Wednesday, January 27, 2016

shaan . 45 years . grizzly man . mr hulot's holiday

in spite of all the trappings for a great masala packed yarn, shaan does not work. it plods along through the plot- some thing about the pacing does not quite work, even though it does have that fabulous opening james bond tribute title sequence song, pyar karne wale, amitabh in fine form and kulbushan kharbanda as shakaal- a bond villain with swirling chairs with crocodiles underneath.

the highly lauded 45 years too for me was a conventional chamber drama about a couple going through a moment of crisis as their 45 year anniversary comes close. typically the drama involves another woman and a child that was never had. the actors give it all they have but the filmmaking is basic and rather boring.

herzog is back with his themes of man, civilisation and nature in grizzly man, almost entirely made out of footage shot by timothy treadwell as he spent every summer for 13 years in the company of grizzly bears in alaska. somehow ehrzog manages to make a film about not only his perennial obsessions about man and nature, but also about american self-obsession, environmentalism and how a camera is used as a device to escape into versions of the self, to make a new self, to look into one self.

Tati's light easy musicality is all over mr helot's holiday. a plotless dance set is a pristinely framed beach town that looks completely artificial. as the rest of the holidayers obsess about the economy, follow the rules of the 'proper' way to behave on holiday, hulot's noisy rattling car, his loud music, the dance with the girl at the party and the fireworks at night celebrate freedom. 

Rio: Museum of Modern Art, Affonso Eduardo Reidy

 in a park that was once a landfill, the main wing rises on elegant rcc frames, underneath the belly of the double storied gallery you can walk to the park on the other side. on one side a courtyard with a canteen, and on the other an auditorium. in the large pen hall a spiral stair rises into a skylit hall.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Rio: Minister of health and education, Oscar Niemeyer, LĂșcio Costa, Affonso Eduardo Reidy

the ministry of health and education in the commercial district of rio de janiero, emblematic of the aspirations of early modernism. the tall skin of bride soilel; the pilots, the open plaza, the aquatic themed tile work. 

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Rio: Lucio Costa: Jockey club

Rio: The new waterfront

brand new in rio- so new in fact that google earth hasn't captured this yet. in preparation for the olympics a freeway on the water was demolished and replaced with starchitecture and culture. an art museum extension with a roof that floats over the older building to connect; and a calatrava museum that looks like a cockroach. 

Rio: The Village on the Hill

Sao Paolo: Paulista Avenue

an experiment in pedestrianisation on a sunday i am told is a huge success with kids on skateboards and entire families strolling. when i got there it was raining like crazy.