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White Hills: The Condition of Nothing

My pal, Ego Sensation has made another video and this time it's on the Vimeo Thrill Jockey site.  I like this one as she really put a lot of work into the editing of it and spent a lot of time creating the mood with layers.  Love the moments when they are noth on screen at the same time (the guitarist Dave and Ego on Bass).  She uses a lot of solarizing and shot some interesting footage at this abandomed mental hospital in Staten Island.  Like how she made the colors really saturated in spots and how she went in and out of the effects.  White Hills continues to amaze.  Check it out and enjoy.  Their new album is out in June!

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Jim Yamouridis | Say Goodbye | A Take Away Show

via youtube.com

Jim Yamouridis is amazing in this video. Not only is his voice simply haunting, but the camera crew really brought us into a wine cellar in Paris for this experience. That is why I love this concept so much. Love the close ups of his face and the very mellow audience that you can hear clearer near the end. I like seeing the extreme close ups of his face and when he looks into the camera at 2:53, I am transfixed. His chiseled face is evocative and intense. I don't even mind when the shot goes a little soft as the camera person is backing up.

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LOUIS VUITTON: Sean Connery

via louisvuittonjourneys.com

This is weird, nice but weird. I think it's a weak video, but just shows how big fashion is getting into the online video world. The video of Connery is actually not very well shot, but I loved hearing the James Bond theme running through the piece. The stills and video, by Annie Leibovitz was not as revealing as I would think it could be. I know I shouldn't criticize, as I am not getting any interviews with Mr. Connery, but I expected a little more focus on making him look good. His head is in the center of the frame and he seems to be looking back and forth from a few different people to the camera and back so it was distracting. It also seemed a shame that although we are taking about Edinburgh, we are sitting in a hotel room or house study. Why couldn't we walk around and talk about all the things he is talking about, especially Scotland and golf.

The reason I went to this site was because with my shoulder injury, I am reading my New Yorkers cover to cover these days and there was a two-page ad that featured Mr. Connery lounging with his Louis Vuitton bags. I have seen these ads before in print but this was the first time I went online to search out the link. I think this series is supposed to be about travel, but Mr. Connery is all over the place, talking about where he comes from, acting and the most revealing thing he says is his observation of Scottish Brewery workers still wanting to go the pub after work even when they had all the free beer they could drink. Nothing really goes anywhere and I chalk it up to poor direction. I hope if well-known photographers like Leibovitz are getting into online video that some sense of composition of the video interview itself be taken seriously.

I love Sean Connery so don't blame him for this piece. Wish it looked and flowed better.

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Undesired on Mediastorm

<div style="width:460px;"><div style="height:373px;"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://mediastorm.com/player/embed.php?id=e4dd6f91d4840f503675&w=460&h=373&amp;lang=eng"></script></div><div style="padding:10px; font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size:12px; line-height:16px; color:#999999; background-color:#000000;">In India, all women must confront the cultural pressure to bear a son. The consequences of this preference is a disregard for the lives of women and girls. From birth until death they face a constant threat of violence. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/undesired</div></div>

Thought these photos and accompanying story was nicely told.  Like hearing what Walter Astrada, the photographer thought on being there. Especially at 4 minutes in, the photos he takes at the birth of a girl and the family's reactions are devastating.

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Had a little bicycle accident Sunday and dislocated my shoulder. Here it is out:

and here it is back in: 

It was lovely once they popped it back into its socket as the agonizing pain mostly dissipated. Dr. O. Alton Barron at the CV Starr Hand Surgery Center seems to think that I am in good shape to recover well so I am grateful nothing fractured.  

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The Double Hour Trailer - ROTTEN TOMATOES

via rottentomatoes.com

This film was amazing. Saw it last night and it still resonates. Zachary and I have been talking about it since, as it was one of those films that kept you guessing. It was different, a thriller and had two exceptional actors, Filippo Timi and Kseniya Rappoport.

Ms. Rappoport reminded me a little of Monica Vitti from Michaelangelo Antonioni and other Italian films from the 1950's through 1980's but she was difficult to figure out and that made the film excellent. Monica Vitti had moments in her film career where it seemed like she never even spoke, but this new actress had glimmers of that in this film. The story was scary, touching and beautiful all at the same time. Loved the script as I never knew what was going to happen. It's playing in the East Village so go see it if you're around. Watch the trailer and you may be hooked.

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WAR SCHOOL on Vimeo

via vimeo.com

This is from the Fall, but I think it's amazing. Especially in light of this past week's events. I thought this was nicely directed, acted and filmed as it really captures the mood for the story to work. Saw that it was shot with a digital SLR camera as we are able to get such clear focus on our characters with nice depth. Love the colors and shots. Clear message and context for today's world. Check out Ben Newman and Ctrl.Alt.Shift for more information on their interesting work.

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Where Osama bin Laden was killed - Abbottabad map | World news | guardian.co.uk

Check out this website I found at guardian.co.uk

This was interesting to look at because you could zoom in and out of the map to see just how close Osama bin Laden was living to the Pakistani version of West Point. Thought the best view was the terrain map so you could see a little of where this was exactly in relation to this mountainous terrain to both the East and the West. Sounds like a nice little hideout. Both Zachary and I are a little weirded out by him being buried at sea, but the reasoning was that it was a timing issue. Don't feel like this will stop any al-Queda activity as I'm sure that younger people in the organization will be working on a follow-up. Wondering about the follow-up conversation the US is having with the Pakistani military about this 'secret' location. I guess their strategy was to be close to somewhere we would never think to look.

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