Poplie radio show, Sunday 22nd of November 2009

This particular radio show on poplie was dedicated to Thessaloniki's 50th International Film Festival, ending today. All the songs featured are used in film soundtracks, either written originally for them or not. Anthony Warlow's version of "The Music Of The Night" from The Phantom Of The Opera is included instead of the film score's Gerard Butler's version as I consider it the best ever recorded. Also the Massive Attack "Safe From Harm" track was featured on The Insider OST in the Perfecto Mix version (the one played on the show is the album original one).

Have you ever wished for a different life? Be careful what you wish for...

Coraline is on her way...

Cannot wait!

She finally danced away from us: A tribute to Cyd Charisse

Last Tuesday, my favourite dancer in Hollywood died at the age of 86. Cyd Charisse had had a brilliant career in Hollywood musicals, having danced in the best of them from her first major dancing role in "Singing In The Rain" partnered with Gene Kelly, to her Broadway début, at 70 years of age no less, in a role of an ageing ballerina in Grand Hotel. She even appeared in the video clip of Janet Jackson's song "Allright"


She was not the greatest of actresses. As Guardian writes in her obituary:

When she sang, she was dubbed. When she spoke, she was on cue, at best. But when she danced, there was no need for artifice. A couple of dozen times in the 1950s, she moved across a screen to music and brought us all close to heaven.

Memorable in her partnering with the two legends of film dance, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, Cyd was special because she was classy and sexy and an excellent dancer, not to mention beautiful. But a beauty unlike the prim and proper bottle blonde girls populating the major motion picture companies' rosters. When she began her career in films, as an actress who danced, she usually was cast as an exotic woman (even Polynesian) due to her dark hair and sultry features. She eventually chose to dedicate herself to dancing, beginning an illustrious career.


She was featured in the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records under "Most Valuable Legs", since a $5 million insurance policy was reportedly accepted on her legs in 1952. MGM was reputed to have insured her legs for a million dollars each, but Charisse later revealed that that had been an invention of the MGM publicity machine.


She was born Tula Ellice Finklea on March 8, 1922, in Amarillo, Texas. Her older brother nicknamed her Sid, a variation on Sis. In Hollywood, she changed the spelling to Cyd.


Ironically, she began ballet lessons at age 6, encouraged by her father, Ernest, after she developed a mild case of polio that left her with a slight atrophy on her right side. Who could then imagine how that frail child would turn out?


She was married to singer Tony Martin for 60 years, amazing even for a normal couple, let alone Hollywood. She stayed away from gossip and scandals, projecting to the very end the image of a real lady. She is survived by her husband, her two sons and grandchildren.


Here are three of her most iconic performances - and my top favourites:

1. From the film "The Band Wagon" with Fred Astair in 1953:

2. From the film "Dancing In The Rain" with Gene Kelly, in 1952:

3. From the film "Meet Me In Las Vegas" in 1956:

Farewell Cyd.

Inspiration: Tilda Swinton

In honour of one of my very favourite actresses: Tilda Swinton. The incredible Scottish (her mother is Australian and Tilda's family is one of the oldest in Scotland) actress with her indomitable style and incomparable talent, inspiring not only for directors (she was Jerek Jarman's muse and inspiration) but also for designers (Viktor & Rolf were inspired for their 2003 collection, Stefano Pilati for YSL & others).


She was awarded the Oscar for supporting actress last night, for her role in the film Michael Clayton. Always a formidable presence on screen and off, she mystifies audiences with her otherworldly physique and unique ability of transformation for each part:she inhabits the part completely.


Her bold choices of roles has resulted in a roster of films that vary from Derek Jarman΄s War Requiem to Disney's Narnia. Never one to shy away from demanding parts, she eerily portrayed Orlando in Sally Potter΄s film, playing an immortal that changes gender throughout the ages.


In a much talked about project, The Maybe, in 1995 she was herself an installation in London's Serpentine Gallery, on public display, asleep, or so it seemed, in a glass box. The following year, the performance/installation was repeated in Rome, at the Museo Baracco.


She lives in Scotland with her painter boyfriend and father of her twins. Her unconventional life has been talked about in Britain, as well as her radical political views.


In a magazine interview, the reporter asked her if her daughter plays with Barbies (as Tilda has talked against capitalism many times). Tilda answered that the little girl has never asked for toys except for one Barbie. Asked how she felt about that, she replied with a laugh:"Defeated".


Tilda studied Social and Political Science at Cambridge University, but changed courses and graduated in 1983 with a degree in English Literature.


Apart from film she has played on stage, notably with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She does not like the theatre though.


She has also appeared in the video clip for The Orbital's song "The Box"


She was declared one of the ten best dressed women in the world by Vanity Fair in 2007.

Nixon: my favourite haunt in Athens

Everyone has a favourite place to go out at night. If, like me, one travels to other cities regularly for work, they create a sense of home away from home to you, making you feel at ease as soon as you enter, taking away your exhaustion and angst, relaxing you and making your night fantastic.

Nixon is such a place for me. The bar/restaurant/cinema that Grigoris Stefanidis and his partners have opened at Agisilaou 61B at Kerameikos in Athens, is one of the most elegant places to go out on any night. Great owners, great DJs, great personnel and great people make up a very exciting combination. The inspiring surroundings of course play a major part in the recipe.

The décor features walls painted in deep green, combined with old red leather couches brought in from antique shops, as are most of the things in the establishment. The wall lighting fixture is from the Hilton Athens hotel (before its renovation) as well as two big silver frames with President Nixon's photographs hanging on the walls. Other Nixon memorabilia decorate the place, subtly reminding you the origin of the bar's name.


The big Art Deco chandelier is defining the space, hanging in the centre of the dining area. The ceiling is very high, differentiating the bar from most of its contenders, making the visitor feel more comfortable, even when the place is packed with people.


On the walls you can see some photographs that looked like Nan Goldin's to me, but I might be mistaken. The big bar with the glasses hanging from a metal frame above it attracts a big crowd but the same goes for the DJ booth opposite, especially when friend Makis Papasimakopoulos spins his wild music choices.

The wine list is impressive and the menu is small but great, with the Nixon burger the most enticing choice. It is also open from 13.00 on Sundays for brunch, while kids (big and small) can watch cartoons in the Screening Room. What? A Screening Room?


The "secret" of Nixon is it's Screening Room: a cinema room right next to the main room, all red walls, with big green couches, where you can watch unusual films from all over the world. The latest project was the Psarokokkalo film festival, with great success.

Film and Interior Design Part 3: Match Point (2005)

A stunning film, it marked a turn for Woody Allen: in Match Point, London became his new favourite city to film. It helps the film visually a lot, plus the story would not have been the same if it was filmed in New York.

The house that steals the limelight is the one Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Emily Mortimer live in as newly-weds. Our first glimpse of the spectacular Thames view from its living room immediately establishes the fact that the character Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays has come up socially (see photo above). The up scale apartment is in the real Parliament View building.

Soon we get to see the house furnished, Modern, minimal style, but seemingly bland and neutral is the first impression one gets from it. Until you see the art hanging on its walls.

The house is full of modern paintings, due to the fact that the character Emily Mortimer plays has her own art gallery (the privilege of having a filthy rich father). These are the most interesting additions to the house, making welcome cameos for those really watching the film.

The Tai-Shan Schierenberg self-portrait here literally steals the scene:

Of course the apartment, except from the view, has other merits too. It has a second floor for the bedrooms, with the area of the stairs painted an interesting shade of green.

The kitchen looks boring but expensive.

And the living room furniture show that it is not enough to be rich and successful to have an interestingly decorated home - you need taste above average as well.

I do think though that it accurately reflects the couple's characters: Chris (Meyers) is a working class guy that ruthlessly marries into money and Chloe (Mortimer) is daddy's little rich girl that has no personality and is spoilt to death. This is why I think it is an interestingly decorated house. Plus you can't beat the view.

Design facts for Match Point:

Production design by Jim Clay

Art Direction by Diane Dancklefsen and Jan Spoczynski

Set Decoration by Caroline Smith

Film & Interior Design part 2 : Gattaca (1997)

A film that has influenced me (and lots of other people) very much since I first saw it is Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997). A visually powerful film, with an equally powerful message, it stuns the viewer from the very beginning and does not let up until the very end.


Eschewing visual effects, Niccols presents a dystopian version of the future. Not resorting into gimmicks and hi-tech gadgets, instead the film has a look that can be described as a combination of the 50s (see the car below for example) and 90s design: sleek but not glossy, modern but not futuristic, minimal but not bare.

The duplex Jerome (Jude Law) lives in is part of a bigger housing complex. From the entrance, one can see that the references to the past (50s as the ideal trip to nostalgia and pure American dream maybe?) are everywhere-see the doorbell Uma Thurman and Loren Dean are about to ring.


Inside, one can see immediately the basic materials characterizing the design: bare concrete, metal, wood, glass. Using materials and lines similar to the house we saw in my previous film post here, the talented production designer manages to convey a completely different feel, look and atmosphere-see the entry hall and living room below:

...and the other side here, with the beloved Barcelona chair, stool and day bed by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe:


The main element defining the space here is, once more, the stairs. A graceful curved staircase, going down to the main quarters, in wood and metal, it steals the scene every time it is in a frame.

Naturally the director uses it for beautifully shot scenes such as this:


The stairs of course resemble the DNA helix: no accident, as the film centres around a society that discriminates people based on their good genes.


The interior design immediately gives away the character of the owner: much as in The Island (see here), the house betrayed the sleek, hard, soul-less, ambitious character of the owner, here it shows us how, even though beautiful looking and armed with almost everything he could wish for genetically, instead he really is empty inside, a life without meaning, without spirit or dream. Check the empty spaces, the completely empty walls, minimal accessories, warm but drab colours. This is no happy place.

Downstairs is even more bare and bleak than upstairs: the real guts of the place versus the façade the visitor sees when entering. Again bare concrete, combined with an industrial setting, using mainly metallic furniture, looking like a medical laboratory.


We can see metallic furniture everywhere...Ethan Hawke uses a table as a recliner:


...and while stainless steel details betray modern times, the glass of the doors is treated with a period 50s texture.


The one constant is the use of a warm reddish wooden parquet floor and the lovely design furniture: check out the Mies Van Der Rohe MR chaise longue here...


...here...


...and here...


The bedroom interior looks a lot like a 50s one - check the drawers and the light fixtures on the wall.

The bathroom looks like it came out of the 5os to, but it also has a slightly modern feel.

Even the vacuum cleaner is vintage-looking:

Credits for the design:

Production Design by Jan Roefls.

Art direction by Sarah Knowles.

Set decoration by Nancy Nye.