The Pictures: Selma Blair's cavernous private parts in 'The Big Empty'

A few years ago when I was screening short film entries for a Gen Art event I came across a 21 minute film that, many moons later, has stuck in my head as a beautiful and poignant one. Finally finding it again last night via the modern miracles of IMDb and YouTube, I believe my fond memory may have been slightly exaggerated. The story of a girl whose vagina is so gaping and empty that she's swept around the globe by a fame hungry doctor for TV appearances seems less likely and slightly more hokey. But 'The Big Empty' is still worth viewing, if only to wonder how bigwigs like actress Selma Blair and exec producers George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh got wrapped up in a project about the wasteland of one poor girl's private parts.

If you've got the 21 minutes at work today, watch it and share your thoughts. And P.S. - keep your eye out for an appearance by House star Hugh Laurie peeking out from Selma Blair's hospital gown.

The Pictures: Up In The Air

Last night I attended Gen Art's advance screening of 'Up In The Air.'

Go see it because...

The film's message is sobering but so true to my heart. None of the shit we think is important really matters at all. But if you're not in it together with someone, you're in it alone. And it's so much lonelier that way.

George Clooney is so very handsome. I'm not one to get gaga over movie stars. But Clooney makes me want to take a cold shower...and then get dirty again.

The soundtrack is stellar. It includes tracks by Dan Auerbach, Sad Brad Smith and Elliot Smith. It is sad but makes me happy.

Up In The Air opens tomorrow--Friday, December 4th.

Design Dish: welcoming LA Fashion Week with an open mind.

Well, that is what I tried to do. The open mind thing, that is. But with Smashbox and IMG's marriage dead and gone away and the shows now dispersed from Downtown to Hollywood to God Knows Where and nightclub parties showcasing God Knows What, things have gotten confusing. Each new venue or collective names itself 'the' new LA Fashion Week to pay attention to. But while the media and buyers are forced to traipse around LA from show to show, how can they pay attention to anything at all.
New York Fashion Week doesn't garner international attention and an Anna Wintour appearance by breaking off into Lower East Side Fashion Week, Harlem Fashion Week and Midtown Fashion Week. The shows are consolidated, made legend by their Bryant Park locale, and have front rows packed with those who matter [to the industry], not reality TV stars the publicists have buddied up with.

Then again, NY fashion designers aren't showing cotton sundresses and trying to call them art.

While I do shed a small tear for LA fashion, especially in this wild season, I will celebrate what's left of our designer community here. Last night I found myself pleasantly surprised at Skingraft's show at the MOCA Geffen. The designers featured aviator caps [which, note to self, leave gnarly hat head], militant styles, and Doc Martens [which are back...apparently].

Louver made a comeback with a nautical theme. And though the collection was limited to blue, gold, white, and [I'm not gonna lie] pretty simple styles, there was a flare in the sleeves, the embellishments, and the hot team of models who strutted down the runway.

For all the LA Fashion Week news that's fit to have online, visit darling Jen Uner's Fashion Week Calendar. If the shows are going to be all over the map, at least we've got Jen to track them for us.

The Pictures: (500) Days of Summer

I attended Gen Art's advance screening of '(500) Days of Summer' tonight. I went with high hopes for romance. (There is nothing more satisfying than a happy ending when you most expect it.) The film was definitely going to be an 'artsy' one--Zooey Deschanel seems to favor the kind (even her role in the uber-commercial 'Elf' was subversive)--but the trailer seemed to offer the promise of love--or at least love-making--and indie romance is better than none. But [without disclosing too much] '(500) Days of Summer' didn't deliver the happy ending I was hoping for.

The filmmakers depicted a stunningly truthful and beautiful portrayal of love's realistic pitfalls. But in the film's cinematic universe, the characters are far more attractive than the rest of us and are able to pick up the pieces of a broken heart at a rather un-realistically rapid pace. The leads, played by Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, show much greater resilience and experience a good deal more luck than us mere non-actor mortals.

The movie is out on July 17th. See it for yourself. Perhaps the ending will satisfy you and your bizarre desire for realism in art. If nothing else, the soundtrack was pretty rad, featuring the likes of The Smiths, Feist, Hall & Oates, my absolute fave Regina Spektor, and other fine musicians.