Luca Guadagnino‘s Salvadore: Shoemaker of Dreams, a two-hour biopic of legendary shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo, will screen out of competition at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. Ferragamo makes hand-crafted luxury shoes for people who value style and comfort. The business is based in Florence.

Wiki excerpt: “The company is owned by the Ferragamo family, which in November 2006 included Salvatore’s widow Wanda, five children, 23 grandchildren and other relatives. There is a rule that only three members of the family can work at the company, which has prompted fierce competition.”

Luca’s film is about the journey of the founder, who was born in Benito, Italy in 1898 and died in 1960 — only 62. Not the brand or the family business (which also manufactures watches, perfumes, handbags, eyewear, silk accessories and a ready-to-wear clothing line) but the man. The second YouTube clip is from Luca’s film.

No one is more admiring of Italian shoemakers than myself, especially in the realm of brown suede lace-ups. I bought my first pair of Bruno Magli Oxfords in Venice 20 years ago, and while my all-time favorite Bruno Magli suede lace-ups were ruined by a thoughtless West Hollywood shoe repair guy, I still have them in my closet. And yet my current suede favorites were made by Wolf and Shepherd.

I’ve bought Italian-made shoes that cost $350 or so, but some of Ferragamo’s Oxford lace-ups run $1500. Good Lord!

Read more

Who’s kidding whom? At best HE dabbles in broadcast/cable/streaming. In a word, I’m a dilletante. Meaning that I see what I have time for, but (a) don’t push me and (b) I tend to avoid comedies. I’m basically a movie, Bluray and 4K streaming guy in search of comfort zones. (Remember movies?) I live on Amazon, Netflix, HBO Max, Vudu and Criterion Channel. I’m nonetheless an educated human being with feelings, opinions, passions, etc. And so I decided to post this. Where’s the harm?

HE preferences are in boldface; random comments inserted. All hail Cate Blanchett, Tracey Ullman and the Mrs. America team.

Best Drama Series

“Better Call Saul” (AMC)…sure.
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)…nope.
“Killing Eve” (BBC America/AMC)
“The Mandalorian” (Disney Plus)…no!
“Ozark” (Netflix)
“Stranger Things” (Netflix)
“Succession” (HBO)

Comedy Series

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)…HE-styled humor, close to home.
“Dead to Me” (Netflix)
“The Good Place” (NBC)
“Insecure” (HBO)
“The Kominsky Method” (Netflix)
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon Prime Video)
“Schitt’s Creek” (Pop TV)
“What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)

Limited Series

“Little Fires Everywhere” (Hulu)
“Mrs. America” (Hulu)…loved this series.
“Unbelievable” (Netflix)
“Unorthodox” (Netflix)
“Watchmen” (HBO)

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Jeremy Irons (“Watchmen”)
Hugh Jackman (“Bad Education”)
Paul Mescal (“Normal People”)
Jeremy Pope (“Hollywood”)
Mark Ruffalo (“I Know This Much Is True”)

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”)
Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”)
Regina King (“Watchmen”)
Octavia Spencer (“Self Made”)
Kerry Washington (“Little Fires Everywhere”)

Read more

Games, DHS goons, screams, smoke, street theatre. Tackled woman protestor: “Get the fuck offa me!” Goon tackler: “Fuckin’ coward!”…Trump’s storm troopers have provoked and the demonstrators have played right along. And to what end? Trump has simply collected good material for campaign ads.

Obviously the anonymous Department of Home Security goons have inflamed things, and yet street lefties in Portland and Seattle appear to be doing everything they can to persuade those who might otherwise vote for Joe Biden to hold their noses and, hating themselves, vote for The Beast. People will sympathize with political disturbances for a week or two, but they’re generally spooked by violent disorder, and are now sick of this repetitive crap and just want it to end already.

Remove the goons and it’ll all taper off. But of course, Trump and Attorney General William Barr want this horseshit to continue so the goons stay.

Favorite clip: Protestor peeing on a lamppost.

Read more

Our extravagant, suitable-for-Kim Kardashian pad in San Felipe. We drove back to WeHo in 7 hours and 15 minutes, including a 45-minute (possibly an hour) wait at the Mexicali border crossing.

In a 7.26 Medium article, Michael Tracey notes how mainstream media types have in many cases under-reported if not ignored the destruction to small businesses and lower-income nabes caused by the George Floyd protest riots.

I for one am horrified by a certain clip from the new trailer for Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are (HBO series, eight episodes). I’m referring to the moment when Jack Dylan Grazer (It, Shazam) appears to be laughingly on the verge of shearing off Jordan Kristine Seamon‘s hair. They’re both loving the moment….the fuck? (HE to Guadagnino: Head-shaving is never, ever a laughing matter.) Grazer plays an introverted mid-teen from New York who’s just arrived at an Italian military base with his gay moms, played by Chloe Sevigny and Alice Braga. Seamon plays Caitlin, a settled teenager who has lived on the base for several years.

Chloé Zhao‘s Nomadland (Searchlight) will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival on the same date — September 11, 2020. It will also screen at the New York Film Festival, or so the press release says.

It should be noted that Nomadland is a potential Best Picture contender with no apparent politically correct demerits — Frances McDormand starring, directed and written by Zhao, based on Jessica Bruder‘s book, compassion for disenfranchised people, white male currents subordinate.

The wokesters will be down with it, and old-school males will want to vote for it in order to convey their support for women filmmakers and to show they’re in the swing of things.

The Venice debut will apparently be physically real and theatrical; the Toronto debut will be digital. Who knows if the NYFF showing will happen with a live audience? Here’s hoping.

Around noon we walked into town along the blazing white beach, and the heat (99 or 100 degrees) was so intense I began to feel like Gasim gasping for air and close to collapsing in the Nefud desert. I almost couldn’t see for the perspiration. I lost around seven pounds in the space of 60 minutes.