'Ladies' via John Cameron Mitchell, London & Moscow

Somewhere after the second 'Lady Dior' commercial starring Marion Cotillard (a project that's obviously a descendant of those hot "The Hire" commercials wherein A list directors used to create short films around Clive Owen's "Driver" and a BMW) I lost track of the commercials. John Cameron Mitchell even directed her but it premiered during Oscar season when my mind was most definitely elsewhere.

Dior must have liked what John Cameron Mitchell did for them because there's a brand new film (I saw it at IndieWire) wherein Ukranian "sand artist" Kseniya Simonova tells a story conceived by JCM in a live performance. The artist is only using what looks like a light box, a pile of sand and her fingers. That's it. AMAZING. You must also watch it with jaw agape (don't worry, no sand will enter your mouth) because I can't believe it and must share. 

And then there's Mitchell's entry in the Marion Cotillard series "Lady Grey London" if you haven't yet seen that one. That hourglass opening is such cheeky fun.

This sand motif, hmmmm. Does JCM think his time is running out? Nonsense. With three great movies on his resume already (Hedwig, Shortbus, Rabbit Hole) he's batting 1000.