louise on the left (coast)

Her name is Nadia Sibirskaia. The film is a little known 1926 silent film classic entitled "Ménilmontant." While you may not have heard of Sibirskaia before, once you've watched her lyrical, haunting work you can't forget the face. Her beauty and her performance is nothing short of breathtaking. Hidden gold. Note: Menilmontant was also shot in the same Paris neighborhood they filmed another French gem, "The Red Balloon." Looks like Mr. Chaplin may have had a cinematic rival after all. And she was drop dead gorgeous.

I just got so completely lost listening to "Don't Be Sad" performed by Brad Mehldau. It's a work so heartfelt, rich and emotionally evocative that it's hard to believe Mehldau's just an American kid from Florida. But, that's the thing about jazz, it can be on the one hand so utterly sophisicated, that it's difficult to imagine that it's pretty much our (young) nation's invention. (I mean, Marie Antionette and Shakespeare can't lay claim to that one.) Anyhow, people:   just listen to this.   I scoured the net searching for a decent clip of him playing it live, but all I really found was some nerd's bootleged cell phone recording which was pretty blech. However, I did find another gorgeous clip of him which is from his own site which is so much better than anything else I could find. So this clip is the lucky winner of free real estate here on my blog.

Bjork:  More To Life Than This. Charlie Chaplin:  Moving through space. Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo. Required Daily Affirmation Unexpected family: Chimp and White Tiger cubs Woody Allen in "Manhattan."   Scene: Tracy's face. These are just a few moments, both fictional and real, to hang on to while ringing out this year. No doubt 2011 has been a particularly trying one.  It's easy to become cynical or numb at times like this, but we shouldn't linger there for long. The truth is no matter what year it is there will always be moments which are genuinely good or funny or simply breathtaking and nothing can change those moments, no matter how bad a year it is. More reminders to come. Just as soon as I think of them.

I have to say, Bell, Book and Candle remains one of my personal holiday must sees. I think I've posted about this before, but it bears repeating given that right now it's the holidays and most theaters are filled with the usual, as I see it, over-priced fare which are about as meaningful as a drive-thru fast food meal. Bell, Book and Candle remains just as magical and timelessly charming today as it was the year it opened. True, Jimmy Stewart is about 15 years past his prime for being cast as Novak's love interest, but he's still just as adorable as always in his graying sort-of way. However, Kim Novak casts an eternal spell on us all when she graces the screen as a witch who has fallen in love with a mere mortal while hailing from her own wacky witchy family with it's wacky witch rules. (Something we can all relate to. The witch part, I mean.) Add to this story the combined comedic talents of Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, Elsa Lanche...

Thanks to Dangerous Minds , we have this clip entitled " PARIS FASHIONS OF 1926: DREAMY HAND-TINTED FILM FOOTAGE." It's a charming look back at modeling and fashion from back in the roaring (okay, snoozing) '20s.  However, after viewing what sprang immediately to my mind was: Hand-tinted celluloid still succeeds in capturing a timeless, otherworldly charm for black and white film. It must've been a lot easier to book work when casting requirements read: "Seeking models.  Any models.  Looking for girls bigger than a bread box;  Smaller than a horse.  Thick ankles a plus.  Slouching encouraged.   Try not to smell .  Just show up." Clearly, just oneVictoria Secret Wonder Bra could have helped sales, enormously.

To everything there is an equal and opposite reaction. Sometimes this completely messes you up. Sometimes it makes art. Sometimes it does both, but rarely at the same time.