We Love You So – Where The Wild Things Are – Spike Jonze

It’s here, just in time for the weekend! We first brought you word of Spike’s new movie last August, when it was still just a “secret robot short film.” After the Sundance premiere in January, Nieves released a zine, Opening Ceremony designed flipbooks and a window display, and now finally Absolut has posted I’m Here in its entirety online. Go check out the robot romance if you’re 21 or older, and stay tuned for even more radness surrounding this lovely short!

Direct from the shimmering ether of a distant galaxy, Mia Doi Todd’s voice visits Earth to humble us humans. It is a voice that exudes an aura of fascinating fragility underlined with titillating tempestuous tones.

Pairing Todd’s velvet vocals with director Michel Gondry’s whimsical aesthetic brilliance, the music video for “Open Your Heart” is a feast for the senses. With the help of a marching band from Riverside, a carefully considered wardrobe color palette, and the beautifully bland Los Angeles cityscape, Gondry’s video accompanies as much as it elevates the dreamlike tune. We’re a month or two late for the frenzy of blog postings about this clip, but even if you’ve already watched it, take the time to revisit Gondry and Todd’s casual genius.

Francois Truffaut is widely remembered for his brilliantly uncanny exploration of childhood in The 400 Blows, but a lesser known picture called L’argent de poche (alternately known as Small Change or Pocket Money) may be his true masterpiece of the genre. Presenting a vast array of vignettes about youth, Truffaut weaves together a joyously mischievous slice of life triumph. Small Change bursts with color and features a cast of wonderfully natural non-actors in a range of epic moments “from the first bottle to the first kiss,” as Truffaut explained it.

The Film Desk has graciously re-released the film with a beautiful restored print that’s currently touring North America. It’s playing in Los Angeles at Cinefamily this Sunday, and then heading to Wisconsin, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Ohio. Check out the full list of cities and dates, and don’t miss a chance to see this sparkling film on the big screen!

Discovering Shary Boyle’s work is like biting into a pretty little pastry, only to realize, as your taste buds tingle and your mouth starts to water, that what you’ve actually sunk your teeth into is a sumptuous three-layer cake.

Maybe you’re been beckoned by her vibrant yet vexing illustrations. You surf to her website and take them all in, reveling in these seemingly sacrosanct tragicomic scenes from some distant galaxy’s breathtaking fluorescent apocalypse. An instinct in the back of your mind warns you to run, RUN– but it’s too late: you’re been ensnared in Boyle’s wild world. Next it’s her sculptures that catch your eye, those oddly silent, secret-filled sculptures, and before you know it you’ve discovered her creeping, carefully understated paintings. And what’s this– she does live projection? Yes, you discover, she tours with Toronto musician Doug Paisley in a group called Dark Hand and Lamplight, accompanying folk singing stallion Will Oldham to taverns in Big Sur where she lights up an overhead projector and makes magic with entrancing illustrations.

Once you’ve digested all the sickly sweetness and savory sensations of Shary Boyle’s work, a deep satisfaction settles in your belly– followed swiftly by an insatiable craving for more.

The floodgates have opened and bidding has begun on Binki Shapiro’s awesome auction Crafts for a Cause! All proceeds will go towards the critically underfunded earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. An impressive assortment of artists and musicians have crafted more than 60 unique objects for exclusively for this auction, and now’s your chance to get your hands on them.

Where else can you get a pair Kubrick’s rare Daft Punk toy robots custom-decorated by the band? How about the Taylor guitar that Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste learned to play on? A Pentax camera pimped out by Drew Barrymore? And how about some one of a kind drawings by Spike? Crafts for a Cause has it all, and the money goes to a great cause! So go put in your bids!

The endless stream of awesomeness that eminates from Julieta Venegas is staggering. From her early ’90s musical infancy as the accordianist in ska-punk band Tijuana No! to the multi-instrumental force to be reckoned with she has blossomed into, Venegas has brought us a constant stream of eminently catchy and deceptively complex pop. Her latest LP, Otra Cosa, boasts a sublime single called “Bien o Mal.” It’s a song that typifies the sunny-melancholoy dialectic that runs throughout the singer’s work. Agustin Alberdi’ gloriously gaseous clip for the song can be found below, and for extra radness, revisit the video for classic Julieta jam “Seria Feliz.”

Joseph Lobato of TOLA! (not a made up word, just an acronym for “Take Over L.A.“) made this majestic little video of Hernan Montenegro and his bike. Really, I’m just posting a video of someone riding a bike. But it’s such a blissfully visceral video. Doesn’t this just look like fun? Let’s go ride bikes.

via Say Mayday.

Stop, breathe, and take a moment to appreciate how rad bugs are. Let’s send waves of positive thought about insects into the Universe. Here in the English-speaking world, where they are semiotically bound to concepts of destruction and annoyance, bugs could use some respect and affection. Not so much in Japan, as we learn in Jessica Oreck’s dazzling documentary Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.

…While people of many other countries fear all manner of creepy crawlies, the Japanese love and respect them: they’re sold live in vending machines and department stores; they’re the subject of the No. 1 videogame MushiKing; and a single beetle recently sold for $90,000. Insects have been an integral part of the centuries-old traditions of the country, once described as the “Isle of the Dragonflies.”

The film’s gorgeous imagery links people with the strength of beetles, the music of crickets, the magic of fireflies and the endless colors of butterflies. Using bugs like an anthropologist’s toolkit, the film uncovers Japanese philosophies that will shift Westerners’ perspectives on nature, beauty, life, and even the seemingly mundane realities of their day-to-day routines.

Take the rare opportunity to reflect on the elegance of the microscopic and watch this film. It’s playing tonight at Cinefamily in L.A., for one night only. The screening will also feature a Q&A with Oreck.

Kim Gordon designed it, Chloë Sevigny worked the runway, Mike Mills drew the logo, Kathleen Hannah pimped it out, and Spike helped run the fashion show. X-Girl was a perfect storm of creative energy in 1994, and here’s the very Nineties video to prove it:

If that’s not enough nostalgia for you, how about a Vice Magazine photo shoot with Chloë showing off the X-Girl line? Still begging for more? Here’s Vice’s interview with co-designer Daisy Von Furth, where she talks about styling some “cute kid” named Mark Ronson in a photo shoot for Spike’s Dirt magazine, and mentions that Chloë will soon be starring in some movie written by “this kid Harmony Korine.” Also: Doc Martens, flannel and black skinny jeans are so out in ‘94. Which, if I’m predicting the trend cycles correctly, means you’d be wise to invest in some ringer tees and vintage X-Girl before the kids on Gossip Girl start sporting A-line minis.

Tremendously tasteful and refreshingly warm, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim are the truly rad duo behind one of the world’s most innovative and chic international boutiques: Opening Ceremony. Humberto and Carol are no strangers to Spike. They recently celebrated his new short film, I’m Here, with an elaborate window display and a series of fabulous flipbooks, and they lovingly paid homage to Where the Wild Things Are with a remarkable line of clothing (and wolf suits!) inspired by Max and his wild pals.

Now Spike is turning the tables on this delightful pair of creative masterminds in a two-part documentary for VBS. Check it out and join us in relishing the tubular team’s eerily oracular telepathic connection, freewheeling fun-fueled business strategy, and Carol’s uncanny ability to cry on command. Plus, exclusive footage from the party for Opening Ceremony’s brand new store at the Ace Hotel, featuring a dazzling duet by Dirty Projectors and Solange Knowles!