summer media diary

movies, albums, articles, and 1 short documentary

Documentaries

I watched this 16-minute-long video about the NYC Ballet’s pointe shoe painter. For over a decade, Tim Foster’s passion for performing and visual arts has been channeled into thousands of objects that continue to grace the stage. It was incredible to peek behind the scenes into his practice!

Articles

• Op-ed on some current issues in the book publishing world: https://lithub.com/publishing-has-a-hologram-problem-and-its-growing/

• A really well-written, well-researched article on thrifting in the middle ages!

Secondhand Markets of Medieval England: The Social and Economic Undercurrents

Films:

I was craving summery cinema, and stumbled across Purple Noon (1960), an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. Alain Delon lounges on the deck of a yacht with the confidence of someone born into money, even though his character, Tom Ripley, has none. The cinematography is bright and beautiful, but I found it somehow odd to watch a French, midcentury interpretation of the novel, which always felt very American to me. Also, it’s not as homoerotic as I’d like a Ripley adaptation to be. While I prefer the 1999 version, Purple Noon was aesthetically sumptuous and pleasurable to escape into.

I guess I’m on a French cinema kick, because I also watched La collectionneuse (1967), and really, really liked it. It’s a languid summer romance-gone-awry following two young men — a painter and an art dealer — who spend a summer in the french riviera, where they both develop an interest in the mysterious woman who shares their accommodations. The title of the film refers to Haydee (the woman in question) who is nicknamed for her tendency to collect lovers. However, it is the male main characters who embody this title best, as they spend much of their vacation constructing interpretations of Haydee’s character and projecting an identity upon her.

Albums I listened to:

My summers usually unfold against a backdrop of folksy music, and this summer is no different. Parallelograms, released in 1970 is incredible — the singer, Linda Perhacs, was a dental hygienist who lived in relative obscurity until the album was rediscovered and popularized almost 30 years later. It is oneiiric and surreal.

Orion Rigel Dommisse and Gregory & the Hawk both make pretty haunting, summery/autumnal music that feels somewhat fairy-like.

I’ll probably talk about the books I’ve been gravitating toward in another post soon!