Sunset Swimming Pools, The Splash, and A Bigger Splash

Walking through my local Dollar Bookstore I found a Sunset book with a cover that looked very familiar.

I didn't recognize the house, or the pool, but I did recognize the splash. It looked like that David Hockney

painting - the one with the pool that someone had just dived into.

This is A Bigger Splash from 1967, painted when Hockney was teaching painting at UC Berkeley.

That name, A Bigger Splash is like a movie sequel, and it was.

Kill Me - The First Time

When there is a great movie, there is a desire to make it even better. Throwing out claims that it was the first time "That" had been done in a film, or saying that all other movies have copied it ever since. Alien (1979) is no exception. It is one of my all time favorite horror films (it is a horror film, not science fiction, and Aliens  is an actions film), so I am usually willing to believe the praise that is heaped upon it. With the recent passing of the great H.R. Giger there were a good deal of Facebook post recounting trivia about the film Alien and one stuck out at me. It was the claim that a deleted scene involving Dallas, cocooned by the Alien, being  found by Ripley and him begging her to kill  him was the first time the now cliched line of "Kill Me" was used in a film.

It bothered me. I came out in 1979, so it may have been possible that it was the first, but it was also cut from the film. So how was it so emulated? Well I think I found the real first time "Kill Me" was used in a film and it mirrors Alien perfectly...

This is Punk

Being the year 2013, I thought it would be nice to look back at the punk movement. Here is an ad for the punk music... 

It is scandalous isn't it? I know you are all wondering how a good kid can Turn Punk. Well, thanks to this after school special - The Day My Kid Went Punk - wonder no more...

Full film (minus a few minutes off the end which I am sure would have brought the whole plot together) after the jump.

The Hunters in the Snow & Solaris

Solaris is a 1972 Russian film by Andrei Tarkovsky based on the 1961 Polish novel by Stanisław Lem. There have been other adaptations, including 1968 Russian made-for-TV movie and a 2002 American film.  

Synopsis:  Psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to a space station orbiting the ocean planet Solaris to investigate the emotional state of the three scientists that remain in orbit - all others have fallen to mental breakdowns of varying degrees. When Kris arrives he finds the space station in disarray, the one scientist he knew has committed suicide, and people other than the scientists are aboard. Kris is soon joined by his dead wife and it becomes apparent why the previous scientist have broken down...

There are probably as many ways to analyze this film as there are the Shining, but I am going to look at the painting The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel (Brueghel) the Elder. 

Here is the anti-gravity scene from the film with features the painting, followed, after the jump, by how this fits into the film...

A Whale of a Business

In five days from today's posting, Blackfish will premier. It is the follow up to the 2009 documentary The Cove, which is one of the best docs I've ever seen. Blackfish will focus on orca whales in captivity.

I've been debating for a while about blogging about stuff, anything and everything, around Los Angeles. Well, I began looking into the now closed Marine Land of The Pacific that operated in Palos Verdes from 1954 to 1987, and I found something interesting in my research: SeaWorld purchased Marine Land in 1987.

Why this is significant after the jump...

The Dinosaur That Fooled The World

The Dinosaur That Fooled The World is a great documentary piece about the discovery of Archaeoraptor and the discovery that is was a hoax. Follow its appearance at a fossil show, its investigation by the National Geographic Society who published its authenticity, and when it all fell apart thank to the investigative work and amazing luck of a Chinese Paleontologist.

Full film after the jump...

Mister Freedom

What is there to say about Mister Freedom? It is a very experiential film, so I am inclined to say, "Just watch it." It is a satirical farce about the American superhero, Mister Freedom, traveling to France to put down a Communist revolt. The film swings so wildly into hyperbole that when it swings in the other direction it is easy to be disarmed by it...

Mister Freedom (MF) was directed by fashion photographer William Klein in 1969 and stars John Abbey in the tittle role, Delphine Seyrig as Marie-Madeleine, and cameos by Donald Pleasence as Dr. Freedom and Serge Gainbourge (who contributes musically). John Abbey was an American Baseball player who made a career playing Americans in French films (Mr. Lacs in Jacques Tati's 1967 film Play Time is of note) and after MF, it seems clear that he probably couldn't retern to the US if he wanted to, but he should have, he is great here.

Film after the jump (sorry the sound is out of sync by a few seconds:/).