5 Best: Buddy Movies

One of cinema’s most enjoyable and durable genres, the buddy movie has given us some of the most memorable and outrageous characters. Gentry pay tribute to the greatest friendships on the silver screen.

Music for Summer Days and Nights

It’s all about the heat – or at least we hope it will be. But should a summer soundtrack cool the fevered brow during baking hot city commutes; or stir one to love and passion on foreign beaches; or provide a fitting background to a lazy picnic by a babbling brook or al fresco suppers as the day (hopefully) cools?
It is May-June releases that have traditionally provided the pop soundtrack for our summers. One of the first was Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” in 1958; and ten years later The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City” perfectly captured Manhattan’s scorching summers. This year the talk is that Mariah Carey’s “E=MC2″ is going to be the album of summer ‘08 – but we’ll have to wait for next year to see whether we remember this year as Mariah’s year. Gentry has plumped for the tried and tested and this eclectic mix of rock, pop, classical, RnB and jazz aims to keep you both cool and hot as the weather dictates.

Gentry Summmer reads

Whether you’re spending your holiday on the sandy beaches of Forte dei Marmi, in a summer house in Norway, on a boat along the Dalmatian coast, or just hanging out for a long weekend at the Tresanton…we have choice books for all destinations. Summer reading presents two options – read all those newly released and over-hyped paperbacks from the autumn/winter season before (no!) or pick up and read or re-read the world’s great books (yes!). In no particular order, here are 11 favourites that will be making into our travel bag. (Note: The 1960s feature heavily here, as does America, for reasons we can’t explain.)

The Gentry Reader: Stories of longing

Sometimes we all need a helping hand when perusing the vast expanses and endless possibilities of the local bookstore. It’s not always easy to make a smart choice when each and every publication boasts quotes of “Brilliant!” and “A modern classic”. Thus, Gentry have devised an informed guide to some of the most provocative and arousing books to  give you endless nights of literary pleasure.

This week we look at those crushing, heart-wrenching stories that concern themselves with longing. This most beguiling of emotions is a staple of many a great novel, traversing the borderlands of romance and tragedy, a nomadic sentiment exiled from passion.

How and when to wear a cane

Whereas a gentleman carries an umbrella or a walking stick he “wears” a cane. The umbrella and the walking stick are functional accoutrements; but a gentleman’s cane is a finishing touch to his wardrobe. He should give equal attention to the selection of his cane as to his choice of wardrobe, the nature of the day’s business being uppermost in his mind.

Gentry sounds: Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Angles

Proving that Essex boys really can do it better, these beareded maestros have produced one of the records of the year. Seemingly a flippant summer rant – all squelched beats and snarky chats – given a little time and consideration, ‘Angles’ has a lot to say and some way of saying it.

Gentry in LA: At the Schindler House, West Hollywood

One of the great pleasures of LA life is driving around looking at the fabulous houses which were part of the Case Study House programme, after World War II. A far cry from the hideous McMansions that are a plague upon canyons from east to west, many of these sleek, elegant, modest homes are modernist masterpieces.

A Gentry Spring

For those us in London, there is so such thing as spring. In this city, it’s hard to live seasonally. The daffodils which promised so much only a few weeks ago have been cruelly levelled by gale force artic winds and rain. Still, we are made of strong stuff and hope, um, springs eternal? So, here some ideas for spring, both at home and abroad – things to buy, places to go, that kind of thing. If you’re lucky enough to be somewhere where there’s the promise of renewal, all the better. If not, pretend.

This Week – Gentry Style

The Exhibition: Vanity Fair Portraits (National Portrait Gallery)

This excellent collection has been around for a while so there’s no excuse to miss it. The NPG has been given access to the Vanity Fair archives and pulled 150 of the most iconic, revealing pictures. The exhibition features vintage prints from the magazine’s first period (1913-1936) – on display for the first time. These are combined with more popular and contemporary images from its second period (1983-present). Legendary photographers like Edward Steichen and Cecil Beaton took glamorous portraits of Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson in the period 1913-1936, and these are on display. Two unseen portraits of author Virginia Woolf taken in 1924 are an added treat in this part of the exhibition. Another highlight of the exhibition is 22 images by acclaimed portrait photographer, Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz has become the dominant image-maker of Vanity Fair. Her portraits include that of Miles Davis, Kate Winslet, Lance Armstrong, and more recently, the Queen. With subjects as diverse as Claude Monet, Cary Grant and Madonna, if you’re looking for great photographers or great subjects, or both, don’t miss the Vanity Fair Portraits exhibition. In our view, this is the hottest photographic experience in town. Go and see it!

Top 5: Films du Look

Cinéma du look was a French film movement of the 1980s that had a slick, self-concious visual style. It focussed on young, alienated and almost invariably handsome characters. It was a thrilling blend of high and low (pop) culture and music, dealing with themes of urban loneliness and cosmetic attraction – very much taking its lead from the music videos of the day (breathing in both Punk and New Romanticism). Perhaps the most style conscious movement in the history of the medium, Cinéma du Look was a neon slap of a sub-genre, as sexy in form as maddening in content. Gentry Style pays tribute below to the best Films du Look, each one a slinky, vampirically vapid classic.