Perfect for whiskeys, cognacs, and wines, this Star Wars Glass Stormtrooper Decanter can hold up to 750ml of your finest alcohol. Picture this: you get home from a trying day on the new Death Star. All you want to do is hang up your lightsaber, unwind to an acoustic cover of the Imperial March in front of a fire. But you want something to drink. Then you remember you have a Star Wars Stormtrooper decanter filled with Corellian wine.
I’m mixing fantasy with reality here but the fact is a stylish, high-quality Star Wars decanter is the perfect gift for any Stormtrooper enthusiasts. Whether you’re on the side of the Galactic Empire or Rebel Alliance.
And don’t forget to drink responsibly and don’t drink and drive.
Interview: Gunnar Birkerts (Michigan Modern™ Design that Shaped America)
Alexandra Lange wrote a brilliant piece on the modernist architect Gunnar Birkerts, who died this week at the age of 92. Birkerts was born in Latvia but fled his home towards the end of WWII as Russian troops entered.
Ever heard of Marvin R. Clark? Probably not. But in 1895, he self-published “Pussy and Her Language”, a publication teaching cat owners how to treat their feline friends. He was a cat lover himself and his intention with the pamphlet was to give “one out of a million Cats” a good name. Here are some quotes from the 150-page book:
“I have already given seventeen of the most important words of the feline language, with their English equivalents, as follows:
Aelio – Food. Lae – Milk. Parriere – Open. Aliloo – Water. Bl – Meat. Ptlee-bl – Mouse meat. Bleeme-bl – Cooked meat. Pad – Foot. Leo – Head. Pro – Nail or claw. Tut – Limb. Papoo – Body. Oolie – Fur. Mi-ouw – Beware. Purrieu – Satisfaction or content. Yow – Extermination. Mieouw – Here.”
“According to the primal order of speech and the manner of the construction of sentences in the Cat language, you will hear such utterances as these: ‘Milk give me,’ ‘Meat I want,’ ‘Mary I love,’ ‘Going out, my mistress?’ ‘Sick I am,’ ‘Happy are my babies,'”
“Your Noah Webster, who padded your dictionary in order to make a formidable book, like many another man, says that animals are not possessed of reasoning powers, but have only instinct. […] This is your American authority, and you must accept it, for you have adopted the dictionary. By this definition, and with only one question, I will prove to you that animals have reasoning powers, just as men have.”
They say it’s never too late and this website shows you exactly why. Enter your birth date and find out what other influences were people were doing at your age. Around my age, Shakespeare had just written Romeo and Juliet, Nintendo was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, and Coco Chanel opened a clothes shop.
The interactive data viz comes from Information Is Beautiful. The site was founded by David McCandless, who created it to “help make clearer, more informed decisions about the world”.
I put my age in and while it can maybe feel depressing (“I’m X and I’ve not achieved anything!”) but you can totally flip that because the infographic doesn’t stop at your age – it carries on. Plenty of time to do whatever the hell you want.
Ever watched Sunset Beach? I used to watch it with my mum and sister in the late 90s. It was “so bad it was good” and now any show that lives up to that accolade gets called “a bit Sunset Beach”. But sometimes bad acting is just atrocious. Like Birdemic, an indie romantic horror about a couple in a small town attacked by birds. Wait, that sounds familiar.
In The Best of Bad Acting, we see a host of terrible performances and we can only assume some are bad on purpose. You can tell some of them have low budgets (like Birdemic, with a budget of around $10k) but movies like Mortal Kombat: Annihilation cost $30m to make.
Some of my favourite quotes:
They’re eating her. And then they’re going to eat me. Oh my goooooooood!
One of my favourite accounts on Twitter has to be @CoolFilmArt. It’s a treasure trove of, well, cool film art with incredible posters from all over the world. We spoke to Robyn, one of the curators of the account about its origins and some of her favourite film posters.
So, how did the @CoolFilmArt account come about?
My pal Jim helps run @CoolBoxArt and I basically ripped the idea off two years ago but for film posters, I also made a list on Letterboxd back in 2013 and thought wow that would be a cool Twitter account. My main basis for choosing a film to watch is 99% what the poster looks like so I thought other people would enjoy them as much as I do. There’s other poster accounts out there but I think we cater to a pretty niche market, like if you were to upturn a stone in between the woodlice you would find our kind of posters, haha.
How do you “curate” the film art you post?
Mostly I find stuff on Google, I like to look for Hollywood posters from other countries (Japan posters are always wild), VHSCollector is a big source for me, loads of hi-res scans of VHS box art! Tumblr also has a good community of poster enthusiasts. If I post fan posters I always try and link back to the original artist, some of them are so good though that you can’t tell if it’s official or not!
Do you have any ambitions to branch out to other channels like Facebook or with a blog?
I already run a film blog @bimbomoviebash and there are no plans to expand CoolFilmArt out. It was always meant to be this very simple idea of just posting posters, I kind of hate it when you follow an account for one thing and they start bringing all their personal stuff into it so I try and keep that to a minimum. Just posters posters posters!
Would you say creative film posters are a dying breed now?
Back in the 80s film rentals and sales were driven so hard by the poster, like you could take a video off the shelf and it would be the poster that swung it. In the day and age of the internet you can’t disguise a shitty film with flashy artwork anymore so there’s really no need for it. It’s definitely a dying art, which is a shame. I can’t stomach a lot of posters now, the trend of just putting absolutely everything on the poster sucks, like Force Awakens, however if something looks interesting now (like that neon green Thor Ragnarok poster) it definitely stands out. I think artistic posters are making a bit of a comeback now because all these kids who grew up in the 80s are making their own films now, but sadly it’s just not important anymore.
Paul Verhoeven. No one rivals his eye for flashy gaudiness or his bite. People are only just starting to GET Showgirls. What a legacy.
Favourite actor/actress?
Jeff Goldblum, I could watch him for hours. Tony Leung, Traci Lords, Divine, Linnea Quigley, Denzel, Jill Schoelen like, the list is never-ending!
Are there any film posters you hate and if so, why?
I’ve never met a Christopher Nolan poster that I’ve liked.
What kind of influence do you think film and film art have on culture in modern times?
I think we’re living in both the worst and best time for movies at the moment. Some days it feels like we’re in a never-ending chasm of superhero reboots that are never ever going to stop, and they all look the same and they swallow up and coming directors into this cycle and then don’t give them the creative freedom to do anything that was the reason they hired them. On the other hand you have stuff like Get Out that swept us all up in a way you wouldn’t think could ever happen anymore, it’s like we all forgot our cynicism and were able to come together to enjoy this truly great movie and things like that make me think we’re going to be okay.
Hibaq Osman is a Somali writer born and based in London. Her work centres women, identity and the healing process. I’ve been following Hibaq online for a number of years and it’s been wonderful watching her grow as a poet. Her words cut and soothe in equal measure.
The thing about blood it reeks of metal baby, aren’t you sick of chains?
German Expressionism ended in 1933 when the Nazis came to power. They weren’t interested in asking uncomfortable questions and viewed such dark tales of cinematic angst as unpatriotic. Instead, they preferred bright, cheerful tales of Aryan youths climbing mountains. By that time, the movement’s most talented directors — Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau — had fled to America. And it was in America where German Expressionism found its biggest impact. Its stark lighting, grotesque shadows and bleak worldview would go on on to profoundly influence film noir in the late 1940s after another horrific, disillusioning war.
But that’s exactly what happened when a teenager met Nancy Cartwright. The American voice actress is best known for voicing Bart Simpson but she also voices Maggie, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Kearney, and Database.
In the video, the 13 year old is selling cookies for his high school. Nancy kindly buys his sixth box (he wins a prize if he can sell seven) and goes into character. But he doesn’t realise it’s actually the voice actor of Bart. Instead, he commends her “impression” before he realises just who he’s talking to.
It’s great to see after all these years, there’s still an element of mystery and wonder behind The Simpsons. Also, how is he only 13?
If you’re gonna showcase your unique delivery, why not do it with a video about the history of Japan? Content creator and musician Bill Wurtz achieved “Internet notoriety”, according to Wikipedia, with his “history of japan” video back in 2016. It featured his quirky style, non-sequitur imagery, and shot his subscriber count out of the stratosphere.
It went viral and currently has over 45 million views. It helped to spawn a wider “sequel” entitled “history of the entire world, i guess” which garnered even larger popularity.
Reviled modern-day directors haven’t got anything on Ed Wood. The American filmmaker made a slew of horrendous low-budget movies in the realms of sci-fi, horror, and crime. During the 60s and 70s, he started making more pornographic films with his signature camp style.
Besides his filmmaking, Ed Wood was also known for his cross-dressing. It’s said his mother wanted a daughter and would dress Wood up in girl’s clothes, inspiring him to carry it on into adult life. He said he loved the feeling of angora on his skin.
In the video below, his life and work are examined through modern eyes to see whether Ed Wood was that bad or simply misunderstood.
From the blackest black to the pinkest pink, Anish Kapoor has now been banned by Stuart Semple from using his new colour-changing paint. In case you missed the original drama, Anish Kapoor got exclusive rights to the Vantablack pigment and artists got angry. So Stuart Semple turned the tables.
There’s also a legal requirement where you must confirm:
“You are not Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor.”
My mum used to make banana cakes every now and again and it was delicious. Banana bread is equally as wonderful a creation. So is cheesecake. But what if you put them all together to create a banana bread bottom cheesecake?
That’s what Tasty did. BuzzFeed’s culinary video series are always making unique dishes and this is a great addition to their repertoire. Their recipe only needs four bananas (and all the other stuff of course).
Bad news it also uses gelatin for the cream cheese which is obviously a no-go for vegetarians and vegans (and to be honest, the whole thing is off-limits to vegans) so you might need an alternative solution for that.
Otherwise, this is a fine-looking banana bread cheesecake and I hope to make this one day.
The brutalist bookends are a concrete take on the Mayan pyramids (although they’re very close to being ziggurats).
An architectural twist on functional accessories, reimagined in stylish concrete. Subtle in colour but crisp in form, Klemens Schillinger’s Landmarks collection evokes a certain understated cool. Perfect for those who want dimensions to rule style: each step is an extruded offset of the footprint that comes before it.
I have two books on brutalism on my bookshelf and these bookends would be perfect for them. I’ll give it some thought.
Amongst all the jokes and pop culture references, The Simpsons have had some really poignant moments. The fact the comedy takes precedent means when the sad parts come, you know what they are and stop accordingly. The mark of a great show (until it stopped being funny after like 2000).
Anyway, you can watch nearly 13 minutes of emotional Simpsons scenes below and cry too.
