the floral still lifes of Christiane Kubrick (in EYES WIDE SHUT)

in

I really need to revisit EYES; it’s been far too long.

Christiane’s paintings serve as more than decoration. Their floral subject matter reinforces the movie’s themes of lust and decay. Another work titled Homage to Van Gogh, an imitation of the Dutch master’s work seen in the background as the characters eat breakfast and watch TV, evokes the concepts of truth and authenticity, which play a central role in this story about a troubled marriage.

As author Juli Kearns explains in a frame-by-frame analysis of the film:

“What is authentic and what is not the real thing? What hasn’t fidelity? Butter is not butter and what represents itself as a bear is instead honey. In the Looney Tunes cartoon, Santa proves to instead be the Tasmanian Devil when the soot is removed. And then there’s Christiane’s rendering of Van Gogh flowers in homage of him.”

(via artnet)

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (André Øvredal, 2023)

in

Went into this one more skeptical than it deserved - no doubt because of how much I loved the second episode of the Moffat / Gattis DRACULA that covered the same chapter of the novel - and came out satisfied. Nothing spectacular, but not a bad film by any means: solid performances throughout, some great shippy-atmosphere, and an Orlock-infused Dracula. That being said, all of the above deserved a less pedestrian direction; can only imagine what a more visceral, artistic director would have made of it. Can’t stop thinking that DEMETER would have been a perfect fit for John Carpenter or Ridley Scott (especially given its ALIEN inspiration). (*** / *****)

CON AIR (Simon West, 1997)

in

(*** / *****; ***** / ***** for the bunny scenes) :: First time seeing it since it came out and, between Cage sounding like the lovechild of Foghorn Leghorn and Kilmer's Doc Holiday and slowrunning/jumping from any number of explosions or infernos, Steve Buscemi having a tea party in an empty swimming pool, Malkovich holding a gun to a stuffed bunny, and the titular AIRplane crash-landing into the Las Vegas strip before culminating in a chase involving a fire truck, a skywalk, and heavy machinery, CON AIR remains one of the most gloriously insane blockbusters ever. Also: Colm Meaney and John Cusack should do / should've done more projects together.