laneways in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley. 

The creator David Cowan has painted each sentence of the story on plyboard and placed each board in a separate location across the Valley. Each of the boards are numbered and you can navigate to the tumblr page to get a map of the locations (and also to get a look at some of the boards).

Endless City tumblr

A friend and I spent an awesome afternoon gallavanting around the Valley in search of the story. He utilises the locations really well, appropriately choosing the placement of each board, and each spot beckons you to explore the places you wouldn't normally tread.

It's a fantastic project and the street-art-cross-with-literature is a great platform to get people both out exploring the urban environment, and reading.

April highlights

When not reading and writing about transmedia storytelling for a uni assignment my April has consisted of:

- Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945), a truthful portrayal (particularly for the 1940s) of alcoholism with the dashing Ray Milland 

- Season 2 of Luther on DVD - watched during the day, with the doors locked

Idris Elba as John Luther

- Enjoying The Rubens' set at Triple J's One Night Stand

- Reading and learning about film on film academic David Bordwell's blog

- Eating cheese, always and forever

- Jacques Audiard's Rust and Bone (2012) with the fine Marion Cotillard

- Absorbing vitamin D after the sunshine returns to the Sunshine State