Retro Active

Yesterday I went to this.




It all started at 11:30am, and from what I gather went on until 1am the next day. We got there just as the day was kicking off. The place was already packed out. There was s stall selling video games, a stall selling retro toys (I think he was selling anyway, I really wasn't sure if he was just showing off), a stall that sold prints - this was weird, I couldn't make out why they were there, they weren't even movie poster prints-just student silk screen prints I think. And finally a stall selling American sweets and drinks. We got two cans of root beer, and I tried a Baby Ruth and a Twinkie, I was not impressed by either!

This is the first time I had ever gone to the cinema and seen more than one film. Our first film was the Goonies. Great way to start the day, impossible to get bored watching that film because so much happens.
After this film ended we decided to walk around the games rooms. They had a few areas dedicated for gamers, including a tournament room. We went into the big game room where they had loads of different systems (I'm not going to even pretend to know what I'm talking about so to save myself embarrassment, they ranged from old to new). We had a quick game on street fighter, then we had to evacuate. I had never smelt so many people with BO in all my life. One person even smelt like a rancid sack of onions. We then went to visit the tournament room. They were playing bomber-man. It smelt like feet.

We then saw Labyrinth. I had never seen it before. Now I know why, it was awful!!!

The next film was Ghostbusters. It won a vote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, Top Gun and Splash. It was obvious It would win but I would have liked it if Ferris had won. I have seen Ghostbusters at the cinema before, I am please to say this time the audience did not sing along to the theme tune.

Then we watched Lost Boys. I've seen this at the cinema before too. It just doesn't get old for me. I love it! We then left. Tired, my eyes were dry and I could barely see anything more than a foot away from me. The night continued with Robocop and Big Trouble in Little China, but I didn't care for either. They could have made much better choices.

All in all it was a fun day. I can't wait to see if they do another themed day, apparently they made a sci-fi day once.

Fellini

So the other book I ordered was this one: Federico Fellini; His Life and Work by Tullio Kezich

I love Fellini's work. They are either so fast paced, or relatively boring (and I don't mean boring in a negative sense - more slow and lack lustre e.g La Strada). His films are so unique and recognisable. It would be interesting to learn more about the subject matter. The how's the what's, they why's. I have so much to learn.

I first fell in love with Fellini when we went to see Fellini's Roma at the Phoenix in Leicester. I had already seen La Strada, and had started to watch La Dolce Vita. I never got into La Dolce Vita, possibly because it was Italian and subtitled and I decided to try and do some work while it was on, so little attention was paid to reading the screen. Instead what I heard was simply a foreign conversation which sounded argumentative

But yes back to Fellini's Roma. I don't know how to describe it in a complimentary way. Roma is essentially an autobiography. The following text is taken from the back of MGM DVD case.

This Lavish autobiography, full of lush fantasy sequences and monumental pageantry, begins with Fellini as a youngster living in the Italian countryside. In school he studies the eclectic but parochial history of ancient Rome and then is introduced as a young man to the real thing - arriving in the strange new city on the outbreak of World War II. Here, through a series of visually stunning vignettes brimming with satire and sparkling with life, the filmmaker comes to grips with a sprawling, boisterous, bursting-at-the-seams portrait of Rome, reinterpreting with his inimitable style an Italian history full of rich sensual imagery and extravagant perception.

This is one of my favourite scene's (one of he few I could find on Youtube with English subtitles)
http://youtu.be/CYzRL9YIswQ

Joan Crawford

I'm never too sure if I am a Joan Crawford fan or not. I'm much more team Bette than I am Joan, but there is something about her which I find quite intriguing. I have only seen a few of her films; The Unknown, Grand Hotel, Mildred Pierce and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. And have read Bette and Joan the Divine Feud, and Mommie Dearest. I would highly recommend Bette and Joan the Divine Feud to anyone. It does help obviously if you are into classic Hollywood, but if not it is still such a great story of two women who could never get along, and yet really should have. I'll go into much more at a later date. This post is about Joan, I really shouldn't be listing why I much prefer Bette. Anyway if you want to read the book it is available here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bette-Joan-Divine-Shaun-Considine/dp/0751511749/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1313485174&sr=8-2 for a mere penny!!

There's quite a bit of mystery surrounding Joan's life. No one is entirely sure of her date of birth, her family or her past before Hollywood. Also anyone who has read or seen Mommie Dearest will know there's speculation as to what sort of woman she was behind closed doors. (For the record I really don't believe half the stuff in Mommie Dearest. Reading between the lines certain events may have happened, but not to such an exaggerated scale, and it is essentially a book by someone who was bitter that she wasn't left 'anything' in her will.) That is why I'm not sure about Crawford. I am not sure who she really is. I suppose I should invest time in a Crawford biography. When I saw her in Grand Hotel, I thought she was amazing!! (Garbo on the other hand - breathy and annoying)

There is no doubt however that Joan is a style icon, form her days as a silent movie siren, to a heavy eyebrowed starlet on the silver screen, and I most certainly envy her shoes. That is why when ever I see a pair of shoes similar to the ones Joan used to wear I feel the need to buy them. New Look have been doing well on this lately. Both these beauts are from there. Joan often wore peep toe heels, and an ankle strap. Obviously with it being the 30s/40s she also had a thick heel.

Just wanted to show off my shoes really. The black ones are very comfortable. The red ones, not so much. However I love wearing black tights and so the red ones work so well!!