At Home in Hespeler

Victoria and Albert Museum in London, ran a David Bowie exhibition, David Bowie is, from March until this past August 11th. Now over, the exhibition goes on the road, with stops in Berlin, Paris, Groningen, Melbourne, Chicago and a local stop for myself, Toronto. The exhibition spans five decades, with over three hundred artifacts, some from as early as Bowies very young childhood.

On the last day at the Victoria and Albert Omniverse Vision was invited to shoot the exhibition, and a special presentation made to visitors on that day. The result is a documentary that captures the exhibition, David Bowie Is. It will be premiered on September 23rd to coincide with the opening of the Chicago Exhibition. David Bowie Is will play one day only at a select 100 theatres across the U.S. (click the link to see if it’s playing at a heater near you).

The documentary takes you through the exhibit in chronological order, from Bowies baby movies up to the 90’s. Throughout, speakers in a live presentation setting offer a glimpse into Bowie, and the exhibition. Clips of fans touring the exhibition give an idea of what Bowie means to fans (hint: more to fans in the U.K. than is generally so here in the colonies).

Highlights of the exhibition, and movie feature Bowies stage costumes (a number of which are at the exhibition), handwritten lyrics, teenage sketches and an short animated film of Diamond Dogs, based on Bowies on sketches and notes for just such a project that never happened.

But while the documentary focuses on Bowie the fashion icon, Bowie and his characters, Bowie the actor, the music throughout rends you that Bowie was a very creative musician who never repeated himself. It is the music, like Bowie himself, that makes David Bowie Is worth seeing.

A Day At The Movies Art Gallery of Ontario, David Bowie, David Bowie Is, Documentary, Movies, Victoria and Albert Museum

I got an e-mail from a friend of mine recently. He was at a Belgian airport, on his way to Liberia via Casablanca.

“Casablanca? Cool!” I e-mailed him back.

Not really, he answered, he would just be at the airport for a few hours.

Even still, it seemed to me. What a wonderful airport. A small one, the way they used to make them, and you could walk on the tarmac to your waiting tri-prop.

Except, of course, Casablanca is a modern metropolis of almost 3-million people, 7.5-million if you include the suburbs. That’s right, that city so small everybody knew everybody else in the Bogart classic has suburbs.

It’s funny how a movie can lock a place into time. The airport in the movie Casablanca was shot on a stage-screen, the plane that Ilsa and Victor Laslo got on was made of cardboard. But 75-years later, when I mentioned my friend would be at the Casablanca airport, isn’t that what you pictured?

It’s the same if you go to Tiffany’s. While the upper floors are all thoroughly modern, with sleek chrome and glass styling, street level has high ceilings, wood floors and large elegant wooden display cases, the same display cases you know from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Tiffany’s is, at first glance, exactly as Holly Golightly found it when she got the mean reds.

That is likely no accident. Tiffany’s and company know a part of their sterling reputation comes from the movie, and they have left the face of the store exactly as it was. Captured on film, frozen in time.

Likewise the marquis on Radio City Music Hall is as it’s been since Martin Scorsese was re-imagining the 50’s in the 70’s movie The Godfather. The same blue sign with the same red lettering. Say what you will, but appearing in an iconic film certainly saves you the cost of rebranding every half decade.

Of course, if you manage an airport in Morrocco, rebrand is exactly what you want to do.

A Day At The Movies Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Casablanca, The Godfather

… Roger Moore.

Most don’t consider him the best Bond, and based on his later movies that’s fair play. But he was James Bond longer than anyone else, and made more official Bond movies (seven) than any other actor. Besides, Live and Let Die is one of the best Bond movies, with my favourite chase scene in movie-dom (the boat chase through the bayous of Louisiana).

At Home in Hespeler wishes a Birthday, Happy Birthday to Roger Moore.

1970's, A Day At The Movies, Birthday Wishes, Bond James Bond

Back on April 2nd, Gerry Nicholls offered what he opined to be the best five baseball movies:

• The Natural
• 61*
• The Rookie
• The Sandlot
• For the Love of the Game

Then, for good measure, he threw in a link to Abbot and Costello’s who’s on first.

I piped in that he missed Bull Durham, and offered a couple of routines to back me up:

And talk about great comedy routines, the meeting on the mound:

Larry: Excuse me, but what the hell’s going on out here?
Crash Davis: Well, Nuke’s scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man’s here. We need a live… is it a live rooster?
[Jose nods]
Crash Davis: . We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose’s glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present.
[to the players]
Crash Davis: Is that about right?
[the players nod]
Crash Davis: We’re dealing with a lot of shit.
Larry: Okay, well, uh… candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she’s registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let’s get two! Go get ’em.

This ones not bad either:

Skip: You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
Larry: Lollygaggers!
Skip: Lollygaggers.

Then yesterday the Toronto Sun ran this quote in a small caption they call Say it Again:

Relax, all right? Don’t try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring; besides that, they’re fascist. Throw some more ground balls. It’s more democratic.

Strikeouts are fascist; ground balls democratic. You would think that would be the kind of line Gerry Nicholls and myself would remember. Considering the nature of our blogs, you would think that this might have been mentioned.

Aand you would think wrong. Consider the record straightened.

A Day At The Movies, Baseball, classical liberal, Funny., Gerry Nicholls, YouTube