Blog Archives
Tarkovsky on Youth
The masterful films of the late Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky were shot-through with a metaphysical seeking that was embodied in the auteur’s unconventional structure and intensely inventive cinematography. No less than Ingmar Bergman said of Tarkovsky: “Tarkovsky for me is the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, [...]
Van Sant/Burroughs
Highlighting the auteur’s earliest days as a filmmaker, this strange, instructional short video presages Gus Van Sant’s later partnerings with William S. Burroughs. Short of the Week gets the drop on The Discipline of DE… For this short, Van Sant choose a wonderful short story by William S. Burroughs (who would later appear in Drugstore [...]
L’ATALANTE at 80
This year we celebrate the 80th birthday of Jean Vigo’s masterpiece, L’Atalante. After attempting to make a film about a famous anarchist, Vigo rewrote the script of a romantic comedy instead, telling the story of a canal barge captain, his hapless crew and the woman he adores, loves, marries, becomes jealous of, hates, leaves and [...]
David Lynch: Painter
While David Lynch is known for his film and television projects, he started out as a painter and has maintained a studio practice throughout his weird and wonderful career in moving images. While Lynch’s fear of being seen as a “celebrity painter” has kept him from pursuing gallery exhibitions, he’s been pleased to accept showings [...]
Scorsese, Sedated
When I think of the films of Martin Scorsese, I’m never reminded of the music of the late, great Ramones, but between now and 2016 it’s not likely I’ll be able to make any other connection. It’s just been announced that the great director will be telling the tale of the punk pioneers in an [...]
Of Mice and Men
When we think of Mickey Mouse we usually think of Walt Disney, but we should really be thinking of Ub Iwerks — the man who first drew the mouse and animated him to life. Here’s the Wiki… In 1922, when Walt began his Laugh-O-Gram cartoon series, Iwerks joined him as chief animator. The studio went [...]
Mishima’s Mask
This year we remember the 65th anniversary of the publishing of Yukio Mishima’s first novel, Confessions of a Mask. One of my favorite writers and thinkers of all time, Mishima lived and died by the example that art and obsession can make great beauty if also a bloody tragedy. Here’s the Wiki… Mishima’s early childhood [...]
Wild Oates
Warren Oates might not be a household name in 2014, but during the golden age of the New American Cinema, Oates took iconic turns in cult classics like Cockfighter and Two-Lane Blacktop, and became the John Wayne to Sam Peckinpah’s John Ford, appearing in The Wild Bunch, Ride the High Country and Major Dundee. The [...]
Adieu, Clown
My favorite Robin Williams’ film is Dead Poets Society, but this scene from Good Will Hunting encapsulates the man’s best work for me: Williams starts off the scene on script, but by the middle, when he mentions his late wife waking herself, farting in her sleep, he’s off and running on one of his can’t-help-it [...]
Fantastic Forgotten
Now that Guardians of the Galaxy has secured the unbridled success of superhero films a guaranteed slot on American movie screens for the foreseeable future, I’ve been looking back to see how other comic book flicks have fared without the support of a trendy tidal wave at their backs. My favorite find is this 1994 [...]
