Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, the latest film from director Sidney Lumet, is a cautionary tale that takes a seemingly victimless crime then painstakingly analyses the disastrous consequences. As an illustration of how people can be easily driven by the tedium and pressure of everyday working life to extreme acts, it succeeds. Clever filmic techniques such as repeating the same situation from different viewpoints provide new information in an innovative way, but the overuse of this technique becomes tedious. The characters, while well acted, have few redeeming qualities, only the father played by Albert Finney being a man of any morale fibre. They are disgusting humans and their previous misdemeanours all come to curse them in a variety of ways. The film is devoid of humour or hope and is one of the darkest and most depressing I have ever seen, but maybe that’s the point. Most people spend their lives tolerating situations they hate and while at times excruciating, it was also uplifting. It was like watching a horrific, slow motion car crash, but did show how easily society turns people into lifeless, uninspired drones and reminded me to never become one of them.
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Also by XAVIER TOBY
Valentino: The Last Emperor — Fashion documentary
A documentary about one of the world’s most famous fashion designers? Hmm. Not a film I’d ever choose to see, but sometimes we do what we don’t want to in order to make friends happy. It’s called compromise apparently, and the experience reminded me that any material, if well structured and presented, can make a decent film. The filmmakers follow the over-tanned Valentino Garavani and his long-term lover and business partner Giancarlo Giammetti. Read more
Larry David plays a slight variation on his Curb Your Enthusiasm incarnation, spouting some of the most articulate rants on humanity in Woody Allen’s new comedy. I enjoyed last year’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but this is definitely better. It’s a spectacularly executed comedy farce, with the action constantly escalating along the way, adhering to the old comedy formula of putting the characters through hell for big laughs. Read more
Black Dynamite blaxploitation movie trailer
One very angry and unstoppable man wages war against drugs and malt liquor. A take-off of the old blaxploitation films, this is parody at its best, with many knowing nods to camera and hilarious moments involving clichés taken to their extremes. There’s the Asian kung-fu master, pimps and orphans hooked on heroin. It all begins with Black Dynamite being spurned on his quest for blood after his brother’s brutal murder, and then pushed further for the love of a good woman. There are hoes and guns, along with catchphrases and great one-liners. See it.
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I love the work of Sydney graffiti and stencil artist Emily Hasselhoof. Bold, bright and bizarre, her images are like the dreams of a serial tripper. Evil little girls dressed in fluorescent garb commit unspeakable acts while green rabbits are devoured by sharks and odd little ponies masquerade as equine medusas. Hasselhoof regularly exhibits around town. I caught her show at Ruban Rat in Newtown last year where I was blown away by her fantastic use of colour. Read more
As a child, I took piano exams in over-sized white rooms, on baby grand pianos that felt unfamiliar and echoed strangely as someone across the room observed me in silence. It felt clinical, intimidating and completely devoid of warmth. Last week, I started noticing upright pianos, some painted haphazardly, others respectfully untouched plonked in the most unlikely places throughout Sydney. There was one on the edge of the baby pool at the local swimming pool, with a young girl in a rainbow striped dress tapping out a happy but disjointed melody; another shaded under a tree at the park on the way home. Read more
The divine By Marlene Birger was as charming as ever at Copenhagen Fashion Week, merging delicate feminine fabrics with the indie street cool that Western Europe is infamous for. Read more
Personally, I think it’s difficult for family photos to not be a bit stilted and weird, but Awkward Family Photos manages to post truly baffling images of badly dressed, strangely posed, and generally weird-looking clans as they wish to be remembered. Read more
Marton Schoeller’s new book of portraits aims to highlight the contrast between the extreme physiques of female bodybuilders and the vulnerability expressed through their eyes and nuanced facial expressions. Read more
An intelligently told, morally complex tale with a raft of unexpected twists, Gone Baby Gone is one of the most original films of recent times. Most films give you a sense of their narrative arc and it is easy to recognise the major plot points. Read more
I live the upbeat, feel good tempo of the new single — A Hundred Hearts — from Philly group, The Swimmers. Off their latest album, People Are Soft, this song is a strangely fitting anthem for the blustery day outside.
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There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more
Charlie Immer’s pastel-pallete sometimes obfuscates the gory violence in his surreal images. At other times, it heightens the gut-wrenching and visceral effect of his work. Read more
Amazing cake designs by Charm City Cakes
Baltimore company Charm City Cakes produces the most innovative wedding and party cakes on the market. Inspiration for these creative bakers comes from everywhere: art, fabric, furniture, architecture, landscapes, science, and music, and each cake is individually designed to match your personality, and the theme of the occasion you are celebrating. Don’t miss these cakey engineering masterpieces. Read more
Scanners’ new single Salvation
I love this track by London based rock group, Scanners, which is off their latest album, Submarine. Having toured with acts such as The Horrors, The Wedding Present, The Charlatans, Electric Six, and Juliette & The Licks, Scanners could well blow up in 2010. Figuratively speaking, not literally. No, that wouldn’t be fun.
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
New York-based designer Ryan Sullivan’s shirts are printed in his studio in low runs. His latest batch works with geometric space on silky cotton poly blend shirts. Read more
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