Green Greetings

A couple of years ago, Jim Carrey portrayed an American Christmas icon, a character loved by young and old but not very well known in Belgium until then. He has a fat little tummy but he isn’t Santa, he’s fury but he isn’t Rudolph (who has always been a personal favorite of mine), he’s green so he’s none other than the Grinch. The Grinch who stole Christmas to be precise.

The Grinch (among many other popular characters) was created by Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr. Seuss. He was an American author and cartoonist whose children’s books have now become classics. Plump and outlandish creatures were his trademarks combined rhyming texts and dynamic drawings. 1957’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a prime example of his quirky yet heartwarming creativity. In this story, the Grinch is a bitter little critter living in a cave on Mount Crumpit looking down on Whoville, home of the merry Whos. Besides being fat and fury, he has another problem namely his heart is two sizes too small. Luckily he has Max, his loyal pet pooch who has to masquerade as a reindeer when the Grinch decides to go down to Whoville to put a stop to all this Christmas nonsense. If he can’t have fun, no one can. But naturally it wouldn't be Christmas (or a children’s book for that matter) if all wasn’t well in the end.

If you want to indulge in some good old-fashioned holiday fun, I suggest you sit back and enjoy the merry musings of Dr. Seuss and have a wonderful Christmas!

Indie Apples

Not a lot of people know that Edward Burns besides acting in also writes and directs many of his movies, if you know Edward Burns to begin with. He isn’t a very popular nor commercial actor but has mainly caught hold of the public eye due to his own indie flicks (hence the probable Edward who? reaction in Belgium) and appearances in Saving Private Ryan, 15 Minutes and Confidence to name a few. And of course his own brain children: The Brothers McMullen, Sidewalks of New York and about eight others.

His latest movie Purple Violets, won best narrative feature at the Savannah Film Festival and thus caught my eye. Specializing in relationship comedies, this movie is once again a prime example of his low key, narratively blessed and New York based fables. Boy (Patrick Wilson) meets married college sweetheart (Selma Blair) and decides to wander down the familiar yet a little more complicated road he travelled many years ago while his best friend (Burns himself) tries to rekindle a romance with the one who got away (and still holds a grudge, namely Debra Messing). A complex, contemporary love story with a few aspiring writers thrown in just for the hell of it.

But that’s not why I’m writing about it. It has another very unique quality, namely that it’s exclusively available on iTunes as of November 20th. It hasn’t been released in theatres or on DVD, at least not yet. Despite getting critical acclaim, the movie wasn’t able to find a distributor, not only did iTunes solve this problem but it is also a great opportunity to get notice seeing as iTunes has already become a household brand and makes the future of many indie movies look brighter.

Independent releases often get trapped in a few art house theatres, if released at all (which is the case in Belgium) and thus aren’t able to reach the broader audience they deserve. Purple Violets’ fate was sealed until Burns decided to go Apple, this way he has the chance to promote his film for free to the millions of people who have iTunes. Officially it's the first full-length feature to open on iTunes and already it shows a lot of promise seeing as it is a more efficient and profitable way for filmmakers to find an audience and the deal is also aimed at winning attention for the iTunes movie category.

Burns: "My style of filmmaking is dying on the vine. These small, talky movies have a hard time finding an audience theatrically, so you need to adapt. There are still people who want to see this nontraditional type of film, and now there are nontraditional ways to get them out there."

Earlier this year Hotel Chevalier, a short prequel to Wes Anderson’s The Darjeerling Limited, was also released exclusively on iTunes and features a very nude Nathalie Portman for those who are interested (alas not available in Belgium).

Here he is

Something completely different now. Last week my friend Véronique gave birth to a beautiful boy named Aiden and made me godmother. Once again I'd like to congratulate the proud parents with their bundle of joy.

Guess who?

It's been a while since I've posted anything substantial (excluding my Halloween bit) on my blog. The reason why, is a lack of time and slow fleeting bursts of inspiration. I can either let my City fall into the tragic spiral of forgetfullness or just bite the bullet and once again share my rambunctious ramblings with the world. Clearly, I chose the latter and while I sit here (behind my dumpling's laptop while he is out there creating tantalizing tunes) there is only one thought one my mind. Namely, how for the love of all things sacred can one make any sense of Ulysses without Spark Notes? Probably not what you were expecting, am I right?

Almost two months ago I embarked on the already tedious affair that I like to call my Master's degree in English Literature. Finally I got to chose my own courses which also sounded fun, in theory. On the other hand, the hours are minimal yet the work load is driven to an unprecedented high. Since I've started, I've been reading at a speed of almost 1000 pages a week. Don't get me wrong, I love to read otherwise English Lit would have been a slightly masochistic choice but come on! Over the past few weeks I have been annoyed by Proust's passive whining, unimpressed by DeLillo's Magnum Opus, fascinated by Kafka's dark and mesmerizing mind (it wasn't all bad, ok), bored by Doctorow's historical hickup, indifferent towards Camus' indifference, aggrivated by basically all things Russian (don't even get me started), gobsmacked by Boem Paukeslag, entertained by Vonnegut and then there was a novel by Gadda that I just skipped altogether. I'm probably leaving a few out but forgive me due to temporary overload. Basically, we have to read one book a week for each class combined with some articles, essays, whatever dribbled out of the pen of people who have to much time to read, think and supposedly "write". I'm not big on criticism if you hadn't noticed already.

All that reading has gotten me sidetracked from the main attraction, namely my thesis. In an earlier post I said I was probably going to do it about Dorothy Parker but alas she lucked out. She wouldn't have been offended but knowing her she'd have obliterated me with a poem like any dignified lady would. This year I'll be focussing on Blonde, not just any blonde but one in particular: Marilyn Monroe. A few years back Joyce Carol Oates, a celebrated American author and one of my personal favorites, wrote a novel that got her another nod at the National Book Awards and Pulitzer Prize, namely Blonde. This 939 page masterpiece (hey, I don't do easy ok) is a fictional biography of Marilyn Monroe. The main character is based on Monroe's life and Oates has also added her own personal touch to the mix. My job, by reading an endless amount of biographies and historical accounts, is to see what's real and what's fiction and what Oates' fictional elements add to Monroe's life in contrast to actual biographies. Basically why fiction if you've got facts? So the next few months I'll be delving into every aspect of 1950ies America from Hollywood to politics with Marilyn, naturally, inbetween.
Now you know where I've been hiding. What's your excuse?

Happy Halloween

Human Nature

The cold air creeps up my spine and wakes me.

I feel cold and empty.

I turn my head and everything is still the same.

I must have been dreaming.

The most awful thoughts raged through my mind.

Fear, pain and loneliness are feelings that have become unknown to me.

Somehow I feel different but nothing has changed.

The house is old and eerie, maybe that has something to do with it.

I open the drapes around my bed and see, it is night.

My clothes stick to my body.

I feel some sort of fluid running out of me.

As I walk to the window I feel light, floating.

The moonlight shines in and things become clear.

I see a hole.

It penetrates my dress and my body.

My feelings become reality.

I don’t feel empty, I am empty.

I sense a presence in the room.

As I turn I hear the floorboards creaking and someone or something leaving.

I am not alone nor do I feel fear.

I follow it in search of answers.

The house is dark and sticky.

I see it moving in front of me.

It knows that I am there but it can’t escape me.

Suddenly I stumble.

Some sort of log is blocking my path.

I pick it up to put it aside but it is warm.

Red liquid flows out of it and into the room.

I enter the room and see Julie.

She is covered with the liquid and spread out on the carpet.

Then I realise, she’ll never walk again.

I am numb.

I hear a scream.

It forces me out of the room.

I see the being again and follow it.

Something is wrong.

I don’t feel but something carnal drives me.

The stairs are long and slippery.

It’s like being in a maze where you know your way.

I pass Mary’s room.

There is a cold silence.

This can’t be right.

The room is usually filled with heated moaning.

I see long finger trying to open the door.

I reach out and am left with her hand in mine.

My poor girls.

The hall is hot and damp, I sense it.

Hot blooded girls heat the house.

It wants me to catch it, luring me on a path of death.

I am in the kitchen.

This is where it happened.

I am surrounded by logs and unsuccessfully opened doors.

Why am I still here?

I see it; it is a man with a featureless face.

He has come to restore morality.

But he can’t.

There is something stronger that drives us.

IT is incomprehensible but there.

He wants to capture and destroy IT.

But IT is invisible.

IT is free, IT is endless.

IT penetrates me.

I become a weapon.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

You reap what you sow.

I reach for him and we become one.

Now he is empty except for the mortal dogma’s filling his brain.

I take what he has taken.

This is IT’s revenge.

I am full again.

Now he is no more, even his ideals fade.

I take a knife and go to work.

I sow and sow and my girls are complete.

This can’t be destroyed.

IT is forever.

The sun is rising and I open the doors.

For today is another working day…

Ginny Jones

21st century genre painting

Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr (a Vermont native) counts Goya, Edward Gorey, Robert Crumb, Charles Addams, Tex Avery, Roy Lichtenstein and Edward Hopper as his "Art Heroes". The latter’s influence is clearly visible in Brunelle’s vibrant slices of Americana. Although his figures are realistic, he has a strong tendency towards caricature. This tendency (which was induced by his love of cartoons) led him to his breakthrough project; the 1997 cartoon "MR. BRUNELLE EXPLAINS IT ALL", in which his doppelganger tries to explain the absurdities of the modern world.

His acrylic paintings on the other hand, mostly feature lonely characters in day to day scenes with a dash of wry humor turning them into luminescent moments of contemporary life. Not only people but also buildings and cars fascinate him, especially their geometrics which he accentuates by adding a burning lightness in the centers of dark but rich fields of color. Brunelle tries to capture the best of both worlds and identifies himself as a storyteller whose work apprehends moments in the life of the unselfconscious "peasant class" occasionally with unabashed nostalgia, reminiscent of Norman Rockwell. To quote Brunelle: “the homely institutions people don't pay much attention to, like fairs, gas stations and old-fashioned barber shops -- all subjects that feature regular people living their regular lives against a technicolor backdrop."

The first time I saw his work was on a postcard that a friend of mine sent me. Being the girl that I am, I immediately fell for his luscious tones and his ability to make even the most mundane of activities sparkle. The way he combines color with subject matter induces a glimpse of hope in the beholder. Although his paintings are sad and simple, they are exuding warmth through the vibrant colors as they depict the serenity of fleeting moments we so easily take for granted.

I heart the eighties

Teen comedies, the nineties made them gross, predictable and fodder for those with an IQ of 30. In the eighties on the other hand, they thrived thanks to a genius called John Hughes. During this period he created one hit after another with his funny, sweet and honest movies. Alas, he has put directing behind him but he is still active as a writer. He created the genre defying coming-of-age classics Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller's Day Off amongst so many others. Whereas teens now just want to get laid, he painted a broader picture integrating every aspect of their lives, aided by the members of the ever so evanescent Brat Pack which included the most famous redhead of the eighties and one of Hughes’ personal favorites Molly Ringwald. His films exuded a youthful innocence and idealism that few directors can get away with in this down and dirty day and age but everything was ultimately blissful in the imaginary Shermer, Illinois where most of his pictures where set. Besides teen comedies he also made the old and faithfully funny Plains, Trains and Automobiles, She’s having a baby, Uncle Buck,… All praise John Hughes for making adolescence fun!
If none of these movies ring a bell, shame on you! Otherwise, life is a carousel. A great big crazy ball of pure living, breathing joy and delight. You gotta get one.

Atone

Due to the impending release of the adaptation of Ian McEwan’s Atonement (starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy), I decided to reread the novel. Actually it will be the first time seeing as I didn’t get further than page 50 during my previous attempt. The novel gets off to a slow, almost standstill start and takes a hundred pages or so to describe a simple event. I have to admit that too much atmosphere, setting and detail make me nervous and anxious to get on with it hence my initial failure but this time I am destined to prevail. I am still wrestling through McEwan’s eloquence and abundant sentences as we speak but because I liked his previous work, I’m hopeful that it’ll be worth it in the end. And Atonement is also considered his magnum opus so there must be something good about it (although I’m starting to wonder). For those who are interested in his other novels, I’d highly recommend The Cement Garden which is short, twisted and fascinating. Basically the perfect introduction to his work. Atonement on the other hand (I have to admit I’m a curious about the film) is more classical in the sense that it takes you by the hand and gently guides you down the yellow brick road while his other and in my opinion superior novels (also including Amsterdam and The Comfort of Strangers) catapult you into the unknown where anything is possible, just as long as you’re willing to give it a go.

Jolly July

A couple of years ago I saw a movie that immediately catapulted it’s way into my all time top ten favorite movies. It washed over me like a breath of fresh air due to it’s delicate yet quirky approach of a very contemporary theme namely, human connection. The film in question is Me and You and Everyone We Know and was the debut feature-length film by Miranda July. The film won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

In this day and age where the methods of communication seem endless, people are becoming more and more alienated due to this convenient fact. Some have even lost the reason to leave their houses. Alienation and loneliness in this digital age are the cornerstones of this refreshingly original yet minimalistic movie. The title alone already suggest July’s attempt to rekindle a connection between people in it’s purest form, that being face to face (and no, web cams don’t count). This message is intertwined with the lives of a single father and his two sons (one of them creates the most endearingly gross moment ever to be caught on celluloid), a performance artist (July herself) who pursues him, his coworker who is teasingly taunted by two teenage girls, a couple who finds love in their seventies and a girl that dreams of her future kitchen.

The dialogue is subtle yet poignant while the atmospheric shots capture emotion and longing, something Hollywood pictures can only dream of. July weaved this all together with sincere understanding, tender comedy, hope and finesse and in doing so has created an uplifting bitter sweet independent gem that blindsides you, leaving you feeling different, enlightened and possibly even improved.

Miranda July, whose debut is ever so reminiscent of a more hopeful yet equally offbeat version of Todd Solondz (Happiness, watch it! That’s an order), started her career as a performance artist and has now also published her first book, a collection of short stories: No One Belongs Here More Than You.

It is an extraordinary startling, sexy, and tender collection filled with seemingly insignificant yet life-altering experiences and awkward characters that are portrayed with compassion and generosity. July reveals their idiosyncrasies and the odd logic and longing that govern their lives. Each story bristles with creative energy leading you down a seductive, sometimes creepy, often tragic, occasionally absurd path filled with fragile yet beautifully soothing magic.

To top this all off she has created a wonderfully original narrative website to promote her book that intricately accomplishes her primary objective namely read, damn you, read! Instead of looking at the pretty pictures, that is. Once again she proves that she has a spectacularly original and compelling take on the world.

And for those who are interested (or have girlfriends who are), she has a new exhibition of her Learning To Love You More project opening on August 24th until September 30th in the MU in Eindhoven.

For the girls

I have to admit that I was pretty sceptical when I first saw it but once you get started it’s fun as hell and totally addictive due to the various poses, outfits, not to mention accessories ladies. Create your own 3D character thanks to Meez. This is mine and for the people who didn’t already know, that’s my new haircut.

Milk & Cookies

Although it was probably one of the best movies that 2006 had to offer, it wasn’t officially released here in Belgium and only recently popped up on dvd. Despite once again confirming that distributors should be ashamed of themselves over here, Marc Forster’s latest creation is a genuine work of art. Previously he directed critically acclaimed films such as Monster’s Ball (the most ridiculously over-rated movie ever if you ask me), Finding Neverland (which was ok) and the brilliant Stay (once again overlooked in Belgium) but with Stranger than Fiction he has convinced the world, and me, of his talent. He doesn’t deserve all the credit though, seeing as he was helped by the phenomenally clever screenplay by up and coming screenwriter (and director: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium) Zach Helm. The story is bursting with creativity and reminiscent of a Charlie Kaufman film meaning that they created a wonderfully funny, touching and absurd universe, the world of Harold Crick.

Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is a very dull person and a tax inspector none the less who literally lives his life by the numbers. One day his straight forward life is disturbed by a woman’s voice (Emma Thompson) from above, one that predicts his every move. His life is being narrated to him while he is living it. A psychiatrist wasn’t successful in helping him so he tries something a bit more risky, namely an English professor named Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) to help sort this narrator out. While Hilbert tries to find out who this woman is by using some very unconventional methods, Harold goes on with his daily routine and even ends up falling in love with a nonconformist baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal) until one day he hears some unsettling news: “Little did he know that he’s facing his imminent death ”.

Will Ferrell was surprisingly good in an uncommon serious role as the confused main character aided by an equally tremendous star-studded cast in which Emma Thompson also stands out due to her morbidly mystifying writer’s block.Despite the fantastical nature of the story Forster and Helm succeeded in giving it real emotional depth and making it a very plausible and touching tale indeed filled with some interesting brainteasers. Thanks to the narrator, Harold realises that he isn’t living but being lived (quite literally actually) and decides to take matters in his own hands. Ferrell portrays this evolution beautifully and shows the world he is actually capable of more than just making an ass of himself. The movie deals with the heavier themes of love, death and taxes combined with a story about the self-imprisonment of modern-life, the value of companionship, and the joy of infinite possibilities.

In the end Stranger than Fiction praises literature and the unworldly effect it can have on our lives. Like all great novels, this movie is funny, touching, unpretentious, romantic and intellectually delectable.

Bun-O-Vision

Ring a bell? Anyway, one night I was stumbling my way through the net when I discovered a really funny re-enactment of Brokeback Mountain, by bunnies of all things. Various movies have been given a total make-over and are told in no less than thirty seconds with some help of our fluffy friends. Despite the bunnies and the cartoon approach, each clip stays true to the film and basically sums it up to a T. If you’ve seen the movie, they’ll have you in stitches, if not why bother thanks to the wonderful people of Angry Alien Productions who gave us Bun-O-Vision.

“Brevity is the soul of lingerie”

One of my favorite writers is the wonderfully sardonic and wise-cracking Dorothy Parker. I was eighteen when I first encountered her work as she was one of many female characters in a play that I was doing in high school (I portrayed Janis Joplin) and the story ends there.

Dorothy Rothchild was born in 1893 in New Jersey. Parker (the name is one of the few things she got from her first husband) became famous due to her many contributions to renowned magazines as Vanity Fair, Vogue, The New Yorker and Esquire. She played an important part in the development of the 1920ies literary scene in New York as one of the founders of the the Algonquin Round Table. Despite her rambunctious life and suicidal tendencies she died a natural death at the age of 73.

She has only written disenchanted short stories, some poems, reviews and a few screenplays overflowing with underlying pessimism but I was truly captivated by her malicious wit and self-deprecation. Her stories and her poems always deal with genuine feelings or facts in a funny yet heart wrenchingly sad way. Parker doesn’t believe in sugarcoating and can often be very blunt but it is her honesty that sucks you in to a world of truth, twists and tragedy. She even made me like poetry, well hers anyway seeing as I still loath poetry in general. Her style is simple yet classic and no one has even come close to knocking the cynically sad dominatrix with a sharp eye for 20th century urban flaws of her pedestal.

Here are a few distinctive examples:

Résumé

Razors pain you; Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you; And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful; Nooses give;
Gas smells awful; You might as well live.

Coda

There's little in taking or giving,
There's little in water or wine;
This living, this living, this living
Was never a project of mine.
Oh, hard is the struggle, and sparse is
The gain of the one at the top,
For art is a form of catharsis,
And love is a permanent flop,
And work is the province of cattle,
And rest's for a clam in a shell,
So I'm thinking of throwing the battle ---
Would you kindly direct me to hell?

Observation

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.

A Telephone Call: http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/teleycal.html

Consider this a brief introduction seeing as the deliciously decadent Dorothy will probably be the foundation of my master thesis next year, you’ll be hearing a lot more about her soon.

Fuzzy Freaks

Once again, I am probably part of a handful of people who has actually seen this film in the theatre but it was one I couldn’t resist. The film that wetted my appetite this time was Steven Shainberg’s follow up to Secretary namely, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus.

Diane Arbus was an American photographer known best for her portraits
depicting outsiders such as transvestites, dwarves, giants, prostitutes and ordinary citizens in poses and settings conveying a disturbing uncanniness. Her choice of black and white only enhanced their documentary feel. She committed suicide at the height of her career.

Set in 1950ies New York, Diane (Nicole Kidman) is living in her husband’s shadow as his assistant while he embarks on a career as fashion photographer. She is being suffocated not only by her job but also by her strict upbringing. From the window of her lonely Uptown apartment, she locks eyes with a masked figure on the street, a mysterious new neighbour (Robert Downey Jr.). Drawn to the man who intrigues her and determined to take his photograph, Diane ventures to his apartment and embarks on a journey that will unlock her deepest secrets and awaken her remarkable artistic genius, launching Diane on her path to becoming the artist she is meant to be.

Fur is an exceptionally beautiful film paying a well deserved tribute to one of the mysterious, enigmatic, and frighteningly bold artists of the 20th century. The film is rather slow moving and would normally irritate me but compensates this by painting an incredibly accurate and atmospheric portrait of the fifties which was so mesmerizing that it was able to finally convince me that setting actually matters. Shainberg has an eye for detail as he once again audaciously walks a fine line between ridicule and reality in creating a balance between the wonderfully surreal and the blatant absurd.

Nicole Kidman, who has at least one annual dabble in the art house scene gives a brave and touching performance as woman who is torn between her life and her passions. Robert Downey Jr on the other hand is delightfully playful (as always) as he weaves a web of mystery around his beastly being while driving the tension to the limit.

The surroundings and vibe were a true work of art combined with incredibly bold performances and an unusual story that contained a few strangely endearing scenes (shaving has never been so erotic!) which once again have convinced me of the genius of Shainberg.

Fur explores an unlikely romance that leads Arbus into a strange new world, sparking her evolution into one of the most provocative and visionary photographers of all time.

Public Announcement, the sequel

Dear readers,

Seeing as I am planning to resign tomorrow, my time in hell is coming to an end (Saturday at the latest) and I am already looking forward to once again bringing you your daily dose of tit bits while at the same time anticipating a trip to London, exams and a more (hopefully) exciting job in August.

Yours truly,

Ginny Jones

"Still later Gerald did a terrible thing to Elsie with a saucepan"

Ranging from gothic to bombastic, Tim Burton’s visual flair is undeniably unique as seen in his films but also in the superb The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories, a book of tales that he published in 1996. It is filled with tragically funny yarns about children with various defects and accompanied by his own drawings which in their own right are characteristic examples of his infamous macabre style that was also the basis for The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride.

However, he wasn’t the first to start a range stories intertwining death, comedy and the macabre using beautiful yet simple visuals that enhanced the subtleties of the tales. Burton’s biggest influence was none other than the wicked and whimsical Edward Gorey, whose arch nonsense verse and mock-Victorian prose accompany pen and ink drawings of beady-eyed, blank-faced individuals in Edwardian costume whose dignified demeanour is undercut by silly events leading to their untimely demise.

In the 1950s, when the American Gorey was establishing himself as a young artist, the New York school and abstract expressionism dominated the art world and illustration was a tiny art, a mere hobby in fact. In this world, Gorey's closest contemporaries were cartoonists, for example Charles Addams (creator of the legendary Addams Family) who combined the macabre with high-brow ennui. This influenced Gorey to mix simple verse with his dramatic drawings.

Gorey has produced more than 100 small volumes of gothic fables, meticulously hand-lettered and intricately illustrated, most of them in verse. His works are remarkable combinations of the eccentric, the witty, and the macabre and are illustrated lavishly and with superb technique in dark and abundant Edwardian detail. Although picture books, his works emphasize the adult nature of the content of fairy tales and satirize the conventions of didactic books, especially his many alphabet books. Odd, mysterious, cool, oblique, and very funny, Gorey's works have a completely unique appeal. Gorey's work is reminiscent of a baroque storyboard for a silent film where the juxtaposition of image and text allows us time to consider both, as separate but inseparable parts of the same work.

Gorey's sinister little tales about haunted, pale-featured characters living in a world filled with bleak, clouded landscapes and gloomy, shadow-filled interiors earned him a reputation as the modern master of American Gothic. While his dark view of the world owed something to the imagination of Edgar Allen Poe, Gorey's work was also evocative of the brooding nightmares of Goya or the decadence of Beardsley. His use of language had the inventiveness of Edward Lear or Lewis Carroll, the extravagance of James Joyce and repetitiousness of Samuel Beckett. What was uniquely his own was the way in which he hinted at, rather than showed, the nastiness that so often lurks beneath the respectable appearance of the tightly buttoned characters who secretly indulge their infidelities and indiscretions as well as their frequently murderous thoughts and deeds.

The Loathsome Couple for example is hysterically funny even though it deals with a couple of child murderers. The humor in this story comes from the sheer blandness of it all. The Curious Sofa (where the title of this post is extracted from) on the other hand was sexually explicit and thus self-published. In his work, pornography, like horror, is made all the more shocking by its taking place in the wings or The Gashlycrumb Tinies in which 26 children are alphabetically disposed of one by one. Although these stories frequently and wittily show children or other hapless victims coming to undeserved death, Gorey insisted there was no morbid relish involved. "I see no disparity between my books and everyday life... I write about everyday life."

He has also illustrated works as diverse as Dracula by Bram Stoker, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot.

One can also see his influence in the ascendancy of the graphic novel, especially with artists such as Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Gorey's masterful pen and ink illustrations and his ironic, offbeat humor in which grief, despair, loneliness and unexpected (often unnatural) deaths were the common ingredients, have brought him critical acclaim and an avid following throughout the world.

Assume the Position

My favorite movie (well, it’s in the top 5 at least) has got to be the 2002 electrifyingly sexy and oddly enough sweet Secretary. Together with the previously mentioned Fight Club and the dazzling Jeux d’Enfants, it is one of the few movies that I saw twice in the cinema. Bare in mind, they only played it for two weeks. The reason I was dying to see this still relatively unknown movie was none other than a, in my opinion, yummy guy (who gets naked in almost three quarters of his movies and still is one of the few actors who does, bless him) namely James Spader. The second time I saw it, James Spader (who had me hooked with Steven Soderbergh’s equally daring Sex, Lies and Videotape) had to share the top spot with an uncanny tale that just happens to be one of the most romantic films I have ever seen. Before you start thinking I have a hidden kinky side filled with BDSM, I’ll immediately say that being far from sentimental, cliched or corny, Secretary redefined the genre (romantic whatever) and also added some contemporary elements to the plot while ultimately displaying the universal yet simple enigma of two people just “getting each other” no matter who flawed they seem.

Anyway, Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a young woman whose turbulent home life has gotten the best of her emotional state. This resulted in her admittance into a psychiatric facility. When she gets out, she is immediately pursued by Peter (Jeremy Davies) although she isn’t attracted to him, he provides a certain stability in her otherwise rocky life due to the abuse and alcoholic problems presented by her parents. Lee develops a need to inflict pain on herself. The pain seems to release the built up hurt of the troubled existence surrounding her.
In order to gain independence, she decides to look for a job and seeing as her only skill is typing, her options are limited. Her first interview is with Mr. Grey (James Spader), an eerie and odd lawyer. The job interview is practically killed by Mr. Grey saying how boring it would be to work for him. However, Lee is so taken and thrilled with the whole possibility of working that it shocks Mr. Grey into hiring her. An unorthodox, highly erotic, sado-masochistic relationship develops where Mr. Grey is able to give Lee, for the first time, an opportunity to gain control over her own actions and decision making without anybody else's help. Lee, in time, will also reach a place in Mr. Grey's demon hideaway, deep inside his own untouchable psyche, and perhaps alleviate his pain that is unable to surface.

Secretary is filled with desire and dark, unusual fetishes which make for great fiction, but few filmmakers have enough courage to tackle ideas that private. However, Steven Shainberg has more than enough audacity and he doesn’t hesitate to push the envelope way beyond the norm and this landed him a Special Jury Prize for originality at Sundance.

Against all odds, director Steven Shainberg has managed to craft an oddly compassionate and often very funny tale of an emotionally symbiotic affair with his directorial debut. This is a completely original and highly unusual story of two people who find love and gratification with one another in a kinky and twisted way. They let their emotional needs awake each other, both wanting what the other is giving them.

Maggie Gyllenhaal was exceptional in a daring and tricky role. She demonstrated the great ability of controlling her character's moods and making it believable. Spader’s ability to maintain a character with such a freakiness, smoothness, and a sexual tension, so heated with desire that it was excruciatingly good to watch.

The movie enters a realm where few non-porn films venture and comes across as surprisingly gentle while telling a different kind of love story namely one that is dark, disturbing, sensuous and yet very compelling.

It does what good films do best: it provoke us, pushes our buttons, makes us think and even entertains us in the process.

Chucky

I have a very unlady-like guilty pleasure and his name is Chuck Palahniuk. To celebrate the release of his new book Rant (which I’m dying to read but haven’t bought yet), I’ll tell you a bit more about the guy and why I like, make that love him.

The first book of his I ever read was Lullaby. My girly side was immediately drawn to the intriguingly flashy cover. On the back it read: “Carl Streator is a reporter investigating Sudden Infant Death Syndrome for a soft-news feature. After responding to several calls with paramedics, he notices that all the dead children were read the same poem from the same library book the night before they died. It's a 'culling song' - an ancient African spell for euthanizing sick or old people. Researching it, he meets a woman who killed her own child with it accidentally. He himself accidentally killed his own wife and child with the same poem twenty years earlier. Together, the man and the woman must find and destroy all copies of this book, and try not to kill every rude sonofabitch that gets in their way.” Needless to say, I immediately bought it and finished it the same weekend. I’ve been hooked ever since.

All his novel are so absurd and so out there that not a lot of people can get away with it. His stories are cynical, action packed and incredibly original adrenaline rushes filled with ironic black humor. Probably not everyone’s cup of tea seeing as psychology and setting take the backdrop to dialogue and plot. He has a very minimalist approach to writing using a limited vocabulary and short sentences to mimic the way that an average person telling a story would talk.

The characters are usually people who have been marginalized in one form or another by society, and who react with often self-destructive aggressiveness. He also attempts to comment on current problems in society, such as materialism and this is one of the reasons that his novels have been called satirical horror stories.

This mix of humor and the bizarre events around which these stories revolve resulted in Palahniuk being sometimes labeled as a "shock writer" by the media. But he has attained a well deserved top spot alongside contemporaries like Brett Easton Ellis and Douglas Coupland, who I both also love.

This is pure entertainment all the way and also the reason why half of his novels are optioned to become movies with already one incredible predecessor, one of my all time favorites: Fight Club. Fight Club is a classic example of his novels wacky, funny, often violent, sometimes sexist but so mind-boggling original nature. Ranging from the hilariously camp Invisible Monsters to the horrifying, mind-blowing and stomach-churning Haunted (the list goes on), they will have you on the edge of your seat gasping for air and loving every minute of it.

It may not be literature with a capital L, but does it always need to be?

Oh bother

Since I was a young girl, I’ve been mad about Pooh. He’s adorable, funny, a bit silly but ever so lovable. What I wanna do now is tell you a bit more about the original Winnie-the-Pooh and not the red-vested Disney version we’ve all become accustomed to.

Pooh’s creator was A.A. Milne, a noted English writer (primarily a playwright) before the huge success of “the bear with very little brain” overshadowed all his previous work. Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a toy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin. Christopher had received a bear for his first birthday (August 21, 1921 and thus Pooh’s official birthday). He named him Edward Bear and following Edward came the rest of the stuffed animals which Christopher loved and played with throughout his childhood and would eventually become Pooh’s equally infamous sidekicks.

The journey however, began in 1924 when the young Christopher Robin was introduced to an American black bear (Winnipeg or Winnie for short) at the London Zoological Gardens. Winnipeg, named after the hometown of Lieutenant Harry Colebourn who found her after her mother was killed, originally came from Ontario where she became the mascot of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. In December 1914, the 2nd Brigade was preparing to move to France and decided it was unsafe to take her into battle so they left her at the London Zoo. It was not until 1918 that Colebourn returned to London. Realising that the bear, now known affectionately by her keepers and visitors as Winnie, was happy in her new home, he decided to leave her there.

Winnie was known as a gentle bear who never attacked anyone, and she was much loved for her playfulness. Christopher had met and fallen in love with her and decided to name his toy bear after the adorable Winnipeg. This had also inspired Milne to write a poem or two to celebrate the occasion and perhaps even eventually a story honouring the visit. The name Pooh originated from a swan they had met while on holiday who also appears as a character in its own right in When We Were Very Young.

A.A. Milne and an artist named E. H. Shepard (known for his human-like animals and who modelled Pooh not on the toy owned by Christopher Robin but on a stuffed bear named "Growler", owned by his own son) decided that Christopher’s toy animals would make fine characters in a bedtime story. From that day on, Pooh and his friends have had many wonderful adventures. These stories have been embraced by millions of children and adult readers for more than 80 years and certainly hold a special place in my heart.