Friday , February 19, 2010
We're Obsessed: Charlotte Rampling, The Official Drink of Summer 2008, Belly's Star demos
Charlotte Rampling
In the annals of iconic glamour, perhaps Catherine Deneuve commands grande dame queen status, and Jane Birkin keeps the forever hip and awesome crown. But of that generation of movie actress, perhaps my evolved favorite has become Charlotte Rampling, simply for the fact that, as roles for older actresses sadly dry up with the increasing conservatism of the film industry, she has managed to carve out a stunning trajectory of performances. Yes, she's beautiful, then as an androgynous, catlike waif, now as a stately, still sensual older woman. And she's undeniably cool, infusing a level of sexy naughtiness in those usually neutered Marc Jacobs ads she appeared in. But she's not a fashion plate in the least, but a remarkably gifted, subtle actress, and her best performances have been some of her latest ones. She anchors the 2005 film, Vers le Sud (Heading South), about three middle-aged Western women who come to 1970s Haiti in search of sex and romance, with an unflinching, haughty yet equally vulnerable performance in a many-layered film that is equally unflinching in its portrayal of desire, race, colonialism and class. My favorites, though, are her appearances in Francois Ozon films: Swimming Pool is perhaps the most famous one, but I prefer the austerity of Sous les Sable (Under the Sand), in which she portrays a bougeoise in limbo after the disappearance of her husband. Ozon is a tightly controlled filmmaker and her performance is equal parts control and unhinged -- and completely mesmerizing in its minute observation of human behavior. Her face has a sharp feline quality, but it's jewel-like in its ability to register the tides of emotions and thoughts. All faces should only get better in such a way. (Kat)
The Manifold Possibilities of White Wine
Ever summer needs a signature drink. Summertime is momentous, magical and evocative; it's the romantic climax of a given year, really. I sometimes even get nostalgic for the summer I'm living as I'm living it; every evening that elapses is thick with enough literary opulence to fill up maybe five short stories per half-hour. This is, however, the most consistently irritating part of being a writer: that nagging inability to ever simply experience something, always having to scribble down "what it was like" in lieu of plain old basking. The upside of my need to "brand" my life as I'm living it, however, is that my life is always really cool. I'm a huge believer in what I (and a lot of other people) call "total design"; that is, I'm a bit of a fussbudget when it comes down to the details. Everything needs to look, feel, and be the best it can. Which leads me back to my "signature drink" point: if you're gonna lifestyle-brand your entire life, it has to taste like something. It has to taste like an alcoholic beverage.
The Summer Drink of 2000-2005 was 40s of Olde English; I stepped it up in 2006 with blueberry Stoli and tonics; in 2007 I stupidly didn't drink, which was stupid of me; and, the Summer Drink of 2008 is Flat Roof Manor Pinot Grigio Sangria. Cool, huh? Doesn't Summer 2008 totally rule?? Now, I'm no Paul Giamatti in Sideways (did you know that about me?), so basically I have three variables when it comes to picking out the perfect wine: 1) It can't be red (because drinking red wine is like drinking blood, which is gross); 2) it must be cheap; and, 3) the label needs to be cute and/or hot. Flat Roof Manor Pinot covers all those bases; its label even has a cute white cat on it, for crying out loud! And do you know what its slogan is? So many lives, So little wine- which is, you know, true.
If you're going to treat yourself to some Flat Roof Manor "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" sangria sometime in the near future, you need to use: tons of juicy oranges, a cautious handful of maraschino cherries, blueberries, peaches, a splash of brandy, soda water, and the secret ingredient is lychees, which are a must. By the way, if you sweeten your sangria, you're kind of a baby and should go drink some warm milk because you clearly can't handle the sauce. Oh yeah, and when a dude is buying you a drink at the bar, which he inevitably will be since you read nogoodforme.com and therefore are hot, you should probably go for the Summer Drink 2008 Variation, which is a white wine spritzer (wine; lime; soda water; sometimes you can finagle a maraschino cherry out of the bartender, too)- hella classy.
So there! Now you all know what to drink this summer. You're totally welcome. (Laura)
Tanya Donelly's Star demos
Even though Belly existed for only about five seconds, they'll always be one of my favorite-ever bands. The weird thing is I never miss them all that much, probably because: (1) I found out about Helium shortly after Belly broke up, and so Mary Timony quickly filled in the skeletal-guitar-plus-creepy-storybook-lyrics void, and (2) they left behind a whole lotta B-sides and rarities and the such to be discovered piece by piece (a la the Slow Dust EP, which I found used at Amoeba a while back). So, the latest thing I've unearthed is this little collection of demos for Star (the first Belly record), recorded with just Tanya and her guitar (and, on a couple tracks, Kim Deal). It's cool to hear such pretty songs sounding all raw and scrapy; at the beginning of "Sad Dress" you're like, "Whoa, is this the Star demos or 4-Track Demos?" My favorite's "Feed The Tree," which is worlds away from the super-shiny version that magically got played all the time on MTV 15 years ago. Go download all the mp3s, and don't forget to leave a tip in the tip jar! (Liz)
Tags: alcohol, Belly, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, film, guitars, Jane Birkin, PJ Harvey, summer, total design
Share | 
| 
| 
|
|
Posted by Kat, Liz and Laura in We're Obsessed |
Permalink |
Leave a comment |
Comments (2)
+ Contact Us
+ HOME
2 Comments!!
Say something so insightful and witty, it will blow us away. (No pressure.)
Got something to say? We'd love to hear it! Name, email and "type in the weirdo drunken text" thingie are all required to comment; don't worry, we won't email you or anything, we just want to make sure you're not an evil spambot. Keeping in mind the good-times mentality we like to keep going here, we've worked hard to keep NOGOODFORME.COM as fun as possible. We welcome all kinds of comments, but insults/abuse/general bitchery are not tolerated. In other words, we put the smackdown on evil troll posts. If you want to be a hater, please go elsewhere. Now, as Salt 'N Pepa say, "Only the sexy people..."
Whoa, comments are allowed now!
I just wanted to say I love Charlotte Rampling and 4 Track Demos is my favorite PJH album.
By Erin on July 2, 2008 3:41 PM
oh, we just watched stardust memories, and there is a lovely bit with stunning close-ups of charlotte rampling. have you seen? she's excellent!
By juliet small ernst on July 2, 2008 6:17 PM