My Name is Tallulah

Super cute or super creepy? I prefer to think the former, only since I know for a fact that when I was as old as Jodie Foster was in this film (Bugsy Malone...one of my all time favourites which definitely deserves its own post eventually) I would have killed to mince around in a slinky gown like that, acting older than my age. Or better still, one of the girls in the background who get to showcase all the cute Bubsy Berkeley type dance moves. Oh to be 12, living in the 70's, in a 1920's all kid cast gangster send-up musical feature film wearing fur coats, fake pearls, and sporting a dangerous Louise Brooks style bob.

"Killer at 3 o'clock."

Cameron Diaz practically is a killer in The Mask wearing this explicitly tight and amazing red dress. She almost gives Stanley and Charlie a heart attack when she enters the bank they work in all dishevelled from the rain, fastening the strap on her shoe and flicking her hair in slow motion. As my cousin Paul said in 1997 when he was 13 and we were watching this scene on the Games Room TV at our holiday resort ... "YUMMY". His sister Amber; my brother; and I; all unanimously agreed.

"Don't take me home until I'm drunk.. until I'm very drunk indeed."

Only Holly Golightly can make the intention of getting smashed look graceful and adorable.

Hail Aurora

In honour of I Love You magazine's current Princess Issue, I thought I'd pay tribute to my first exhalted princess, Aurora (or Briar Rose as she was later called when she got forced into witness protection and had to change her identity from princess to hot maiden girl out in the forest, picking flowers and singing to animals, all the while dressed in a chic little black, grey, and white blousey-corsetty ensemble, wooing handsome princes down by the river and making the whole traumatic ordeal look pretty sexy and romantic.) from Disney's one and only Sleeping Beauty.

My favourite part of this video is when the fairies bestow upon her the very useful girfts of beauty, song, and sleep instead of death. That Aurora/Briar Rose is one lucky little princess and she can thank her stars that her parents have connections to the fairy world.

Just quietly though, in terms of female supervillains in Disney films, Malificent is pretty magnificent. That classy lady really has it going on, and from what little her cascading black robe reveals, we can still deduct by her killer cheekbones and spindly fingers that she would have a pretty spectacular rig hapening under there too.

You have to admire her dramatic approach to life. Did she just go around cursing everyone who she didn't get a party invitation from? Some might say that casting a spell upon an innocent newborn child which would cause her to die on her 16th birthday is a bit flamboyant, extreme, crazy even.. But the King and Queen should have known that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially if that woman happens to be the most powerful and insane witch on the planet.

They should have seen it coming.

Everything old is new again

This clip is so beautiful, it's from the incredible film All That Jazz. My dear, dear friend Katey showed this to me when she was still here in Melbourne. Katey used to dance for the Moulin Rouge and she now lives in London, pursuing her dream of becoming a performer on the West End and is ridiculously talented and beautiful.

Even though I am not a dancing fanatic (actually I am the most uncoordinated person alive and should be shot before trying to partake in any dancefloor on the planet) or a dancing superstar like Katey, I still fell completely head over heels in love with this picture.

This scene isn't nearly as poignant or stunning unless you know the story behind it. Bob Fosse directed this film, he was (quoting wikipedia..) "an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director"; a brilliant man who was way ahead of his time.

Made in 1979, All That Jazz was a semi-autobiographical film which Fosse co-wrote and directed. It "portayed the life of a womanising, drug-addicted choreographer-director in the midst of triumph and failure", aka Fosse himself. I highly recommend this picture, it blows my mind.

This scene shows Joe Gideon (or rather, Bob Fosse, played by Roy Scheider) at home with his live-in lover Kate Jagger (Anne Reinking), and his daughter Michelle (Erzsébet Földi). By this stage in the film we know that Joe is an exceptionally talented and revered man in the world of show business. We are also aware that he incessantly cheats on his devoted girlfriend and neglects his gorgeous daughter, and pretty much emotionally obliterates everyone who loves him. Despite all of this, his girls absolutely worship him, and they put on this beautiful show for him in his house, both petrified of his critical eye.

The bond shared between Kate and Michelle is so touching. It makes you want to throw a glass of water in Gideon's face and alert him to the fact that he is a fool for playing up the way he does. But he is so charismatic, powerful, successful, and pretty bad ass too with all his drinking and pill popping that we can't help but love him in spite of his abysmal flaws, just like his girls do.

What makes this film all the more intriguing is that clearly Bob Fosse was an incredibly self-aware, maybe even self-loathing man, given how negatively Joe Gideon is portayed in the picture. Yet once again, it is most likely because he recognises his faults that you have to still admire and kind of adore the man. Every scene in this film is magic, but this one has stayed with me since I first saw it and it will probably remain with me for life. (P.s. I love the late 70's wardrobe and interior too. So perfect.)

I want candy

And Kirsten Dunst's wardrobe from this movie. How I wish I lived during a time when wearing gigantic, white, curly wigs was the norm in aristocratic society... despite the fact that I would probably have been a hand maiden at best! A girl can still dream.

Ce matin la

One of my favourite songs and one of my favourite film scenes