SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS
A trailer for the documentary on LCD Soundsystem’s last show:
LCD frontman James Murphy had made the conscious decision to disband one of the most celebrated and influential bands of its generation at the peak of its popularity, ensuring that the band would go out on top with the biggest and most ambitious concert of its career. The instantly sold out, near four-hour extravaganza did just that, moving the thousands in attendance to tears of joy and grief, with NEW YORK magazine calling the event “a marvel of pure craft” and TIME magazine lamenting “we may never dance again.” SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS is both a narrative film documenting this once in a life time performance and an intimate portrait of James Murphy as he navigates the lead-up to the show, the day after, and the personal and professional ramifications of his decision.
(thanks, Josh)
Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson has a new movie coming out:
Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, MOONRISE KINGDOM tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore — and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.
Sounds like a cross between The Tempest and Blue Lagoon. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Uncomfortable Plot Summaries
HARRY POTTER: Celebrity Jock thinks rules don’t apply to him, is right.
(via @johndiesattheen)
Because, there you are
One of my favorite parts of Hillman Curtis’s book on Creating Short Films is that as soon as you turn the camera on, the person you are interviewing is there. You don’t have to do anything. They will show you who they are. I may not be remembering that part exactly right, but I’m not going to look it up, because it’s true.
Chicago Screenshots
Chicago Screenshots is a (slowly growing) collection of Chicago-centric movie and television stills, presented as architectural and urban landscape photography.
Films sans subtitles
My friend Charlie is now living in Buenos Aires in a house full of folks from all over the world, and among them is Lauren Stephenson, whom some of you may know. The other night Charlie and Lauren went to the movies. Their command of Spanish was not up to the task of following the film as its makers intended, and Charlie reflected on the experience of watching a talkie without a solid grasp on the words the characters spoke.
There were a lot of solitary and broody fishermen in boats and seaside bars. And one mouthy whore. There was a girl thrown into the mix, but her character stared vacantly into the distance so often that I wondered what she was looking at. Was she psychic? Did she make that guy have a heart attack just by squinting through the window? What was she looking for in the distance anyway? Did she like to find beavers in clouds? Again, not sure.
Farewell to a chimp
Norma Desmond makes funeral arrangements.
Inspired by @Howlinow, who spoke of the late Cheeta (whomever he may have been, and however long he may have lived) as “the Norma Desmond of simians.”
Charles Coleman, the celluloid adventurist
Coleman, 47, is film programmer for Facets Multimedia.
One thing being lost is the art of conversation, of people seeing a movie and then actually having a good talk afterwards. — As told to J.R. Jones.
Man, does this put me in mind of my friend Charlie’s thoughts re: the “hidden cinema” he frequents in Buenos Aires.
tweet of the day
I’ll bet Ben Kenobi has gross fucking toes.
— John Gruber (@gruber) December 20, 2011
headline of the day, II
Portland police arrest man after alleged ‘Star Wars’ light saber assault at Toys’R'Us
(this happened about half a mile from my house)
Film.com Reviews
A Roundup of our reviews for the weekend.
I wrote these:
Young Adult
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Other people wrote these:
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
New Year’s Eve
The Sitter
Touch of Evil
A serious of shorts, directed by Alex Prager. Fantastic and mesmerizing.
from the comments
Sarah, I tell people to just tell me the end of the movie. I never want to be in a dark theater again waiting for supernatural occurrence and be treated to the ending of “Don’t Look Now.” Yes, it was full of signs and portents, a sightless woman seeing, red hoods and skin cut on glass, flowing blood. A portent reader straight from the woods not accustomed to screens and artifice never saw it coming. The real portents and conclusions are seamless, as natural as twilight moving into night and easing back into dusk. The ones we construct and splash in the outsize are the nightmares.
Art Institute adds Warhol’s ‘Empire’ to Chicago skyline
From 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. [Friday, December 9], the modern skyscraper [the Aon Center] overlooking Millennium Park will be acting as a movie screen onto which the Art Institute of Chicago will be projecting Andy Warhol’s eight-hour silent, black-and-white epic “Empire,” which consists of one long, unbroken shot of New York’s Empire State Building. Said to be the first outdoor U.S. screening of this landmark — if not exactly action-packed — film, the event marks the very public, logistically challenging kickoff to the Art Institute’s new exhibition Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph, 1964-1977, which opens to members Saturday and to the public Tuesday.
Adrian Younge, 1969 Organ
Adrian Younge did the soundtrack for the blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite. “1969 Organ” is from Venice Dawn, his soundtrack for a non-existent film.
When it surfaced in 2000, Venice Dawn appeared to be the music from a lost 1969 Italian film, but don’t bother looking for it on Netflix.
Love. It.
Viva la Sauna Svedese (Mah Nà Mah Nà)
Ponder this if and when you view The Muppets.
headline of the day
‘Mahna Mahna’ came from a porn film
RIP Ken Russell (1927-2011)
It’s a trailer, so it is crude and brash and obvious and fails to convey the delicacy and elegiac tone of the film, but here it is: the trailer for Savage Messiah (1972), possibly my favorite of the late Ken Russell‘s theatrical releases.
They grow up so fast
The Umbrella Man
I had intended to post this, but Jason really ties the room together.
The Green Screen
This might not be news to folks like Amanda Mae, but this is a great illustration of just how common Chroma key is. (thanks, Rich)
Hudson – Against The Grain
I’m not sure if stop-motion is quite yet overdone, but I know for a fact that pencils haven’t had their fair shake in the limelight:
The new music video for ‘Against The Grain’ from emerging Melbourne indie-folk artist Hudson sees him collaborate with film maker/animator/VJ Dropbear (aka Jonathan Chong), producing a vibrant and colourful clip based around a mainstay from our humble artistic efforts throughout childhood – coloured pencils.
Sarah Jacobson Film Grant 2011 Call for Entries and Film Festival
Just received this from my friend Mikki Halpin. Posting it for Amanda Meyncke (who might actually be a shoo-in), but feel free to distribute far and wide:
Question
Do you think I’m to blame for the death of Natalie Wood? Should I be worried the LAPD are re-opening the case?
photo out of context
(via)
