Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Pedro & Penélope / Quentin & Diane

My best friend Jensen, whose favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Pedro Almodóvar, brought me home this Spanish Vanity Fair (pictured left, April 2009) from his trip to Barcelona. Before he left he kept imagining fourgies with Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson. He was okay with any combo should one of them be unavailable. His cinematically inspired fantasy did not come to pass but things did heat up: he nearly burned down his hotel room. True story (!) albeit not for this blog.

Here in the States April's Vanity Fair cover gave us the overexposed Apatow boys. I demand a refund!

I can't read Spanish but I like pretty pictures and they require no linguistic skills.


I love pretending that Penélope is a badass harpist, don't you? Not every actress can pluck those multi-colored strings. It's a rarified skill.

Speaking of directors and their muses...

Did you see Sunday's NY Times Magazine? The piece on Quentin Tarantino is a good read and the photos are wicked, saucily playing up QT's well known foot fetish. Wiggling those big toes aside for a moment, I love this quote when he's asked about Pulp Fiction's Palme D'Or win in 1994 and who the jury president was.
Clint Eastwood. And the second head of the jury was Catherine Deneuve. I think of her as the queen of France. So having the queen judge your movie is scary until you remember that she did Belle de Jour. She turned out to be one of my bigger defenders. She's spent an entire career supporting directors who pushed the envelope, from Buñuel to Jean-Pierre Melville to Godard
You mean Deneuve isn't the queen of France? Someone needs to fix that maintenant -- let's make it official. Tarantino can be annoying but he knows cinema and great actresses and every director should.

Still, I have to admit... seeing these photos of QT drooling on Diane Kruger's gams (which somehow promotes Inglourious Basterds. Don't ask me how) made me jealous on behalf of one Uma Thurman.


If Tarantino is suddenly going to be prolific again (here's hoping) can he please put Uma back in the driver's seat where she belongs? Few other filmmaker seem likely to do it.
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10 comments:

Wayne B. said...

I'm hoping to see Uma in one of Paul Thomas Anderson's movies someday. He could create a fantastic character that would utilize her many gifts.

Bernardo S said...

The one with the harp says "Play it again". However, it's also a play on words, since Tocala can mean playing an instrument and touching...

Fernando Moss said...

Yeah, it has a double intention "Play it Again" and "Touch Her Again". Liking the 2nd one better actually.

Fernando Moss said...

And yeah... Tarantino really seems to know about great directors and their muses (Deneuve and Pinal were UNBELIEVEABLE PERFECT when they worked for Buñuel).

P.S. Please give Uma another role Q! She is (or should be) your personal Pinal or Deneuve.

Victor S said...

You live in NYC and you dont have anyone to translate it for you??

"He is impatient, explicit, ironic and sleepless. She sleeps like a baby, has quit smoking, reads book about spirituality and have shielded herself agaisnt any kind of invasion of her privacy. He has 2 Oscars and she just became the first spanich actress to win one. We talk with Penélope Cruz e Pedro Almodóvar about love, success, anxieties and paternity wishes, coincident with the opening of "Los Abrazos Rotos", the last film of the director de La Mancha."

NATHANIEL R said...

my other best friend is from Puerto Rico so yes, i can find spanish translation if needed ;) But... i just got the magazine.

Rose said...

I read that interview yesterday, and when I got to the section regarding Madame Deneuve, it made me love/worship her even more (if that's possible).

Iggy said...

Penélope's quote on the cover worries me a bit and makes me wonder how many more movies this muse-director relationship will last. Will it top Maura's (7)? or will it end soon? I'd normally say it'll end soon, but Cruz's admitted fandom for Almodóvar before she became an actress is a real novelty for him. None of his other muses had previously been a fan. So, being a fan will make the hard work he puts on his actresses more endurable?

Also, it's the first time (or the first time I can recall) Almodóvar doesn't say a word about what his next project will be during the whole promotion tour. And that's sad news, as long as he'll be all year long doing the promotion thing around the world, it means he won't start writing until...

Javi said...

Hi!

In fact Penelope pose playing and the photographer told her to look like a model with the instrument

Iza Larize said...

I really like Buñuel/Deneuve as much as I like Cassavetes/Rowlands :D