Curio: Alternative Oscar Art

Alexa here. It's that time of year, where artists and designers take a crack at creating alternative posters for the Oscar nominated films. As they do every year the BAFTAs commissioned posters for their nominated films; the Academy is at least featuring movie Valentines from illustrator Nan Lawson on its site but I wish they'd feature some alternative nominee posters too (grumble grumble).  To fill the void, here are some favorite designs I've spied floating around... 

Click to read more ...

Curio: Keaton and Moore's Vintage Features

Alexa here with some pre-Oscar nostalgia. As many of you know, I have quite the magazine stash in my basement: stacks of old issues that allow me to trace my various pop culture obsessions through the years. In 1989, 16-year-old me was crushing hard on Michael Keaton and was very excited about his upcoming turn as Batman. And then, in 2002, I was excitedly anticipating the adaptation of one of my favorite books, The Shipping News, starring Julianne Moore.  Hence these issues of Rolling Stone and Movieline were found in the piles.

I thought a little interview nostalgia was in order for these two arguable (yes, Redmayne) Best Actor and Best Actress frontrunners. After the jump, some excerpts...

Click to read more ...

Curio: Thrift Store Paintings Reimagined

Alexa here. I'm a self-professed lover of thrift store art: paint-by-numbers, portraits on velvet, Margaret Keane wannabe prints, Warner Sallman's Head of Christ, the cheesier the better. So illustrator David Irving's current project has me feeling a little "why didn't I think of that?" envy:  David collects old thrift store prints and paintings and, in his words, "re-directs" them by adding well-known characters or objects into the scene, many from the world of the movies.  The works operate as sly collages that conflate the two worlds (almost) seamlessly.

Here are some of my favorites... 

Click to read more ...

Curio: Rubber Stamp World

Alexa here with your weekly arts and crafts. I have to admit that I have an oddball addiction to rubber stamps. Not your run-of-the-mill, country-crafty variety, but those of the pop-culture-obsessy variety. I spend a bit too much of my monthly budget on them, stamping gift cards, tags, or any piece of paper that isn't tied down in the house.  Etsy and ebay have enabled this addiction: etsy has some wonderful hand-carved stamps for fans of everything from Sherlock to Star Wars.  And ebay has some great used ones: I recently purchased these What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and All About Eve stamps from the estate of Charles Pierce (who famously dressed as Baby Jane for a series of greeting cards).

Alas, my budget this month can't handle me buying all the ones on my wish list, so I'll share my favorite film fan stamps currently for sale, after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Curio: The Babadook Book

Alexa here with your film curio of the week.  Like Nathaniel, Jennifer Kent's The Babadook was one of my favorite films of 2014.  I thought it a masterpiece on the horrors of isolation, a sibling to The Shining, but with a feminist spin, a modern horror version of "The Yellow Wallpaper."  And I think it criminal that Essie Davis's performance was not a major part of the Oscar discussion.

So I couldn't let today pass without mentioning the crowdfunding campaign that ends tomorrow Monday the 19th to print the pop-up book from the film. Although the minimum order of 2000 has been achieved, guaranteeing copies of the book will creep out legions of children in the future, if you pre-order a copy by midnight Monday PST your copy will be signed by Jennifer Kent!  And, according to this article in The Times, the book will "include much of what appears in the film version, with additional narrative to bring its story to a conclusion." 

 Order your copy here, if you are willing to accept the consequences.