amour

whether you are in love, want to be, once were, or never were…you should go see this film.  if you are a mortal human being, or perhaps a demi-god gracing the rest of us with your presence, you should also go see this film.  michael haneke, thank you. by sv

Werner Herzog recordings of Klaus Kinski

werner herzog’s plays the recordings of klaus kinski’s rants on the set. hilarious and scary all at the same time. klaus tells herzog, “you are no director, you are a beginner, a dwarf’s director. you must ask me mr. kinski what do you think? david lean did that, even brecht, and you’ll do just the same”… it reminds me of my encounter with cesar the great. good times as cale would say. by xy

1930 american cinema vs Soviet cinema: walt disney and Sergei Eisenstein… and mickey

walt disney was a huge fan of sergei eisenstein

by the way, mickey was only two when that photo was taken… in the early 1930’s, eisenstein left the USSR with his assistants, embarking on a state-sanctioned trip to the west so that he’d learn more about sound film. his stay in the U.S. was a bust; no studio accepted his projects. after shooting a film in mexico that he’d never edit, he returned to the USSR.  in hindsight, it’s actually funny that anyone expected him to find common ground with the big american studios, but when eisenstein arrived in the US he was feted by the press and given the star treatment — or something resembling star treatment, cut to size for a communist director. and yet, although hollywood did nothing but confirm eisenstein’s hatred of capitalism, some pictures suggest that he still had fun… by xy

IN MEMORY OF TOBIAS WONG

remembering tobi wong – “contemporary design’s most nimble provocateur” and one of the most inspirational pioneers to conceptual art and design. by cp

mr. jones is sixty six

 

with a video by installation artist tony oursler featuring footage from time spent in berlin, mr. david bowie returns with his first studio album in a decade.  quite the occasion to mark his 66th birthday.  ‘where are we now’ single out today, rest of the album, ‘the next day’ is due in march.  happy happy to one of the few remaining masters.  by sv