Tagged: Weekend Casual
The Limey: Peter Fonda’s Layered Shirts at Big Sur
Peter Fonda as Terry Valentine in The Limey (1999)
Vitals
Peter Fonda as Terry Valentine, shady rock producer/promoter
Big Sur, California, Fall 1998
Film: The Limey
Release Date: October 8, 1999
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Steven Soderbergh’s stylish 1999 crime film The Limey follows paroled English career criminal Wilson (Terence Stamp) on a quest for revenge after his daughter’s mysterious death, leading him to her final boyfriend—L.A. rock promoter Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda). As Wilson’s pursuit grows increasingly deadly, Terry high-tails it to his Big Sur beach house, where he holes up with his latest girlfriend Adhara (Amelia Heinle) and a handful of boyguards, including security chief Jim Avery (Barry Newman).
Soderbergh filmed The Limey on location in Big Sur, a picturesque region on California’s Central Coast. Spanish settlers originally named this unexplored coastal expanse “el sur grande” (“the big south”). As more English-speaking inhabitants arrived over the following decades, the name was simplified to the Spanglish “Big Sur”. This name was officially adopted 100 years ago today when the U.S. Postal Service approved a petition to rename the local post office from Arbolado to Big Sur on March 6, 1915. Continue reading
Jeff Bridges in Starman
Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen in Starman (1984)
Vitals
Jeff Bridges as “Star Man”, an alien taking the humanoid form of Scott Hayden
Wisconsin to Arizona, Spring 1984
Film: Starman
Release Date: December 14, 1984
Director: John Carpenter
Men’s Costumer: Andy Hylton
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy 75th birthday to Jeff Bridges, born December 4, 1949. The actor received his third Academy Award nomination for Starman, an interdimensional dramedy considered by director John Carpenter to be his sci-fi twist on romantic classics like It Happened One Night and Brief Encounter. Released 40 years ago this month in December 1984, Starman remains Carpenter’s second-highest grossing movie.
The movie begins seven years after NASA launched the Voyager 2 space probe designed for diplomatic contact with extra-terrestrials when the eponymous “Star Man” crashes to Earth outside the remote Chequamegon Bay in northern Wisconsin. He takes refuge in the lakeside home of young widow Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen) while she skims through memories of her late husband Scott, inadvertently providing the opportunity for our Star Man to assume his likeness.
After initially freaking Jenny out by morphing from an alien-looking child into the form of her deceased husband standing nude before her, Star Man uses his loose grasp of language—despite knowing how to communicate “greetings” in 54 of them, including English—to compel her to drive him to his designated meeting point somewhere in “Arizona maybe”, at the wheel of the burnt-orange ’77 Mustang she had shared with Scott. Continue reading
La Piscine: Alain Delon’s Ivory Open-Knit Sweater and Lee Jeans
Alain Delon in La Piscine (1969)
Vitals
Alain Delon as Jean-Paul Leroy, moody ad agency writer
French Riviera, Summer 1968
Film: The Swimming Pool
(French title: La Piscine)
Release Date: January 3, 1969
Director: Jacques Deray
Costume Designer: André Courrèges
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Happy birthday to French screen and style icon Alain Delon, born November 8, 1935. One of Delon’s most popular films is the steamy 1969 thriller La Piscine, which reunited him on screen with former partner Romy Schneider.
La Piscine (released in English as The Swimming Pool) centers around the dangerous passion and possessiveness between four people spending their summer vacations at the same Côte d’Azur villa. Continue reading
Leave Her to Heaven: Cornel Wilde’s Brown Plaid Flannel Shirt
Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Vitals
Cornel Wilde as Richard “Dick” Harland, idealistic novelist
Northern Maine, August 1942
Film: Leave Her to Heaven
Release Date: December 25, 1945
Director: John M. Stahl
Costume Designer: Kay Nelson
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I began Noirvember this month by highlighting a costume from one of the rare classic examples of “color noir”—which is exactly what it sounds like, a crime-centered drama from the 1940s and ’50s that includes many of the same themes and techniques as the shadowy film noir but photographed in full color, rather than the typical black-and-white.
Arguably the first major example of color noir is Leave Her to Heaven, widely released on Christmas 1945 and starring Cornel Wilde opposite the ravishing Gene Tierney, whose performance resulted in the actress’ only Academy Award nomination. Tierney died 32 years ago today on November 6, 1991. Continue reading
Cagney’s Corduroy Jacket in White Heat
James Cagney in White Heat (1949)
Vitals
James Cagney as Arthur “Cody” Jarrett, ruthless gang leader and devoted son
Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, Fall 1949
Film: White Heat
Release Date: September 2, 1949
Director: Raoul Walsh
Wardrobe Credit: Leah Rhodes
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
One hundred years ago this week, brothers Ray, Roy, and Hugh DeAutremont attempted to rob a Southern Pacific Railroad “San Francisco Express” as it sped through the Siskiyou Mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Panicking when the heist didn’t go according to plan, the three brothers murdered four employees on the train and were forced to flee empty-handed. Famous forensic criminologist Edward Heinrich’s investigation eventually identified the DeAutremont brothers as the perpetrators, and the trio were captured after a four-year manhunt.
The “Siskiyou Massacre” of October 11, 1923 formed the basis for the opening scene in Raoul Walsh’s 1949 noir thriller White Heat, one of the great gangster movies of all time that returned James Cagney to the genre that made him famous. Continue reading
The Sopranos: The Don Wearing Shorts
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 2.01: “Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist’s Office…”)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, New Jersey mob boss
North Caldwell, New Jersey, Summer 1999
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist’s Office…” (Episode 2.01)
Air Date: January 16, 2000
Director: Allen Coulter
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
Background
“A Don doesn’t wear shorts.” Yeah, yeah, every fan of The Sopranos knows the story… but after the record-breaking heat last month, I think we can all agree that Tony Soprano would get a pash for that as we head into August.
Justified: The last time we saw Raylan Givens
Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified (Episode 6.13: “The Promise)
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, old-fashioned Deputy U.S. Marshal
Miami to Lebec, California, Fall 2018
Series: Justified
Episode: “The Promise” (Episode 6.13)
Air Date: April 14, 2015
Director: Adam Arkin
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Patia Prouty
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Raylan Givens is coming back to TV in just three days! The mini-series Justified: City Primeval will premiere on FX on Tuesday, July 18, with Timothy Olyphant reprising his extremely charismatic portrayal of the Deputy U.S. Marshal created by author Elmore Leonard.
I’m typically wary of revivals, reboots, and reunions, especially after a series finale as neatly wrapped as Justified, but I have faith in the team and the fact that it looks like the Detroit-set Justified: City Primeval will be focusing on an original story rather than revisiting the plot that had been so well-resolved in “The Promise”. Continue reading
Dennis Quaid in Frequency
Dennis Quaid and Daniel Henson in Frequency (2000)
Vitals
Dennis Quaid as Frank Sullivan, Sr., firefighter and family man
New York, Fall 1969
Film: Frequency
Release Date: April 28, 2000
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Costume Designer: Elisabetta Beraldo
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Frequency might be one of those movies that doesn’t get discussed much these days, but I remember being intrigued when I caught it on TNT a few years after it came out. Flash forward to a few months ago when I saw it was among the movies leaving HBO Max that month, and I decided to revisit.
Without spoiling too much, the plot centers on a ham radio-driven multiverse without the added complication of a serial killer seemingly inspired by one part Richard Speck, one part Ted Bundy, while Frequency‘s most significant emotional impact comes from the intragenerational bond between a father and son—hence my posting about it on Father’s Day weekend. Continue reading
Tony Soprano’s Depressed Dad Duds in “Isabella”
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano on The Sopranos (Episode 1.12: “Isabella”)
Vitals
James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, depressed New Jersey mob chief
Montclair, New Jersey, Fall 1998
Series: The Sopranos
Episode: “Isabella” (Episode 1.12)
Air Date: March 28, 1999
Director: Allen Coulter
Creator: David Chase
Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Since 1949, May has been observed as Mental Health Awareness Month. The first day of May aligning with the informal BAMF Style observance of “Mafia Monday” feels fortuitous as it was The Sopranos that helped me get more in touch with my own anxiety and depression.
I was starting college when I first watched The Sopranos, just months after the final episode stymied audiences when it cut to black. I had long loved movies like Goodfellas, Casino, and The Godfather, so I was excited when my roommate introduced me to this acclaimed HBO series centered around the mob… and I was instantly intrigued when it pulled me into a deeper exploration of identity, masculinity, and mental health. Tony’s psychiatric treatment with Dr. Melfi helped me recognize symptoms that I thought were just “normal” sadness as brought me to a point where—with the added help of real-life professionals (of course!)—I was more comfortable with healthy expression than repression.
The twelfth episode, “Isabella”, arguably presents Tony Soprano at his lowest point—heavily medicated to the point of hallucination, barely dressing himself, and hardly enough wits to fight back during an attempted assassination as two gunmen corner him on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair. Continue reading
Bull Durham: Kevin Costner’s Green Bomber Jacket
Kevin Costner as Crash Davis in Bull Durham (1988)
Vitals
Kevin Costner as Lawrence “Crash” Davis, minor league baseball catcher
North Carolina, Spring and Summer 1987
Film: Bull Durham
Release Date: June 15, 1988
Director: Ron Shelton
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
Tonight is game 1 of the World Series! One of my favorite baseball movies, Bull Durham, shines a light on Minor League Baseball, based on writer and director Ron Shelton’s own experiences as a Minor League infielder.
When not following the national pastime and registry discussions out on the baseball diamond, the extremely quotable Bull Durham follows a romantic triangle with “Church of Baseball” groupie Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) balancing her seductions between the Durham Bulls’ rookie pitcher Ebby “Nuke” LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) and catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner), a veteran with 12 years in the minor leagues who’s been recruited onto the team to help temper LaLoosh’s wild pitching. (Crash’s name was inspired by real-life second baseman Lawrence “Crash” Davis, who played for the Durham Bulls in the late 1940s and befriended Shelton after the production.) Continue reading