#But social anxiety be doomed I didn't actually speak with them :(

[time-and-spuds]

I Made this little Clip-on Bill for a Last Minute Ford Cosplay (for a small con that Happened in my City)

Here's the little guy

-the obligatory meat Stage wip-

And Also the whole Cosplay! (+My little bootleg leafeon)

[cinemavariety]

The Director’s Series: Sofia Coppola

The director series will consist of me concentrating on the filmography of all my favorite directors. I will rank each of their films according to my personal taste. I hope this project will provide everyone with quality recommendations and insight into films that they might not have known about. Today’s director in spotlight is Sofia Coppola

#6 - The Beguiled (2017) Runtime: 1 hr 33 min     Aspect Ratio: 1.66 : 1                     Film Format: 35 mm

During the Civil War, at a Southern girls’ boarding school, young women take in an injured enemy soldier. As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events. Verdict: Coppola’s most largely feminist work of her canon. The Beguiled is both a moody ensemble tale and a doomed period piece set during the Civil War era. Power plays are passed among the women as they subtly vie for attention from the injured solider they take under their wing. As usual, Coppola has a trained eye for beautiful frame composition. Her use of 35mm brings an extra textured layer to the events - even if they never get as probing as the trailers promised.

#5 - Somewhere (2010) Runtime: 1 hr 33 min   Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1                  Film Format: 35 mm

After withdrawing to the Chateau Marmont, a passionless Hollywood actor reexamines his life when his eleven-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit. 

Verdict: Somewhere is Sofia at her most soft, subtle, and minimalist. In fact, this film washes over you like a gentle breeze. Playing on themes she explored in Lost in Translation, Somewhere is a story of a man living a hedonistic lifestyle. Although he is adorned with riches and beautiful people, he cannot help but feel a deep existential loneliness. His lifestyle is interrupted by the arrival of his daughter who slowly helps him wake up from his daze of dissatisfaction by enjoying the moment. Not Sofia’s most exciting, but still wholly satisfying.

#4 - Lost in Translation (2003) Runtime: 1 hr 42 min   Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1 Film Format: 35 mm

Two lost souls visiting Tokyo – the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial – find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other’s company, away from their lives in America. 

Verdict: While this film didn’t click with me on initial viewing - it’s beauty has grown on me exponentially over the years whenever I revisit it. Lost in Translation, at its base level, is an examining of the social isolation people can feel - even when they are surrounded by people. You know that feeling when you are lonely even in a crowded room? This film is that feeling idealized to celluloid. Scarlett and Bill’s chemistry is just about perfect and we get to bear witness to a pure friendship developing against the turmoil of life’s daily anxieties.

#3 - The Bling Ring (2013) Runtime: 1 hr 30 min   Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1 Film Format: RED Epic Digital

Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the Internet to track celebrities’ whereabouts in order to rob their homes. 

Verdict: The Bling Ring is Coppola’s least successful effort in most film critics eyes - however I found it to be one of her most lively and fun projects she’s ever done. Inspired by a Vanity Fair article, the fact that this film is based on true events makes it even more wildly entertaining. Coming out the same year as Spring Breakers did, this film also projects a spotlight on delinquent youth culture characterized by a vapid and soul-sucking love for materialism. While this film does grow repetitive in structure, Coppola finds a real rhythm in all the robbing the teenagers commit. Emma Watson shines, especially at the end after she is arrested. She continues to be completely ignorant to her actions as she tells reporters “I'm a firm believer in Karma and I think this situation is a huge learning lesson for me... I want to lead a country one day for all I know.”

#2 - Marie Antoinette (2006) Runtime: 2 hr 3 min  Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1 Film Format: 35mm

The retelling of France’s iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 15 to her reign as queen at 19 and ultimately the fall of Versailles. 

Verdict: Those looking for a factually accurate historical tale should look the other way - Sofia created a period piece of her own design with Marie Antoinette. The results speak for themselves. The film chronicles the rise and fall of the young queen as she lavishly exploits her lifestyle of decadence. Kirsten Dunst has always been one of my favorite actresses, and she plays the titular role with such an elegant grace. The color palette of this film is a smorgasbord of colorful and bright pastels, the production design is extremely detailed, and the wardrobes are beyond impressive. Coppola’s choice to implement modern day flourishes such as a quick shot of Converse sneakers, or playing The Strokes over a montage scene is nothing short of an auteur at her finest. All of these elements combine to make a near perfect film.

#1 - The Virgin Suicides (1999) Runtime: 1 hr 37 min   Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1 Film Format: 35mm

A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents. 

Verdict: Some artists strike gold with their debut feature, and this is most definitely the case with The Virgin Suicides. While I adore all of Sofia’s filmography, none of her other films even come close to the perfection of this film in my opinion. Suicide has impacted me many times in my own life, and Sofia Coppola takes this subject matter and turns into something hauntingly poetic. Loneliness and isolation permeates this film. While these type of themes could become misery porn in the hands of the wrong director, Sofia tackles them with great consideration. What makes this story even more poetic and mysterious is the fact that the story of these five girls is relayed through the memories of a group of obsessive teenage neighbor boys. They are all struck and intoxicated by the angelic Lisbon sisters, who are soon doomed to their rooms for the rest of eternity due to the strict religious fervor of their parents. They recall these events not exactly as they might have happened, but as how they remembered them. The Virgin Suicides is an exploration of the transiency of existence, and how certain people will forever leave their mark, no matter how long after they have passed away. “It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls. But only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling, still do not hear us calling them from out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time... and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.”