Tagged: Zip-Front Jacket
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Ryan Gosling in Drive (2011).
Vitals
Ryan Gosling as an unnamed getaway driver and part-time stunt double
Los Angeles, Fall 2010
Film: Drive
Release Date: September 16, 2011
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Costume Designer: Erin Benach
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Drive is an excellent neo-noir throwback to the days of Point Blank, Bullitt, Taxi Driver, and The Driver, delivering a moody and stylish character study of a taciturn anti-hero navigating the violent L.A. underworld and his own emotions with existential angst. Continue reading
Jack Reacher
Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, standing next to a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS in Jack Reacher (2012).
Vitals
Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, badass drifter and former U.S. Army Military Police Corps officer
Pittsburgh, October 2012
Film: Jack Reacher
Release Date: December 21, 2012
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Costume Designer: Susan Matheson
Tom Cruise’s Costumer: Nancy Thompson
Background
BAMF Style’s semi-annual Car Week is returning this winter with more looks at cool outfits and cool cars. Today’s post examines Jack Reacher, the 2012 adaptation of Lee Child’s 2005 novel One Shot. Although it was the ninth of Child’s novels to feature the character of Jack Reacher, the 2012 movie became the first time that the character was represented on screen. Continue reading
Justified – Raylan’s Layered Flannel and Brown Henley
Timothy Olyphant as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens on Justified (Episode 2.13: “Bloody Harlan”, 2011).
Vitals
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, old-fashioned and stoic Deputy U.S. Marshal
Harlan County, Kentucky, Fall 2010
Series: Justified
Episodes:
– “The Life Inside” (Episode 2.02, Director: Jon Avnet, Air Date: February 16, 2011)
– “The Spoil” (Episode 2.08, Director: Michael Watkins, Air Date: March 30, 2011)
– “Bloody Harlan” (Episode 2.13, Director: Michael Dinner, Air Date: May 4, 2011)
Creator: Graham Yost
Costume Designer: Patia Prouty
Background
Justified took greater measures to embrace the series’ potential in its rural Kentucky setting during the second season, which is arguably one of the show’s best. Continue reading
Cary Grant’s Ski Attire in Charade
Cary Grant in Charade (1963).
Vitals
Cary Grant as Peter Joshua (maybe), mysterious government agent
Megève, France, Winter 1963
Film: Charade
Release Date: December 5, 1963
Director: Stanley Donen
Background
The first scene of 1963’s Charade finds its two romantic leads – Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn – engaged in a flirtatious tête-à-tête at a ski resort in southeastern France. The tone of the film is excellently set in this first scene with the immediate danger of a Luger aimed at our heroine… and the immediate comedic relief that follows when it turns out to be a boy’s insanely realistic water pistol. Grant then swiftly comes onto the scene to trade barbs with Hepburn, although she nicely deflects each of his charming attempts with a witticism of her own.
What’d He Wear?
For his mountaintop introduction to Reggie Lambert, Cary Grant’s abundantly-named character – here introduced as “Peter Joshua” – is dressed for a day on the slopes… or at least a chilly day very near the slopes. Continue reading
Quantum of Solace – Bond’s Polo and Cream Jeans in Haiti
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Quantum of Solace (2008).
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, British government secret agent
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Summer 2008
Film: Quantum of Solace
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Director: Marc Forster
Costume Designer: Louise Frogley
Background
Quantum of Solace ostensibly picks up minutes after Casino Royale left off (offering no feasible explanation of Bond’s radically different suit, though) and quickly establishes itself as the more action-oriented yin to the introspective Casino Royale origin story’s yang. The sequel was determined to feature every kind of chase possible; we are immediately treated to a pulse-pounding car chase along the mountains of Italy before the opening credits, and Bond finds himself engaged in a desperate foot chase through the town of Siena immediately following.
After a few relatively calm minutes of exposition in London, Bond is dispatched to follow up on a lead in Haiti where he engages in a deadly knife fight, motorbike chase, and – ultimately – a motorboat chase. All that remains is an air chase and, don’t worry, that’s coming later. Continue reading
Thomas Crown, the “Boston Wrangler”
Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968).
Vitals
Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown, millionaire playboy and heist mastermind
Boston, Summer 1968
Film: The Thomas Crown Affair
Release Date: June 19, 1968
Director: Norman Jewison
Costume Designer: Alan Levine
Background
In an edgy move given the city’s recent history, The Thomas Crown Affair‘s soundtrack composer Michel Legrand named a track from the album “The Boston Wrangler”*. The track in question centers around a brief two minute scene where Crown, under heavy surveillance at his home, manages to sneak out and incapacitate a guard, all while cheekily puffing away on a stogie. I’m not sure if there was any initial blowback from the track’s name, but the instrumental itself is a fine example of the jazzy ’60s cool that defined the movie’s style.
* In case you’re not a criminal history enthusiast, the track’s title is a pun on the “Boston Strangler”, a serial killer who had recently been convicted for multiple murders.
What’d He Wear?
Although he’s as dapper as they come in his three-piece suits, Crown is no stranger to casual attire when it comes to non-business activities. When it comes to sneaking around at night, Crown avoids his genre contemporary James Bond’s choice of wearing all black and opts for shades of blue to better blend in with the night. Continue reading
Casino Royale: Bond’s Leather Jacket in Miami
Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale (2006).
Vitals
Daniel Craig as James Bond, British government secret agent
Miami, July 9, 2006
Film: Casino Royale
Release Date: November 14, 2006
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming
Background
This bitter winter weather has many level-headed folks here in the Northeast U.S. hopping a flight down to Florida where the weather is sunny and warm, the women are tan and beautiful, and the serial killers only kill other serial killers. Casino Royale gives James Bond his first return to Miami since Goldfinger, and luckily he leaves the blue terrycloth playsuit behind this time.
It’s been a few months since this blog has checked in with Mr. Bond, and I hope that his post will portend a much warmer 00-7th of March for those of us dealing with this frigid cold! Continue reading
Clive Owen as “The Professor” in The Bourne Identity
Clive Owen as “The Professor” in The Bourne Identity (2002).
Vitals
Clive Owen as “The Professor”, English sleeper assassin for the CIA
Paris, Winter 2002
Film: The Bourne Identity
Release Date: June 14, 2002
Director: Doug Liman
Costume Designer: Pierre-Yves Gayraud
Background
A hallmark of the Bourne series is the dogged adversary, usually a fellow government assassin who always manages to stay one step ahead of our protagonist, even when the agency itself can’t quite manage to do the same. The first major example of this adversary is “The Professor”, the otherwise unnamed hitman played by Clive Owen in The Bourne Identity. Continue reading
The American: Jack’s Winter Attire in Sweden
George Clooney as Jack in The American (2010).
Vitals
George Clooney as Jack (aka “Edward”), American hitman-in-hiding
Dalarna, Sweden, April 2010
Film: The American
Release Date: September 1, 2010
Director: Anton Corbijn
Costume Designer: Suttirat Anne Larlarb
Background
The opening of The American finds our titular protagonist hiding out in Dalarna in central Sweden with the lovely Ingrid. Although his Syriana days are long behind him, Clooney sports a salt-and-pepper beard to let us know right away that he has been out of action for sometime. For anyone familiar with the film due to its marketing campaign or regular ol’ smarts, this “action” is contract killing.
Aaron Cross’s Winter Attire in The Bourne Legacy
Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross in The Bourne Legacy (2012).
Vitals
Jeremy Renner as Kenneth J. Kitsom, aka Aaron Cross, U.S. Department of Defense agent-in-training
Alaska, January 2005
Film: The Bourne Legacy
Release Date: August 10, 2012
Director: Tony Gilroy
Costume Designer: Shay Cunliffe
Background
The Bourne Legacy, a risky film in itself for continuing a near-perfect modern trilogy, cleverly chose to run a parallel story to that of its titular character. Overlapping the events of The Bourne Supremacy‘s final act and The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Legacy begins with DOD agent Aaron Cross (formerly Kenneth J. Kitsom) on a training exercise in Alaska. Continue reading
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