Lacoste is launching a bright, glow-in-the-dark edition of its Lacoste L714s aviator-style sunglasses. These special edition sunglasses are outfitted in a rainbow of bright colors: yellow and orange or blue, green and purple. The neon frames are made of a special plastic that absorbs sunlight and artificial light in the day. The result: trendy glow-in-the-dark frames at night. Lacoste also equipped these new glasses with mirrored lenses, another of the season’s top trends. The next-generation Lacoste L714s sunglasses will be available from June at €115 (around $160).
Greek Cypriot industrialist and art collector Dakis Joannou who green-lighted American artist Jeff Koons and Italian yacht designer Ivana Porfiri to create for him this mega yacht, ’Guilty.’ The stunning looks and amenities of this 115-feet long ship, inspired by the naval camouflage used by Britain during World War I, Guilty’s yellow rhombuses, pink triangles and blue polygons become even more amazing when reflected off the water. Onboard there are 180-degree views of the envious and awestruck rest of the world, along with plenty of bedrooms filled with museum-worthy works of art.
Renault unveiled a striking blue concept car by Ross Lovegrove, a British furniture and product designer, at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano furniture show. Renault says that the Twin’Z is a fun, modern, artistic take on a city car that draws inspiration from some of the Renault’s most iconic models, such as the R5 and the Twingo. The Twin’Z is an all electric city car featuring rear-wheel drive and a rear-mounted electric motor. The top speed is 81 mph and the vehicle has a driving range of 100 miles on a charge. The Twin’Z’s glass roof is designed in layers and incorporates an array of LEDs which form animated patterns intended to enhance the overall experience of the driver and passengers. Inside, the seatshave been upholstered in a 3D woven, self-cushioning, lightweight blue textile which is both waterproof and flame resistant. The conventional dashboard has been replaced by a single tablet with a touch-screen display that controls everything from the vehicle’s heater systems to the roof. A smartphone display’s the vehicle’s speed, range-related information and the principal warning lights. Renault chose to reveal its concept car at the ‘Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano’, to prove its determination to reach out to a wider audience by targeting those who are more sensitive to design.
To celebrate the re-opening of their 12,000 sq ft Beverly Hills boutique, luxury French fashion label Hermés have created a blue basketball which, with a price tag of $12,900 USD, may spend more time on your mantlepiece than on the court. Only two of the bright blue calfskin balls have been created, but according to the brand’s American CEO Robert Chavez, they can “certainly be used for play – the leather is sturdy, and why not make such a unique item come to life on the court?” Made at the special orders atelier in Paris under the creative direction of Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the balls feature the same hand-stitched technique as the brand’s iconic Birkin bag and represent “the sky, the ocean and all the beautiful pools that are a way of life in L.A. and Southern California.”
As Apple continue to hire talent to work on their supposed “iWatch” project, Microsoft are rumored to already be planning to retaliate with a smartwatch of their own. Several weeks back it was reported that Microsoft placed orders for 1.5″ screens and now trusted sources have told AmongTech that the smartwatch is already being used as prototype and will be available in a variety of colors – blue, red, yellow, black, white, and grey. The outside housing will be made from Oxynitride Aluminium – a type of aluminium that is 80% transparent and four times harder than glass. The source also said that the device will include an adapted version of Windows 8 and will work with Cloud storage (plus 6GB internal storage) and 4G LTE. If the rumors turn out to be true, expect this to be unveiled sometime in late 2014.
For its 50th anniversary celebration in collaboration with Automobili Lamborghini, Car Shoe (owned since 2001 by the Prada Group) is launching a new driving shoe. Hand made with meticulous attention to detail, the classic profile features a pebbled calf leather upper and a notched, rubber studded outsole for added grip. The moccasin is finished with Lamborghini’s iconic logo on the heel tab and metal 50th anniversary logo on the laces. The collection consists of three different colors – black, red and blue – all reminiscent of classic Lamborghini tones. A limited edition, expect these to arrive at select Prada shops in a few weeks. Car Shoe was founded in 1963 by Gianni Mostile. The brand soon became best known for its signature moccasin which feature tiny rubber nubs.
Invicta Reserve Venom Watches are ideal accessory for a fashionable men. The 1405 Venom Reserve features chronograph leather strap 8 slot dive case, silver-tone stainless steel round surface with textured edges. The slightly domed flame fusion crystal adds more to the beauty of this watch. The crystal comes in blue, yellow, red, orange colors. No doubt every Invicta watch contain high quality features and underlying functions.
Absolut Tune is a sparkling fusion of Absolut vodka and crisp white wine. This champagne like bottle has a very Tord Boontje-esque double layered, flowery pattern to it. The caged cork glass bottle has two layers of plastic on it – one with a gold on blue, and the top layer with a matte/pearly white lined with gold that peels back ever so dramatically.
Beyonce and Jay-Z’s baby girl is making pop chart history in the U.S. after becoming the youngest act ever to be credited on a Billboard Hot 100 hit. Little Blue Ivy Carter was just hours old when proud dad Jay-Z recorded her crying and added it to the end of his new tune “Glory,” which he released to the internet recently.. and the song is already a hit. It will debut at 74 on the new Billboard countdown when it’s officially released on Thursday (and that’s a new record for the artist credited as B.I.C.) She trumps Stevie Wonder’s newborn Aisha, who appeared on his “Isn’t She Lovely”, because the soul man never officially credited his baby as a collaborator on the record.
For this series titled “Bêtes de mode” (Fashion Animals) by HELMO, blue portraits and red animal portraits are superimposed then and displayed in the windows of the Lafayette Galleries on Hausmann Boulevard. A system of colored gels colored blue and red on the panes makes it possible to see the portrait mode sometimes, and sometimes the animal portrait. For this installation, the optical system of the gelatines of color was replaced by projection lights, – red and blue. The images are fairly large in scale (5×8 meters)… Check the method.
With certain blog posts, I unintentionally cause some sort of an uproar. (And then I get inbox full of emails from angry people, then I make my staff go through it, then they complain, and its just not pretty) BUT, that being said, this post is meant to cause some discussions. My person top 10 movie villains, is a list made out of personal opinion, and a list that I hope people will give me suggestions on. I haven’t seen every movie, and if you think there’s a bad-ass that I’ve left off the list, please let me know. But before I get to it, I want to explain why I left one person off the list. ‘The Dark Knight‘s joker is one of the best most compelling villains I’ve ever seen. But there is too much speculation about Heath Ledgers death being the reason people loved his performance, or about how he went crazy while playing the role, yadda yadda. So although I took Joker off the list, I still had to put up one of my favorite scenes from The Dark Knight by one of the most iconic antagonists in modern American cinema. Click the pic to see the scene.
Click the pic to watch.
And now that we have THAT out of the way, let me go into a bit more detail about my hard thought list. There is always a very worthy antagonist for every good movie, but my selections weren’t based on the money the movie made, or how well it received by the general public. When I say best villains, I mean just that. I’ve picked the most devious, reckless, demented, mischievous rapscallions ever captured on film, and portrayed by great actors, but keep in mind this list is not in any specific order. This is just my personal top 10, not how they rank. I also did my best not to over-saturate the list with over played persona’s like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Essentially I tried to stay away from a whole list of “possessed crazed white people”, there’s an abundance of that in good movies (Ryan Reynolds in ‘Amityvillie Horror’, Katie from ‘Paranormal Activity’, and so on). The second category I stayed away from were the action movie bad guys, who are a normally a dime a dozen, and all either want money or have a personal vendetta with the good guy, which is why I tried my hardest to deviate from that as well. I’ll explain my reasons for picking each person on the list, but basically I wanted to stick to truly unique, one of a kind, malicious bad-assery (more like John Doe in ‘Seven’ which would have came 11th on the list) so I’m pretty sure I picked 10 winners. Check the method.
Patrick Bateman – (American Psycho)
What I consider a master of deception, Bateman is insane, and can keep it all in his pants when it matters most, but I think is the most unsettling thing about him is when his “crazy” slips out, like in the classic ‘business card’ scene from American Psycho. Interesting, intriguing, while still unsettling and disturbing, this simple scene doesn’t depict any of his murders, but it shows just how the mind of a person that deranged just might work.
Adrian Veidt – (Watchmen)
I consider Adrian an unparalleled monster, for the simple fact that in his movie, he did something no other villains tend to do… Succeed. He carried out his master-plan, killed a billion people, and had one of the sickest evil lines in ANY movie. “I’m not a comic book villain. Do you seriously think I would explain my master stroke to you if there were even the slightest possibility you could affect the outcome? I triggered it 35 minutes ago.” Not to mention in his universe, he’s the smartest man alive. Check it out.
Hannibal Lecter – (Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon, Hannibal Rising.)
When the original ‘Silence of the Lambs’ came out, I was far too young to appreciate it. All I remember thinking was that Buffalo Bill not having a d*ck was downright disturbing in every sense of the word. But years and years later, when the sequel ‘Hannibal’ came out, my sister sat me down and made me watch the original, and it warped my mind as to how brilliant and insidious the character of Hannibal Lecter really was. Check out a scene or two from one of my favorite evil genius’s. (B.T.W. if you haven’t seen any of the movies, he eats people.)
Blue – (Sucker Punch)
‘Sucker Punch’ is a relatively new movie, its an original, and most people are unfamiliar with its basic cast of characters. But all that being said, Blue, the movies main villain is ridiculously malicious, and carries out one of the most shocking acts in any movie I’ve seen in years. Seeing as how when this post was written, ‘Sucker Punch’ was still clocking dollars at the box office, I won’t put any spoilers into this post. But I do have to reiterate that Blue is a gentleman, a low down scheeming liar, a man of great emotional depth, a disturbed m*ther f*cker, and still one of the biggest pimps I’ve ever seen on screen. The scene below (has no spoilers) but is immediately before Blue shows his “true colors” and rockets himself into villain history. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what happens next.
Simon Phoenix – (Demolition Man)
I feel like if people were satisfied with my choices so far, they may not be after this. I know I tried to stray away from action movie villians, but if you’re a fan of the 1993 movie ‘Demolition Man’, you know exactly why Simon Phoenix breaks the action villain mold. He’s planning, methodical, and absolutely insane. Not only does he get pure joy from destruction, he carries out most of his acts in a world where people are innocent and crime doesn’t exist. He prays on the innocent not for any motive or reason, but simply because he just LOVES doing it. Which makes him a great villain. Check out exactly what I mean below.
Castor Troy – (Face Off)
Now when it comes to vile, demented, horrid, despicable, and utterly hilarious characters, no one can tell me that Castor Troy doesn’t deserve to be on this list. A great sense of humor is always something that makes an antagonist greater than the ‘evil-brooding-angry-man-sitting-in-a-chair-petting-a-cat’ stereotype that villains can have. But the mental disturbance level of Castor Troy throughout the entire movie “Face Off” is what I think gives Mr. Troy the chops to make it onto this list. Check out one of the opening scenes of ‘Face Off’ and you’ll see what I mean.
Alonzo Harris – (Training Day)
Yes… the photo above is of Denzel Washington playing Alonzo Harris in the 2001 hit ‘Training Day’… (AND yes he’s pointing a shotgun at a small boy) So now that we have an idea of how gutter the villain Alonzo Harris was, I have to say that what puts him on this list (for me) is the fact that when you watch this movie, you feel the character’s plight. You don’t care that he’s an evil, vindictive, deceitful, murderer, you just want him to succeed. And I’ll admit this whole-heartedly, when I’m alone, I can’t watch the end of ‘Training Day’. It just pushes a bad button to see Officer Harris go down the way he does. After all, he’s responsible for one of the most classic lines in current urban culture…. “King Kong ain’t got S*HT on ME!” (tell me you’ve never heard anyone say that in real life.)
Clyde Shelton – (Law Abiding Citizen)
Clyde Shelton is another relatively new bad guy, but never the less, he deserves to be on this list. I don’t know the percentage of people who have seen “Law Abiding Citizen” but if you haven’t, Shelton is one of the most brilliant bad-asses I’ve seen in a long time. He manages to keep the audience guessing as to his next move, while keeping the audience guessing as to how he’s doing it all, while keeping the audience saying “I don’t understand why your doing what your doing, but go on sir.” Perfect example is the courtroom scene below. Half the time your wondering what the hell is wrong with this man, but you can’t take your eyes of the screen. Dope.
Agent Smith – (The Matrix)
This list is all about the qualities that make antagonists extra evil, and counting those qualities. Agent Smith is unique because for the first time we have to disregard a few things. Lets just forget that the man has an army of HIMSELF. Lets forget the fact that he technically cannot die. Lets just forget the fact that he can kill you with one touch. Lets just focus on the little part where he doesn’t have one main enemy, Smith just hates the ENTIRE HUMAN SPECIES as a whole. Just for having that much hatred in your blood, you deserve a good spot on the list. Check out Smith’s explanation for his angry disposition below.
Alex – (A Clockwork Orange)
Click the pic to watch this final villain in action.
Due to restrictions put on me by the people who pay me, there is a certain bracket of content I can’t post directly onto this site. Alex from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ falls directly into that bracket like 27 times. And that’s one of the things that makes him one of the greatest Villains in movie history. Deranged beyond all comprehension, crazed, angry, disturbed, and any other synonym you can come up with, are all things to describe this character. If the “disturbing” level of ‘2 Girl’s 1 Cup’ made you want to drop kick a baby stroller, then after watching the “Singing In The Rain” scene from ‘A Clockwork Orange’ you may just look like this when it’s over. The best part is, unlike ‘2 Girls 1 Cup’, people actually ENJOY watching this movie, which is why Alex is one of the top ranking bad guys on my list. Enjoy.
The Vote.
So as I said in the beginning of this post, I’m very open to speculation, conversation, and mediation on this topic, and I’m really curious to hear other people’s opinions. If I’ve missed anyone I’d like to take them into consideration. So I’ve set up a vote in which you can vote on the list as to who your favorite is, or you can write your own answers in. Lets see what happens.
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