Sunday , June 13, 2010

Ghosts of Grunge Past: Gus Van Sant's "Last Days"

lastdays_W.jpgI'm always on the lookout for signs of grunge in fashion and pop culture in general; it's just one of those things that my mind likes to do when I flip through magazines or go to shows, kind of like a fashion parlor game of "Oh Look! It's Grunge!" (One of the enduring thoughts I took away from a rather epic Dead Meadow show recently: "Oh, lots of mountain man indie rock facial hair - how grunge!") So it's been with great interest that I've been reading the Cannes Film Festival coverage of filmmaker Gus Van Sant's newest film Last Days, whose story was inspired by the life and persona of Kurt Cobain. (If I have to modify Kurt Cobain with some sort of tagline explaining who he is, please, stop reading this.)

A look at the trailer reveals some moody, almost "heroin chic" cinematography courtesy of Elephant collaborator Harris Savides, gorgeous movie stars - Michael Pitt! Asia Argento! - and some very Nirvana-esque guitar strumming. (Not to mention an appearance by the perpetually cool Kim Gordon, bass player for Sonic Youth and personal inspiration through my teenage years.) I could go on and on about the interesting career of Van Sant, director of such American indie classics like My Own Private Idaho and Mala Noche, but since this is a fashion blog, I'm predicting a lot of fashion editorial inspired by Last Days - perhaps not in Vogue or Harper's Bazaar but in those thinner, pricey magazines with epigrammatic, enigmatic titles. I don't think grunge will ever go mainstream again (fashion retail-speaking, it failed the first time, remember?) but as the economy becomes ever so wobbly and our military involvement becomes more and more of a quagmire, more oppositional aesthetics will seep into visual culture. The early 90s are back in more ways than one.

+ Read an interview with Gus Van Sant on "Last Days"

Share | add to kirtsy | Add to Technorati Favorites | | Digg! |

Posted by Kat in Pop Culture | Permalink |

+ Contact Us
+ HOME



teapartyad.jpg

OUR LAST FEW ENTRIES

+ Snapshot: Listening, Watching, Reading, Wearing, Wanting
+ Style Icon: Me And You And Everyone We Know, Really
+ Style Icon: Jim Morrison
+ Style Icon: "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" by Faust
+ Style Icon: Mom & Dad in the 70s
+ It's Our Birthday + We're Giving Away a $100 Shopbop Giftcard for Marc By Marc Jacobs to Celebrate!
+ Style Icon: Anna Akhmatova
+ Style Icon: Jay-Z!
+ Style Icon: Kurt Cobain
+ Style Icons: Tony Alva & Jay Adams & Stacy Peralta
+ Style Icon: Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III
+ Style Icon: Mark E. Smith of the Fall
+ Happy Birthday, nogoodforme.com!
+ Snapshot: Listening, Reading, Watching, Wearing, Wanting
+ Heavy Rotation: Veruca Salt, The Fall, The Shins, Pitbull, Graham Nash, George Harrison

OLD SCHOOL

+ Listing of all entries
+ Read entries from May 19 - June 13, 2003

 

NOGOODFORME.COM is Kat, Liz, and Laura Jane. We write about style, fashion, music, film, art, photography, pop culture, celebrities, and more: all the good stuff of life. Find out more about us.

HOME
ABOUT US
CONTACT US
SEARCH
ARCHIVES

ADD US ON FACEBOOK
RSS FEED

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

CATEGORIES

+ A Day in the Life (21)
+ Accessories (35)
+ All-Time Top 5 (25)
+ Announcements (37)
+ Art (15)
+ Ask Us Anything (8)
+ Beatles Photo of the Week (26)
+ Beauty (30)
+ Best of Five (3)
+ Birthdays (10)
+ Bits and Pieces (31)
+ Blink of an Eye (10)
+ Book Reviews (3)
+ BREAKING NEWS (3)
+ Business (3)
+ Celebrities / Fashion (43)
+ City Living (11)
+ Congratulations (3)
+ Contests and Promotions (25)
+ Crafty Girls (3)
+ D.I.Y. (9)
+ Dance Party Friday (4)
+ David Lee Roth (10)
+ Deals (7)
+ Dear Diary (1)
+ Denim (22)
+ DO AS I SAY (4)
+ Dream Dude (6)
+ Dream Girls (3)
+ Eco-Fashion (27)
+ Events (57)
+ Fashion (265)
+ Fashion Astrology (1)
+ Fashion Challenges (1)
+ Fashion Guerrilla (15)
+ Fashion Theory (18)
+ Fashion Weeks (21)
+ Favorite Things (6)
+ Film (30)
+ Food (16)
+ For A Date With (5)
+ Found Objects (4)
+ Gift Guide (34)
+ Green Beauty (3)
+ Heavy Rotation (90)
+ How to Dress Yourself (4)
+ HOW TO LIVE (7)
+ HOW TO LIVE, ALBUM EDITION (1)
+ How To Live, L.A. Edition (3)
+ Icons (38)
+ Imaginary Shopping Spree (113)
+ In Memoriam (13)
+ Interviews (37)
+ Jewelry (13)
+ Kat & Liz on (2)
+ Kat & LJ Investigate (4)
+ KAT ATTACK! (4)
+ Laura Jane Campaigns (1)
+ Laura Jane Gives Back (6)
+ Laura Jane Investigates (8)
+ Laura Jane's Addiction (11)
+ Liz & LJ Investigate (3)
+ Liz & LJ on (7)
+ LJ ON JL (3)
+ Love (63)
+ Love Yr Blog (13)
+ Magazines (3)
+ Magnum Opus (6)
+ Motivational Jay-Z Lyric of the Week (8)
+ Music (56)
+ nogoodforme IX (41)
+ nogoodforme.tv (19)
+ Nostalgia (4)
+ Open Letters (2)
+ Other (8)
+ Photography (5)
+ Pop Culture (39)
+ Puppy Love (1)
+ Random Picture Entry (90)
+ Seminal Fashion Moments (2)
+ Sex (1)
+ Shoes (10)
+ Shopping (39)
+ Snapshot (145)
+ Some Things I Hate (5)
+ Soundtracks (68)
+ Spin (5)
+ Spirit Animal House (36)
+ Spiritually Scandinavian (6)
+ Spotted (26)
+ Stop the Presses! (12)
+ Stories About Songs (5)
+ Street Style (4)
+ Style Profiles (1)
+ Super Hot Girls (8)
+ Superlatives (43)
+ The Food Critic Impersonator (1)
+ The James Joyce of Fashion Bloggers (5)
+ The Young Person's Guide to the Beatles (18)
+ Thrift Scores (7)
+ TOO DUDE FOR YOU (27)
+ TOO LOVE FOR YOU (1)
+ TOO NOGOODFORME FOR YOU (11)
+ Ultimate Fashion Challenge (14)
+ Videos (18)
+ Walking Down The Street (1)
+ We're Obsessed (46)
+ Who Brought the Awesome (1)
+ Why Don't You? (2)
+ WTF/OMG (10)

NEWSFEEDS



Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Add to Google

Add to My AOL
Subscribe in Bloglines

http://www.wikio.co.uk

+ Syndicate No Good For Me

+ Syndicate No Good For Me (RSS)