Double Indemnity (1944): review: 9/10

"I was thinking about the dame upstairs and how she'd looked at me and I wanted to see her again- close"

In LA, an insurance salesman and married female client fall for each other: they concoct a scheme to make some money from his firm and get rid of her husband at the same time.

Magnificently acted throughout, with splendid cinematography, shot through with laconic wit.

The Fall (2006): review: 4/10

"Googly! Googly! Googly!"

In a hospital in LA, an injured stuntman and a small girl entertain each other with heroic tales.

Both stuntman and girl are most beguiling, as are the fantastic shots from India, but the film is simply too long, so it's charms become lost as ideas are repeated or over-explored, rendering them wearisome.

Thus the film sadly serves to illustrate the wise artists maxim "concision is a virtue in art".

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007): review: 3/10

The last days of Jesse James and his gang, which largely focusses on the behavious of his young follower Robert Ford.
The story is told through a series of mumbling encounters in wintry Missouri.


The film can be judged a failure for the following reasons:


1. Pacing painfully slow.
2. Lack of examination of character and motive, with the exception of Robert Ford's, which is dwelt on to the point of exhaustion.
3. Few exciting moments: remarkable given that this is a gangster film.
4.  Pitt's silly hamster smirk throughout.
5. The cinematography is beautiful, especially in the train robbery scene but this is not, in itself, enough to justify such a long film.

What Women Want: (2000): review: 8/10

An advertising executive, known for exhibiting sexist attitudes, loses his position as creative director to a woman: not long after he mysteriously gains the ability to hear the thoughts of women. He also has to deal with his 15 year old daughter.

A highly successful romantic comedy, full of amusing incidents, perfectly paced and scripted.

Three from Sicily; tourism, photography and plein air painting

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I took the ferry from Malta to Sicily, staying for a couple of days in spledidly sited former Greek Empire city of Syracuse, where Archimedes lived and which features ruins of some importance.

Much of the city has recently been restored, though the place still has some rough edges.

Three from Sicily (Syracuse and Taormina)

 

 

 

 

Corso Umberto I, oil on card, 13 x 9.6 cm - discarded

Greek Amphitheatre, Syracuse, oil on card, 9.5 x 12.6

I met a charming French-Spanish couple while painting here, at this greek Apmhitheatre, which is quite enormous. Thanks to them for buying me lunch. I hope they find this site.

 

View of Taormino, oil on card 12.6 x 9.5 cm    available

 

 

 

 

Taormino is one of those places that is so touristified that it is quite unpleasant, the entire length of the main street taken up with shops selling souvenirs. The tourist industry has this amazing capacity to destroy the places and cultures that it supposedly celebrates: everything becomes commodified, including aspects of interpersonal relations.

The views  from the town, however, are quite breathtaking.

My picture owes something to Kokoschka, the itinerant Austrian, whose painting journeys might become a model for me, along with Edward Lear and the Scotsman David Roberts.

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Digital cameras have made photography easy, cheap and fast and I see tourists, including myself, wandering about snapping away, scarely seeing the world save through a lens. Given that images of most places tourists visit, quite probably of superior quality, can be found on the web, their reason for snapping must really more to do with the desire to say "I was here", than to record or understand a place.

In the face of this barrage of fast photo images there is obviously place for slower, more considered meditation on places. Plein air painting provides this.

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These paintings are for sale- for 100 Brazillian Reals or equivalent in another stable currency (at the time of writing this is roughly 58 US$ or 42 Euros or 36 GB pounds). Post, packing and handling are not included.

More details can be found under the label "buying art", below: please contact me with any enquiries.

 

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Five paintings from Malta

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The next few posts will feature paintings from a recent trip to Malta and Italy. All were painted plein air on a more or less one or two- a- day basis.

Five paintings from Malta, with coins for scale.

I had wished to post these images while travelling, but this prove difficult because the internet cafes often disable the USB connextions to their computers, making it impossible to download images.

Clearly, for future trips I shall have to consider taking along a little laptop- not something I'm keen on doing because of the additional weight and bother. 

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The trip began badly, I was down with flu much of the time, so I just managed a couple of interiors, and  views from the balcony of the flat in Marsaxlokk, including these:

Marsaxlokk, Interior, sofa haircut, oil on card, 14 x 10 cm - available

Marsaxlokk, Interior with woman with a "bowl" haircut, oil on card, 14 x 10 cm - discarded

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Tomorrow I shall post some pictures from Syracuse, Sicily.


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Nineteen paintings from Malta and Italy

From top: row 1- Malta; row 2- Sicily (Syracuse and Taormina); row 3- Sicily (Catania); row 4- Naples and Pompeii; row 5- Rome.

Plein air paintings from recent travels, all oil on card. I've included sunglasses and my paint box for scale.

For more detailed descriptions, please see individual pictures, which I shall put online over the next few days.

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All these paintings are for sale, at 100 Brazillian Reals- or current US$, Euros or Sterling equivalent (as I write, 100 Reals converts to 59 US Dollars,  43 Euros or 37 GB pounds).

Payment is by cheque or SWIFT or direct transfer from a UK or Brazillian Bank. These prices do not include postage and packing/handling.

All paintings described as "pochades" or "postcards" are priced as above (100 Brazillian Reals or equivalent)

These prices are deliberately low because I am keen to make my work available to those on ordinary salaries and to people who are normally excluded from the pleasure of owning original artworks for reasons of price.