anyways, the Russians thought of Chaplin as the Godfother of Cinema. American cinema was the same in the eyes of Eisenstein as were the experiences of observing an American College classroom test being administered and taking a driving test to obtain an American driver’s license. Not that he intended to insinuate that the average American sense of humor was beyond that of a 14-year-old but it was clear that Chaplin had discovered a not-too-shabby formula.
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This past weekend, Pollee and I made our way to Fairfield, Iowa to Maharishi University. There. we listened to the sage words of David Lynch.
What did he say? Well, mostly the format was Q and A, so film professors, students and kooks like us (from all over the country) lined up to ask him about filmmaking, his process and how creativity is best nurtured.
His advice? “Water the root, not the fruit.” As well as meditating twice daily for twenty minutes.
“Dive in and get wet with the self” he repeated, along with “Do it and just see what happens.”
Often when I see those i admire, they become less inspiring somehow, or perhaps it is easy to be disappointed when you see how they “really are.”
Not so in this case. The man continues to inspire.
Thanks, David.
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Out of the Top 100 Under-rated movies of the 1990’s.
Jim Jarmusch took his bizarre indie surrealist show to the Wild West when he cast Johnny Depp as an accountant heading out across country in the mid-to-late 1800’s to take a job in the frontier town of Machine. When said accountant arrives at the town, it’s not only one of the bleakest, most depressing places you’re likely to see on film, but the job he came out for is no longer on offer. With no money and no prospects, our hero finds himself responsible for a man’s death, for which he is pursued through the countryside as a fugitive by a bizarre collection of bounty hunters, while an old William-Blake-quoting Native American called Nobody becomes an important new friend.
An amazing Neil Young soundtrack punctuates this truly anti-Western, complete with co-starring turns by Robert Mitchum, John Hurt, Crispin Glover, Gary Farmer, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Henriksen, Alfred Molina, Iggy Pop and Billy Bob Thornton, while haunting monochromatic photography and a first rate performance by Depp make this a movie to remember.
Sure, some audience members didn’t get it, and still more never bought a ticket, but for those who seek originality in cinema, few can go past this truly enigmatic tale. (Chris Parry)
and i want it nowwWWW!!
good thing the ones a kid could use to burn another kid with are REALLY expensive.
prolly not for long, tho, and then our billy-the-kids’ll be slinging penlight laser guns at high noon.
-sigh-
not nearly as cinematic.
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Filmography
Inland Empire (2006) (post-production)
Rammstein: Lichtspielhaus (2003) (V) (video “Rammstein”)
The Short Films of David Lynch (2002) (V)
Darkened Room (2002)
Rabbits (2002)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
… aka Mulholland Drive (France) (USA: closing credits title)
The Straight Story (1999)
… aka Une histoire vraie (France)
Lost Highway (1997)
Lumière et compagnie (1996) (segment “Lumière”)
… aka Lumière and Company (International: English title)
… aka Lumiere y compañÃa (Spain)
“Hotel Room”
… aka David Lynch’s Hotel Room
– Blackout (1993) TV Episode
– Tricks (1993) TV Episode
“On the Air” (1992) TV Series
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
… aka Twin Peaks (France)
“American Chronicles” (1990) TV Series
Wild at Heart (1990)
… aka David Lynch’s Wild at Heart (USA)
Twin Peaks (1990) (TV)
“Twin Peaks” (1990) TV Series (episodes 1.01, 1.03, 2.01, 2.02, 2.07 and 2.22)
Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted (1990) (TV)
“Français vus par, Les” (1988) (mini) TV Series (segment “The Cowboy and the Frenchman”)
… aka The Cowboy and the Frenchman (USA: DVD title)
… aka The French as Seen by… (literal English title)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Dune (1984)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Eraserhead (1977)
The Amputee (1974)
The Grandmother (1970)
The Alphabet (1968)
Six Figures Getting Sick (1966)
… aka Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times) (USA)
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This summer a Gristedes store on Roosevelt Island in New York will get half of its power from six tide-powered turbines in the East River. Unlike dam-based hydroelectric generators, which depend on rain or snowpack to keep current flowing and which shut down during droughts, newer “hydro- kinetic” systems exploit less capricious natural forces. “Lunar power” is the term offered by experts.
Bradley Bergey is our good pal who paints like mad. No one is more biased about the work than I am.
I generally think contemporary painting is l a m e but I think Bergey’s work has vision.
Bergey currently teaches history at an international school in Barcelona.
Check out his work via www.crywonder.com
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