Fun far from Cannes

The Festival de Cannes is currently in full swing over on the lovely coast of France. Some of the best and the brightest filmmakers, actors, directors, producers and film buffs are gathered to watch the likes of Tilda Swinton in Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Kirsten Dunst in Lars von Trier's Melancholia. Both films sound excellent and I hope to be able to say more about them soon. For the moment though I'd like to offer the light, refreshing palate cleanser of a comedy, The Best and the Brightest about the difficulty of finding a slot at a good kindergarten in Manhattan.

Finding a good kindergarten; public, private, magnet, language immersion, charter, homeschooling program, etc. is difficult just about everywhere (and as the parent of a first grader, I know how hard it can be) but it's a special kind of impossible up in Manhattan.

The movie starts with parents Jeff and Samantha (Neil Patrick Harris and Bonnie Somerville) moving to Manhattan with their five year old daughter only to discover there are no available options anywhere. They are forced to take matters into their own hands, or at least to hire the competent hands of Sue Lemon (Amy Sedaris.)

In order to stand out above the crowd of deep pocketed parents desperate to get their child the coveted last spot at a good private school, they fudge the truth and make Jeff out to be an accomplished poet. But the question arrises; how will he produce the poetry? Due to a series of accidents, the source for poetic content is mined from the raunchy

texts between an old college friend and a series of lovers. The earnest reading of these texts, especially as read by pokerfaced John Hodgman, steal the show.

The fact that the poet has no clothes, both in the sense of the fable and in the sense of the innuendo, becomes a hilarious punchline. No, it wouldn't go to Cannes, but it was an enjoyable farce. I laughed and laughed, then I cringed a bit, then I laughed

some more, then I hid under a blanket cringing a couple more times, then I laughed and laughed even more.

Fun Philly side note: the film is set in Manhattan but filmed, rather obviously to

anyone familiar with either city, in Philadelphia. I'm assuming they couldn't both set and film it in Philly because, unlike Manhattan, parents are generally able to hold off until their kids are eating solid food and making a stab at language before having to pick a school. Watch for iconic shots of the Union League and the Rittenhouse Square frog statue!

Watch the Trailer Here!

The Tattoosday Book Review: Tattooed by the Family Business

I’ll cut right to the chase: if you’re going to buy one tattoo book this spring, make sure it’s Tattooed by The Family Business, a feast for the eyes and a new standard by which all tattoo photography books should be judged.

Simply stated, this book is gorgeous, heavy on high-quality photography, focusing on the wonderful body art created by Mo Coppoletta and his crew of talented tattooists at The Family Business Tattoo Shop, a London-based establishment that has been producing breath-taking work since 2003.

If you're not familiar with Copoletta, or his studio, the book gives readers a peek inside the world of the Family Business. But aside from a one page foreword, and a couple pages of introduction, this lovely book is light on text, and heavy on images from photographers Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry.

Image copyright: Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry
Taken from Tattooed by the Family Business (Pavilion)

The two hundred plus pages are filled with lush images of life in the shop and, more importantly, the high quality work created by the artists. Divided up into five sections, titled "The Family," "The Business," "The Art," "The Work," and "The Patrons," this is not just about Coppoletta and his own work. The reader is also introduced to the whole family: Kanae, Mie Satou, Dominique Holmes, Diego Brandini, and Diego Azaldegui.

Some may draw comparisons to the books the American tattoo artist Kat Von D, which I have favorably reviewed in the past on this site. Tattooed by the Family Business is in a different league. It is as you would expect, Von D's books are busy and filled with words and images; whereas Coppoletta's book exudes a classiness to which other artists can only aspire.

In fact, an online review hardly does it justice. Photography dominates and, whereas the tattoo, or the process of tattooing is always at hand, the beauty of the book also lies in its images. Ultimately, I believe, it's what most serious artists want to see in a tattoo book. Although some may criticize that, in some of the photos, the details of the tattoos themselves are lost in the framing of the photograph, I would argue that these images are just as compelling as the close-ups, as one sees the way the tattoos are placed, and how they flow along the lines of the human form.

Image copyright: Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry
Taken from Tattooed by the Family Business (Pavilion)

Image copyright: Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry
Taken from Tattooed by the Family Business (Pavilion)

One of the neat features within this volume are several sketches on pages designed to resemble transparencies, where are laid over images of the tattoos themselves. The reader is treated to the full-page two-dimension image from which the artist drew his inspiration, and then can compare it to the end result.

Here on Tattoosday, where most of the tattoos we see are from New York-based artists, I have, in several years, only had the pleasure of encountering Coppoletta's work once, documented here. Therefore, getting to see a more expansive look at his work, as well as that of other artists in The Family Business, is a real pleasure.
Tattooed by the Family Business is a veritable feast. I keep returning to it, marveling at the craftsmanship and beauty of the tattoos. I highly recommend it to artists and aficionados alike. The book is a work of art in and of itself, and the fact that it so beautifully and simply celebrates the art makes it a must-read, a must-relish, and a must-have for every tattoo library.

Tattoosday in Kentucky: Headphones at CVG

The young lady that was sporting these headphones, identified herself as "E" and has "ten or eleven" tattoos. She wanted headphones that looked like they were spray-painted on. Note the "drips" and spots of splattered paint. Unfortunately I didn't get much more information. She credited the artist "Slevin" at a shop on Main Street in Cincinnati. However, I can't seem to find any information on this artist or the shop she mentioned. Thanks to "E" for sharing this cool and super original headphones tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Enter to Win a T-Shirt from Kings Avenue Tattoo, Now Open in Manhattan!

Nonetheless, their shop, located out in Massapequa on Long Island, has a sterling reputation, and I know at least one loyal client, Brian Grosz, over at Needles & Sins, who sings high praise to the shop owner and artist extraordinaire, Mike Rubendall.

It was from Brian that I first learned that Kings Avenue was opening a new location here in New York City. Lucky for those of us here in the Five Boroughs who don’t have cars!

We here at Tattoosday want to help spread the word about the new location, in Manhattan on the Bowery (188 Bowery, at Spring Street) to be more exact. Located on the second floor, the new shop location will be open Monday - Saturday 12-9 and Sundays from 12-6).

In fact, Kings Ave NYC would like to cordially invite you to join in the celebration of the opening of their Manhattan location tomorrow, Thursday, May 12th, at 8:00 p.m. Please join the Kings Ave crew for drinks, friends and family for this proud moment for their shop, and for the addition of some great talent to our teeming metropolis.

And to generate a little more buzz, we put our collective heads together and came up with an idea where one of our lucky Tattoosday readers can win a cool Kings Avenue Tattoo original t-shirt, like this one, perhaps:

All you have to do is head on over to their site and check out the merchandise here. Then, in the comments section of this post, tell us which shirt design you like best and why you deserve to win it. Please note, if you don’t have a blogger ID that links you to an email where I can contact you if you win, make sure you e-mail tattoosdaycontests@gmail.com as well so we can notify you if you win.

And, dear readers, while checking out those shirts, you’ll be losing out if you don’t check out the Kings Ave site, clink on the “Artists” tab, and then get lost in the hundreds of photos of top-notch tattoo art from Mike Rubendall, Grez, Justin Weatherholtz, Brian Paul, and Matt Beckerich. Not to mention the shots from such illustrious guest artists like Chris O’Donnell, Tim Hendricks, and Kat Von D, to name only a few.

We here at Tattoosday welcome the newest branch of Kings Avenue into our fair city and hope this means we’ll be seeing a lot more of their phenomenal work on the streets and, subsequently, here on the site!

More about Kings Avenue NYC:

KINGS AVENUE NYC was founded by tattooist and international award-winner, MIKE RUBENDALL, with his associate, GREZ, a well-respected tattooist in his own right. While people have traveled from all over the world to visit their Long Island location for everything from a full-scale Japanese body-suit to a modestly-sized, classic nod to Americana flash, RUBENDALL explains that they opted to open a second shop on Bowery, "for the simple fact of wanting to be a part of the energy, life, and creativity that Manhattan possesses." KINGS AVENUE NYC will also feature the work of resident artists MATT BECKERICH, JUSTIN WEATHERHOLTZ, BRIAN PAUL, SHAUN NEL, KEVIN LEBLANC and SARAH SCHOR - a talented collective that has adorned the bodies of notables like actress EVAN RACHEL WOOD, hip-hop impresario DAMON DASH and rocker PETE WENTZ of FALL OUT BOY. The public can also expect to see guest appearances from renowned artists like CHRIS O'DONNELL, TIM HENDRICKS and Denmark's HENNING JORGENSON as well as "celebrity" tattooists such as CHRIS NUÑEZ (Miami Ink) and KAT VON D (L.A. Ink).

The Best Designs of Dragon Tattoos

Dragon tattoo layouts are simply about men and women all around the country, by using almost all several smaller communities in addition to qualification. Although quite a few tend to be quite same they’re quite seldom impossible to tell apart due to the fact all people offers there private prospect of just what the good mystical creature absolutely appears to be. An exceptionally good protecting sort determine, that dragon is actually thought to hold excellent organic power in addition to give protection to those that have these folks exhibited about its body. Plenty of dragon tattoo layouts are likely to be noticed to the backside in addition to higher biceps nonetheless you’ll also quite possible watch dragon tattoo layouts practically anyplace for a man or women. Plenty of women of all ages of all age range own thought we would attribute dragon tattoo layouts with their private consistently expanding level of body paper prints and they are expanding that they are increasingly well-known. Dragon Tattoo layouts own greatly increased within splendor over the last several a long time since a good number of a lot more styles become accessible.
That a good number of misconceptions around mythologic beasts offers gained via that expanding fascination with dragon tattoo layouts. That emblematic mark regarding success is actually among several values in the famous wildlife, that beat regarding St George slaying that evil dragon offers its place etched straight into folklore even though within additional locations that dragon is normally regarded as that defender in addition to guardian connected with holy presents. Nonetheless noticed because the almost all valiant defender, they are generally known as representational satanic wildlife which terrorized men and women. From beating that successful in addition to evil dragon, somebody will present to private selfless bravery in addition to fearlessness. There’s any well-known saying that those who own dragon tattoos tend to be outdated plenty of to obtain these folks nonetheless never outdated plenty of to learn the truth value.
Dragons emerged since reptilian sort wildlife who definitely have any forked tongue and as well lizard for instance benefits. Men and women put in considerable time in addition to cash about its dragon tattoo layouts making a detailed describe regarding just what they will think about any dragon appears to be. A good number of dragon tattoos contain the dragon which has a history in addition to gigantic shiny coloured wings which might be regular features regarding the way the dragon is actually checked. Dragons are likely to be understood through a good number of to manage mineral water, rain fall in addition to floods.

Difficulties reason men and women choose obtain dragon tattoos is actually due to the fact they are often really simply individual. Men and women may make quite a terrific design of your dragon utilizing a essential case in point in addition to building the structure for there private likes. In case you ever before select ordinary design in addition to design in addition to rise for a tattoo expert, they could quickly alter the idea to create that design in addition to design a great deal more exclusive to you. You should look at in addition to consider that improvements before proceeding forward in addition to receiving that tattoo. That tattoo performer will be able to create a modified trial of one’s design. Remember to refer to styles in addition to good details in addition to any improvements that they are produced before establishing that tattoo.
Dragon Tattoo layouts can be purchased in lots of different styles so you may explain to much with regards to an individual determined by its exclusive design in addition to design. A good number of men and women own used the time thinking about just how exclusive design to obtain before investing in these folks. Dragons which present any mischievous character in addition to sly cosmetic expressions reveal that characteristics of your exciting man or women. Despite the fact that a good number of individuals who are likely to be naughty, sweet or simply encounter since good have a tendency to have got a dragon characterised to just what they’re portraying. Dragon Tattoo layouts tend to be any do-it-yourself face of your person’s sprit or simply exactly just how they will feel they are often determined.

"I Am", Am I?

Tom Shadyac's unusual documentary has been creeping up on me from several sources. Part star-studded make-the-world-a-better-place film, part sincere-personal-journey-toward-enlightment, it has been slowly gaining an audience.

Shadyac was the director of a popular string of feel-good comedies that included Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Patch Adams, and Bruce Almighty before he was seriously injured in a bicycle accident and found himself faced with some big life and death questions. Being a funny, smart, and well connected filmmaker, he decided to turn those questions into a movie, a movie with a purpose; to help fix what's wrong with the world. The film features interviews with everyone from Noam Chomsky to David Suzuki to Desmond Tutu.

Can a film make the world a better place? Can a film about making the world a better place be a good film, an interesting film, an exciting film? Critics and viewers seem passionately split on the issue; what's your take?

Subtitles, Sous-titres and 字幕

Don't pretend you like them; we know you don't. We know that the words, "In French" or "In Italian" or "In Japanese" more often than not are heard as code for "You wouldn't like this film" and that's ok. We're just curious to know why you dislike them so strongly, and perhaps, if we're lucky, change your mind. Does the film the subtitles go under affect how you feel about them? Are there films you love that transcend the irritation of reading along while listening to another language?

Is the avant garde French film by Jean-Luc Goddard, Film Socialisme more or less appealing than the Japanese samurai film, 13 Assassins or is the prospect of dealing with the subtitles equally off putting in each case?

We love you all and we want to bring you a variety of the most thrilling, entertaining, thought provoking, and generally wonderful films out there. Some of the best films being made right now are not being made in the US and therefore never find an audience here because of the subtitle issue. In an article in the New York Times recently, film reviewer A. O. Scott complained that the majority of Americans are missing out on these films because theaters are not showing them due, in part, to the perception that Americans are not interested in films with subtitles. However, there are signs that this is changing. Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, gave a more hopeful take on the subject on NPR recently saying that "the younger generation does not have the same challenge to reading subtitles that the older audience has."

Are you more or less likely to watch a foreign language film than your parents? Your kids? Your brother? Your sister? Your friends? Your spouse?