Club Silencio will never become one of those blogs that is always apologizing for its lengthy absence of posts. At least not directly.
...See what I just did there?
Well, while outside film writing occupies my time, I divert your attention to posts I'd neglected to distract you with earlier. Over at Film Experience continues my "Signatures" series. I say that as if it's like a new line of luxury cars, when really it's a poor excuse to fawn over actresses and post awkward still photos.
Lesson 1:Persuade other artists to show you their techniques
"I want you to draw me like one of your French girls. Wearing this. Wearing only this."
Lesson 2:Use life models
"Oh, I haven't gotten around to drawing her yet. I was going to pop her on a rock, but I seem to have run out of room. Sorry... I don't know if you noticed, Mrs. Collins, that I've actually drawn St. George in the likeness of the world's greatest tenor, Mario Lanza."
Kate's Favorite Color: Blue
Kate's Favorite Medium: Watercolor
As long as we're all sharing our creative output, I've posted the latest installment of "Signatures" over at Film Experience, dedicated this time to the great artist Kate Winslet. Read it in the tub.
"It's TV. What do they think people are watching?" -Larry David
I still love HBO. Flight of the Conchords, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire, Big Love, and Real Time with Bill Maher are still holding the threads of the network. Even the heterosexual depression party that is Tell Me You Love Me seems such an admirable cable venture. But those interviews with "real couples" (i.e. couples you avoid dinners with for a reason) that air afterwards? Reason enough to finally remember you got Cinemax in the package deal too.
I'm convinced that putting Valerie Cherish in a premature deathbed was the first dooming mistake for the golden network. Their reputation may have suffered since The Sopranos went to black, but things are definitely looking up again...
Alexander Payne, the savvy mind behind the likes of Election and Sideways, is taking directorial reins on the new series, Hung. It promises to be a dark comedy about a very gifted father and sports coach who finally gets to use his best assets. (here) Payne's sensitivity and satire, HBO's consistent quality, and weekly full frontal?! HBO has me for life.
Not to mention this Fall also sees the return of Alan Ball to HBO, after the consummate brilliance of Six Feet Under. And this time he's brought vampires! True Blood promises that, Southerners, and a girl named Sookie Stackhouse. Alan Ball's first venture was stellar from start to finish, and if his characters and mythology remain anywhere near as textured, dark and funny, this could be the next best thing to happen since Buffy. I like to set my standards almost impossibly high for when I inevitably write more articles about HBO as a dwindling network on the turnaround.
9 Completely Random HBO Moments I Love:
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Larry's chef with Touretts lets out an inspirational tirade of swears on the restaurant's opening night, to everyones eventual delight. Except for Susie Greene that is. Honestly, I'd eat at Larry's restaurant every single night.
"Fuck you, you car wash cunt!"
Sex and the City: Carrie dates Justin Theroux AND Justin Theroux, playing two completely different characters in two completely different episodes. It's almost like they exist in that movie Multiplicity. Vaughn Wysel and Jared are both writers, they both love Ms. Bradshaw, and can only be distinguished by one's almost unibrow and the other's tendency to prematurely ejaculate.
Six Feet Under: The amazing Catherine O'Hara guest stars as a neurotic producer named Carol. She loves to swim naked ("It made me feel like Artemis...") and has her very own cake towel. God forbid you ever park in her driveway, when there's plenty of street parking.
"You would not believe the day I've had. Who is my most bitter enemy? The one person I hate most in the world? Melissa Gilbert. And who opens the door at Mark and Pam's house? That's right... Melissa Gilbert. It was like staring at evil itself... Bring my toast up to my bath and I'll tell you how I made Melissa cry."
Tales from the Crypt: I can recall specifically staying up late just so I could watch a psycho Santa stalk a murderous mom in the series pilot, titled "And All Through the House..." I remember as a kid thinking that HBO was a luxury only afforded to dingy motels looking to lure weary travelers. It worked in my case. Forget the pool, I wanted television that was clearly inappropriate for my age.
Extras: Kate Winslet as a foul-mouthed, Oscar-hungry nun... with sex tips!
OZ: Such an underrated show. Smart, addictive, confrontational television like none other. But more important than all that? Chris Meloni as Chris Keller. Chris Keller walking, bending, bathing and shanking. The Special Victims Unit or The Oswald State Maximum Security Penitentiary? The choice is obvious.
The Sopranos: Carmella falls for Furio. Kidding of course... But what about those sad days when the hilarious Nancy Merchand passed and little Tony was left motherless? Well Livia was brought awkwardly back for a single episode after Merchand's death via the magic of computer generated imagery... not unlike a less depressing Forrest Gump. I had watched this only scene prior to becoming a fan of the show, and I was secretly hoping this holographic person was a series regular. It is about as tasteful as tastelessness goes.
Autopsy with Dr. Baden: Anyone else remember that story about the wife who gave her husband the birthday gift of... raping her sister? What a request! That's when you start putting money in a card.
2018: [1] Burning [2] Eighth Grade [3] The Favorite [4] Suspiria (2018) [5] Hereditary [6] First Reformed [7] The House That Jack Built [8] The Tale [9] Thunder Road [10] The Rider
2017: [I can't not] Twin Peaks [1 AND 2 TIE] Call Me By Your Name / The Florida Project [3] Lady Bird [4] Good Time [5] Raw [6] Phantom Thread [7] The Killing of a Sacred Deer [8] The Blackcoat's Daughter [9] Get Out [10] Brawl in Cell Block 99
2016: [1] The Lobster [2] The Witch [3] Julieta [4] Elle [5] The Neon Demon [6] The Handmaiden [7] Green Room [8] The Love Witch [9] Love & Friendship [10] Certain Women
2015: [1] The Duke of Burgundy [2] The Look of Silence [3] Queen of Earth [4] It Follows [5] Room [6] Inside Out [7] 45 Years [8] Carol [9] Anomalisa [10] Mad Max: Fury Road
2014: [1] Under the Skin [2] Boyhood [3] Nightcrawler [4] Whiplash [5] Stranger by the Lake [6] Olive Kitteridge [7] Mommy [8] Blue Ruin [9] Only Lovers Left Alive [10] Nymphomaniac
2013: [1] Before Midnight [2] The Act of Killing [3] 12 Years a Slave [4] Enough Said [5] Sightseers [6] Frances Ha [7] Spring Breakers [8] Upstream Color [9] Paradise: Love / Paradise: Faith / Paradise: Hope [10] Blue Jasmine / The Wolf of Wall Street
2012: [1] The Loneliest Planet [2] Rust and Bone [3] Starlet [4] The Queen of Versailles [5] Magic Mike [6] Sleep Tight [7] The Imposter [8] Life of Pi [9] Dark Horse [10] Holy Motors
2011: [1] Martha Marcy May Marlene [2] The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) [3] Weekend [4] The Future [5] We Need to Talk About Kevin [6] Shame [7] Young Adult [8] Margaret [9] Melancholia [10] Drive
2010: [1] The Illusionist [2] Enter the Void [3] Fish Tank [4] Heartbeats (Les amours imaginaires) [5] Black Swan [6] Best Worst Movie / Prodigal Sons / The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia [7] Blue Valentine [8] Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [9] Dogtooth [10] Please Give
2009: [1] Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos) [2] Fantastic Mr. Fox [3] Coraline [4] The House of the Devil [5] Where the Wild Things Are [6] Inglourious Basterds [7] The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) [8] Ponyo (Gake no ue no Ponyo) [9] Antichrist [10] Up
2008: [1] Vicky Cristina Barcelona [2] Wendy and Lucy [3] Martyrs [4] Eden Lake [5] Paranoid Park [6] Julia [7] Mister Lonely [8] The Wrestler [9] Let the Right One In (Lat den rätte komma in) [10] Happy-Go-Lucky
2007: [1] Lust, Caution (Se, jie) [2] Once [3] There Will Be Blood [4] Margot at the Wedding [5] Eastern Promises [6] Grindhouse [7] 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile) [8] Away From Her [9] 2 Days in Paris [10] I'm Not There
2006: [1] Volver [3] Inland Empire [3] Marie Antoinette [4] Children of Men [5] Little Children [6] Deliver Us From Evil / Jesus Camp [7] A Scanner Darkly [8] Friends with Money [9] Bubble [10] Shortbus
2005: [1] Brokeback Mountain [2] 2046 [3] A History of Violence [4] Me and You and Everyone We Know [5] Match Point [6] The Constant Gardener [7] Junebug [8] The Squid and the Whale [9] Caché [10] Happy Endings
2004: [1] Before Sunset [2] Dogville [3] Bad Education (La mala educación) [4] Sideways [5] Closer [6] Innocence [7] The Dreamers [8] Tarnation [9] I Heart Huckabees [10] Birth
2003: [1] Lost in Translation [2] Irréversible [3] The Triplets of Belleville (Les triplettes de Belleville) [4] Angels in America [5] Kill Bill, Vol. 1 [6] Elephant [7] City of God (Cidade de Deus) [8] A Mighty Wind [9] The Brown Bunny [10] The Room
2002: [1] Y tu Mamá También [2] Far From Heaven [3] Punch-Drunk Love [4] Talk to Her (Hable con ella) [5] Morvern Callar [6] Audition (Ôdishon) [7] The Hours [8] Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) [9] The Rules of Attraction [10] Lovely & Amazing
2001: [1] Mulholland Drive [2] In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa) [3] Waking Life [4] Wet Hot American Summer [5] Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) [6] In the Bedroom [7] Hedwig and the Angry Inch / Moulin Rouge [8] Bully [9] Gosford Park [10] Battle Royale
2000: [1] Dancer in the Dark [2] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) [3] Requiem for a Dream [4] You Can Count On Me [5] The Virgin Suicides [6] American Psycho [7] Best in Show [8] Memento [9] Erin Brockovich / Traffic [10] Wonder Boys
1999: [1] Eyes Wide Shut [2] Magnolia [3] The Blair Witch Project [4] Boys Don't Cry [5] The Straight Story [6] All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) [7] Election [8] eXistenZ [9] Being John Malkovich [10] American Beauty
1998: [1] Buffalo ’66 [2] The Truman Show [3] Happiness [4] Ringu [5] The Idiots (Idioterne) [6] Gummo [7] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [8] The Opposite of Sex [9] Velvet Goldmine [10] I Stand Alone (Seul contre tous)
1997: [1] Boogie Nights [2] Waiting for Guffman [3] Lost Highway [4] Happy Together (Chun gwong cha sit) [5] The Ice Storm [6] Live Flesh (Carne trémula) [7] The Kingdom 2 (Riget 2) [8] Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella) [9] Deconstructing Harry [10] Jackie Brown
1996: [1] Breaking the Waves [2] Crash [3] Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills [4] Citizen Ruth [5] Scream [6] Walking and Talking [7] Flirting with Disaster [8] Fargo [9] Trainspotting [10] Hard Eight
1995: [1] Welcome to the Dollhouse [2] Before Sunrise [3] Safe [4] Kids [5] Fallen Angels (Duo luo tian shi) [6] To Die For [7] Kicking and Screaming [8] Showgirls [9] Seven [10] The Flower of My Secret (La flor de mi secreto)
1994: [1] Heavenly Creatures [2] Chungking Express (Chung Hing sam lam) [3] Pulp Fiction [4] Serial Mom [5] The Kingdom (Riget) [6] Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nu) [7] Wes Craven's New Nightmare [8] Ed Wood [9] Clean, Shaven [10] Reality Bites
