I [heart] Bollywood

We had dinner last night at a Hindu Indian restaurant in Barcelona called Bollywood. It's in the Raval part of town, not far from the Ramblas and the statue of Christopher Columbus. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the food. I do miss certain kinds of food here in Spain (read here all manner of spicy food). And the food at this particular Indian restaurant is marvelous. Not to mention the excellent ambiance, which includes Indian dancing on weekend nights (we unfortunately missed it).

But there's one thing I noticed during dinner. I'm left feeling a bit out of the loop when exposed to the cultural phenomenon that is Bollywood. Not the restaurant itself per se. The movies. I haven't seen any actual Bollywood films. And I'm always left with the feeling that I should. Oh, I've seen a few westernized films with Indian themes and characters: Bend it Like Beckham, Slumdog Millionaire, and the like. But my exposure to the actual film genre has been horribly limited. I feel I should remedy this situation.

When I see something like this video which I noticed at World of Wonder:

I feel left out. What is going on in the video seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics, which appear to simply be a list of international film directors. I just don't get it. But with the catchy rhythms, brilliant costumes, and exciting dancing, I want to. Oh I really, really want to.

Movies I'm Eagerly Anticipating

I saw a preview for the new Alice in Wonderland movie a few weeks ago and meant to do a post about it. It's directed by Tim Burton and features his usual collection of mysterious creatures in jars of ether, i.e. the actors, composers, etc. with whom he frequently works. Music by Danny Elfman, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock, and on and on and on. It promises to be a Burton fan's wet dream.

This is just the teaser trailer, but I think you might be able to find the full trailer out there somewhere.

And now Heath Ledger fans are wetting themselves all over because his last, last last film role is slated to be released in October of this year. This is the one he was making when he died, and apparently three different excellent actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) were brought in to finish the part. Terry Gilliam directs The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

This one looks like pure Gilliam magic. And by that I mean one of his films that is gorgeous enough for non-Gilliam-understanding people to still like it. If nothing else, it'll introduce the wet-panty mob of Ledger fangirls to some excellent filmmaking. Too bad it may never be known as anything except Heath's Last Film.

interesting

Back when I was still doing time as a high school teacher one of my students did a project on graffiti as an art form. In his argument graffiti had its own set of standards and tenets. Through his passion about his chosen medium I began to understand the difference between tagging and expression. One, simply marking ones territory and often no more evolved than a dog pissing on a bush, the other something intelligent, edgy, and beautiful. 

Then last year a friend introduced me to Banksy, a semi-anonymous guerrilla graffiti artist from the UK. His (or her - I have no idea) often biting political commentary made me laugh, nod my head in sad agreement, and get angry. His quirky aesthetic combined with a sharp sense of irony make his works well worth checking out. Of course, the establishment has now embraced Banksey, so I'm not sure if his work will continue to be so raw and engaging. Celebrity so often leads to watering-down among artists. 

Today I discovered the American graffiti artist and director, BLU. A nice combination of my love for animation and my appreciation for good graffiti. Check out this (somewhat creepy but thought-provoking) animation called MUTO. It was created on public walls in Buenos Aires and Baden. 

Sita Sings the Blues

Via BoingBoing:

Do you like free things? I like free things. Do you like Indian culture? I like indian culture. Do you like genius animation? I like genius animation. Do you like images of people playing Vina (Indian stringed instruments) with their intestines? I like meatloaf sandwiches. 

Then you should watch Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. It is absolutely amazing. Actually I'm only at the 20 minute mark but I'm enjoying it so much I decided to share it. 

Nina Paley / CC BY-SA 3.0

A better version also can be downloaded here or here, or you can organize screenings for free because it's under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Details about that can be found at the Web site.

The Boys, er, Girls in the Bandwagon

Via TransGriot:

While many in the US are still trying to recover from a little bit of an Milk hangover, it appears that yet anther LGBT icon will see the light of the silver screen. Dorothy Surrenders reported today that Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron are slotted to appear in a film about famous artist and transwoman Lili Elbe (played by Kidman) and her wife Gerda Wegener (played by Theron), who was herself a famous artist and illustrator for magazines including Vogue,  Fantasio, and others (see the image I stole from artnet.com below).

Elbe (born Einar Wegener) allegedly often posed as a (female, obviously) model for his wife's illustrations. He underwent one of the first publicized sexual reassignment surgeries in 1930. Gerda remained by his side as he transitioned to Lili even though their marriage was annulled by the king of Denmark. 

The film, titled The Danish Girl, is scheduled to be released in 2010 according to its listing on IMDB. But there don't seem to be many more details available yet. Except that it's a true story based on the novel by David Ebershoff. I just hope Mr. and Ms. Average out there don't get tired of hearing about OUR stories. At least this one promises a bit of hot lesbian action (well sort of). Straight men like that kind of thing, right? Even if one of the lesbians is a man? And even if that man is played by Nicole Kidman?

I'm really glad to see more and more transpeople appearing in film these days. (If you missed the film Transamerica you have your homework assignment for the week.) The truth is even the uber-inclusive LGBT movement tends to shove the T part under the rug all too often. The number of times I've had to edit the pronouns in this post may be some indication as to why. It's often difficult and confusing talking about trans issues. But that's no excuse. If we don't make the effort to at least try to understand, then we're as bad as those who make ads about creepy men following little girls into restrooms to scare people away from supporting rights for trans individuals.