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Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1987)
Feb
4
A brunette Barbie doll representing Karen Carpenter makes a statement in front of the White House. DP: Barry Ellsworth.
“Mother, didn't you know there are children starving in Africa?”
– “Karen Carpenter”
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Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (Stuart Cooper, 1974)
Scrawdyke
2
Malcolm Scrawdyke (John Hurt), disgruntled art student. DP: John Alcott.
“So, this month becomes the month of Scrawdyke.”
– Malcolm Scrawdyke
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儀式 [Gishiki / The Ceremony] (Nagisa Ōshima, 1971)
Jan
1
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Ciao Manhattan (John Palmer + David Weisman, 1972)
Nov
21
1971
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A newspaper, partially obscured blares “[…], Andy's Star of '65, Is Dead at 28”. The article mentions she (Edie/Susan) died “a week ago today”, making the newspaper's date November 21. DPs: John Palmer & Kjell Rostad.
“It's sort of like a mockery, in a way, of reality, because they think everything is smiles and sweetness and flowers, when there is something bitter to taste. And to pretend there isn't is foolish.”
– Susan
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Zahrada [The Garden] (Jan Švankmajer, 1968)
Oct
25
Jiří Hálek and Luděk Kopřiva as Josef and Frank. DP: Svatopluk Malý.
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Könnyű testi sértés [Tight Quarters] (György Szomjas, 1983)
Oct
16
Csaba (Károly Eperjes) and Miklós (Péter Andorai) in their reluctantly shared apartment. Every frame is claustrophobically filled with people, including the television. DP: Ferenc Grunwalsky.
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Äppelkriget [The Apple War] (Tage Danielsson, 1971)
Sep
17
National Apple Dumpling Day
Locals and a centaur – half man, half papier-mâché – enjoy a drink. DP: Lars Swanberg.
– What are you gonna do with tons of apples? They can't be sold! Ask any apple farmer! They just pile up and rot!
– The apple farmers?
– No. The apples!
A beautiful, picturesque part of Sweden will become… Deutschneyland! At least, that's the brilliant business plan Herr Volkswagner has. But the local apple farmers – a large family that's half human, half mythological creatures – have no need for an amusement park on their grounds.
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血は渇いてる [Chi wa kawaiteru / Blood Is Dry] (Yoshishige Yoshida, 1960)
Sep
11
The September 11 copy of a scandal magazine. It costs 30 yen. DP: Tōichirō Narushima.
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Petit à petit [Little by Little] (Jean Rouch, 1970)
Sep
3
Skyscraper Day
Damouré (Damouré Zika) measures a Parisian with craniology callipers. No skyscraper in this still, but there's scaffolding. DP: Jean Rouch.
In the sequel to Rouch's Jaguar (1967), Damouré wants a high rise for his Niger business with “as many floors as he has wives”. He decides to travel to Paris to learn about the construction of such building, and what made Paris to the Paris of today. While there, he gets distracted by the peculiarities of the French natives. Worried about Damouré's increasingly puzzling postcards, his company sends out Lam (Lam Ibrahim Dia) to bring him home.
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Mon oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958) / Koolhaas Houselife (Ila Bêka + Louise Lemoine, 2008)
Aug
29
grey
A delivery man in front of the gates of Villa Arpel (via), and custodian Guadalupe Acedo working the lift in Maison à Bordeaux. DP of Mon Oncle: Jean Bourgoin.
[A favourite] colour: grey*
Approaching the 60s, Mr Hulot finally switches from black-and-white to colour. Suddenly, we see that his suit is a beigeish grey and so is the Arpels' house, that modernist masterpiece designed by Tati. The beloved luddite struggles with hypermodern people and their hypermodern constructs, much alike the future Hulot from Playtime (1967).
– A house like yours must be such a job!
– Oh, a leaf! Ah, yes it's a chore.
– Admit it, you love it.
In similar absurd fashion, Guadalupe Acedo, cleaning lady, works her way through Rem Koolhaas' Maison à Bordeaux (1998) in Bêka and Lemoine's Koolhaas Houselife (2008). Too steep are the stairs, too leaky everything else. Levelheaded, she does her thing; a small beacon of romantic practicality in a world of absurd efficiency.
