Rebel without a Cause (1955)

Writing about 'the James Dean look' on movies like Badlands and Flyboys, I had to cover and show where this ideal image originates from. The popularity of James Dean was immense at the time and some say this was the reason for Warner Bros. to order director Nicholas Ray to re-shoot the movie in color. As originally the film was to be shot in black and white.

The rebellious character of Jim Stark seems of course to have been written for James Dean, who was known for his love of cars and any sorts of racing. However 'the James Dean look' has got nothing to do with cars, but is all about the indifferent, bored but cool expression on his face, his white tee combined with the iconic Lee 101 Riders jeans and the red Harrington jacket completes this look. Nicolas Ray did research on contemporary L.A. gangs for the characters in this movie and this resulted in lots of selvage jeans, probably most of them big E 501's, leather jackets and cowboy-style boots.

American Psycho (2000)

I know American Psycho is an often featured film when talking style, suits or just still images taken from movies. Still I enjoy every single minute of this utterly good movie. The mockery of the 80's and the Wallstreet type of businessmen is just great. The delusion in which these businessmen mingle themselves every single day, the fake burden and responsibility they carry and their materialistic view on life. This hollow life is all too much for the narcissistic character of Patrick Bateman, the best role performed by Christian Bale to date. Perhaps the still of Willem Dafoe need some explaining, it's his face that has got so much character to it, he's the actor that could, in theory, play any kind of role. I had to capture it.

The following thought/quotation from Patrick Bateman is my favorite one of the movie and actually summarizes it quite good:

"Allen has mistaken me for this dickhead, Marcus Halberstram.
It seems logical because Marcus also works at P&P,
and in fact does the same exact thing I do.
He also has a penchant for Valentino suits and Oliver Peoples glasses.
Marcus and I even go to the same barber,
although I have a slightly better haircut."

Badlands (1973)

Badlands is the first feature-film of one of my favorite directors: Terrence Malick. He wrote some scripts for features before but they were never shot the way he had in mind. With Badlands he directed his own script in a brilliantly way, the same he would do with his next three features.

The story was inspired on the Starkweather-Fugate incident in the late '50's. The 18-year old Starkweather ran away with his 14-year old girlfriend and they let a trail of murders behind. Starkweather was deeply intrigued by the 'Rebel without a Cause' image of James Dean, and wanted to look and act like him.

Certainly Malick made a good choice with Martin Sheen, who's got the James Dean look all the way. A movie for the true vintage denim fans, Martin Sheen wears his white tee with double denim: Levi's 501xx jeans and a Levi's 507xx denim jacket (which is priceless these days). Another great detail is the voice-o-graph booth, where you can record your song or text that is immediately pressed on a 7" vinyl record.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1992)

The real rural American life depicted in this movie is pretty poignant, set in a simple small village setting and brings to us social difficulties that can be universally extended. Gilbert tries to escape this environment in where he has to deal with his handicapped brother (played by a superb young DiCaprio) and his mother struggling with overweight.

I had some dilemma about whether I could appoint What's Eating Gilbert Grape to a whole post or not. The problem is that there isn't so much to see in the movie except for the character of Johnny Depp, whose style is simply exquisite during all of the movie. He rocks his brown trucker jacket all day long, with different longsleeves or striped shirts underneath it, accompanied by his light-blue Levi's 501 denim and his pair of Red Wing 8181 shoes. I love it. Although there's the handyman played by John C. Reilly, dressed up as a the typically truckdriver, who's pretty cool here: trucker cap, worn out Levi's jacket and another pair of Red Wings.

The Limits of Control (2009)

I have to apologize for the low number of stills lately, due to visits to Berlin where celebrating the new year and last week my visit to the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The five days Rotterdam where great even though the city hasn't that much to offer apart from the film festival, the world-famous Boijmans van Beuningen museum and some stores. From the movies I've seen I would strongly recommend Essential Killing, The King of Devil's Island, Black Swan and 13 Assassins. Okay back to another film by Jarmusch.

In the Limits of Control Jarmusch brings coolness to a higher level, partially due to the efforts of probably the greatest cinematographer alive right now; Christoper Doyle. His sense for composition, color, focus and depth is incredible. So combine the sense for style, items and details from Jarmusch with the superb cinematography by Doyle, there only lacks some substance in the form of very interesting dialogues about the subjectivity of art. Once again Isaach de Bankolé is present in this Jarmusch flick in the role of the secret agent. His mission is to destroy the bureaucrats that know what it takes to make art and how to explain it. He communicates with his fellow agents by codes hidden in fantastic 'Le Boxeur - Fabriqué au Cameroun' matchboxes. The Limits of Control is subjective to the bone and asks a little effort from your own imagination, as any good movie should.