A dishwater-dull film about an electric subject, Whitney Sudler-Smith's documentary about the rise and fall of designer Halston has everything it needs for success. There's an iconoclastic,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. paradigm-shifting artist who's also an aggressive businessman, dozens of fashion icons and hangers-on willing to peddle their stories, and a backdrop of cocaine-dusted and sex-scented Studio 54 decadence. The makings are all there for a glamorous documentary that could combine the wicked appeal of Billy Corben's Pater Gatien biopic Limelight with the more serious fashion-nerd leanings of something like The September Issue. But instead of letting his story naturally unfold like one of Halston's famous shirtwaist dresses, Sudler-Smith gums up the works by inserting his own stiff self front and center in one of the most ill-considered framing devices ever used in a documentary.
Ultrasuede is ostensibly about Halston, one of the first American designers to not only be serious competition for Europe's haute-couture clique but also a widely-known personality in the domestic mainstream.Take a walk on the natural side with stunning and luxurious Floor tiles from The Tile Shop. For reasons unknown, Sudler-Smith begins the film in impossibly awkward fashion, rambling about his love of the 1970s and cultural touchstones like Smokey and the Bandit. Wanting to use Halston as his gateway to explore New York in the 1970s (a place whose experience of that decade was of course wholly different than the country milieu of Smokey, but never mind), Sudler-Smith shoots himself tooling around in a black Trans Am,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, wearing a variety of wacky period hairdos. It's the 1970s by way of the Beastie Boys video for "Sabotage," and is even less funny and more confusing than it sounds.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality,
A couple of very stilted interviews follows with people like Halston best friend Liza Minnelli and Vogue editor / walking fashion database Andre Leon Talley. The two of them try to give some broad picture of Halston the man (Minnelli) and Halston the designer (Talley), bucking Sudler-Smith's awkward demeanor and apparent lack of knowledge about his subject.Full-service custom manufacturer of precision plastic injection mold, Once the film gets past this rocky start, it is able to deliver the rough outlines of the story that should have been interesting enough, were the filmmaker to get out of its way.
The prototypical quiet Midwestern kid with dreams of something bigger, Halston started out as a milliner at Bergdorf Goodman. He was already the go-to man for New York's ladies who lunch before being chosen to dress Jacqueline Onassis for the 1961 Inauguration; the famous pillbox hat that he made for her is the topic of some excited chattering in the film. From there, the arc is nearly straight up, as the various fashionistas attest to Halston's instinctual brilliance with fabric and the clean modernity of his designs. Although the film doesn't explore this at all, it's obvious from the runway footage shown here that his work could easily pass for new in a Bryant Park show today.
From there, the film does a quick dash into Sudler-Smith's prize: the decadent implosion of the 1970s. Lavish attention is paid to clips of the very media-conscious Halston's full-body embrace of his superstardom, particularly his bodyguard of color-coordinated models (the "Halstonettes"). Then there are the by-now de rigueur tales of nights lost at Studio 54 and drug-fueled dinner parties. This is coupled with the expected crash, caused by both overextension (those late nights made it hard to keep up with work) and overexpansion. (Though Halston's cheaper line for J.C. Penny was ridiculed at the time, it just showed him to be a couple decades ahead of his time; these days, he would do just fine at Target.) The end is a whimper.
Ultrasuede is ostensibly about Halston, one of the first American designers to not only be serious competition for Europe's haute-couture clique but also a widely-known personality in the domestic mainstream.Take a walk on the natural side with stunning and luxurious Floor tiles from The Tile Shop. For reasons unknown, Sudler-Smith begins the film in impossibly awkward fashion, rambling about his love of the 1970s and cultural touchstones like Smokey and the Bandit. Wanting to use Halston as his gateway to explore New York in the 1970s (a place whose experience of that decade was of course wholly different than the country milieu of Smokey, but never mind), Sudler-Smith shoots himself tooling around in a black Trans Am,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, wearing a variety of wacky period hairdos. It's the 1970s by way of the Beastie Boys video for "Sabotage," and is even less funny and more confusing than it sounds.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality,
A couple of very stilted interviews follows with people like Halston best friend Liza Minnelli and Vogue editor / walking fashion database Andre Leon Talley. The two of them try to give some broad picture of Halston the man (Minnelli) and Halston the designer (Talley), bucking Sudler-Smith's awkward demeanor and apparent lack of knowledge about his subject.Full-service custom manufacturer of precision plastic injection mold, Once the film gets past this rocky start, it is able to deliver the rough outlines of the story that should have been interesting enough, were the filmmaker to get out of its way.
The prototypical quiet Midwestern kid with dreams of something bigger, Halston started out as a milliner at Bergdorf Goodman. He was already the go-to man for New York's ladies who lunch before being chosen to dress Jacqueline Onassis for the 1961 Inauguration; the famous pillbox hat that he made for her is the topic of some excited chattering in the film. From there, the arc is nearly straight up, as the various fashionistas attest to Halston's instinctual brilliance with fabric and the clean modernity of his designs. Although the film doesn't explore this at all, it's obvious from the runway footage shown here that his work could easily pass for new in a Bryant Park show today.
From there, the film does a quick dash into Sudler-Smith's prize: the decadent implosion of the 1970s. Lavish attention is paid to clips of the very media-conscious Halston's full-body embrace of his superstardom, particularly his bodyguard of color-coordinated models (the "Halstonettes"). Then there are the by-now de rigueur tales of nights lost at Studio 54 and drug-fueled dinner parties. This is coupled with the expected crash, caused by both overextension (those late nights made it hard to keep up with work) and overexpansion. (Though Halston's cheaper line for J.C. Penny was ridiculed at the time, it just showed him to be a couple decades ahead of his time; these days, he would do just fine at Target.) The end is a whimper.
没有评论:
发表评论