Blog Archives
The Holy Mountain at 40
Getting some links together for the latest Coincidence Control Network podcast, I was shocked that we hadn’t talked about the 40th anniversary of my favorite Alejandro Jodorowsky film The Holy Mountain. I’ve mentioned the film in previous posts, but this important birthday is one that must be observed with reverence and open eyes. Check out [...]
Sun Ra’s Cosmic Cult Film
One of the weirdest cult music movies of all time, Space is the Place (1974) is a fictional film written by Joshua Smith and composer, poet, keyboardist and cosmic philosopher Sun Ra. Born Herman Poole Blount in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, Ra’s music ultimately found him following his muse all over the country from Chicago [...]
Living Together
In keeping with my recent posts about the 1960′s and the San Francisco Diggers in particular, I wanted to finish off with the last chapter in their story. After bringing their brand of world-remaking to the Haight, the Digggers joined with a number of other groups to drop out in a big way. Together, they [...]
Back in Black: Agnes Varda’s Panthers
The French filmmaker Agnes Varda’s candid camera work, and the natural performances and settings in her narrative films and documentaries influenced no less than Jean-Luc Godard. As a result, Varda is considered to be one of the key influences in the development of the French New Wave. In 1968, Varda traveled to America to shoot [...]
Jane’s Addiction: Gifted
In the late ’80′s and early 90′s, Jane’s Addiction brought the druggy, draggy Los Angeles underground sound to mainstream audiences with a trio of unforgettable albums: Jane’s Addiction (1987), the classic Nothing’s Shocking (1988) and Ritual de lo Habitual (1990). The fact that Jane’s guitar player Dave Navarro claims to have no recollection of recording [...]
The Who, The Mods and Quadrophenia at 40
For those readers who are unfamiliar with Mod culture, let’s begin with the Wiki: Mod (from modernist) is a subculture that originated in London, England, in the late 1950s and peaked in the early to mid-1960s. Significant elements of the mod subculture include fashion (often tailor-made suits); music, including African American soul, Jamaican ska, British [...]
Inconsistent Persistence
Kevin Schreck is a first-time director whose Persistence of Vision tells a tale of artistic obsession, tracing the career of master animator Richard Williams. Williams is best known for 1988′s Who Framed Roger Rabbit which seamlessly mixed live action and animation, putting the director on the map as one of the master storytellers in the [...]
Little Big Prince
In France, the publishing world is falling over itself to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s modern book of parables, Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince). In the book, the title character relates the story of his cosmic adventures to a downed pilot on Earth. Since its writing in 1943, the book has [...]
