My Sunday in New York collection
February 27, 2019
I've been collecting Sunday in New York memorabilia for about ten years now and I thought it would be fun to round up everything and share it here!
Sunday in New York is my favorite movie. It's comfort food, the kind of movie I watch when I want to feel like I'm home. It makes me laugh more every time I watch it and even though I know other people love it too, my devotion makes me feel a certain level of ownership. It's MY movie. I just adore it. And I love surrounding myself with things that remind me of it.
If you look at the drawer units behind me in one of my outfit posts on my style blog here, and then look at those drawers in this photo it will give you some idea of the size of this poster. IT IS BIG. It's so big that I don't actually have room for it right now on my walls, but it was such a unique find that I couldn't pass it up for "someday" when I have a bigger living area.
This poster is slightly obscured in the photo by my hanging planter but it's a standard one sheet. I've moved this one around a lot but it's one of the only posters I own that has been on constant display since I got it in 2013.
This is a custom marquee art print where I added the Sunday in New York marquee details. I think it's such a fun way to pay homage to one of my favorite movies!
This still was a gift from my parents last Christmas. I had sent my mom a link to the ebay listing and then on Christmas morning it wasn't under the tree. Sometimes after Christmas I treat myself to a few things I might have wanted but didn't receive as a present (does anyone else do this?) and when I went on ebay, I found this was sold out! Boo! I tried to find another copy but nobody had one listed anymore.
Then about a week after Christmas a package came in the mail from Sweden and there it was! My mom had totally forgotten that she had ordered it, and it arrived late! I'm so happy I managed to get this one, I just think it's so beautiful!
I got this still at Larry Edmunds' book store in Hollywood at my first TCM Film Festival (where I saw Sunday in New York with Robert Osborne introducing it!) so this one is really special to me. I took the photo at a terrible angle so my xoxo frame is blocking the corner, but Rod Taylor is wearing one sneaker and one shoe, which is one of the funniest gags in the movie. I love that it's featured in this still!
This is my 45 record of the Sunday in New York score. I love this but I feel like without context Cliff Robertson looks like he's creeping in the doorway about to kill them, lol!
I've been searching for German versions of the Sunday in New York posters for ages (this one in particular) because they are so bold and I love the green title text with the heart over the "i" in "in"! It's one of my all-time favorite Sunday in New York finds. I hope someday the ebay gods will look kindly on me and let me find the matching one, as well.
For Christmas, Nikki got me this Yugoslavian version of the poster! I had never even seen this version before. I love how they added the cartoon drawings in the top corners, with the rowboat scene in the left corner and a very happy New York City on the right. For a while I've been thinking about getting a Sunday in New York themed tattoo at some point, and I think that happy city might be the perfect subtle nod to my favorite film.
I have a bunch of 8x10 stills running along the top of my ceiling and of course I have several from Sunday in New York! This one definitely captures Jane Fonda's awkwardness when Robert Culp bursts in to propose to her!
Two more stills from my collection. On the left, Jane Fonda is realizing her brother broke his "sacred honor" and on the right Cliff Robertson is dashing through the airport (actually LAX) to find Jo Morrow.
Another still featuring the shoe fiasco! Just looking at these stills brings a smile to my face since they are such perfect snapshots of the humor from the film.
In addition to the 45, I also have a 33 album of the film score from Sunday in New York. Since the movie sometimes feels like a feature length ad for Peter Nero I think it's especially appropriate that I have every version of the soundtrack possible, haha!
This is a press book for the movie. I need to actually devote a full post to this one with scans from the book, since there are a lot of press snippets, interviews, advertising suggestions, and small images of the American poster releases for the movie!
I have a binder filled with my extra stills that don't fit on my walls and these are the ones from my Sunday in New York collection. One of these days I would love to hang all of my stills grouped together, when I have more room.
These are contact sheets from a Sunday in New York photo shoot with Jane Fonda and Rod Taylor. I scanned all of them so you can view larger versions of all of the pictures on my movie scan blog here.
This was the first piece of Sunday in New York memorabilia that I ever purchased! It's a lobby card that I bought back in 2009 for like $5 and I can remember checking the mailbox anxiously every day waiting for it to arrive. It's one of my favorite scenes in the movie and I love Jane Fonda's expression! And I love the "suitable only for adults" sticker that a movie theater had placed on this at some point. It almost feels like real proof that this was really hanging in a theater where the movie originally played.
I think this might be my most unique find, an ad for TWA airlines that subtly plugs Sunday in New York. I think it's so fun since Cliff Robertson plays an airline pilot in the movie! The caption reads "Enjoy fine films such as the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Seven Arts production, 'Sunday in New York,' starring Cliff Robertson, Jane Fonda, Rod Taylor."
And finally, this button set that I made myself! I love making things that reflect my own super particular interests and I just had to have a Sunday in New York button set. Obviously I included the sneaker/shoe scene and some of my favorite quotes (the "two heads" one gets me every time!)
The Truffaut Happiness Challenge
February 02, 2019
"Three films a day, three books a week and records of great music would be enough to make me happy to the day I die."
I've been thinking a lot lately about happiness. For most of my twenties, and now the first couple years of my thirties, I haven't been all that happy. Last year my therapist suggested that I read The Happiness Project, a book where a woman sets out to devote a year of her life to improving her outlook on life. The author is an incredibly privileged rich woman with a devoted husband and adorable kids, sooo, not super relatable. She had a few good suggestions (the ones that resonated the most with me were building collections, and making time for activities that you enjoy) but most of the book was focused on forming and maintaining human connections. And that's honestly just not for me. Whether it's in-person relationships or social media, I just feel out of place with people. Human relations fill me with self-doubt and confusion. People that I think of as friends usually think of me as merely an acquaintance. I constantly feel as if I am burdening others with my existence if I try to stay in touch. And whenever my brain tricks me into thinking I'm part of a tribe, I suddenly feel like an outsider. This is not a breeding ground for my happiness, it's part of the reason I'm unhappy to begin with. Personally, I need to look elsewhere.
Perhaps one of the only humans that I feel a real honest to goodness connection with has been dead for some thirty years. Through watching his movies, reading his writing, studying his biographies, I feel like I found a kindred spirit in François Truffaut. And so it should come as no surprise to me that the answer to happiness should be found in a paper he wrote in 1949. "Three films a day, three books a week and records of great music would be enough to make me happy to the day I die." He was an angsty 17 year old when he wrote this, although I very much doubt that he'd have rebuked the ritual at any point in his too-short life.
Last month I decided that I'd embark upon a Truffaut Challenge. Three films a day and three books a week seemed a little too voluminous for my work schedule, but I decided that at least one film a day and two books a week was much more achievable. And, of course, plenty of records of great music.
I'm a little over a week into my challenge so far and I can already say that it has helped me immensely. I feel so much more contended losing myself in works of literature and film. It's also had the unintended consequence of limiting my time on social media, thereby increasing my happiness even more. And I'm finding personal fulfillment in meeting the challenge -- each day there is a goal to accomplish, and it doesn't involve work or other people. As an illustrator, I am very hard on myself when it comes to my work and I suffer from crippling feelings of inadequacy. But by spending a hefty hunk of my day reading and watching movies, I'm happily appreciating the contributions of talented filmmakers and writers, rather than wading in a puddle of creative uncertainty.
I've also realized that three films a day and three books a week is actually more realistic than I initially thought. I devote at least a couple hours each day to listening to podcasts while I work at the computer - that could easily be switched out for movies (most likely re-watches since I prefer to give my complete and total attention to movies I'm seeing for the first time.) And surprisingly I finished 3 1/2 books this week after all. I also branched out when it came to "great music." Normally I would just play the same old itunes playlist that I have been listening to for the last few years, comprised mostly of songs by The Killers. But I branched out a little in two different directions -- I went on spotify and listened to some music that I hadn't heard before (and discovered I really like Florence and The Machine.) I also went back on itunes and played my 2011 and 2012 playlists, rediscovering some music that I hadn't listened to in 7 or 8 years.
Next week would have been Truffaut's 87th birthday, and I'm thinking I need to up the ante a bit and make this a Truffaut themed Truffaut challenge. Next week my daily movies will be made by Truffaut, and my books written by or about him. This routine has already improved my mood more than any self help book or pitiful attempts at human connection ever could -- I can only imagine how happy I'll be at the end of next week, after spending it enveloped in works produced by one of my favorite people.
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