Les Yeux Sans Visage...

Black and White horror movies are magic.

I'm not sure how else to explain it exactly, except to say that a certain kind of alchemy happens when a frightening concept is guided by a director with vision, and those elements are introduced to black and white celluloid. So for me, the experience of watching Eyes Without A Face was a little like having director, Georges Franju, jump out of my television and ask: "Was THIS your card?"

Released in 1960, the plot centers around a mad scientist who begins kidnapping and murdering young co-eds in order to graft their pretty faces on to his daughter, Christiane, a young woman disfigured by a terrible car accident.

A terrifying meditation on the adage: beauty is only skin-deep, Eyes Without a Face works so well because it is stunning to behold. The haunting visuals are sublime, especially the scenes that feature Christiane skulking about her father's laboratory in her ghostly mask.Like a master magician, director Georges Franju somehow manages to make horror beautiful. See this movie!

Costume design exhibition...

The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising is celebrating the important contribution of Costume Designers to the art of cinema with their 18th annual exhibit entitled: "The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design."

Featuring over 100 actual costumes from more than 20 movies released in 2009, the exhibit is the only one of its kind in the world, and is free to the general public.

Visitors will be able to see the wearable art created by some of the most accomplished costume designers working in movies today. Indeed, the movies: Bright Star, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Nine, and The Young Victoria feature prominently in the show, and each of these movies has garnered an Oscar nomination for their respective designers.

Colleen Atwood’s costumes for both Public Enemies and Nine are in this year’s exhibit. Nine earned Atwood her 8th Academy Award nomination, and gazing at the costumes on display, it easy to see why: one million Swarovski crystals were used to create the show-stopping showgirl costumes alone.

Kids visiting the FIDM exhibit with their parents will be in for a special treat. Several of the puppets from the stop-motion animated feature, Coraline, are on display, and the impressive, bigger-than-life costumes that the Jim Henson Company constructed for Where The Wild Things Are, look ready to start a wild rumpus at any moment.

In all, The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising is showcasing the designs of 30 Academy Award nominations. Inglorious Basterds, Star Trek, Watchmen, and last year’s Oscar winner, The Duchess, are just a few of the not to be missed designs in this unique exhibition of artistry.

"The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design" is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10a.m. to 4p.m. through April 17th. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Parking is available in the lot under the college building on 9th street, and in surrounding lots near the FIDM campus.