Art/Film: Souvenir

Sometimes you just need a modern day fairy tale to round out your film festival going.

Isabelle Huppert as Isabelle in Souvenir

The US premiere of the Belgium/Luxembourg/France production of “Souvenir” starring French superstar Isabelle Huppert was a welcome departure from the last two movies I saw which were both on the depressing side. This film was not without a teeny amount of dysfunction but more in the tone of optimist meets pessimist. According to Bavo Defune, the film’s director “a pessimist is an optimist on a bad day!” But what appealed to me and why I chose this film 1) Isabelle Huppert is the main star 2) it has a successful comeback component 3) she sings who knew? 4) there’s a hunky young buff guy in it. Judge all you want, I don’t care! 5) it’s more of an art house film.

What I didn’t quite get but decided to dismiss (because it’s best not to question every little detail) is why Liliane (Huppert’s character) was working in a pâté factory in Belgium. It wouldn’t matter so much except that in the past (30 years ago to be exact) she was on the brink of stardom. She was a pop-music sensation who entered a Eurovision song contest and came in second-place….to ABBA. Losing to ABBA is not the worst thing that can happen in life but nonetheless…..a pâté factory? I guess it’s indicative of the total opposite of what life can offer and especially after such a long period of time. And we’ve heard what happens with some actors/singers who were successful in the past. I still had a hard time believing her day in-day out routine.

The good news is that a young co-worker named Jean (Kevin Azais) realizes who she is (was) and tries to pursue the very reluctant Liliane to pick up the pieces and re invent herself once again with him as her manager and love interest. Liliane feels definitely bitter about the past.

There were a few moments that left me wondering about the credibility of the situation but all in all with Huppert at the forefront, it was a very engaging and enjoyable film to watch. Besides…

She just took home the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a drama for her performance in Elle which I saw at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). Other nominees were Amy Adams “Arrival”, Jessica Chastain “Miss Sloane”, Natalie Portman “Jackie”& Ruth Negga “Loving.”

It is definitely a win-win situation for this talented actress.

TRAILER (in French):

Film Reviews

Art/Film: “Breakable You” & “It’s Only the End of the World”

Two Films, Two dysfunctional families involving Two playwrights with Two very different stories.

These were my first two choices to see at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). They make our world seem a whole lot less complicated and somewhat normal.

It was easy to choose the world premiere of a movie entitled “BREAKABLE YOU” mostly because two actors I really admire are in it. Holly Hunter (the piano, what women want) & Alfred Molina (Chocolat, Frida).

“We’re all fakes until we have a good idea, and then we’re geniuses” – quote from the film.

This arguably dark comedy revolves around Eleanor, a psychologist (Holly Hunter) following the divorce of her plagiarising playwright husband Adam (Tony Shalhoub) who tries desperately to regain a former successful Broadway following. They have a bi-polar philosophy grad student daughter named Maud (Cristin Miloti) who chases a forlorn uncommunicative man named Samir (Omar Metwally) who is trying to overcome an unbearable loss of his own.

Almost immediately following the divorce Eleanor embarks on an affair with her first love who happens to be her ex-husband’s brother (Alfred Molina). Sound complicated? It is! The setting takes place on New York’s upper west side with the Manhattan literary crowd.

If this sounds familiar like something from Woody Allen; trust me, it’s not!

“IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD” (Juste la fin du Monde) is gaining awards buzz and for good reason.

I chose this one because of the amazing all French cast: Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel, Léa Seydoux, Gaspard Ulliel & Nathalie Baye. They were all unbelievably brilliant even if at times it was in-your-face hard to watch.

In brief the story is about a young writer returning home after 12 years to try to reconcile and tell his family some terrible news. The news being that he is dying. But the whole family is dying in a psychological sense. This is one of the best (or worst) cases of family dynamic dysfunction I have yet to witness on the big screen. Let’s just say….

My next selections from hereon in will be more uplifting.

Written by Liz Fuoco

The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is from January 2 – 16, 2017. There is an abundance of fabulous films to choose from. For more information go to: https://www.psfilmfest.org/

Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: Hello 2017!

I’ve been waiting for you! You’re a welcome change and a new chapter waiting to be written. A fresh start to learn from past mistakes and strive to improve all future aspects of life. I welcome you with an open heart and a commitment to further enrich my life and the lives of those around me.

Well it’s a good place to start.

As it so happens my year end 2016 did not go as planned. While traveling I very suddenly developed a virus that left me incapacitated for several days, having to make an emergency visit to a doctor in Oregon and take antibiotics. I had a fever, chills and could hardly swallow without feeling pain. Also sooooo lethargic. This from someone who rarely if ever gets sick. But I’m over it now. Still have an annoying dry cough but other than that I feel almost back to normal ~~considering I was ever normal~~. So instead of celebrating with friends in the wine region I was stuck in a hotel room in my pajamas with a party hat & party favours (I didn’t dare put on my glitter outfit which I brought if you can believe that) waiting for the ball to drop on Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years Eve with host Ryan Seacrest live from New York. Except just before the ball was about to drop and they were starting the countdown the station cut to a commercial. Who does that?? So when they cut back to the live programming it was already over – at least in New York. Then off to sleep I went. I really feel l missed out and was going to call the station to complain.

But then when I woke up it was already a brand new year…..whew! I never made the call.

So I checked my mail and FB to see who was celebrating where and with whom. Then I see a message from a very dear friend who lives in Florida who I haven’t heard from in what seems like months. To find out that for almost one year now she has gone totally sober. She went to rehab and re-discovered herself, made new friends and realized that she doesn’t need alcohol after all. I’m so proud of her for having taken the first step towards twelve steps and beyond. I think it must be very difficult to overcome addiction and even more difficult to stay sober but I’m certain she’ll stay sober now because she has the support of others in the same situation. Support is everything.

I realize that everyone has their demons, their setbacks or unusual circumstances but also their dreams. Life is full of ups and downs and we make choices, made do, rise above it, stay put or move ahead. Only we decide how to live our lives. Once in a while there are circumstances beyond our control of course but for the most part….. 20170105_191847

So today is a brand new day. I missed the deadline for getting accreditation to cover the Palm Springs International Film Festival by only 3 days so that was a bummer. But I was told to come by the press office once in town and they gave me media passes for the festival anyway. Score! It’s a fabulous line up of entertainment that awaits.

That’s all to say I’m going to enjoy whatever sunshine comes my way and see a few movies in the meantime. I’ll be in touch very soon.

Girl on Fire - Tiki Style — **Girl on Fire** – Tiki Style (here I’m outside in a hot tub by myself and the moon).

Happy 2017!

Things are about to get a whole lot brighter

Girl Who Would be King

HAPPY NEW YEAR

As the years pass in this lifetime I wish everyone a fantastic

Peace, Love, Happiness, Health, Success, Family and Friendship. I think that’s about it!

After a little break I will be back here with more lifestyle posts/stories involving art, food, style, beauty, health, travel and fun.

All the best

Girl Who Would be King

Feel Good Resolutions

Looking Forward to Looking Ahead

newyear172 I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions for 2017 but I did accomplish some firsts in 2016. It was a particularly challenging year but not without many simple inspiring & life affirming moments.

Here they are in no particular order:

Becoming a member of Inspire Health as a support for someone very close to me was a true inspiration and a blessing. The people there have an amazing work ethic and start every morning before work with a group meditation. After taking workshops and classes, I’ve become more mindful of health habits in general. Having become instrumental in helping this person to recovery makes me feel good.

As a result I took several group meditation classes to help me get started with practicing meditation on my own.

Tried some fantastic new recipes. I have a lot of great tasting health related recipes but I also made French sauces.

After attending an AGM meeting for a condo I own at the start of the year, I became Vice-President of Council for the strata building. It has become a real learning experience not without its headaches.

A friend with cystic fibrosis added me to the CF Committee for the 65 Roses Gala so that I’d get credit for finding auction items for their annual fundraiser.

I received media accreditation for some film festivals and saw a whole lot of interesting films & documentaries. My blog has opened up some new exciting opportunities.

Watched all the oscar nominated movies for the 2016 Oscars.

I took dance lessons. West Coast Swing & started Tango again with a great instructor.

Reconnected with a few friends I had not seen in eons.

Tobogganed with my dog on a snowboard when we had one great rare day of really super nice soft snow here in Vancouver.

Painted an abstract. I entitled it “Moody Blues” It’s actually not too terrible. We hung it.

Flew in a small privately owned plane to Vancouver Island just to go to dinner & back.

Spotted a pod of orcas on the ferry sailing over to Victoria. Then I had a private boat tour around the Gulf Islands and stopped in Salt Spring.

Watched Stevie Nicks perform from the comfort of the newly renovated Encore Lounge at Rogers Arena while eating good food & glass of wine in hand.

I had a birthday dinner in May and enjoyed sitting outside for a change since my actual birthday is in January. I always wanted a warm weather birthday so I got to experience that.

Won a pampering session & some products from entering a contest at a Health Show.

I was a judge for a best of barbeque contest on a farm out in the Valley. I parked near a whole lot of quacking ducks. How quaint. A few of the sampling plates had barbeque duck as the creative chefs were presenting unique fusion bbq . Except for eating crispy Peking duck in an upscale Chinese restaurant about once a year I never like to eat duck – especially friends or family of the ones I just met. But it was too late to back out.

My friend and I were interviewed re the Palm Springs International Film Festival last January in Palm Springs and it made national news. What I really mean is that it was aired on NBC National News – twice. Did you see it?

My husband and I met Melvyn Haber, an icon of Palm Springs Society sitting in the lounge of his establishment, the elegant Ingleside Inn one night last January. I’m mentioning this because we found out he passed away just this October. The rat pack and other well known icons frequented the place for years. Photos of him with an abundance of Hollywood friends past and present adorn almost every inch of wall space. He sat with us and was an engaging, entertaining gentleman with a wry sense of humour and a story(s). When he found out we were from Vancouver he said he just had lunch with Jimmy Pattison, a Vancouver mogul. He seemed vibrant for 80, it’s so sad to hear of his passing. I would have liked to listen to more stories.

I spent this Christmas in a staycation hotel suite with a harbour view for 2 nights with my husband and two dogs. My brother and sister joined us there for dinner. I spent last Christmas in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Before last year I always made Christmas dinner at home and will again…another time.

I’m spending this New Year’s Eve in a California wine region with friends. This will include wine.

A year in review: I think if you write down all the different things you’ve done for one year you’ll find out how many new things you’ve accomplished.

newyear174

Let’s see what 2017 has in store.

What about you? Making any awesome resolutions?

CHEERS!

Art & Culture

ART: Paint Party

The most I know about ART is that it’s always best to begin with an empty canvas, a glass of wine and a handful of fun women.

This I know: it's always best to begin with an empty canvas

In a perfect Art World setting

“I am a painter and I believe art should make you feel something. I believe in inspiring others by sharing secrets so we can all succeed and I believe that buying art should be a positively unforgettable experience.” – Donna

Donna Giraud is an inspiring woman. She’s also very patient as she instructed me and six other women to create an abstract work of ~~art~~ something painted on a canvas in her studio last week. It was a crash course of sorts but most of all it was FUN. paintparty3a

My creation

I’d like to try it again sometimeAbove painting by Lisa King

http://www.donnagiraudart.com/

STYLE

Style: Franca

If you are truly into Style you will have at one point picked up a copy of Italian Vogue. Either in Italy or elsewhere.

Then you should know that Franca Sozzani, the Editor in Chief of Italian Vogue, has died at 66. Sadly she now joins musician George Michael, along with witty author/actor/ex-princess Carrie Fisher (what they all have in common is that they pushed the boundaries). Yves Saint Laurent said “fashion fades, style is eternal” so the heavens now are alive with some serious style spirits.

Franca, an ageless 66, was born in Mantua. Her father, a classic Italian patriarch, was an industrial engineer who did not approve his daughter’s early ambitions to study physics. She studied literature and philosophy at university in Milan instead, and married soon after, although she knew, as she later admitted, that the marriage was doomed before she walked into the church. (Franca would later confess that romantic relationships were the one weak link in her formidable arsenal of triumphs.) The couple divorced three months later, and the free-spirited Franca went to India to find herself—“I thought it was time to do something good with my life.” Time spent in Swinging London further nurtured her creative spirit.

When she returned from her odyssey, she stumbled into a job at Vogue Bambini(as “assistant to the assistant to the assistant,” as she playfully remembered). By 1980, she landed the editorship of Lei, aimed at young women, with Per Lui, its male counterpart, following in 1982. She transformed both these titles into showcases for the most dynamic trends in international fashion and lifestyle image-making. When Oliviero Toscani, her key photographer, moved on from her magazines, she began nurturing a dazzling talent roster of emerging photographers including Mario Testino, Paolo Roversi, Herb Ritts, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, and Steven Meisel, all of whom were attracted by the unprecedented editorial freedom that she gave them, and her passion for photography.

“Why would anyone buy Italian Vogue?” she once queried, “They wouldn’t—only Italians read Italian.” She knew that she needed to communicate instead through powerful imagery, and by showcasing her photographers’ work in this way, she earned their unswerving loyalty and their willingness to work with her magazines’ negligible budgets. “When I sent all these photos to you, I would write on the package ‘personal,’ ” Weber wrote to her, “I now realize that I took them for you because you would be the only one who would understand.”

At the same time, Franca became an indispensable part of the Italian fashion scene, a shrewd power broker with an unequaled reach to its designers and the manufacturers and industrialists who keep the industry’s wheels turning.

In 1988, she was appointed Editor in Chief of Italian Vogue—the same month that Anna Wintour was made the Editor in Chief at American Vogue. (By 1994, she was made Editor in Chief of Italian Condé Nast, enjoying great support from an at times long-suffering Jonathan Newhouse, the chairman of Condé Nast International.) Franca immediately shook up the formulaic title with dynamic covers and content, creating a magazine that, in her words, would be “extravagant, experimental, innovative.”

Franca’s ethereal, otherworldly beauty, with her limpid blue eyes and tumble of pale blonde Pre-Raphaelite waves, belied her indomitable personality. “I listen,” she said, “but I must go my own way.”

A maverick spirit, she turned her Vogue into a magazine that not only celebrated the power of the image, but also used fashion stories as a platform to discuss broader issues, and the obsessions of the fashionable world. Franca had a passion for, and a deep knowledge of, fashion and its history, but an ability to keep an amused distance from its modern day excesses.

She was fearless in her willingness to tackle provocative and controversial social and cultural issues through the medium of fashion shoots. (“Fashion isn’t really about clothes,” she said, “it’s about life.”)

A remarkable woman whose talent was matched by her fierce loyalty and her passion for life.

franca sozzani Photo: Peter Lindbergh — franca sozzani
Photo: Peter Lindbergh

Story (condensed): Hamish Bowles for Vogue Magazine

Franca “Chaos & Creation”

a documentary I wrote about at VIFF including link to controversial trailer: https://girlwhowouldbeking.com/2016/10/13/lifestylefilm-from-franca-to-freightened/

Girl Who Would be King, THINKAboutit

Stay·ca·tion – a somewhat indulgent local getaway

staycation2

Sometimes it’s just nice to get away even if it’s somewhere familiar, like the very city you live in.So I suggested we go away somewhere exotic for Christmas. A hotel overlooking the harbour and Stanley Park in Vancouver. A place where we could be quiet but party if we wanted to, and a welcome leisurely holistay.The weather was perfect for a couple of days. We walked a lot, we lounged and we ate. The dogs loved it.And it was very relaxing.And we had a few visitors. This one we were not expecting.I hate when good things come to an end!

Photos: d. king christmas201711 christmas20178

christmas201712

Art, Architecture, Culture, Girl Who Would be King

Let there be Light

December 24th, 2016

Store window - Granville Island — Store window – Granville Island

It’s Christmas Eve day uglysweaters and today also marks the first day of Hannukah

Not only is the holiday’s lighting of candles beautifully symbolic of so many different things, but Hanukkah also creates a wonderful spirit of unison and love that I wish we saw more of during every other day of the year.