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Angelina Jolie trekt gekke bekken tijdens een fotoshoot voor Marie Claire magazine. Het lijken pics van achter de schermen, maar geloof ons: Angelina is tot in de puntjes gestyled.

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They are people, too.

Here's a top ten list, in no particular order, of Nikon movie roles! Often appearing as uncredited extras, these Nikon SLRs have been present at some of

Upon its initial release, The Pirate (1948) divided critics, alienated most audiences, lost money, and became a project that all involved -- stars Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, director Vincente Minnelli, and composer Cole Porter -- preferred to forget. Porter, in fact, decried the fantastical mistaken identity farce as "unspeakably wretched, the worst that money could buy." Today, half a century later, it's still often described as the most controversial film in the Garland canon. Judy Garland as Manuela in The Pirate (1948, MGM) The fact that Garland missed 99 of the 135 days of shooting speaks to her deteriorating mental and physical state, and undoubtedly contributed to the film's uneven, awkward pacing; she was reportedly smoking four packs of cigarettes a day, and hallucinating from her drug use -- sometimes requiring the crew to literally carry her off the set in hysterics. As a vehicle for Metro's brightest musical talent, The Pirate fails miserably -- although its top-billed star looks splendid and displays a wry comedic touch, her dazzling singing talents are barely tapped. Garland's two ballads, "You Can Do No Wrong" and "Love of My Life," are pleasant, but not up to her usual high standard -- in fact, the latter song is only seen as a reprise in the final act of the film; its full rendition was deemed unworthy and was cut. As a potential stepping stone in the possibility of Garland and co-star Gene Kelly becoming another Judy-and-Mickey box office super-duo (they had been successfully paired in 1942's For Me and My Gal), the film barely passes muster: their undeniable chemistry is undercut by a screenplay (and subsequent editing) which has the two go from adversaries to eternal lovebirds in a matter of seconds. But as a showcase for Gene Kelly's white-hot sex appeal, The Pirate has no equal. In spite of his physical handsomeness, athletic dancing ability, and easy charm, Gene Kelly's screen persona was, and is, curiously asexual. As gorgeous and talented as he is in On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), or Singin' in the Rain (1952), Kelly's glib style and mannered acting don't incite audiences to swoonful passion. But in The Pirate, Kelly's dancing was never more erotic or (literally) in-your-face: his first solo, "Nina," finds him introducing male pole dancing (take that, Steven Retchless!); being memorably kinky with a cigarette (fast forward to 3:19 in the clip below); and effortlessly getting the entire female population of the Caribbean to fall at his feet -- and we don't blame them. Even more eye-popping and jaw-dropping is The Pirate's ballet sequence, in which a tanned, taut, toned Kelly cavorts in what can only be described as hot pants and an arm band, leaping amidst licking flames and a scarlet background. Frankly, it reminds us of a mash-up between the infamous Querelle (1982) and David "The Construction Worker" Hodo's "I Love You to Death" production number in the Village People epic, Can't Stop the Music (1980). Gene Kelly in The Pirate (1948, MGM) Brad Davis in Querelle (1982, Planet) David Hodo in Can't Stop the Music (1980, Associated) Perhaps due to her illnesses and absences, Garland doesn't have very much to do in The Pirate, aside from her wild "Mack the Black," which, if not exactly a high point in her career, is definitely the most uninhibited and sexually-charged production number she ever committed to film. Her acting is also jarring, almost raw and slightly unhinged; yet, at the same time, she's very, very funny, with razor sharp timing and brilliant use of subtle body language -- a raised eyebrow here, a discreet double take there. Indeed, in a movie often called far ahead of its time, MGM-era Judy is foreshadowing loopy, zany, witty 1960's talk show Judy by over a decade. Judy Garland and Gene Kelly behind the scenes of The Pirate, 1948 Judy Garland on The Jack Paar Show, 1962 One cause for Garland's concern during the tense filming period was her suspicion that her director (and husband), Vincente Minnelli, was throwing all the good bits to Kelly, collaborating with the brilliant dancer/choreographer on extra bits of business, fleshing out Kelly's role at the expense of Garland's. There may have even been a lingering uneasiness that Minnelli's interest in the virile star wasn't purely professional; and, judging by the lingering eroticism which Minnelli's camera lavishes upon Kelly (akin to the palpable romanticism with which Minnelli framed Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis [1944], their first project together before marrying), Garland couldn't be blamed for feeling put out. Dashing Gene Kelly as Serafin in The Pirate Fifty-plus years later, audiences are still scratching their heads over The Pirate, so left-field are Garland and Kelly's characterizations, so stylized is Minnelli's vision. Surely, he intended The Pirate as a spoof? Garland and the other fair maidens of the Caribbean island of Calvados look and sound like well-scrubbed, all American debutantes, dressed for a costume ball in their mantillas and lace. The wonderful Gladys Cooper plays her role of a Spanish aristocrat like a grand dowager of the Main Line. And Kelly's always self-consciously hammy approach is taken to the nth degree, devastatingly sexy on a completely satirical level: he's Gene Kelly imitating John Barrymore imitating Douglas Fairbanks imitating Gene Kelly doing an imitation of John Barrymore imitating Douglas Fairbanks, with a side dollop of Errol Flynn and Gilbert Roland for good measure. John Barrymore in Don Juan (1926, Warner Bros.) Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate (1926, United Artists) Errol Flynn in The Master of Ballantrae (1953, Warner Bros.) Gilbert Roland, ca. 1940's So, is The Pirate a great film? Yes and no -- the high points are marvelous, and its flaws are glaringly obvious. As Liza Minnelli, the star and director's daughter, put it so succinctly in a featurette about her parents' grand failure, "There's nothing you can really criticize about the picture -- unless you don't like it!" We like it; and if nothing else, as the only MGM musical to ever get us hot and bothered, it stands alone.

This week's muse - actress, fashion icon, writer, and director, Anna Karina - is understandably a blogger favorite but it just didn't feel right to leave her out. She is the quintessential muse, widely known because of her work with infamous new wave director (and one-time husband), Jean-Luc Godard. Though her face pops up on many a tumblr and blog feed, I’m not certain that many people know about her back story or of her off-camera relationship with Godard. I figured I’d shed a small shred of light on that (or at least what I know about that) while I am at it! Originally from Denmark, Anna (born: Hanne Karin Bayer) grew up under rather turbulent circumstances; bouncing between her mother, maternal grandparents and foster homes. By her late teens she had decided to run away to Paris but with no real plan, no money to speak of and no real grasp of the french language, it proved a bit of a challenge. As fate would have it, she would soon be discovered by a modeling agency scout at the famed Les Deux Magot café on the Left Bank and the rest, as they say, is history. She became a moderately successful commercial and fashion model - even working with Coco Chanel at one point (who allegedly encouraged Anna to change her name if she wanted to become "a star" - and Coco would know!). (Elle Magazine - 1959) Enter: Jean-Luc Godard, who saw Anna in a television commercial for bath soap (the ad featured her in a tub with some strategically placed bubbles) and immediately tried to cast her in a supporting role in his upcoming film, "À Bout De Souffle" (aka: Breathless). Here is a clip of her telling the story of their first encounter and how she turned that part down - which I love… Not long after she would accept a (fully-clothed) role in his film, “Le Petit Soldat”, and the duo would soon dive head-first into a romantic relationship (here is another, rather saucy, story about the beginnings of their romance). They married in 1961 and continued making a series of wonderfully inspired films together including: Band of Outsiders, Une Femme est Une Femme, Vivre sa Vie, Alphaville, Pierott Le Fou... Their relationship has been described as a tumultuous yet passionate affair. It's mostly speculation but some have pointed to Jean-Luc's obsession with directing and his career as the reason for the marriage's demise. They finally divorced in 1965 but did continue to work together for a while even after that. Alas, by 1967 they reportedly were no longer on speaking terms. Each moved on. Anna married four, count em... FOUR more times (Godard twice more) so I think she came out alright in the end. She also went on to successfully collaborate with people like Serge Gainsbourg, Tony Richardson, and Jacques Rivette, among many others. Suggested viewing: "Une Femme est Une Femme","Band of Outsiders","Pierott Le Fou"...and, if you can get your hands on it, "Anna" (the musical) which includes this very important scene... ROLLER GIRL (which, very sadly, Youtube will not allow me to embed! :( Happy Monday, mes amis! Au revoir! x

In the mid-2000s, historian Anna Pegler-Gordon said that visual media often seems more accessible to her students than the written record. They claimed images make the past seem more accessible, giving concrete shape to a world that sometimes seems intangible. Not to mention the immediacy of the image, which often conveys information more quickly than a primary document written in an unfamiliar, or even a foreign, language. But according to Pegler-Gordon, this immediacy also works well in discussion sections, where the shared experience of viewing a picture can provide a focus for lively group discussion.

We see you, young Dumbledore. 😍

Mick Jagger, circa 1971

A collection of captured moments of the star from the 1950s and 1960s.

If you are a star, Mark Seliger will have photographed you – and that includes presidents

The [[embed type=link nid=28870 title="October 2015 issue"]] of Sight & Sound resurrects and celebrates 100 overlooked films directed by women, and includes contributions by many filmmakers, Agnès Varda, Claire Denis and Jane Campion among them. It was born from the desire to show the diverse range of great films made by women through history, so many of which are unduly obscured and under-seen. But what about the makers of these films themselves? How visible are they?

Caught with a Leica: Scarlett Johansson | #2 Ben Stiller Christina Applegate Queen Elizabeth II Jennifer Connelly (from the movie Blood Diamond) Jennifer Love Hewitt Tayl0r Swift Brad Pitt | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 Penelope Cruz | #2 Eric Clapton Seal | #2 | #3 | #4 Jessica Lange Woody Allen James Dean Julia Reberts Thailand’s […]