This was the first movie I watched in Covid lockdown for obvious reasons, but its theme hits even harder now in the midst of the LA fires and resulting toxic air. Starring Julianne Moore, who I think is one of our last living movie stars. She plays this composed and delicate woman, and refers to herself as âa bit of a milkaholicâ lol. Itâs setting in late 80âs San Fernando Valley is meaningful to me having grown up in 90âs SoCal suburbia and also believing that my way too comfortable surroundings were trying to kill me.
Todd Haynesâ SAFE is one of the best films of the nineties, and itâs a film we referenced a lot during our time on SOME KIND OF HEAVEN for its visual language. Julianne Moore plays Carol, a LA homemaker who inexplicably becomes ill with what seems to be a chronic and extreme aversion to her environment. When mainstream medicine offers no answers, she has to search elsewhere for help. The movie plays as a horror film where the only villains are Carolâs environment and frail body. The movie is engrossing and enigmatic, refusing easy answers and tidy resolutions. And lord knows, itâs become far more relevant today.
Painterly ambivalence~~~ Giuliana (Monica Vitti) struggles to hide her increasingly fragile mental state from her abscent husband in a post-industrial landscape. Corrado, a visiting business man, promises reprieve through an affair. Lots o' fog, gorgeous framing of empty space, a heightened colour palette and a minimalist electronic sound score. The small fairytale sequence is amazing so i've linked^^ watch: if you're into Safe (1995)
I watched it sometime last week. Itâs been eating at me ever since. Elliot Gould walks through a feverishly shot world with a cool that permeates in my head. With dialogue that is messy and mesmerising and characters that walk the line of plausibility and absurdity, Altman's LA is hedonistic dream. Him and Gould make being an out of place loser a lot cooler than it is.
Oh youâre exhausted after staring at the computer for 8 hours? No you arenât. Take some time to decompress and then get back out there. Trying not to drink/eat out? I donât care go do something else!
Stretching for 10-20 minutes when I wake up and before I go to bed. Life changing and guaranteed to cure at least one of your alleged mental health diagnoses. Major shout out to Yoga with Kassandra on YouTube.
Obviously major shoutout to lentils but thatâs been said. Creamy protein pasta is like my version of boxed mac and cheese during the week. Blend up silken or soft tofu with nutritional yeast and miso + pepper + salted pasta water and mix with chickpea pasta for extra protein. Wilt some spinach in there and youâre set.