some excellent movies i've watched recently. in order: ariel (1988) dir by aki kaurismäki, mccabe & mrs miller (1971) dir by robert altman, come back, africa (1959) dir by lionel rogosin. if you're interested in the last one you should definitely see on the bowery (1957), also by rogosin, & the bicycle thief (1948) by vittorio de sica.




books to recommend too. in order: henry miller's black spring (1936), patricia highsmith's the talented mr. ripley (1955) & saul bellow's mr. sammler's planet (1970).  oh... forgot to include der amerikanische freund (1977) dir by wim wenders  in the movie paragraph- the very reason i started to read patricia highsmith. 

saw the wages of fear (1953) on the big screen last month- it blew me away. the mystery of picasso (1956) is a must see documentary too. watched takashi nomura's a colt is my passport (1967), amazing.

if you're in new york, go see this exhibition in dorian grey gallery

watched some amazing movies over the 4 day thanksgiving break. in order: stolen kisses (1968), band of outsiders (1964 (link to great dance scene)), murmur of the heart (1971), sullivan's travels (1941), harold & maude (1971(fantastic cat stevens soundtrack you should get)) 

bought this gorgeous, pocket sized (5" x 5.5") hardback online a few weeks ago. the rather bonkers story is by madeleine grize & pictures by ariane chatel, first published in 1958. valériane is a doll who likes to travel. on this trip, she goes with alligator to the zoo. 

i wish everything christophe blain did was translated into english. preposterous that it isn't, surely there is a huge audience. gus is my favourite, but really everything is great. i just read online that an isaac the pirate feature length movie is in production with a release date next year. really want to see joann sfar's le chat du rabbin but it's only showing in one cinema here in new york & it's located over an hour away!

found this treasure second hand on amazon for $4

another brilliant tomi ungerer book from 1968 in the same vein as one, two, where's my shoe?

started artwork for a new book & have been listening to the eccentric & fantastic michael hurley all day. he creates the art for the covers of his albums as you can see below, i also added some pieces i found on his website.

 

beautiful painting from the russina-ukranian artist alexandra exter (1882-1949)

the very humorous, the late mattia pascal, was written by luigi pirandello (1867-1936) in 1904. the cover art below is by tomi ungerer. confessions of zeno by itali svevo (1861-1928), about the fictional memoirs of zeno cosini was self-published in 1923. this beautiful cover design is by milton glaser, of push pin studios fame. 

if, like me, you are an admirer of the art of ludwig bemelmans (1898 – 1962), you should pay a visit to the bar named after him at the luxurious carlyle hotel in new york. in 1947 the austrian born artist painted beautiful murals on the walls of the bar in exchange for a year and a half of free accommodation. restored in 2002 by designer thierry despont, the murals show bemelmans’ delightful characters (including madeline and co) enjoying themselves in central park. below are some photos i took, the room is very dimly lit so i was forced to use the flash. 

although not much of a science fiction reader, i did find myself engrossed in a copy of h.g. wells’ (1866 – 1946) the war of the worlds that i borrowed from the library earlier this month. absolutely fascinating to think that it was written some 111 years ago in 1898! for anyone yet to have the pleasure of reading this exhilarating invasion novel i should recommend the hardback version illustrated by the prolific edward gorey (1925 – 2000).

to continue with the theme of illustrations adapted to animation, here are two links to the opening & closing title sequences for the 1980s pbs show mystery! based on the work of edward gorey.

earlier today i saw these short animations of tomi ungerer's the three robbers and the hat. how had they escaped my eyes for so long? my words are superfluous- just watch!