Pam's Coffy
A movie poster on the wall at the very cool Pam’s Coffy. Follow me on Instagram for more of my photographs.
Buy My Book I About | Blog I Newsletter I X I Instagram I LinkedIn I Hire Me I Email
Filtering by Tag: MOVIES
Life in LA
Rabbits, Malibu Canyon, and a dress made of books. Follow me on Instagram for more of my photographs.
Buy My Book I About | Blog I Newsletter I X I Instagram I LinkedIn I Hire Me I Email
Blue Curtain
A blue curtain at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Follow me on Instagram for more of my photos.
Buy My Book I About | Blog I Newsletter I X I Instagram I LinkedIn I Hire Me I Email
Meta Body Double
On Instagram I’ve been sharing that I’m in the process of attempting to visit every shooting location in “Body Double,” the Brian De Palma directed 1984 erotic thriller masterpiece. You can follow me on Instagram for the latest installments when I share them. The updates are in Stories, so if you miss one, check out Highlights.
Edited to add: I also wrote about this project in my newsletter. Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re there.
Buy My Book | About | Hire Me | Blog | Forbes | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Email
What He Said
via Clayton Cubitt
Buy My Book | Hire Me | About | Blog | Forbes | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Email
How HBO’s "The Idol," With A Little Help From Valentino, Rewrote The "Pretty Woman" Playbook
In the third episode of the controversial HBO series “The Idol,” Jocelyn, a pop star played by Lily-Rose Depp, and Tedros, a slimy wannabe Svengali played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, head off for a shopping spree at the Valentino boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. After bypassing a gaggle of adoring Jocelyn fans out front, the duo undertake some retail therapy. “You see that young lady over there?” Tedros asks a store employee. “Got anything in this store as beautiful as she is?” Jocelyn tries on a series of Valentino outfits as Tedros eggs her on, threatens to “curb stomp” an employee he believes his ogling his girl, and dismisses one top as “trash.”
Eventually, the pair end up having sex in a dressing room. When Jocelyn exits before Tedros can finish, he finishes himself off alone in the dressing room while holding onto a rack of Valentino clothes. Afterwards, he looks at his soiled hands. Then his gaze turns to the very expensive Valentino red dresses hanging nearby. The camera cuts away, but the implication is clear: he wipes his hands off on the dresses.
Did Valentino sign off on this? I wondered as I watched the scene. After all, Valentino is a venerated luxury fashion brand. Founded in 1959 by Valentino Garavani, its designs have been worn by Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, and Oprah Winfrey. Had Valentino cosigned on what appeared to be the bespoiling of its brand—or was this was what product placement looked like in 2023? In search of an answer, I reached out to Valentino for comment. I didn’t get a response back.
For an expert’s take, I sent an email to Stacy Jones, the CEO of Hollywood Branded, a pop culture marketing agency. She didn’t know if there was any brand partnership between Valentino and “The Idol,” but she did offer her take on the provocative Valentino scene, which had generated some debate on Twitter.
“While the scene in the Valentino store was certainly explicit, there isn’t damage to the brand,” Jones opined. “Even the derogatory mentions made by Tedros about some of the styles and the store’s stylist had no lasting negative impact. Tedros is shown to be the not-so-nice character he is, and it was in fact Tedros who came off looking poorly, not Valentino. The growing spotlight on Valentino dressing Lily-Rose's character and having her model their clothing on screen feels like a win regardless. The saying that you can’t pay for media worth that is true. This particular product placement is over delivering on brand awareness big time. There is not a lot of risk in offending older Valentino consumers as they simply won’t be watching the series. They are not the target audience.” These days, Valentino may be more interested in targeting millennials and Gen Z as potential customers. According to Bain & Co.: “These generations are expected to account for as much as 70% of the global luxury market by 2025.”
Not only that, it seemed I had missed the point entirely. As Jones pointed out in her email to me, the Valentino scene from “The Idol” was a redux of a scene from the 1990 film “Pretty Woman,” starring Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward, a Hollywood escort, and Richard Gere as Edward Lewis, a wealthy businessman, right down to the “Do you have anything in this shop as beautiful as she is?” line. “I googled to see where [the boutique shopping scene] in ‘Pretty Woman’ was filmed as I thought it had a high likelihood of being Valentino,” Jones added. “This article states ‘Pretty Woman’ filmed the Rodeo Drive scene specifically at Valentino. There are a lot of similarities in the scenes, just taken up many adult notches with an edgier, modern touch.”
Is “The Idol” “‘torture porn’”? Has it “set back the feminist movement by at least a decade”? Is it “anti-feminist spectacle”? Or is something more complex at work? At least in the case of the Valentino scene, the subtext is resolutely feminist. In “Pretty Woman,” Vivian says: “I want the fairy tale.”; she wants a man to rescue her. In Sam Levinson’s “The Idol,” the fairy tale is over. After all, it’s Jocelyn who denies Tedros his own pleasure, who is the star, and who, we presume, foots the bill for their shopping trip. In this retelling, the woman holds the power, not the man.
On a recent Friday afternoon, I made my way to the Valentino boutique. Since it was late June, the well-heeled shoppers making their way up and down the sidewalks had to share space with groups of tourists. In the Valentino store, I was met by a security guard. A salesperson followed me around as I admired a pair of $1,800 see-through platform pumps that reminded me of the strippers’ shoe brand of choice, Pleaser Shoes, and a red dress that looked like one Jocelyn had worn. On the second floor, the salesperson indicated the dressing room where the racy scene for “The Idol” had been shot, supposedly. I opened the door. No one, much less Tedros, was there.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com.
I cover the business of sex | Blog | Forbes | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Email
I'm a Literary Dominatrix
Possessor
“Possessor” isn’t a good movie. Which is too bad. Because it has some interesting ideas and some interesting imagery. Basically, it’s set in a future in which people use technology to inhabit other people’s bodies. In this case, Tasya is a hitwoman who occupies other people’s bodies to kill other people for reasons that are financially motivated. Andrea Riseborough does a fine / creepy job with the role of Tasya, and it’s interesting to watch the body-hijackings take place. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays her super-creepy boss, Girder. And Christopher Abbott does a forgettable job as the main story line’s victim. The most interesting sequence in the film is a CGI representation of Tasya melting into her victim’s psyche; bodies turn liquid and boundaries go fluid. But the film falls apart on the plot level, leaving us wondering why we should care. Even the hyper-gruesome gore murder parts come across as more of an aesthetic exercise than something we should care about. The ending is super grim, but a curious twist. In any case, I guess when the director is the son of David Cronenberg, happy endings aren’t on the menu.
Email | About | My Book | Twitter | Instagram | Blog | Newsletter
What I'm Watching
I’m watching “Berkeley in the Sixties.” Watch it on Fandor on Amazon Prime.
I’m a writer. Subscribe to my newsletter.
Mank
Check out the trailer for “Mank,” forthcoming from David Fincher by way of Netflix.
“1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.”
I’m a writer and consultant. Subscribe to my newsletter.
Hollywood Is Reading
There’s an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times about Hollywood gobbling up the dramatic rights to books. All those unbusy producers have been spending their time reading, and optioning, apparently.
An excerpt:
“Like housebound folks across the country, studio executives, filmmakers and actors have had far more time to read books. That newfound availability, coupled with streaming services’ and media companies’ insatiable appetite for fresh material, has led to a substantial uptick in sales, according to agents and producers.”
I’m a writer and consultant. Subscribe to my newsletter.
You Won't Feel a Thing
From left to right:
“Un Chien Andalou,” dir. Luis Buñuel, 1929
“A Clockwork Orange,” dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1971
“Minority Report,” dir. Steven Spielberg, 2002
I’m a writer and consultant. Subscribe to my newsletter.
I See You Shiver
A shot of the Nuart Theater from my Instagram. The theater was built in 1929.
From Wikipedia:
“The Nuart was the location for the theatrical world premiere of ‘Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Vixens’ directed by Russ Meyer. Edith Massey of ‘Pink Flamingos’ fame performed on a makeshift stage with her punk rock band The Incredible Edible Eggs featuring Regina 'Gina' Schock on drums prior to Ms. Schock becoming a member of the all-girl rock band The Go-Go's. Director Michel Gondry filmed part of Beck's video for ‘Deadweight’ at the Nuart. The Nuart is mentioned in ‘Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death.’”
I’m a writer and a consultant. Subscribe to my newsletter.
Waves
Watch “Waves.” It’s atmospheric af and beautifully shot in Southeast Florida.
I’m a writer and a consultant. Subscribe to my newsletter.
We Are Who We Are
As a fan of director Luca Guadagnino, I was thrilled to see that he has an upcoming miniseries for HBO: “We Are Who We Are.” According to Deadline: the series “is a coming of age story about two American teenagers who, along with their military and civilian parents, are living on an American military base in Italy.” See also: “I Am Love,” “A Bigger Splash,” and “Call Me By Your Name.”
I’m a writer and a strategy consultant. Subscribe to my newsletter.
The Beauty of Ultraviolence
For HILOBROW, I wrote an appreciation of “A Clockwork Orange.”
An excerpt:
“In 2020, writing an appreciation of A Clockwork Orange seems like a near transgressive act. Despite its moralistic underpinnings, the 1971 film by Stanley Kubrick is a visual celebration of the worst that humanity can conjure.”
I’m a writer and a strategy consultant. Subscribe to my newsletter.
The Interview Process
Currently, I’m interviewing for three different roles at three different companies. These are all roles that I applied to on LinkedIn, a platform I’ve previously bashed as being worthless. (Guess I was wrong.) All the roles are at tech companies. All the roles have six-figure salaries. For two of the roles, I’m on the second round of interviews. The roles involve content, strategy, branding, editorial, and / or marketing. It’s unclear what the outcome will be, but I’ll update here.
I’m a writer and a strategy consultant. Get a consultation.
You're Thinking of Ending Things
Behold the trailer for Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.” Amazing.
I’m a writer and a strategy consultant. Get a consultation.
Once Upon a Time ... in Burbank
A recent shot from my Instagram feed.
I create killer content. Get a free, 15-minute consultation.
What to Watch
Over on my Forbes blog, I wrote about nine movies that offer the opposite of social distancing: intimacy. From hustling strippers to star-crossed lovers, it’s a list that provides a refreshing alternative to the six-foot rule. I hadn’t posted on my Forbes blog in a while, but I’ll be doing so more regularly moving forward. If circumstances change, the best strategy is sometimes a shotgun approach: Just aim and fire.
The Operation (1995)
Arguably the best explicit film ever made, “The Operation” is truly unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Essentially, it’s a porn movie shot with an infrared camera. The effect is haunting and otherworldly. Starring Otto Wrek and Gina Velour and directed by Jacob Pander, this is just about the most interesting thing you’ll see while isolated.
Want to support what I do? Buy a copy of my digital short story: THE TUMOR.