Wednesday night we had the hottest (and dare I say chicest) ticket in town. Over at RS POP Shop on 47th and Lexington, IN*TANDEM Magazine has the pleasure of sponsoring “Fashion Art Gallery Presents: Studio 2020″, an intimate look at a modern New York City single woman’s closet - but set in the year 2020. The Pop Up boutique is the brainchild of the ultimate modern woman (and IN*TANDEM featured New Creative) Kelly Mills, whose future woman is an obvious extension of her current self. As the wine flowed and the cupcakes were devoured, we were truly inspired. Designs in collaboration with LaQuan Smith, Telfar, Mari J. Brooklyn, Mercury Sunglasses, Original Women and Gabriel Barcia-Columbo were on showcase and a little more than a twinge of jealousy flared up as we drooled over the futuristic accoutrement. And, did we mention the best part: all of Studio 2020 is up for sale, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to Care.org.

You gotta check this out!!!

Gucci Group, the owners of the late designer Alexander McQueen’s eponomous clothing line, announced the label’s new creative designer today and her name is……..drumroll, please………………..Sarah Burton! The word around town is that she’s basically the only one who could truly take over McQueen’s line. Having studied at Central Saint Martins and McQueen’s first assistant from 1996 to the day he died, Burton was the woman responsible for turning McQueen’s runway vision into successful commercial collections.

She’s been an intergral part of the McQueen brand for over a decade - and not some superstar designer Gucci Group picked out of hat. And I think that is truly where Alexander McQueen’s legacy lies. He was such a gift and and a talent to the fashion world, only someone who knew him so intimately could follow in his footsteps.

We’re on the eve of a scandal! We are self-proclaimed Francophiles (among a host of other ‘philes) and the purest form of art lovers (and by that, I mean we love art - pure and simple). So, when we see something that infringes on an artist’s copyrights, we cannot protest enough. Over at Le Blog De Betty, the ever so lovely Betty found something strange going on at the popular clothing shop Zara - specifically, one of their shirts had her face on it! And, it was not just a mere resemblance - it was almost identical to a picture she posted on her blog a while back. We at IN*TANDEM call foul!!!! We are artists, freedom fighters, weirdos, and lovers. And the internet is supposed to be a place where our voices are heard, not where a bunch of corporate f*ckers can come and steal our work, uncredited and unrepentant. Vous devez lutter pour vos droits!!!

Summer is here, and it’s freaking hot. Honestly, I spent the last couple of days sleeping in drippy sweat.
But the fact that I know something wonderful is going to be in New York soon keeps me all cold and wonderful inside.

The New York Asian Film Festival is back in town! That’s right. Crazy Asian movies are invading the city.

Fuck yes. Expect more coverage when the date gets closer.

Full lineup after the cut!
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Daryl Wein’s first narrative feature film, Breaking Upwards, is a romantic comedy that follows the mishaps of two young New Yorkers.After being together for four years, their relationship is at a turning point. The couple struggles together throughout the film to either make the relationship work,
or subconsciously strategize their own break-up. The film, loosely based on the filmmakers’ real relationship, takes place in a world of twenty-somethings that
is reminiscent of the mumblecore films coming out of Brooklyn in the last decade or so. However, Wein makes it his case to stand apart from the almost predictable “mumblecorps”.

The two leads, Daryl and Zoe, basically play themselves, as the film’s story is based on their real life relationship. This kind of thing tends to make me nervous a bit – like how Woody Allen always casts himself to basically play himself. It can easily turn self-indulgent. Thankfully, Breaking Upwards is different. There is something very likable about Daryl and Zoe. They are attractive, they are funny, self-deprecating, if not somewhat emotionally stunted, but they are charming! This is a big deal and helped make the film work. Everybody else in the film is also really good. Olivia Thirlby makes a small, cute, but forgettable appearance. But I have to give kudos to both Andrea Martin and Julie White who play the leads’ respective mothers, they easily have the funniest lines in the film. Throughout the film, you kind of have the feeling that the cast gets along with each other or they are friends that hang out together all the time or something.
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A couple of days ago, I got the chance to talk to Daryl Wein (Breaking Upwards, Sex Positive). We chatted about his first feature narrative, working with a girlfriend, mumblecore and a bunch of other stuff. Daryl was obviously tired from a busy day, but he was nice enough to be barraged with more questions.

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Alex Thebez: Where do you see yourself in relation to the current generation of Brooklyn filmmakers today? Do you associate yourself with the mumblecore genre?

Daryl Wein: No, I don’t consider myself to be part of the mumblecore movement at all. I would consider myself to be part of the “D.I.Y.”, Do It Yourself film movement, but I’m trying to do something much different from the mumblecore movement where the characters are more thoughtful and more interesting and more complex and there’s more production value and story than in the mumblecore movies.

AT: Totally. One of the reasons why I brought that up is that I saw the movie with a couple of my friends and they mentioned [mumblecores]. But I think there is a fundamental difference that is very evident in your movies but at the same time there are similarities because Breaking Upwards is about young people.

DW: The difference is also that [the film] has such a strong inter-generational storyline with the parents that no other mumblecore film really has, which is yet another departure from the mumblecore movement. Like what you are saying, we do share the similarities that the story focuses on twenty-somethings, but I think the parents definitely set it apart.
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I know the guys at Twitch love the Edgertons brothers and their collective, Blue Tongue Films (They also have another movie called Animal Kingdom, another crime movie that is getting rave reviews). But to be honest, the only thing that I have ever seen out of the famed Australian duo is a little violent and poignant film called Spider.

The Edgerton brothers first real feature film feels familiar but fresh at the same time. The Square is essentially a neo-noir, following all the troupes and conventions of a noir film but with a contemporary setting. The film follows Raymond Yale (David Roberts), an ordinary contractor who supervises the construction of a honeymoon hotel. Aside from his affair with a neighbor, Carla (Claire van der Boom), his life is pretty ordinary. Everything inevitably changes when Carla and Ray stumble on a bag of cash that offer the promise of a new life. The couple plots to get away with the money, but then everything starts to spiral out of control rather quickly.

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