As a photographer I just love Karine Laval's Swimming Pool series. The lighting is exquisite.
Also represented at the M+B Gallery is the work of Massimo Vitali
Already, I can feel the warmth.
Enjoy!
nakedmotel
Friday, December 15, 2006
Endless Summer
As a photographer I just love Karine Laval's Swimming Pool series. The lighting is exquisite.
Enjoy!
nakedmotel
Fun in Philly
Looking for some fun in Philly this weekend. Start off your weekend by going to Space 1026.Space 1026 will be holding its annual art auction on FRIDAY December 15th concurrently with the opening of the "Flipbook Festival" - a touring show of flipbooks from around the world. The doors will open at 6:30pm at which time participants can bid on work laid out around the gallery in a silent auction and get a sneak peak at the work which will be sold in the more competitive vocal auction, which begins at 9:00pm.
This year the auction is being coordinated by the awesome local curator/artist Damian Weinkrantz.
Todd Kimmel is back this year as auctioneer.
The auction, which helps insure that the collectively run gallery/studio space will exist another year, will feature donated artwork from members and a wide range of friends. Past donations have come from art-stars such as: Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Steve "ESPO" Powers, Paper Rad, Brian Chippendale, Clare Rojas, Judith Schaector, and many others. You will also find many locals donating goods and services such as free video rentals, massages, websites, recording studio time, and much more.
Continue your weekend festivities and get some one of a kind gifts at the PUNK ROCK FLEA- MARKET-HOLIDAY EXPO
*THIS* Saturday December 16th 10am to 5:00pm
At The Starlight Ballroom a.k.a. Club Polaris
(460 N 9th Street / 9th & Spring Garden)
All Ages / 21+ To Drink / $3 entry donation
Over 2400 visitors and 120 tables of old records, clothes, art, music, food, junk, bicycles, stereo equipment, instruments, automobiles, tools, posters, furniture, computers, skateboards and lots of other stuff this pass june.
All proceeds raised will goto the purchase of necessary equipment and supplies to ensure that all ages shows continue to remain a reality at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia.
Fun things to do without breaking the bank. The people watching alone is enough to get your but off the couch and heading out the door.
Enjoy
NakedMotel
This year the auction is being coordinated by the awesome local curator/artist Damian Weinkrantz.
Todd Kimmel is back this year as auctioneer.
The auction, which helps insure that the collectively run gallery/studio space will exist another year, will feature donated artwork from members and a wide range of friends. Past donations have come from art-stars such as: Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Steve "ESPO" Powers, Paper Rad, Brian Chippendale, Clare Rojas, Judith Schaector, and many others. You will also find many locals donating goods and services such as free video rentals, massages, websites, recording studio time, and much more.
Continue your weekend festivities and get some one of a kind gifts at the PUNK ROCK FLEA- MARKET-HOLIDAY EXPO
*THIS* Saturday December 16th 10am to 5:00pm
At The Starlight Ballroom a.k.a. Club Polaris
(460 N 9th Street / 9th & Spring Garden)
All Ages / 21+ To Drink / $3 entry donation
Over 2400 visitors and 120 tables of old records, clothes, art, music, food, junk, bicycles, stereo equipment, instruments, automobiles, tools, posters, furniture, computers, skateboards and lots of other stuff this pass june.
All proceeds raised will goto the purchase of necessary equipment and supplies to ensure that all ages shows continue to remain a reality at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia.
Fun things to do without breaking the bank. The people watching alone is enough to get your but off the couch and heading out the door.
Enjoy
NakedMotel
Monday, December 4, 2006
Blood Diamond
Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond
By Nick Clement
What's so disappointing about Ed Zwick's latest Hollywood melodrama Blood Diamond is just how great it could have been. Never entirely sure of what it wants to be, the overwrought screenplay by Charles Leavitt mixes 1940's action-adventure attitudes, 1970's cynicism, and 1990's action technology to uneasy effect; the final product is an overcooked yet entertaining mess. Leonardo DiCaprio, in fine Gary Cooper/Jimmy Stewart mode, is immensely watchable as tough-as-nails soldier of fortune Danny Archer, who works with both European government officials (in a totally glossed-over subplot) and the nastiest African warlords in order to move "blood diamonds" aka "conflict diamonds" across the world. He joins forces with a wrongly imprisoned fisherman named Solomon Vandy, played with regular intensity and hysterics by Djimon Honsou; his son has been kidnapped by local militia and is being trained as a child soldier. Vandy has found--and hidden--a giant pink diamond that is the key to both men's survival. Archer and Vandy agree to help one another in order to find Vandy's son, and recover the stone. Along for the ride, though supremely underused, is the ever beautiful Jennifer Connolly as an intrepid and improbably sexy reporter who sees a story in both men. What ensues is a hectic mix of startlingly violent action scenes (with numerous women and children being bloodily killed for "realistic" effect), insipid plotting with some truly inane dialogue, and sledge-hammer Hollywood messages strewn about in order to remind you that you're watching an "important" picture. Truth be told, I enjoyed the beautiful, glossy cinematography by the extremely talented Eduardo Serra (Unbreakable, The Girl with a Peal Earring), the excellent editing of the action scenes by ace editor Steven Rosenbloom (Pearl Harbor, The Last Samurai) and the generally sumptuous production values. The action sequences are excitingly staged and realistically rendered, especially the complete destruction of a town with multiple RPG missiles and numerous explosions. And DiCaprio is commanding from first frame to last, coming into his own as a masculine action-star in both this film and the far, far better The Departed. But I grew irritated with director Zwick, who has made some excellent movies in the past (Glory, Courage Under Fire, The Last Samurai). Here, he's closer to the work he did on The Siege, another asinine action adventure that wanted to be about something important and timely (domestic terrorism in that film) so badly, but instead relied on cliché after cliché, much like Blood Diamond ultimately does. The relationship with DiCaprio and Connolly goes nowhere after extensive set-up, which is a bit of an annoyance. And while Archer makes some morally questionable decisions along the ride, his denouement is tired and unbelievable. Still, while not a perfect movie, like all of Zwick's work, it does entertain. And it does have good intentions and a noble, if slightly bombastic, spirit.
a soft 3 stars out of 4
By Nick Clement
What's so disappointing about Ed Zwick's latest Hollywood melodrama Blood Diamond is just how great it could have been. Never entirely sure of what it wants to be, the overwrought screenplay by Charles Leavitt mixes 1940's action-adventure attitudes, 1970's cynicism, and 1990's action technology to uneasy effect; the final product is an overcooked yet entertaining mess. Leonardo DiCaprio, in fine Gary Cooper/Jimmy Stewart mode, is immensely watchable as tough-as-nails soldier of fortune Danny Archer, who works with both European government officials (in a totally glossed-over subplot) and the nastiest African warlords in order to move "blood diamonds" aka "conflict diamonds" across the world. He joins forces with a wrongly imprisoned fisherman named Solomon Vandy, played with regular intensity and hysterics by Djimon Honsou; his son has been kidnapped by local militia and is being trained as a child soldier. Vandy has found--and hidden--a giant pink diamond that is the key to both men's survival. Archer and Vandy agree to help one another in order to find Vandy's son, and recover the stone. Along for the ride, though supremely underused, is the ever beautiful Jennifer Connolly as an intrepid and improbably sexy reporter who sees a story in both men. What ensues is a hectic mix of startlingly violent action scenes (with numerous women and children being bloodily killed for "realistic" effect), insipid plotting with some truly inane dialogue, and sledge-hammer Hollywood messages strewn about in order to remind you that you're watching an "important" picture. Truth be told, I enjoyed the beautiful, glossy cinematography by the extremely talented Eduardo Serra (Unbreakable, The Girl with a Peal Earring), the excellent editing of the action scenes by ace editor Steven Rosenbloom (Pearl Harbor, The Last Samurai) and the generally sumptuous production values. The action sequences are excitingly staged and realistically rendered, especially the complete destruction of a town with multiple RPG missiles and numerous explosions. And DiCaprio is commanding from first frame to last, coming into his own as a masculine action-star in both this film and the far, far better The Departed. But I grew irritated with director Zwick, who has made some excellent movies in the past (Glory, Courage Under Fire, The Last Samurai). Here, he's closer to the work he did on The Siege, another asinine action adventure that wanted to be about something important and timely (domestic terrorism in that film) so badly, but instead relied on cliché after cliché, much like Blood Diamond ultimately does. The relationship with DiCaprio and Connolly goes nowhere after extensive set-up, which is a bit of an annoyance. And while Archer makes some morally questionable decisions along the ride, his denouement is tired and unbelievable. Still, while not a perfect movie, like all of Zwick's work, it does entertain. And it does have good intentions and a noble, if slightly bombastic, spirit.
a soft 3 stars out of 4
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