Then and Now: Montgomery Clift and Matt Bomer

I had a very important realization while I was reading up on Montgomery Clift this morning in my sad, solitary version of the Wiki Game (basically I just decide I need to learn everything there is to know on the internet, and I read endless pages about people in an attempt to make it happen). The realization was this: Montgomery Clift needs a biopic, and Matt Bomer needs to play him.
I've read about Monty many times before - I am a great fan of his, after having fallen in love while watching A Place in the Sun, which is an admittedly odd film to be attracted to someone in, when I was thirteen or fourteen - and I think his life is so fascinating. His eccentric upbringing (his mother raised her children as though they were aristocrats; Clift's education ranged from training in three languages to long stretches where he wasn't in school), his choice in acting roles (always deeply sensitive - even his Place character George Eastman was tormented by his actions), his tragic car accident in 1956 that forever changed his features, his career and his life, and his close relationships with people who were fascinating figures themselves, like Elizabeth Taylor and Libby Holman. All of these elements make for a story fit for the screen.
Even though I've thought he would make a fascinating subject for a film, up until this morning, I had never made this connection for some reason: Matt Bomer looks so much like Montgomery! I Google'd their names to see if anything would come up, and lo and behold something amazing did: Matt told GQ Italia in an interview that he wants to make a Monty biopic. See there is already expressed interest - this is perfect. Hollywood gods (er, producers), please make this happen.

For good measure, here's another comparison of the boys in tuxedos (if the white tees above didn't do it for ya):

play on, play on

Image via MTV Style

I am really excited about John Ridley's biopic about Jimi Hendrix, starring Andre 3000 as the late singer. Mainly because I want to have Andre 3000's babies. The casting choice is perfect because in the past I have mused about how I would also like to have had Jimi's babies. Funny how that works out. The film is called All is By My Side and it will focus on the years just before Hendrix exploded on the music scene. Based on the photos that are coming in of Andre on the set, I think that the production is doing a great job capturing the spirit and style of the times. Hendrix's look was so distinctively his own but Andre masters his psychedelic coolness with finesse.
The film is just the first of a string of projects developing right now that explore the music scene of the late sixties and seventies. Unclaimed Freight Productions is producing a film about CBGB, the famous nightclub frequented by Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Stiv Bators and pretty much all the other members of rock royalty. There is also a Rolling Stones film in the works about the making of their masterpiece Exile on Main Street. Harry Styles' name is being tossed around to play Mick, which I think is a somewhat fine choice. Though a bit young to play the musician (who was in his late twenties when Exile was written - keep in mind that Harry is only eighteen), Styles has both the singing ability and that Jagger swagger necessary to play the role -- but I honestly can't think of any young musician or actor competent enough to portray Mick (I'm just a bit protective I suppose).
Personally I wish to see that Marianne Faithfull biopic come to fruition sometime very soon. Her life is so interesting that it would come off well as a narrative, but it has a happy ending which is rare for biopics. But obviously the production on that film hasn't advanced because they haven't the right girl (i.e. me) to play Faithfull.

Title: from "If 6 Was 9" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)

i heart new york

I have left my hometown of Dallas and my home for the past few months (and my spiritual home, if we're getting cosmical about it) of London to spend my summer in New York City. I have been in NYC for one week now and I am loving everything about my experience here. I've been to this city countless times before, but only for a few weeks here or there every year. It was always enough to see the performances and exhibitions and events that I wanted to see, but never enough time to get lost in the mad, frenetic pace of this city. Though, has anyone ever felt like they have had enough time to explore New York?
As Kurt Vonnegut wrote in Bluebeard, "I went to New York City to be born again." I suppose you could say that I came here for the same reasons as Vonnegut's narrator.  I wanted to strike another match and go start anew (to quote/rip-off the words of Bob Dylan). There is something about this city that revitalizes you and allows you to be whoever you want. I want a bit of that magic for myself. So much inspiration and innovation has come from this place that I can't even been to describe fully. All I can offer are a few images that come to my mind when I think about my new (though temporary) home in this great city.

Shahir Zag is one of my favorites for his text-based art that offers both wonderfully humorous musings and mind-blowingly insightful statements about life

Alfred Eisenstaedt's "V-J Day in Times Square" is one of the most iconic photographs ever taken

Andy and Edie in front of the Empire State Building -- the influence that Warhol and his associates had on the city, from the posh socialities of the Upper East Side to the derelicts of downtown, is still so obvious here

Breakfast at Tiffany's is so quintessentially NYC and so quintessentially me-being-obsessed-with-Audrey-Hepburn, so it's quite perfect

What would a list about New York City be without a little Woody Allen? Here's one of my all-time favorite film shots, from Manhattan

Barefoot in the Park stars Jane Fonda and Robert Redford as a young married couple living in Greenwich Village, and it's one of the most darling films about this grand city

Marilyn and then-husband Arthur Miller are photographed by Sam Shaw in front of the Queensboro Bridge in 1957

I still contemplate buying an old firehouse and setting up shop like the Ghostbusters - there's a market for that in Manhattan, I think

A scene in the park from Hair - so far I haven't found my flower people, but then again I haven't really explored Union Square too much yet either

I've totally experienced this Home Alone-style realization that I'm here

In Kramer vs. Kramer, Dustin Hoffman's character teaches his son to ride a bike in Central Park. I can't ride a bicycle, so this may very well happen for me (fingers crossed)

The Eyes of Laura Mars is one of my favorites - I have a love for all things Faye Dunaway

Marilyn Monroe overlooking the city while studying under the tutelage of Lee Strasberg in 1955

A great shot of the apartments in Rear Window - very New York, but also Hitchcockian so therefore more murder-y than I expect to experience here

Jack and Shirley in The Apartment - again, theirs is a story much more depressing than what I expect to find here

The subway grate from The Seven Year Itch - kind of says it all

I frequently turn to Jodie Foster's Iris in Taxi Driver for style inspiration, but little else - I will be working an internship, not the corner

I haven't gotten into any gang fight / dance battles, à la West Side Story, yet here. I'm not sure if this is a very good thing or a bit disappointing

Chris Benz Resort 2013 Collection

This morning I was lucky enough to attend the preview for Chris Benz's Resort 2013 Collection. Of the collection, Chris cited Marilyn Monroe as an influence for the beachy bright looks. I definitely see the Monroe inspiration here - both the swimwear and the patterned frocks remind me of the series of photos George Barris took of the star in 1962 on a Santa Monica beach. Marilyn was captured by Barris wearing bright bikinis and various Pucci pieces in different prints and colors. It might be hard to believe that a photo shoot that is fifty years old can still yield some inspiration, but the Barris shoot definitely does. Chris manages to evoke the spirit of this era without ever bordering too close to the original sixties fashions - everything in the collection is fresh and modern while also managing to respect the styles of yesteryear.

 

View the complete collection at Style.com