MR. NATURAL

Filmmaker, Goldsworthy, reunite for new art doc, Leaning Into the Wind

Whenever I'm asked what my favorite movies are, I usually babble out three or four titles that pop into my head right that minute — Chinatown, I might say. Or Annie Hall, or Memento, or Grand Illusion. The selection usually varies, according to my mood in the moment.

But one title I always include on the list is Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time, German filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer's stirring 2001 documentary about the life and extraordinary work of "environmental artist" Andy Goldsworthy.

Not a conventional biographical doc, it says little about Scotsman Goldswothy's personal life. Instead, it's a vibrant joyride through themes of art, time and nature, expressed through the artist's powerful, yet often intentionally impermanent constructions — required viewing for anyone looking to jumpstart your own creative energy.

Artists and movie lovers who made Rivers and Tides such a long-running hit in Santa Cruz will be thrilled that filmmaker Riedelsheimer once again teams up with Goldsworthy for a new doc, Leaning Into The Wind.

Nature at work: mesmerizing

It's an invigorating portrait of the artist 16 years later: older, mellower (perhaps) but no less questing, as he travels the globe revisiting old work (or what's left of it), setting himself new challenges, and always seeking new ways to look at art, his work, and life.

Goldsworthy works with natural materials (leaves, twigs) meant to altered or destroyed by the caprices of nature, or mammoth stone constructions. One wall of clay develops a mesmerizing network of cracks and fissures as the clay dries.

Most haunting is a sculpted portal through which moonlight alone projects a glowing image of breathtaking beauty and no substance at all, into the darkness.

Like its predecessor, this move is a feast. Peel your orbs and dig in!
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PROWLING TOWARD PUB DAY

More exciting news as my Beast prowls toward publication!

The folks at Audible are busy putting together the Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge audiobook as we speak. They even sent me sample audition tapes, so I could vote on which narrator I liked best!

No details yet, but release date should be the same as publication day, July 10, 2018.

I'm so looking forward to hearing what they do with my Beast!

Meanwhile, my PR diva at Candlewick Press, is lining up guest blog posts and Q&As for me in the weeks running up to publication day. (Including more giveaways!)

Got a book blog? I'd be thrilled to drop by and answer questions, reveal little known facts about Beast, or otherwise hang out, so please do let me know!

I can't wait to share my Beast with the world!

Stay tuned . . .

(Above: Concept sketch by Francois Baranger for 2014 French film La Belle et la Bete.)

GROWTH SPURT

Loss, redemption, maturity fuel family healing in witty Coming of Age

Patrons of the Jewel Theatre Company may fondly recall its production of a play by Santa Cruz author Kate Hawley back in 2015. That excellent play, Complications From A Fall, is a kind of companion piece to Hawley' newest work, Coming Of Age, "a serious comedy" now having its world premiere at JTC.

Both plays deal with the theme of aging parents and their effect on the lives of their middle-aged children.

Hawley is particularly incisive in exploring the radical idea that parents may have once had —or continue to have — separate, and interesting lives outside the box into which their children have always confined them.

Coming Of Age is less overtly comic than its predecessor, although it still has plenty of witty dialogue. Protagonist, Ian (the entertaining Mike Ryan), author of literary novels, drops in to the family home in upstate New York to visit his father, John (J. Michael Flynn), an acclaimed university professor, now retired, and recently widowed.

They've been setting up this visit for weeks, but John is surprised to see him, and doesn't seem too eager to have his son stick around. Ian finds out why with the arrival of Deirdre (Martha Brigham). Once a bedazzled student of John's, nearly 40 years younger than he is, Deirdre has become a fixture in the household.

As discreet as she is in person, her presence chips new fissures into the already tense father-son relationship.

Flynn, Brigham, Ryan: Menage a trois

Director Paul Whitworth keeps the action unobtrusively fluid — especially in the dynamic second half when Hawley's focus becomes sharper; all of the characters get a chance to express their own feelings and motivations in Hawley's simple, eloquent dialogue.

Flynn's portrait of John as a cranky oldster betrayed by time is tempered by flashes of the magnificent lion he must have once been.

And, as usual with JTC, tech work is first-class, especially Kent Dorsey's outstanding Craftsman-style set. You will want to live here!
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HAPPY NEWS

Say what you will about the Ides of March, but I received some happy news today from Kirkus Review!

My editor, Kaylan Adair, at Candlewick, sent me a pre-publication sneak peek at the Kirkus review of Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, will be published online next week. (May 1st, in print.) They say, in part:

A fresh retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" with an interesting and meaningful plot twist. Vividly enchanting descriptions transport the reader to the beautiful surroundings. Lucie is a brave and sympathetic heroine who ultimately writes her own happy ending. For readers who love reimagined fairy tales and strong female characters. (Fiction. 13-adult)

The readers at Kirkus are a tough crowd. They weren't so crazy about Alias Hook, so this review is a big thrill for me!

Also pleased that they rate the prospective age group as 13 to adult. Just a reminder that this is not exactly the Disney version!

Thanks, Kirkus!

THE JOURNEY CONTUNUES

Fans of Dana Chamblee Carpenter's compelling debut novel, The Bohemian Gospel, will find this second installment of the trilogy, The Devil's Bible, something of a hybrid.


The first half alternates chapters between the extraordinary life of heroine, Mouse, in 13th C Prague (picking up exactly where the previous book left off) and a contemporary, globe-spanning chase thriller involving missing medieval manuscript pages, secret societies, sinister priests, and an epic battle between Good and Evil.


But Carpenter amps up the intrigue with the fact that the contemporary heroine is the same Mouse as the outcast healer, manuscript illuminator and purveyor of dark terrifying powers from the first book.


700 years later, she's perpetually on the move; she shuns personal relationships and never stays in one job long enough for anyone to notice that she never ages.


The first book is all about establishing Mouse's character as she comes to grips with her powers and — finally — discovers their source. This backstory is invaluable as Mouse's personal journey continues here, so read the first book first.

In this one, her fractious relationship with her parent, her determination not to give into the dark side of her powers, and her quest for redemption — she even dares to fall in love —  fuel the heart of story.


That said, when the second half of the book goes into full-on Da Vinci Code mode, I wasn't quite as interested. Carpenter writes with urgency, but the demonic assaults and near-death resurrections start to feel a little repetitive.

Page from the real Codex: illuminating

But I found the parent-child debates about the nature of evil fascinating. (And not only because they remind me so much of James Hook's struggle to outgrow the role of villain thrust upon him in Alias Hook!)


Btw, the so-named Devil's Bible is an actual book, The Codex Gigas ("giant book" in Latin), a mysterious 13th C manuscript of mammoth size and unknown origin, with glorious illuminations.


Including the disturbing image of the Devil (above) that Carpenter appropriates for her cover. (Feast your orbs here!)


Carpenter's tale-spinning about the origin and creation of this masterpiece is audacious and satisfying.


Sign me up for the final book in the trilogy, The Book of the Just due out in October!

WILD THING

It's the tenth of the month, and you know what that means?


Four more months until the release of Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge! (July 10, 2018!)


In the meantime, behold my Beast of the Month, by contemporary artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins.


Is this a Beast with art-i-tude, or what?


Hicks-Jenkins is a theatrical designer, painter, printmaker and book illustrator in Wales.

 
This sketch is a design for a pair of Beauty and Beast puppets he began in 2014. It doesn't look like Hicks-Jenkins ever completed the pair. But I was able to track down this image of his final version of Beast!


Here's the fascinating backstory of how Hicks-Jenkins was inspired by Jean Marais and Josette Day in the classic Beaty and the Beast film by Jean Cocteau. After making this colorful drawing, he opted to ditch its refinement and instead do a much wilder, rougher version for the actual puppet.


Its papier-mâché head is texturized with plenty of gesso (unsanded), and painted black-and-while (to reference the film), with the focus on it head, paws, and claws.


I love this wild-looking puppet to pieces! (It must be the doll-maker in me.) But I also adore the original sketch!


Here's some more of the artist's insights into his puppet-making process!

FEMALE TROUBLES

Trans heroine triumphs over adversity in A Fantastic Woman


Transgender actress Daniela Vega makes a triumphant debut in A Fantastic Woman (La Mujer Fantastico), playing the role of a transgender woman fighting for respect in modern-day Chile. But this is way more than one-issue movie.

This year's Foreign Language Oscar winner, Sebastián Lelio's engrossing film is a resonant and stylishly-told story about the basic human right to live with dignity and carve out one's identity in the world.

Chilean filmmaker Lelio (along with his co-screenwriter, Gonzalo Maza) made the zesty woman-over-50 movie, Gloria, a few years back.

They continue to delve into the psyche of interesting females here with protagonist Marina Vidal (Vega), a cafe waitress by day who croons sultry ballads in a bar at night.

Reyes and Vega; frisky and tender

She shares an apartment in Santiago with her partner of several years, frisky, tender Orlando (Francisco Reyes), a divorced businessman a few decades older than she is.

But one night, in bed, Orlando becomes disoriented. Marina rushes him to the hospital — where, soon after, he dies.

But the devastating shock of her loss is just the beginning of her troubles.

That not all of the issues she faces are gender identity-based broadens the film's scope. Marina's plight as an outsider forbidden the rights of the legal kinship group is universal.

Lelio makes adroit use of visual metaphor (like mirrors, inviting us to ponder the true nature of identity), as the emotional story draws us in. And in Vega's fearless performance, we get a strong-willed heroine to root for.

Not "tough" in any clichéd way, she's determined to pursue her rights and stay true to her selfhood.

Performer and trans activist Vega was Lelio's consultant on the film, introducing him to contemporary trans culture. But it wasn't until the very end of the process, when the script was completed and the cameras were ready to roll, that it occurred to Lelio that Vega would be perfect to play Marina.

So the role was not exactly written for Vega, but thank heavens for serendipity — her performance is outstanding.
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THEY'RE B-A-A-CK AGAIN!

Well, friends, the Academy Awards will be handed out tonight.


And you know what that means:


 Oh no! Oh yes! It's the Return of the Oscar Barbies!


There are no Best Actress nominees from historical films this year — unless you count movies set in the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

No Judi Dench flouncing around in crinolines as Queen Victoria; no new Jane Austen adaptations. Those are always the most fun to do.

Still, there's room for creativity in this year's nominees.



First up: Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya.

Okay, yes, she's got roller skates, but I grew up in SoCal so I didn't have Barbie's ice-skating outfit! I made this outfit from bits and pieces — just like Tonya had to do — and the doll's exaggerated hair and makeup are (for once) perfect!


Next up, Saorise Ronan in Lady Bird! Nothing too distinctive, costume-wise — except the slightly pink hair.


I really had a hard time coming up with props for this one.

So I finally resorted to a prom dress from Barbie's closet to reference the scene when Lady Bird and her mom go shopping, and quit their petty bickering the instant they both fall in love with the same dress!


Our third nominee is Meryl Streep, playing publisher Katherine Graham in The Post.

 

Fortunately, I have a tweed suit, string of pearls, and a vintage short-haired Barbie for — well, basically, any time Meryl Streep gets nominated. (Which is every year.)

All I needed to do this year was Google The Washington Post and print out a mini version of the front page.


Next up, my favorite challenge of the year, for my favorite movie — Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water!


There's not much to her outfit‚ a blue dress and a blue sweater, like all the cleaning staff wear at the secret government lab in the movie. (Also, those shiny black shoes.)

Of course, I had to make the mop, not an item typically fond in Barbie's wardrobe.


But the main event here is her "prop" — the Amphibian Man himself! Yes, it's The Creature From the Black Lagoon, from the classic 1950s sci-fi movie that director Guillermo del Toro cheerfully admits inspired his own character.


This image is on the lid of the box containing the Creature model kit. (Art Boy never built the model, so I had to use the lid.) I found the perfect industrial-green construction paper to frame it in, and Art Boy cleverly constructed the rest of the "tank" around it.


But, as much fun as they were to make, these nominees are the also-rans this year.

And the winner is: Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri!
 

Definitely the toughest challenge of the year. She spends the entire movie in the same blue-denim jumpsuit, most of which I had to make — the top half, anyway. She has basically no hair, what there is of it wrapped in a bandana. (I had to use a twisty piece of wire ribbon.)


And while I was able to paint out some of her eye makeup, I couldn't do anything about her girly grin.


Still, it all came together when, searching for some kind of prop, we found a Barbie-sized Coke bottle squirreled away somewhere. Art Boy made it into the Molotov cocktail McDormand's character throws in a key scene in the movie — one way for this doll to express McDormand's rage, despite that wimpy grin!


That's it for this year. Click here for a peek at Oscar Barbies Past!