The In Crowd

This U.K. newsreel from the Look at Life DVD series is modtastic!:

"It's the swinging London fashion scene on parade and features an eye-candy array of dazzling & colorful mod fashions! Suits, shirts, pants, shoes, boots, jackets, dresses, belts, bags, hats, caps, ties, skirts, blouses, scarves, dickies, and more! Mary Quant shows off her latest collection! The viewer is taken to King's Road, SOHO, and Carnaby Street. Some of the shops visited are: "Granny Takes a Trip," "Hung on You," "The Antiques Supermarket," "I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet," and "Gear." The narrator tells us that, "A year or two ago fashion originated in the haute couture's of Paris, then spread downward through society in ever cheapening copies; now these shops which would have interpreted the mold, originate today's fashion, owing nothing to Paris or anyone else." Next, it's off to the discotheque club scene where the "in" gear is worn. Clubs include: "Tiles," "Bag of Nails" (The Beatles used to hang out here), "Samantha's," "Georges" and "the Saddle Room.""

[via Paul K.]

"This rare documentary about the 1980/1981 USA tour by Stevie Wonder was broadcast for the first time in 1981 by the BBC. It looks at his musical insight and his preparation for a concert, and his appearance at a Washington Rally to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King."

[via Sunny Day Ent.]

I wanted to post this months ago when it premiered but the BBC stupidly didn't allow embedding (note to them: take a cue from Hulu and MTV and allow access to the embed codes for everyone even if there are territorial restrictions on your content. Some people who visit my site might you know, live in the UK!). Luckily vimeo comes through in the clutch, thanks Oo Nwoye!

[via the late, great A Tribe Called Next blog]

Star of Glee is joining the the cast of Burlesque, a new movie-musical being described as the Moulin Rouge of the new decade co-starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. Read her interview with er, Interview magazine HERE.

[via Idolator]

Great PBS documentary, American Masters’ Sam Cooke: Crossing Over narrated by Danny Glover and featuring insight from storied peers such as James Brown, Bobby Womack and Smokey Robinson, looks into the life of one of the all-time great soul singers.

[via]

"Inspired to Gogols short story entitled "The Nose" from The Petersburg Tales director, Yi Zhou has written her latest short film about the absurd story of the loss of an ear. The ear is actually the key element of the film, shot in RED and partly to be made in 3d animation.

Throughout the film, the ear and inner ear as a whole turn themselves into an EarBrige as they get crossed by a bridge. The EarBridge is part of a public project proposal for Baku, Azerbaijan that includes a number of important international contemporary artists."

CREDITS:

Directed by Yi Zhou. Music by Ennio Morricone. Costumes by Rick Owens and BBC Ice Cream (natch).

Part one:

Part two:

[via DJ Vlad]

Notes on the video:

"The footage was apparently filmed by some students back in '67, showing a typical night at the mod club of the day (in Halifax that is). The film was funded by the BBC and apparently still sits in the BBC archives in its entirety."

Only flaw to the clip is the overlay of an (admittedly nice) track by The Impressions in the background instead of leaving whatever the original music was playing when the footage was shot. Still an amazing clip though if you are into 60's mod culture. [clip via Mod Culture, natch!]

Live at the 'Christmas in Washington 2008' show.

The Italian Job meets Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels? 

Online:

The Bank Job - UK website  |  US website 

Click here for more info.