Francine Prose describes Caravaggio and his interest in miracles. Caravaggio made us aware: that these miracles had transpired neither in primary colors, nor in brilliantly hued paintings of sanitized saints and celestial fireworks, but in dusty streets and dark rooms much like the streets and rooms in which he himself lived. With Caravaggio, we see the Biblical scene, but we also see Renaissance-era Europeans in the act of posing. Caravaggio wants us to know that he is painting "actors" or performers. Many Renaissance images of Mary Magdalene are at least partly erotic; Caravaggio goes another way. His penitent Magdalene is not a Hollywood pinup. She wears contemporary clothing, and her image "avoids pathos and languid sensuality." Caravaggio's earthiness makes me think of Sondheim: You can pull all the stops out Till they call the cops out-- Grind your behind till you're banned... But you gotta get a GIMMICK... If you want to get a hand... There are cur...
Gregg Araki's "I Want Your Sex" is not history's most original movie, but it's nice to see writers and actors having fun. Olivia Wilde works as a conceptual artist in a noisy, cavernous studio. The noise is a recording of Wilde in the act of masturbating. She believes that the sound is inspirational. Wilde hires young people to chew gum and stick the sugary detritus on a sketch of Wilde's private parts--this is a work-to-be-auctioned. When interviewed about her art, Wilde says, "I think this entire world is ridiculous, and my reason for working is just that I like money." Wilde hires Philip Seymour Hoffman's son. Hoffman has a vague desire to start a podcast about art--but he feels blocked. (His girlfriend, neurologist Charli XCX, sees art as frivolous--but Hoffman chooses *not* to worry that this is a major problem.) Hoffman occasionally wonders if his world might expand after anal sex; specifically, he might find some philosophical/cosmic ...