I don't know much about the art world.  Sure, I studied art history in college. Some of my closest friends are artists, and I have visited my share of galleries and museums.  But when it comes right down to it, I don't have an inkling about how the current art market works.  I'm also ignorant about the street art movement.  Living in New York, I see my share of street art, I even recognize some of the styles, but couldn't tell you who did them or where the counterparts  were painted.  What I do know, is that is creative, somewhat dangerous, eye-catching and frequently humorous. From what I have seen, the art market is dry, so a little wit is welcome with my art.

So thank goodness Exit Through the Gift Shop is able to sort our and explain it all.  This documentary is somewhat hard to explain.  At first it seems that Banksy, the secretive British street artist (his work, I recognize) is the topic.  He is not.  Then it appears to be a document of the street art movement.  It is, but only sort of.  The movie revolves around a man named Theirry Guetta, a man with a movie camera who followed renegade street artists as they tagged and put up their work.  His footage is amazing as he shows the heights and ledges climbed, the speed in which the artists work, and their art in the context of the city landscapes.  Guetta comes off as eccentric, but genuine in his interest in the movement.

Inspired by the street artists he documents, Guetta decides to make his own mark in the art world, taking the moniker "Mister Brainwash."  And here is where the movie shows its true intent.  Mister Brainwash creates an art assembly line, taking the images and concepts he sees in the art world and mass producing them.  He embarks on an introductory solo show unlike anything seen, particularly from a new artist.  And for all intents and purposes, he is "successful." 

His creations lack anything related to heart or soul.  They are merely takes on what Mister Brainwash sees popular in the art market.  His approach would either thrill or horrify Andy Warhol, perhaps a bit of both.

Exit Through the Gift Shop succeeds in introducing the street art scene and exposing the gallery art market.  It manages to make the former look compelling, while the latter appears utterly ridiculous.  As a central character, Guetta/Mister Brainwash is incredibly engaging - the mix of eccentricity, naivety, his animated gestures, and utter cluelessness make him fun to watch.  The story itself seems unbelievable, but just enough to be real.  Is it?  Does it matter?  Sit back and enjoy the art.

There's nothing better than a girls' night out.  To me this is about getting some of my friends together and bonding, usually over cocktails and food.  Nothing completes a girls' night out like a good old fashioned chick flick.  By "chick flick" I mean any movie that targets women as its main audience, be it romantic comedy, period piece or vampire drama.  It reminds us what it was to be an awkward teen, a girl hopelessly in love and about the experiences that helped us become the women we are now.  When The Runaways hit the theaters, I knew it was time to schedule a night out.

If you aren't familiar with them, The Runaways were a short-lived all-girl rock band that came from California in the 1970s.  At the time, between glam and punk, girls playing rock was something of a curiosity.  There were other female rock bands (Heart and the Slits come to mind), but The Runaways captured energy of the era.  They were young (teenagers), sexy and angry.  Perhaps not the most influential of bands, their song "Cherry Bomb" remains a girl-rock anthem, and some of the founding members went on to lead iconic careers - Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Micki Steele (of the Bangles).  The Runaways were however, a blip on the screen at this time of musical revolution.  Like a summer romance, they came and went fast and furious.

The movie itself focuses on two of the band members, Joan Jett the guitarist and songwriter and Cherie Curie, the lead singer.  Each girl, is depicted as trying to find herself and stand out as a teen.  Cherie (played by Dakota Fanning), a Bowie fan embraces the theatricality and glitter of performance.  Joan Jett (Kristin Stewart) dances along the line of androgyny while she defines what it means to be a female rockstar.  They come together with the help of Kim Folwer, their Manager.  As the group takes shape, the girls in the band grow together and come of age.  Surviving your teenage years is hard enough without the added stresses of touring.  As they find excesses in drugs, sex and fame, they begin to question who they are and what they want out of life.  

Sound like a familiar story?  Well, I'm not going to tell say you haven't heard it before.   It follows the typical career arc of the rockstar.  Perhaps the story is  cliche, and perhaps it's because the lifestyle itself is cliche.   You aren't going to find any life lessons in this movie.  What you will find is solid entertainment, which seems fitting for the band.  The Runaways really weren't teaching any lessons.  They were a bunch of teenage girls playing music and having fun; so it wouldn't be fair to expect more from the biopic.  The girls are adorable, the costumes are gorgeous and the performances do rock.  I found particularly endearing the delicate handling of the girls finding their own sexuality.  The backdrop of the movie, the music scene of 1977 Los Angeles was particularly well done.

Walking out of the theater, my friends and I laughed, commiserated about bad fashion choices we made in our teens and talked about the firs time we heard the song "Cherry Bomb."  We had fun a lot of fun, so the night was successful.

I'm an Eddie Izzard fan, plain and simple.  Though not running around with a "Cake or Death" t-shirt or getting his autograph, I have seen him perform standup three times, caught his performance in A Day In the Death of Joe Egg and own just about all of his DVDs.  Perhaps not a fanatic (I'm not making my own "Cake or Death" t-shirts) but definitely a devotee. When the recent biography came out, Believe: The Izzard Story, I was intrigued.  I knew nothing about his back story. 

What I found was interesting insight into the life of this comedian.  Sharing his story, from childhood through his early years in standup, it follows the life of a man who refused to give up.  Through trials and tribulations, bad reviews and rejections, Eddie Izzard never lost faith in himself.  He always knew what he wanted to do and worked towards his goal, even when it seemed the universe was working against him.

He speaks about the obstacles he encountered through his career, both outside and internal and how he found ways to overcome them.  Mostly he talks about the importance of believing in yourself.  "If you want to be a singer, you've got to believe you can sing, if you want to be a comedian you've got to believe you can be funny."  In dealing with hecklers and critics, he tells of lessons learned during his street performing days - on a unicycle.  If someone walked by and said "don't fall" the minute he thought "I'm not going to fall, I'm not going to fall" he would lose balance.  Letting those negative thoughts in altered his confidence.  Instead, he turned his mind blank and let the moment pass.

Eddie Izzard is just another shining example of someone who followed his passion.  He recognized his strengths and talents (in some cases through trial and error) and remained true to himself.  And that is truly inspirational.

Take a break from the sun and see some films in NYC.

Millennium Film Workshop

66 East 4th street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue

There will be 2 screenings. One starting at 2pm and another at 5pm.

Screening I. at 2pm

Paul Gennaro's Washed Away
Juan David Gonzalez's Muzak for Invisible People
Tawania Pettus' Just A Peek
Karl Mendoca's Bombay_RGB
Cullen Gallagher's Camera Concerto
Reuben Meltzer's Cubism
Juan David Gonzalez's The Hole is Not Empty
Reuben Meltzer's Legally Bron'd
Reed French's Take One Down
Reuben Meltzer's Maggie Fuller
Maura Feeney's Wine Glass Colored Seas
Will Lucas' Hello
Reuben Meltzer's A Letter to My Film

Screening II. at 5pm

Reuben Meltzer's America 2037
Cullen Gallagher's Some Pictures
Adele Ray's El Paso, Vietnam
Ryan O'toole's Keep the Home Fires Burning
Reuben Meltzer's A Portrait of a Portrait of Jen
Joel Schlemowitz's Dame Darcey
Arielle Kilgore's Eve of St. Augustine
Juan David Gonzalez's You Dirty Little Rat You Took Us for a Ride Didn't You
Nina Singh's God's Acre
Reuben Meltzer's Spiral of Inspiration
Jonah Kruvant's Hear Me Out
John Zames Dog Eat Dog
Reuben Meltzer's A Second Life

Adele Ray's short film "El Paso, Vietnam" will be shown as part of this festival.  Check out a preview on Adele's website.

**** Half of the proceeds will be donated to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

To order tickets and find out more go to the Man In White website.

The 14th Native American Film + Video Festival will be held in New York City, March 26 - 29. Screenings are each evening, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. This year the festival, founded in 1979, celebrates its 30th anniversary, and includes feature films, short fictions, documentaries, experimental videos, animations and Native television productions. The festival showcases more than 70 outstanding films from Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Venezuela, and the United States, and brings together Native media makers from throughout the hemisphere to introduce their productions and exchange ideas.

www.nativenetworks.si.edu
www.redesindigenas.si.edu