I'm a late bloomer, I am a slow learner

What is this that I hear and why haven't been up to this forever ago (which in this case is last July when pretty much all the news on the topic are dated)?! So, just yesterday I was gushing about Jennifer Jason Leigh and inspired by that I ended up doing some serious googling and Tumblr tag search and apparently she is to appear in an upcoming HBO series called Open. 

That alone is cool and all but there's more! Well, what could possibly make me all jazzed about this? Why yes, she IS playing a lesbian character. Also that character is in a love triangle with women played by Anna Torv and Michelle Monaghan. Is this the real life?! Is this just fantasy?! Why isn't there more information on this?! I have too many questions and too few answers?! I have too many sentences with question marks and exclamation points?!

What I've gathered is that apparently the series is about multiple main characters, the themes are relationships and sexuality, it's often described as being ”provocative”, it'll be on HBO and it's written be Ryan Murphy. Apparently the last fact gives people some Feels. I have given up on Glee ages ago so I really have no opinion on that but I've definitely enjoyed American Horror Story and the film Running with Scissors so I am quite pleased by this! Also gay people writing gay people = the best. So back to the questions: when will this happen?! Is it happening yet?! Can it please happen now?!

 Michelle Monaghan, Anna Torv & Jennifer Jason Leigh. Sweet dreams are made of this.

I kind of already ship Anna's character Windsor with both. Oh yeah and it seems that this Windsor is also yoga teacher. Say what?! Hearts in my eyes.

Weekend Jam: Marianne Faithfull - Hold On, Hold On

Last time when it was my turn to pick the Weekend Jam, we were listening to Neko Case. This week we are doing that again. Kind of. For my pick this time is Marianne Faithfull - covering a Neko Case song Hold On, Hold On. 

I definitely enjoy the original but honestly, I love this version even more. Marianne was almost thirty years older than Neko when recording the track and that's bound to give a certain touch to it. Even more so when that person has had more than enough life experience than maybe you ad me and everyone we know combined. When Marianne sings "compared to some I've been around/ but I really tried so hard" or "with a valium from the bride / it's the devil I love" it gives me shivers down my spine.

Marianne Faithfull in Later... with Jools Holland in 2009.

Weekend Jam: Santigold - Disparate Youth

It has been such a warm day today and it really finally feels like spring. I don't seem to get it as I put far too much clothes on again but I hope I'll soon realize that summer is actually coming! I have deep love for these first, sweet days of spring or should I already say, first days of summer. When I was thinking of a song that would remind me of last summer, this song came to my mind. It actually reminds me of last summer's midsummer's eve as I was listening to it back then.

I don't usually use these words but to me Santigold is the epitome of coolness. Unique, talented, intriguing. I also love her voice, it has this slightly melancholic touch. I know this song isn't exactly a happy party song but it still have this warm, a bit nostalgic feeling in it and it brings wonderful memories to my mind.

"I can get any woman away from any man."

 I've always loved so-called classic movie stars and their otherworldly, wondrous charisma. One of the first loves of my life was Marilyn Monroe when I was around seven years old. Then came Marlene Dietrich. I remember seeing her wearing a tuxedo in Marocco and it was truly love at first sight. I think I was around 12-13 at that time. Soon after that I discovered Greta Garbo and of these starlets I've loved her the most. She was mysterious, she was mystical, I related to her on some really special level. Her somehow reserved and eerie presence intrigued me. And she possessed otherworldly beauty I had never seen before.

I'll always remember the day I found out she and Marlene had been lovers. Imagine me including all the exclamation marks in the world here.

Now producer Megan Ellison is making yet-to-be titled TV series of these two also including other icons of the Golden Age of Hollywood like John Gilbert, Mercedes de Acosta, Tallulah Bankhead, Alla Nazimova, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant and John Wayne. I sense a strong sapphic emotions coming this way as I know also De Acosta was involved with Garbo and Dietrich. I remember De Acosta's words "I can get any woman away from any man." I'm looking forward seeing that (and everything else I've just been visualizing in my dreams) dramatized for a small screen.

I'm also quite nervous. Garbo and Dietrich are such icons. Who will be playing them? Will I be content or disappointed? I'm naturally expecting a lot and even more. I can't really think of any modern movie stars who would remind me of them. You know the awkward and confusing feeling when someone you don't really have hots for plays someone who you've been head over heels in love with. It's always hard to portray someone who has been truly iconic. But on the other hand, I do remember Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf. Actressess in roles like that are a blessing and give me hope. Let's wish for something similar for this project. 

Weekend Jam: Neko Case - Man

I first heard Neko Case's belting when encountering this one band very dear to my heart called The New Pornographers years and years ago. That was the gateway drug to the solo Neko material and hooked I got. Last year, Neko released her sixth studio album with a mighty long name and lyrics that are painfully raw and personal. I really liked it. A lot. And I finally got to see her live which was our first encounter for I'd actually only ever witnessed a light version of The New Pornos sans her.

On this 2013 release, The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You, there's a song called Man. In an interview Neko stated "I don't really think of myself specifically as a woman, you know? I'm kind of a critter. I'm an animal. Everyone's an animal. And I find I'm much happier and well-balanced if I think of myself that way because - - - if you were to look at a human creature as kind of a vase or something my glass is a little bit more full of the man stuff, than the woman stuff." Pretty refreshing, really.

And what we have here is (a slightly censored) live performance of Man from Austin City Limits.

Weekend Jam: Emmanuelle Seigner - Distant Lover

This video is a bit silly and I'd really just prefer her singing in french but Emmanuelle…

Oh, Emmanuelle... as your lover I'd never be distant.

Never, ever.

Reckless older women

Within about six months year I've seen three films made in 2013 revolving around the same theme and that I enjoyed a lot. That common theme is something you don't encounter every day. Bright Days Ahead, On My Way and Gloria concentrate on the so-called third act in a person's life. In a woman's life. Yeah, we all know Hollywood's obsessed with youth and like Tina Fey said in the Golden Globes monologue, Meryl Streep proves there are still great parts in Hollywood - for Meryl Streeps over sixty.

 But not everyone can be Meryl Streep. If it's generally worth mentioning that in some film there was a great role for a woman, a younger woman, there really can't be much to choose from for those in more mature state. This could be discussed on forever but I have no interest really. I have nothing to say that hasn't already been said. I mean, there' s a huge audience willing to go see films that speak to them on any level at all. And being in fifties nowadays is a whole different thing than being it in the say sixty years ago when you were gifted with a rocking chair and expected to be one foot in a grave. But I guess people reading this acknowledge that.

I loved Calendar Girls (2003) when I saw it in my teens. Whenever I re-watch Mamma Mia (2008) I come to realise I've forgotten that there are young people in it, too. I wish there were more films like Irina Palm (2007) or Elena (2011) out there. Films that show that these women are so much more than cardboard cutout mothers and grandmothers, looming in the shadows or in some supporting role. 

The three first mentioned, very recent films are basically light with comedic elements but aren't to be taken lightly. They show what sounds only reasonable but seems to be a hard one to get: that life doesn't stop when you get "old". In Bright Days Ahead Fanny Ardant's character retires and finds out she needs more in her life than mundane pottery classes. So she engages in an affair with a younger man. In On My Way, Catherine Deneuve's character takes an impromptu road trip and enjoys her new found freedom. Much like Paulina Garcia's Gloria in the movie of the same title.

These women have grown kids, they are finally free: probably for the first time ever and they can do whatever they please. So they get wild. They are the main characters I their own stories like one should be. They go out drinking. And - gasp - they have sex. This is something that I want to see, and being a person who always ends up seeing films where the average audience age is around fifty, my guess is all these people way closer the target age want to see those films, too. 

American Apparel had recently the 62-year-old Jacky O'Shaughnessy as an underwear model. Jessica Lange was just made the new face of Marc Jacobs Beauty. This is something that should happen more. These life stories that actually are life stories have so much to offer. People are willing to see and hear these stories it if they get a chance. I so hope this is the new thing. That there'll be more these films. From all over the world. Because there's really more going on out there than white able-bodied cis-gender heterosexuals who are conventionally good looking and in their 20's or 30's falling in love.

Albeit, being all for women not giving a hoot about anything at all and behaving kind of badly, it shouldn't be the only thing we see. Most women that age, or any age, don't end up giving hand jobs for money nor wake up alone on a beach wearing one shoe after a wild night out. Not every older woman should hook up with a younger person. If one does, they have every right to do so but all kinds of stories deserve to be told. Diversity is the key word. Yet again. But then again, the first pioneers need to clear the way for all these stories out there waiting to make it to the silver screen. And I for one don't mind; these reckless older women - boy do I love them!