Blog Archives
Salivation Nation
Feeling a bit lost in the desert recently but not sure if I’m Christ in the desert or just a fisherman starving in a shanty, but it’s been nothing but Willem Dafoe weather around here, and even though my blog can’t keep its senses together it’s insisting upon itself. Here’s another very odd entry that [...]
Ira Cohen Fest
One of my favorite authors, photographers and filmmakers of all time has two films currently available on YouTube. Ira Cohen isn’t a particularly timely subject, but movies like Kings With Straw Mats and The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda are forever and always. Here’s a mini-Cohen film fest for your Boxing Day viewing… Please subscribe to [...]
HBD! JLG
Jean-Luc Godard celebrated his 87th birthday on December 3 and even though I read a handful of articles and re-tweeted tweet I saw about the master I’m only getting around to mentioning it here. Maybe I was slow to this task because GODARD seems too massive for a quick mention in a blog post. He’s [...]
Godfather 45
The Godfather is one of the greatest American films of all time, and in many ways it represents the best of the New Hollywood movement that flourished roughly from the 1960′s into the early 1980′s. The film included all of the greed, violence and lust for power that earlier films like Little Caesar (1931) and [...]
Rouch Roundup
Jean Rouch was killed in a tragic car accident and buried in the Republic of Niger in 2004. We remember the film director and author for his pioneering works of “ethnofiction” which blend scientifically grounded ethnography with creative narrative stories, and which established Rouch as “the father of cinema verite.” The new Eight Films by [...]
Mishima Mystery
Yukio Mishima died on November 25, 1970. We’re nearly two weeks away from the anniversary of the author’s passing, but today I was reminded of the great episode about Mishima in the BBC art series Arena. I’ve been reading Mishima since my early twenties. Confessions of a Mask was the first novel I read — [...]
Harder Sounds
After posting about Rockers yesterday, I realized we’re celebrating the 45th anniversary of The Harder They Come (1972) this year. Both films are usually found at the top of any list of reggae music films. For me Harder is a fun, flashy crime genre flick about an antihero on the run, but Rockers is a [...]
Rakka Roll
On Halloween night I was watching the original Halloween film — John Carpenter’s first masterpiece pioneered the slasher genre, provided us with an unforgettable score, and introduced the world to Jamie Lee Curtis. The flick is a classic of course even if it’s still controversial in some circles. Given the season I’m assuming that interested [...]
Very Scary CARRIE
I’m still bingeing on horror films during this last week before Halloween: I had a recording session last night but before I ran to the studio I caught the second half of the original Child’s Play film and the opening of its sequel. The Chucky marathon was part of AMC’s Fearfest scary cinema programming, and [...]
Kubrick: Acid Fascist
My last Kubrick post was well-received so I’m going back to Rob Ager to share another one of his videos deconstructing the master. Ager has done lots of analysis of Kubrick’s work, and this take on A Clockwork Orange is good for October because it touches on a contemporary horror… Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where [...]
