Sound on Screen: The Exorcist, Haneke, J-Horror, Warner Bros., animation, Apocalypse Now

Image from Apocalypse Now Redux (Francis Ford Coppola, 2001)

Film Studies For Free only just heard about the Spring 2010 issue of online journal Cinephile (Vol. 6 No. 1). So, while technically FSFF is 'rushing you the news', it red-facedly admits that it arrived a little late to this particular, openly accessible, Film Studies party...

Anyhoooo, it's an excellent issue on ‘Sound on Screen’, available as one large PDF. The contents are given below.

FSFF earnestly promises to keep its e-ears closer to the ground next time an issue is due...


Table of Contents

• 'William Friedkin’s The Exorcist and the Proprietary Nature of Sound' by Jay Beck

• 'Acoustic Infidelities: Sounding the Exchanges between J-Horror and H-Horror Remakes' by William Whittington

• 'Listening to Silence: The Films of Michael Haneke' by Lisa Coulthard

• 'Audiovisual Ecology in the Cinema' by Randolph Jordan

• 'Lunacy at Termite Terrace: The Slapstick Style of Warner Bros. Animation' by Andres Lombana Bermudez

• 'On the Occult Nature of Sound-Image Synchronization' by K. J. Donnelly

• 'The New Scene Canon - Chopping Choppers Unforgettably: The "Nowhere to Go but Down" Scene in Apocalypse Now' by Mark Harris

Werner Herzog's Cave: videos and links

One of the most distinctive filmmakers of our time, Werner Herzog has been called the "romantic visionary" of the New German Cinema movement. His edgy, larger-than-life films fuse the epic with the intimate, redefining the scale and scope of filmmaking to include more than 60 works shot on every continent. He appeared in conversation with acclaimed author and essayist, Pico Iyer at UC Santa Barbara on October 25, 2010. (download the video here)

A 10 minute fragment from a 'masterclass' with Werner Herzog. For 7 Planete Doc Review, with Pamela Cohn with Michałem Chacińskim, 2010. Also see this video.

Film Studies For Free hopes its Werner Herzog-obsessive readers will have a few hours to spare. They'll need them to watch the above embedded (and linked to) videos, some of the more recent, and most worthwhile of freely accessible online encounters with LA's most interesting resident filmmaker.

These videos, and the critical and scholarly reading below, will help time pass before the Spring 2011 premiere of Herzog's latest (3D) film, Cave of Forgotten Dreams (trailer, related video,  second related video). Don't say that FSFF isn't looking out for you, Herzog-ites!

Scholarly online writing about Herzog:

• Jesse Amato-Grill, 'Trappings', Mercer Street, 2007

• Matthias Wilhelm Benfey, Religious cinema as virtual religious experience : a theory of religious cinema applied to Werner Herzog's Herz aus Glas, PhD Thesis, McGill University, 1986 

• Adam Bingham, 'Images from the end of the world: Werner Herzog's La Soufrière', Senses of Cinema, September 2006

• Tom Bissell, 'The Secret Mainstream: Contemplating the Images of Werner Herzog', Harpers Magazine, December 2006

• Karl-Rainer Blumenthal, 'Of Gods and Grizzlies: The Non-Aesthetic of Nature and the new Kinship of Werner Herzog and Caspar David Friedrich', Senior Thesis, Bryn Mawr College, 2006 

• Buffalo Film Seminars - selected writings about Herzog (and, especially, Aguirre: Wrath of God)

• Garrett Chaffin-Quiray, 'An Adaptation With Fangs: Herzog's Nosferatu,' Kinoeye, Vol. 2, Issue 20, December 2002

• Alkan Chipperfield, 'Murmurs from a Shadowless Land: Fragmentary Reflections on the Cinema of Werner Herzog', Senses of Cinema, June 2001

• David Church, 'Werner Herzog', Senses of Cinema, June 2006

• David Church, 'Examining the Role of Disability in Herzog's Even Dwarves Started Small', Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol 25, No 4 (2005)

• Roger Dawkins, 'Thoughts of Deleuze, Spinoza and the Cinema (The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser)', Contretemps, 3 July 2002

• Eric Dewberry, 'Conceiving Grizzly Man through the "Powers of the False"', Scope, Issue 11, June 2008

• Thomas Elsaesser, 'The Cinema of Irony', Monogram no. 5, 1973

• Thomas Elsaesser, 'Hyper-, Retro- or Counter-European Cinema as Third Cinema between Hollywood and Art Cinema', in European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood(Amsterdam University Press, 2005)

• Caryl Flynn, The New German Cinema: Music, History, and the Matter of Style. Berkeley: University of California Press, c2004 2004

• Andrew W. Hurley, 'Re-imagining Milirrpum v Nabalco in Werner Herzog’s Where the Green Ants Dream', Paper delivered at PASSAGES: law, aesthetics, politics 13–14 July 2006 Melbourne Australia

• David T Johnson, '"You Must Never Listen to This": Lessons on Sound, Cinema, and Mortality from Herzog's Grizzly Man', Film Criticism; Spring 2008, 32: 3

• Michael Koller, 'The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner', Senses of Cinema, February 2002

• Joe Muszynski, 'A Legacy of Quality: Werner Herzog's Nosferatu and the New German Cinema'

• Benjamin Noys, 'Antiphusis: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man', Film-Philosophy, 11.3, November 2006

• Ingo Petzke, 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God', Senses of Cinema, February 2002

• Cynthia Rockwell, 'Werner Herzog and the Documentary Film', e-Thesis, Boston University 1994

• Antonia Shanahan, 'My Best Fiend', Senses of Cinema, February 2002

• John W. White, 'On Werner Herzog’s Documentary Grizzly Man: Psychoanalysis, Nature, and Meaning', Fast capitalism, 4.1, 2008

8 More Beiber Polishes

I'll admit it, I'm so NOT a Justin Beiber fan, and I was mightily embarrassed to purchase any of the collection, but they ARE pretty colors (if you can get past that HAIR...*cringe*)

Anyway, they've released 8 new colors in the Beiber line...

NICOLE BY OPI ONE LESS LONELY GIRL
8 New Lacquer Additions

WHAT: Nicole by OPI is unveiling eight more shades in the One Less Lonely Girl collection! With colors created by Nicole by OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, these eight new Nail Lacquers are inspired by Justin Bieber’s songs and his devoted fans.

The One Less Lonely Girl Collection was conceived to raise awareness for Pencils of Promise, an organization that builds sustainable schools for underserved children in the developing world. In addition to educating consumers about this non-profit, Nicole by OPI has committed to building two such schools.

LACQUERS:
• My Lifesaver
Go overboard in color with this soft mint green!

• “Baby” Blue
A sweet light blue that totally loves you.

• One Time Lime
A vibrant lime that’s worth your time.

• I’m A Belieber
This popular purple has quite the following.

• Red-y to Runaway Love?
Run away with this riveting red.

• Make U Smile
Mood-boosting bunches of silvery glitter!

• I’ve Got Bieber Fever
This gorgeous dark plum is super contagious!

• Not A Gold Bigger
A genuinely glamorous gold that you’ll never take for granted.

RETAIL PRICE: $7.99 each
AVAILABILITY: January at Walmart and February at select Target, Sears, ULTA, and other retail locations, for $7.99 each.

ABOUT PENCILS
OF PROMISE:

Pencils of Promise, a registered 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, builds sustainable schools, partnerships and solutions to enable basic education for underserved children in the developing world. More information about Pencils of Promise is available at www.pencilsofpromise.org.

OPI Texas Collection (PREVIEW)

From the state where bigger is better, and cowboys are king... OPI brings a collection of colors for Spring/Summer 2011!

OPI comes “home” to the USA with timeless style in the Texas Collection for Spring/Summer 2011. These vivid shades are as iconic as images of an American summer – adding a fresh, effortlessly chic look for nails and toes.
“Texas provided the inspiration for this season, with bright colors and classic neutrals that draw from the American spirit,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Taking cues from the state’s naturally beautiful backdrop, the Texas Collection features warm tones from honey and tangerine to dazzling hues of violet and sky blue.”
This season, American classics come to life with sunny peach (Big Hair…Big Nails) and vivid honeysuckle (Too Hot Pink to Hold ‘Em). Lush berry (Houston We Have a Purple) and grassy green (Don’t Mess with OPI) add a splash of the USA’s most vibrant colors to the season’s must-have neutrals (San Tan-tonio).
“The Texas Collection complements trends from the runway, where white made an appearance as the new black,” explains Suzi. “Wearing these colors on fingers and toes will accessorize the season’s must-have pieces – from brightly colored botanical prints and filmy scarves to relaxed trousers and jackets and fuller, longer skirts – all done in shades of white, ivory, cream and taupe.”

Texas Collection accompanies spring and summer fashion favorites with the following shades:

San Tan-tonio
A “honey” of a ten-gallon tan!

Suzi Loves Cowboys
But she loves this campfire chocolate shade s’more!

It's Totally Fort Worth It
A shimmery lavender grey that’s so worthy of you.

Don't Mess with OPI
A lean, mean, kick-grass forest green.

Austin-tatious Turquoise
Cowgirls love this bodacious blue-green.

I Vant to Be A-Lone Star
You won’t want to share this starry Texas-sky blue.

Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?
This Texas tangerine will be waitin’ for ya!

Big Hair...Big Nails
A rosy pageant peach.

Guy Meets Gal-veston
An “engaging” coastal coral.

Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em
A red-hot pink-red that deals a winning hand.

Do You Think I'm Tex-y?
A “berry” sexy bloom of Dallas dahlia.

Houston We Have a Purple
A galactic red-violet that’s ready to “rocket roll”!

OPI’s Texas Collection Nail Lacquer shades contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and each includes OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

There is also a new finish that OPI is introducing, called 'Sorbet':

From the company that brought revolutionary nail textures like matte, suede, and Black Shatter to women around the world, OPI announces a new special finish – semi-transparent sorbet shades. Featured first in the Texas Collection by OPI for Spring/Summer 2011, these lacquers give fingers and toes a lightly glossed appearance.

“These sorbet-style formulas for nails will be in full swing by 2012, but women can get a jump start on this trend with colors in the Texas Collection,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Unlike thicker creams or light sheers, these twelve shades are slightly translucent – similar to the look of icy, water-based sorbet!”

From sea blue and berry pink to tangerine and bright peach, the Texas Collection features classic American colors. Designed to complement trends from the runway, these candy-coated lacquers accessorize the season’s must-have neutral pieces.

“To achieve the desired effect, an initial coat of Nail Lacquer should be applied to all ten fingers first – without doubling up coverage,” explains Suzi. “Be sure to start from the pinky finger on one hand and paint through to the pinky on the other hand; then, after the first coat has dried, apply a second coat.”

Texas Collection by OPI will be available February 2011, at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com.

Finger Paints Palette of Petals Spring Collection (PREVIEW)

Holy cuteness. I'm lovin' this new collection for Spring from Finger Paints- and those flower rings?! Adorable. Can't wait to see these in person- I love fun colors!! I think Dahlia My Number and Chysanthe-mum's the Word are my favorites just from the pictures!

Aren't You Glad-iolous?

Carnation Creation

Chrysanthe-mum's the Word!

Dahlia My Number

Did You Ast-her Out?

Heavenly Hydrangeas

Graphic Neon

This week has been crazy X 10. I feel like all I do is work and sleep. (I worked a 17-hr day on tuesday- that is redonk!) I'm trying to get swatches and reviews of new products done, as well as attend to my actual life necessities, like bathing, and putting food in my head. I've got a few things in the next week or so I hope you'll get a kick out of, or at least take something from. I feel bad about all the simple, non-crazy detailed nail designs lately...to be honest, I just don't have the energy, but I'm TRYING, I promise!! :)

I used Nubar Stronghold as a base, with Zoya Dove for the lighter grey and MAC Vestral White with Color Club VOlt of Light over it for the neon yellow dots (man was that color hard to capture correctly on camera, I can never show the actual brightness of it as it looks in real life!) TOpped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Don't forget- you still have until tomorrow (Friday) at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time to enter the contest!! :)

American Apparel INFO

Since there has been a lot of concern recently about the American Apparel polishes, so I contacted American Apparel, and here's what I found out:

"American Apparel set out to produce this nail lacquer collection with a Made in USA company, and our deep affection for this family-owned corporation was a motivating factor in our decision to work with Forsythe. But one thing we value even more is the safety and health of our customers. This is why American Apparel paid for the costly international recall out of its own pocket, even trading one old bottle for two new bottles of polish to all customers, immediately after we discovered problems with the packaging. We wish no ill-will towards this fellow American manufacturer, but need to seek a fair and accountable solution to this incident."

Hope that calms some concerns. No 'exploding' nail polishes. :)

Fifteen Film Studies Guest Lectures at the University of Chicago

From the lecture "Desire and Death in Three Films by Max Ophuls" by Laura Mulvey. Delivered April 2009 at Film Studies Center, University of Chicago

Today, Film Studies For Free presents this amazing array of Film Studies taster videos, on a wide range of topics, of talks delivered expertly and engagingly by a whole host of academic and filmmaking stars. The videos embedded above and below are recordings of segments of guest lectures given at the University of Chicago's Film Studies Center. There are fifteen videos online so far. But FSFF recommends you subscribe to the FSC Vimeo channel so that you can catch them as new ones are posted.

From the lecture "Brokeback Mountain: Primal Scenes on American Screens" by Linda Williams. Presented May, 2009 at Film Studies Center, University of Chicago.

From the lecture "ARTISTS AND MODELS (1955): Modernism, Medium-Specificity, and Mayhem" by Miriam Hansen, delivered in May 2009 at the University of Chicago, Film Studies Center.

Michael Snow introducing his live performance of Hollis Frampton's "A Lecture" at the symposium "Critical Mass: The Legacy of Hollis Frampton" at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center. Feb 5, 2010.

Tom Gunning introducing Frampton's film "Gloria" (1979), on the opening night of the symposium "Critical Mass: The Legacy of Hollis Frampton" at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center, on Feb 5, 2010.

An excerpt from the lecture “Predator-Prey: Cinema, Nature, Ecology” by Hanna Rose Shell, delivered as the keynote of the "Cinema, Nature, Ecology" Conference, April 2009, University of Chicago Film Studies Center.

From a Fall 2008 appearance by Cheryl Dunye, director of Watermelon Woman and the upcoming film Owls, at the Univ of Chicago Film Studies Center.

From talk/screening "Immodest Objects and Fetish Subjects" by Sasha Waters Freyer, delivered at Film Studies Center, University of Chicago in November 2008.

From the lecture "Radical Politics and Experimental Film in Spain: Los Encuentros de Pamplona (1972)" by Vicente Benet, delivered at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center on April 22, 2010.

From the lecture "Quilombo and Utopia: The Aesthetic of Labor in Brazilian Documentary", presented by Salomé Skvirsky at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center on Feb 19, 2010.

From a discussion with Haskell Wexler and Judy Hoffman following a screening of 'Medium Cool' at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center on May 27, 2010.

Yuri Norstein at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center, January 25, 2010. Interpretation by Yuri Tsivian.

From the lecture "To Give Birth According to Sade and Pasolini's SALÓ" by Armando Maggi. Delivered November 19, 2009 at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center

From the lecture "The Unadapted: Warner Bros. Reads Zora Neale Hurston" by Elizabeth Binggeli, presented in February 2009 at the Film Studies Center, University of Chicago.

Carolee Schneemann at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center in November 2008.

American Apparel Giveaway!

UPDATE: The contest is open to international readers :)

I've made no secret of my undying love for American Apparel nail polishes. For a fledgling nail polish line, I think they've really hit the mark. I'm a big fan of creme finishes, which comprises all but 2 of their polishes (Echo Park & TopCoat/Basecoat), so naturally each and every one of these beauties has found their way into my collection, some I even have bought multiples of! (Cotton and Hassid, I'm lookin' at you!)

Well, in an exciting twist, the lovely people at American Apparel have offered me the chance to share my love of their polishes with YOU, my dear readers.

The lucky winner will receive a mix of 4 American Apparel polishes!

To be eligible:

1. Send me an email at thedailynailcontest@gmail.com with:

• your contact information (so I have it if you should win)

• whether you want to be included on the American Apparel newsletter email list (you can get discounts, sales, deals, and other information!)

• what you would do with 4 American colors if you had them (and which colors!)

2. Be a follower of The Daily Nail- whether on Twitter : @dailynail or here on the blog with Google Friend Connect - make sure you tell me which you follow with in your email! :)


3. If one of these things is NOT in the email, you will not be eligible to win this prize!

Contest entry deadline is Friday, January 28, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Looking forward to your emails! :)

Color Blocked

I've always been a fan of simple, clean design, whether it be on packaging, in ads, or in architecture. I love interesting combinations of colors, and their applications in everyday life. Today's nail art design is based off of a tile pattern that I saw in an elevator when I was watching TV the other day. In this manicure, I used some french tip guides I received for review from Nailene. Since I rarely (if ever) do a french manicure, in addition to reviewing them (in the next few days) in the regular application, I wanted to see how else I could utilize them. I decided to use an X-acto knife to cut each straight guide in half, creating thin strips of nail stickers. To achieve the manicure you see below, I used those strips to create a grid and then painted in between the lines. As you can see, some polish seeped underneath, but I'm guessing that was since they weren't meant to overlap, and they started lifting at the intersections. In any event, I'm still relatively pleased with out it turned out.

I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with American Apparel MacArthur Park, American Apparel Trenchcoat, American Apparel Port, China Glaze Flyin' High, American Apparel Raccoon, and Essie Alligator Purse. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Disclosure: Some products in this post were provided by the manufacturer for review.

A 'Borgesian' Film Studies Library?

Charalambos Charalambous on Film Studies for Free

Film Studies For Free shamelessly contemplates its own hypertextual, pedagogical, navel today, but it blushingly hopes, nonetheless, that the above embedded document will be of interest to some of its fellow educator readers. Just click on this link to transport yourself to a better-sized version for reading (and downloading).

The above document, authored by film researcher and filmmaker Charalambos Charalambous (Χαράλαμπος Χαραλάμπους) of the University of Kent's School of Arts (Film Studies) in 2010, describes itself as

A study of Web 2.0 as an actualization of the concept of the Borgesian Library: a critical evaluation of WEB 2.0 technology in reference to the academic blog Film Studies For Free authored by Dr. Catherine Grant.   

It was based in part on a research questionnaire filled in by FSFF's author, and, in the opinion of the latter, is a fascinating and very well-informed reflection on the pedagogical possibilities of the kinds of anthologizing, virtual librarianship (or digital curation) that this blog so adores, and which are completely made possible by Web 2.0 technology.

The study will shortly be permanently stored at FSFF's page dedicated to discussion of Open Access, Digital Scholarship and the Digital Humanities.

In the meantime, FSFF would like to thank Charalambos for his thoughtful words, which have made its little digital body swell with pride!

REDtro

First off, I want to thank everyone for all of your amazing comments and emails. I was kind of worried posting that letter, because I wasn't sure how it would be received. However, your replies just confirmed what intelligent, caring, compassionate, awesome people you all are!

Anyway, that said, here's the nails! :)

I love retro fabrics, prints, colors, etc. Today, when I was looking at the local antique store after lunch, I came across some really awesome vintage fabrics, and today's nail design was inspired by one of them! I didn't buy it, but I did end up buying a cute leather 70s handbag for $15. WOO!

I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with Essie Alligator Purse and American Apparel Hassid for the design. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Dear Readers...

Dear Readers,

Lately it's been commented on that I have posted less often than I used to, as well as that I've posted a few press releases lately. I'll get to both of those points in this open letter, post, whatever you want to call it.

Lately it's become an epidemic of sorts on nail and beauty blogs (not just mine) where readers are expecting instant swatches, reviews, and essentially for us to inquire 'How high?' when asked by our readers to 'Jump!'. I can only speak for myself when I say this, but while blogging is a very important portion of my life, it is NOT my life. I have friends and loved ones, as well as other hobbies, responsibilities, desires, and jobs that comprise my life as well. While I do have ads, which generate minimal amounts of income (not even close to enough to cover costs of maintaining the blog, purchasing all my polishes and tools, etc), I DO NOT make money from this blog. It is NOT my job, nor do I wish for it to feel that way. I blog about nail art and nail polish because I enjoy it. It's something that I'm interested in and passionate about...but it's not the sole reason for my existence.

If you read my posts, I'm sure you've heard my mention of another job. THIS is why I haven't been posting as much as I used to. I now work approximately 65-70 hours a week. For instance, of the 48 hours that comprised Tuesday and Wednesday, over 30 of them were spent working. When one works from 8 am to 11, 11:30, 1 am, what have you, it doesn't leave much (or ANY) time for nail blogging on those days. I honestly have time to eat, sleep (about 5 hrs?), and shower before I have to leave again to head for work. After days like that, on the days where I have only my 8-5:30 hours, I come home and have little energy to devote to things I don't have time for on other days, things like laundry, housework, errands, and nail blogging. Truth be told- I put most of my free time and energy into blogging right now, leaving other things on the back burner. For those of you that have commented, emailed, etc., I hope you understand this, and cut me some slack, as I wish that I could post more often, but just can't.

In regards to my posting of press releases:

I, from time to time, and from certain companies, receive press releases on new products, new color collections, etc, and I WILL post them. This blog was designed not solely as a place for weird and quirky nail art, inspiration, and curiosity, but also as an information source. I LIKE being able to read about collections before they come out, so I can plan what I want to get, and allocate money in my budget to purchase those items. In response to comments pertaining to the desire to hear my thoughts on a collection instead of a cookie cutter press release, I can only say that that was my plan, but I post my comments about a collection when I actually swatch and review them, when I actually have them in my possession, which I don't when I post the press releases, hence the designation in the title of 'PREVIEW'.

I beg that you don't think of this as whining, it's a simple statement because I'm unable to respond to every email, comment, or tweet that I receive about the above topics. I LOVE you guys, I respect your comments, encourage them, etc., but wanted to make you aware of where I stand on the subject of my nail art blog. I will continue to post as often as I can, with designs to make you laugh, groan, think, or even smile, and hopefully you'll continue to stop by, enjoy, leave your comments, whatever you want to do here at 'The Daily Nail'. If you choose not to stay, I'm sad to lose your company and insight, but it's your prerogative, and I can't stop you from going.

I hope you understand!

XOXO

Melissa
(the weirdo redhead with the goofy nails)

Pizza! Pizza!

So I was totally craving a pizza tonight, and Little Caesar's Hot N Ready was offered up. While I enjoy Little Caesar's for what it is, a utility pizza (meaning it gets the job done, but isn't huge on awesome), I was craving more of the tasty variety, like Grimaldi's, or something else equally delicious. However, Grimaldi's doesn't make for good nail art (and I'm not sure Little Caesars does either, but you get it anyway) :-D Anyway. Wanna know the crazy thing? I didn't even eat pizza. :) (not so crazy, I'm aware.) To the nails!!

I used MAC Vestral White as a base, with CND Electric Orange for the the orange, and American Apparel Hassid for the black. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Ok, now that that is posted, I need to get back to watching Brad Meltzer's DECODED and freaking out about the apocalypse instead of what I SHOULD be doing...sleeping.

Double-Strength: Videos and Links in Celebration of Barbara Hammer

Clip from Maya Deren's Sink by Barbara Hammer (via UndergroundFilm at Vimeo)


Clip from NITRATE KISSES by Barbara Hammer



Clip from SANCTUS and other films from the 1980s by Barbara Hammer
(You can see Sanctus @ubuweb)

HAMMER! Making Movies Out of Sex and Life Book Performance, Barbara Hammer at British Film Institute, March 2010

"I have chosen images rather than words for the act of naming myself an artist and a lesbian because the level of meanings possible for images and image conjunctions seemed richer and held more ramifications" Barbara Hammer

Film Studies For Free today presents a tribute to the remarkable American, experimental filmmaker and activist Barbara Hammer. The tribute takes the form of a listing of online videos and scholarly links to studies of Hammer's work, as well as of related queer film and politics.

Hammer is seventy-one years old, still making films and still protesting against injustice and censorship. In 2010, she published her wonderful autobiography, HAMMER! Making Movies Out of Sex and Life, which addressed her personal history and philosophies on art (see a review here).

FSFF says, "Thank you, but... keep it up, please, Barbara! Your work and activism is needed now more than ever." (This blog can be a rather greedy and merciless task-mistress at times...)

Modern Women: Barbara Hammer on her career and Feminist film

Modern Women: Barbara Hammer on Maya Deren

• Barbara Hammer Faculty page at European Graduate School 

• Barbara Hammer. Resisting Paradise. Video Lecture Documentary 2005 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4

• Barbara Hammer's Video Channel at Vimeo (16 videos so far archived) 

• Barbara Hammer's website

• Barbara Hammer interviewed in February 2010 about her research on medical science film 'No bones about it!'

• Edith Becker, Michelle Citron, Julia Lesage, B. Ruby Rich, 'Lesbians and film, p. 2', from Jump Cut, no. 24-25, March 1981

• Sarah Boslaugh, 'Getting Past the Stereotypes: Woman and Motorcycles in recent Lesbian Novels', IJMS, March 2006

•  Martin P. Botha, 'The New African Queer Aesthetics: the Portrayal of Homosexuality in International Cinema', Kinema,

• Joan Braderman, 'Feminism and Video: A View from the Village', Camera Obscura, Volume 22, Number 1, 2007

• Julia Erhart, 'Performing memory: compensation and redress in contemporary feminist first-person documentary', Screening the Past, December 1, 2001

• Claudia Gorbman, 'Barbara Hammer's recent work: Body displaced, body discovered', from Jump Cut, no. 32, April 1987

• John Hess, 'Notes on U.S. radical film, 1967-8', from Jump Cut, no. 21, Nov. 1979 

• Tricia Jenkins, '‘‘Potential Lesbians at Two O’Clock’’: The Heterosexualization of Lesbianism in the Recent Teen Film', The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 38, No. 3, 2005 

• Chuck Kleinhans, 'Teaching sexual images: some pragmatics', from Jump Cut, no. 40, March 1996 

• Laura U. Marks, 'Loving a Disappearing Image', Cinémas : revue d'études cinématographiques / Cinémas: Journal of Film Studies, vol. 8, n° 1-2, 1997

• Susan E. McKenna, 'Seeing lesbian queerly: visibility, community, and audience in 1980s Northampton, Massachusetts', PhD Thesis, University of Massachusetts, September 2009

• Fiontán Moran, 'Anatomies of Desire', Afterall, May 2010

• Gary Morris, 'Tender Fictions: Barbara Hammer's Truth Club', Bright Lights Film Journal, Issue 17, 1996

• Ricardo Peach, Queer Cinema as a Fifth Cinema on South Africa and Australia, PhD Thesis,University of Technology, Sydney, March 2005

• John Ramirez and Larry Horne, 'UCLA Gay and Lesbian Media Conference', from Jump Cut, no. 29, February 1984 

• Jennifer Beth Simmons, Visions of Feminist (Pom(o)nanism): Masturbating Female Postmodern Subjectivity in American Television and Film, MA Thesis, University of Florida, 2004

• Jamie L. Stuart, The Business and Pleasure of Filmic Lesbians Performing Onstage. PhD Thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2006 

• William C. Wees, 'Carrying On: Leslie Thornton, Su Friedrich, Abigail Child and American Avant-Garde Film of the Eighties', Canadian Journal of Film Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1, Spring 2001

• Andrea Weiss, 'Women I Love. Double Strength : Lesbian Cinema and Romantic Love' , from Jump Cut, no. 24-25, March 1981

• Jacquelyn Zita, 'The films of Barbara Hammer: Counter-currencies of a lesbian iconography', from Jump Cut, no. 24-25, March 1981

Color Club Alter Ego PREVIEW!

Alter Ego!

Color Club lets you create high-fashion looks for every identity with Alter Ego, their latest collection of diverse, long-lasting lacquers!

Alter Ego’s consists of 12 shades! Go incognito with our opaque shades or rendezvous in full view with our sheers of Alter Ego ‘LIGHTS’ and ‘DARKS’!

Alter Ego’s ‘Reveal Your Mystery Collection’ 7 piece salon pack includes Get a Clue, Revealed, Incognito, Secret Rendezvous, Sheer Disguise, and Give Me a Hint shades plus Milky White Base Coat. Their ‘Keep It Undercover Collection’ 7 piece salon pack includes Alter Ego, Secret Agent, Total Mystery, Alias, Ulterior Motive and Masquerading plus Vivid Top Coat.

For more information call Color Club at 800-221-8080, email support@cosmeticgroup.com or visit us online at www.cosmeticgroup.com

ZOYA Intimate Collection (PREVIEW)

Spring 2011 Nail Color (available 01/15/2011)
intimate
a color romance

Temptations, whispers, dreams, secrets, illusions, liaisons, trysts... lingerie... kisses.
Zoya Nail Polish presents six new, elegant, full coverage yet revealing, metallics 
and creams for Spring 2011 to rendezvous with.


Click on image to enlarge and see color detail!

Zoya Intimate Collection
Marley (ZP542) - lavender pink with a whisper of metallic
Dove (ZP541) - delicate, pale gray cream
Caitlin (ZP540) - misty, moody gray violet cream
Dannii (ZP537) - sparkling, enchanted orchid metallic
Jules (ZP538) - soft, glimmering gold kiss metallic
Gemma (ZP544) - mysterious green/purple duotone metallic

Zoya is the new color of fashion... The Zoya Intimate collection was 
designed to recreate the custom looks developed for and inspired 
by the runways of New York Fashion Week - Spring 2011.

Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers  by Zoya are free of harmful 
industrial chemicals like toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, 
formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known 
to cause cancer and birth defects.

Find Zoya Intimate as well as over 300 other ultra high-fashion
Zoya shades at www.zoya.com. As always, each and every 
Zoya color is made for women so we name them after women.

Intimate by Zoya - available January 15, 2011
Sug. Retail $7.00 per 0.5 fl. oz. bottle (US)
http://www.zoya.com

Close, But No Cigar.

They smell wretched, they've been involved in political scandals, they've been used as props, and certain kinds are illegal here in the United States... you guessed it, I'm talking about cigars. Having bartended in my younger days, I've inhaled my share of secondhand, putrid-smelling cigar smoke, and though I find them rather vile, I DO have to admit that the cigar bands/labels are super cool looking, which is why I decided to do a cigar inspired manicure! All the cigar band designs in this manicure are based off of actual cigar band designs. :)

I used American Apparel Raccoon as a base, then mixed with American Apparel Trenchcoat to give it a bit of texture. For the thumb, I used American Apparel California Trooper as a base for the band, China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection for the gold, American Apparel Hassid for the black, and American Apparel Port for the wine color. For the index finger, I used American Apparel Manila as a base for the band, American Apparel Port for the red, American Apparel Hassid for the black, and China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection for the gold. For the middle finger, I used China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection for the gold, and American Apparel Hassid for the black. For the ring finger, I used Essie Alligator Purse as a base, with American Apparel Manila for the yellow, China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection for the gold, MAC Vestral White for the white, and American Apparel Hassid for the black. For the pinky, I used Essie Alligator Purse for the borders, American Apparel California Trooper for the cream border, and flower base, for the tips of the flower petals, I used a mix of American Apparel California Trooper, China Glaze Flyin' High and American Apparel Port. For the leaves, I used BB Couture Poison Ivy, for the red, I used ORLY Candy Cane Lane, and for the gold, I used China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

*cough cough*

Tore Up From the Floor Up

Today's nail art was originally based on the floor tile pattern in one of the elevators at Caesars Palace here in Las Vegas. The floor design is the yellow circle with the yellow rectangles with the circle's curve on one end, all of which is outlined in black on a cream background. I LOVED how it looked when I saw it, but it didn't really translate well to the nail, in my opinion, so I kept adding color to it, and ultimately, it has more of a tiki or tribal retro feel to me now. I also have to say, I'm not terribly excited about it, hence the blog post title. :-D

One fun thing that happened today is that I met Elizabeth, who writes the Lacquered Lizard blog! :)

It was fun meeting her, and talking about nail polish, blogging, honestly, lots of stuff, we were all over the map! Plus, we ate delicious pancakes from Blueberry Hill. YUM. They're 1/2" thick pancakes of pure deliciousness. We both brought each other little gifts (I have to send part of hers because I didn't finish it), but I gave her a Dare 2 Wear polish, a green polish from Urban Outfitters, and one of the super pretty polishes from ALDO! She brought me two awesome Del Sol polishes (the UV sensitive polishes) in Ruby Slippers & the Halloween one, as well as a bottle of Seche Vite (which will definitely be put to good use!!), and a cool peach color from a Dutch brand (I believe?) called Hema! :) It was definitely a good time- and I even introduced her to Island Girl nail polishes, we HAD to go nail polish shopping after breakfast, I'm pretty sure it's some sort of law.

Anyway, on to the nails! :)

I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with American Apparel Manila for the yellow, American Apparel Hassid for the black, and American Apparel MacArthur Park for the green. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Young and Undead: On Child and Teen Vampire Movies

Images from Låt den rätte komma in/Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008 - above) and Let Me In (Matt Reeves, 2010)

Film Studies For Free loves a good vampire movie, like the two relatively unconventional examples of the genre pictured above. 

In fact, FSFF doesn't turn its nose up at bad vampire movies, either. Let's face it: this blog is just not that fussy when it comes to vampire movies.

Both kinds of films are represented below, in a fairly short, but terrifyingly good, list of scholarly and other online studies of the recent flourishing of teen and pre-teen varieties of undead cinema (along with their literary sources). 

Please note that the list does not dabble in studies of the televisual versions of the genre. For those, you could no better than to visit the complete archive of Slayage articles on, inter alia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly.

• Stacey Abbott, 'Urban Vampires in American Films of the Eighties and Nineties, in Vampires: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil Conference Proceedings Budapest, Hungary May 22-24 2003, ed. by Carla T. Kungl (Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary.Net, 2003) scroll to p. 133 
• Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, ' Contemplating the Franchise, the Fandom and the Celebrity Juggernaut of the Twilight Saga', In Media Res, July 2, 2010 
• Simon J. Bacon, 'Fangs for the memory': can the American cinematic vampire be equated with Pierre Nora's idea of the 'lieux de memoire' ? Masters thesis, Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies, University of London, 2009
• Courtney Brannon Donoghue, ' "Twilight is a license to print money": Selling the Female Film Franchise', June 30, 2010 
• Glennis Byron, '©Branding and Gothic in Contemporary Popular Culture: the case of Twilight', The Gothic Imagination, December 31, 2010
• Melissa Click, '“Rabid”, “obsessed”, and “frenzied”: Understanding Twilight Fangirls and the Gendered Politics of Fando', FlowTV, December 18, 2009
• Martin Fradley, 'Review of Contemporary Gothic, by Catherine Spooner', Journal of Transformative Works, Vol. 4, 2010
• Rebecca Housel, ' Eclipsing the "Real": Twilight & Simulacra', In Media Res, July 1, 2010
  
• Erich Kuersten, 'Someone to Fight Over Me: Feminism, SandM, and the Daemonic in Twilight', Bright Light Film Journal, 68, May 2010
• Stephanie Leach, 'Vampires Go to University: Academic Fads and the (Non)Future of the Humanities in the Neoliberal Academy', Graduate Student Essay, McMaster University, 2010 (Word Document) (published by Dr David L. Clarke)
• Benny LeMaster, 'Queer Imag(in)ing: Liminality as Resistance in Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In', Summer 2009
• Anders Marklund, 'Old fangs into new viewers: the American poster to Let the Right One In', Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, 1.1, 2010
• Pramod Nayar, 'How to Domesticate a Vampire: Gender, Blood Relations and Sexuality in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight', Nebula, 7.3, September 2010
• Maggie Park, 'Twilight: The Multi-Media Marketing Machine', In Media Res, June 28, 2010
• Julia Pearlman, 'Happily (For)ever After: Constructing Conservative Youth Ideology in the Twilight Series', Senior Thesis, Wesleyan University, 2010
• Leonie Margaret Rutherford, 'Industries, Artsists, Friends and Fans: Marketing Young Adult Fictions Online', First Monday, Volume 14, Number 4 - 6 April 2009
• Matt Zoller Seitz, 'Scene of the Year: Let Me In', Salon.com, December 31, 2010
• Kirsten Stevens,'Meet the Cullens: Family, Romance, and Female Agency in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight', Slayage, 29, 8.1, Spring 2010
• Catherine Strong, '“...it sucked because it was written for teenage girls” — Twilight, anti-fans and symbolic violence', Papers of The Australian Sociological Association 2009 Annual Conference
• Natalie Wilson, ' Twilight Fandom: Taking a Bite Out of Gendered Backlash', In Media Res, June 29, 2010 
• Michael Wood, 'At the Movies: Let the Right One In', London Review of Books, 31.9, 2009 
• Rochelle Wright, 'Vampire in the Stockholm suburbs: Let the Right One In and genre hybridity', Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, 1.1, 2010