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U.S. Blues
“In Jerry Garcia’s original nearly five hour edit of the Grateful Dead Movie, he had the film opening with Uncle John’s Band. A wonderful track, with a terrific performance filmed during the five night run (and later released as Bonus Track on the DVD in 2004), but it didn’t have the weight of movie’s opening…
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Spike Lee’s Essential Cinema
Just over a decade ago, Lee posted this list of other people’s joints online. 400 Blows (François Truffaut) 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini) Ace in a Hole (Billy Wilder) American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli) Apocalypto (Mel Gibson) Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara) Badlands (Terrence Malick) Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo) Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus) Black Rain (Shōhei Imamura) Blue Collar (Paul Schrader) Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn) Boyz n the Hood (John Singleton)…
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“How and when did you choose to be who and how you are?”
Dear Marvin, In response to your letter… Wow, OK, first off: whoa. That’s a hell of a way to ask someone, “How did you end up like this?” Feels like I’m being lovingly cornered by a very philosophical customs agent, or a very drunk friend. I do not believe I have consciously “chosen” most of…
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My local record store posted a ton of Miles that had just arrived on Instagram.
I think I was there exactly seven minutes later.
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David Lynch is Gone
David Lynch, “maker of florid and unnerving films,” passed on the 15th at the age of 78. He was truly one of one. Peerless. “Like Frank Capra and Franz Kafka, two widely disparate 20th-century artists whose work Mr. Lynch much admired and might be said to have synthesized, his name became an adjective.” “He’s one…
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Guerra de las Galaxias, Presentado por ¡Cerveza Cristal!
The original Star Wars trilogy didn’t air in Chile until 2003, and when it did, it had only one sponsor, a beer company that in lieu of traditional commercials, hilariously inserted scenes featuring their beers. This is something I think about often. Apologies for the poor Spanish in the title. (Via Kottke)
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Best Watches, 2024
Compiled this list at Letterboxd, distilled down from 335. Not a “best of 2024,” more a “best watched in 2024.” Maybe I’ll do a proper list for 2024. If the Academy can wait til March, so can I. Thus far, I’d say Anora, Challengers, A Complete Unknown, A Real Pain and Snack Shack stood out…
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Spotify Wrapped and 15 Years of Listening
Down a bit from last year, mostly due to vinyl consumption. Apparently in my jazz era. Still a punk at heart, though. Also, as of today, Last.fm has been tracking music I’ve listened to on my computer and phone for fifteen years. Looking at the top artists, I’d say not necissarily the right order, but…
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A “Brief Respite from a Harsh Reality”
A “chess set made from paper in the Buchenwald camp by political prisoner Hermann Rautenberg, a Jew from Berlin.” “On an old fishing boat, posing as a group of innocent boating enthusiasts, Herman Rautenberg from Berlin met with other youths involved in anti-Nazi activities. In spite of being arrested a number of times, Rautenberg was…
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Charles Schulz on Democracy
“In 1970, students in a fifth-grade class at Hawthorne School in Beverly Hills were assigned to write a letter to someone they admired, asking them ‘What makes a good citizen?’ Joel Lipton, 10 years old at the time, wrote to Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz.” “I think it is more difficult these days to define what…
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“If you can’t be a good example, at least try to become an interesting cautionary tale.”
Not sure what is exactly that Merlin Mann is up to, but he’s been posting words of wisdom on Github. Lots of gems.
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Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72
“How many more of these stinking, double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote FOR something, instead of always being…
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Jim Henson: Idea Man, Ron Howard
Had the pleasure to see the Muppets in a wonderful exhibit in Grand Rapids last year and this film served as an excellent reminder of that inspirational day. In his own words: “Life’s like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.” I will likely always be more of a George Carlin or…
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Me and Rigby watching a Ghostbusters and Gremlins double-feature in honor of both movies coming out June 8, 1984.
Truly the day cinema peaked.
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Joey Ramone would have been 73 today.
(Photo by Howard Barlow) As heard on Little Steven’s Underground Garage: The renaissance had come and gone. It ended with either Who’s Next in August, ’71, or The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St., May of ’72. You can argue all night about which record began the renaissance, but nobody’s going to argue that starting…