Today’s scene that I love comes to use from Andy Warhol’s 1965 film, Vinyl!
In this scene below, Gerard Malanga and Edie Sedgwick dance to Nowhere to Run by Martha and The Vandellas. Malanga is playing an out-of-control juvenile delinquent. Edie is playing …. well, Edie is basically playing herself. No one smoked a cigarette with as much style as Edie Sedgwick.
I love Audrey Hepburn, especially in this wonderful film from director Stanley Donen! The dance starts 3:07 into the video.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1973’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
There’s several reasons I love this scene but mostly it just comes down to the fact that it captures the explosive energy that comes from watching a live performance. Larry Marshall (who plays Simon Zealotes) has one of the most fascinating faces that I’ve ever seen in film and when he sings, he sings as if the fate of the entire world depends on it. That said, I’ve never been sold on Ted Neely’s performance as Jesus but Carl Anderson burns with charisma in the role of Judas.
Mostly, however, I just love the choreography and watching the dancers. I guess that’s not that surprising considering just how important dance was (and still is, even if I’m now just dancing for fun) in my life but, to be honest, I’m probably one of the most hyper critical people out there when it comes to dance in film, regarding both the the way that it’s often choreographed and usually filmed. But this scene is probably about as close to perfect in both regards as I’ve ever seen. It goes beyond the fact that the dancers obviously have a lot of energy and enthusiasm and that they all look good while dancing. The great thing about the choreography in this scene is that it all feels so spontaneous. There’s less emphasis on technical perfection and more emphasis on capturing emotion and thought through movement. What I love is that the number is choreographed to make it appear as if not all of the dancers in this scene are on the exact same beat. Some of them appear to come in a second or two late, which is something that would have made a lot of my former teachers and choreographers scream and curse because, far too often, people become so obsessed with technical perfection that they forget that passion is just as important as perfect technique. (I’m biased, of course, because I’ve always been more passionate than perfect.) The dancers in this scene have a lot of passion and it’s thrilling to watch.
I love this scene but I have to admit that my heart breaks a little whenever I hear the crowd booing Prokofiev.
Today’s scene that I love comes from the surrealistic 1968 musical, Head. It features Davy Jones dancing with the wonderful Toni Basil.
Enjoy and try not to cry because it’s a seriously sad song.
Yesterday, #ScarySocial watched House of the Devil, one of my favorite horror flicks. Here’s my favorite scene from that film!
I love this scene because I usually do the exact same thing whenever I have the house to myself.
Today’s scene that I love comes to use from an underground 1965 film called Vinyl! This film, believe it or not, was actually an adaptation of the novel A Clockwork Orange, one that was filmed six years before the better-known Stanley Kubrick version.
In this scene below, Gerard Malanga and Edie Sedgwick dance to Nowhere to Run by Martha and The Vandellas. Malanga is playing the role that would later be made famous by Malcom McDowell. Edie is playing …. well, Edie is basically playing herself. No one smoked a cigarette with as much style as Edie Sedgwick.
Watching her in this scene, it’s sad to think that, in just six years (and at the same time that Stanley Kubrick was releasing his version of A Clockwork Orange), Edie Sedgwick would die at the age of 28. Like all of us, she deserved much better than what the world was willing to give her.
Today is Kim Novak’s 92nd birthday!
Today’s scene of the day is the wonderfully sensual dance scene that she shares with William Holden in 1955’s Picnic. Picnic is a film that has its flaws, the main one being that William Holden, as charming and ruggedly handsome as he is, is a bit too old for the lead role. But none of that matter once he and Kim Novak start dancing.
(At around the 18 second mark, the picture appears to freeze but don’t panic. That’s a glitch in the upload and it only lasts for a second or two.)
The latest Song of the Day: K-Pop Edition is not just borderline NSFW, but should also piss off the very religious. From the video’s dark and very sexual imagery and choreography to it’s reinterpretation of some long-standing Biblical storytelling, Brown Eyed Girls’ member known as Gain released the song “Paradise Lost” from her 2015 solo album.
The song’s release had the usual fanfare but also reconfirmed her as one of K-Pop’s longstanding artist who pushed the boundaries of the very rigid and structured K-Pop industry where talent is trained and honed and controlled by untold numbers of corporate handlers.
“Paradise Lost” is a 4 minute-plus tour de force of a video that presents Gain in the role of Eve both while in the Garden of Eden and also after her expulsion from “paradise.” Whether it’s the elaborate satin and lace white wedding dress that obscures and hints at Eve’s repressed sexuality down to the black and white sequence where Gain is not just Even after her expulsion, but moving like the snake who tempted her and Adam to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
While some will just focus on Gain’s sultry and smoldering beauty and the video’s sinuous and sexualized choreography, when the lyrics of the song and Gain’s powerful and emotionally devastating performance gets factored in the song and video become one of K-Pop’s great masterpieces that even the Western music world hasn’t seen since the days when Madonna experimented and explored her sexuality through her music and her videos in the early 1990’s.
So, come and take a seat and watch for the taboo thrill of the NSFW video, but stay for the message in the song and learn why sometimes it’s the non-believers who truly understands the true meaning behind the things we consider Biblical and sacred.
The latest Song of the Day: K-Pop Edition comes from the 4-girl group Mamamoo. They first debut in June 19, 2014 with their official first single “Mr Ambiguous” from their debut EP Hello.
Mamamoo burst onto the K-Pop scene with a mature sound and style that even makes their more typical K-pop songs (happy, cheery and quirky) stand-out from the very crowded K-Pop releases. Their music videos showcases this group’s unique style which runs the gamut from playful to glam to femme fatale.
Their 2016 single “Décalcomanie,” from their EP Memory, is a blend of dance with early 90’s R&B pop. The song starts off at a slow simmer and the music video for the track showcases the song’s evershifting tempo and mood.
It’s a video that has the four members of Mamamoo (Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein and Hwasa) dressed to the nines like femme fatales out of a classic noir tale. Even the set location speaks to an era of detectives, glamorous damsels and fierce femme fatales.
When the song’s music video was first released, there was a controversy involving a sequence in the video that some in South Korea (and many fans worldwide) saw as being borderline sexual assault (some even calling it as one outright). the video was quickly taken down with the controversial sequence removed with some clever editing.
Either way, the controversy doesn’t change the fact that “Décalcomanie” is a great addition to the group’s growing work. It’s a very good showcase to the group’s strong vocal talent and visual appeal. The choreography I not as energized as most K-pop videos, but the tone and theme of the video itself doesn’t need for high-energy dancing and movements. The movements and mood of the video speaks more to themes of danger and sensuality. These are themes well-established with noir stories and art.
If there was a song and video to introduce a newcomer to Mamamoo, “Décalcomanie” is more than deserving to be an introduction to the group.
Through the Shattered Lens 