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:/). 

Before/After Stonewall

This documentary is Before Stonewall, a 1984 film from directors Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenburg, about the gay and lesbian community before the Stonewall Riots of 1969 that was a major impetus in the gay liberation movement in the United States.
After the jump is After Stonewall from 1999 from director John Scagliotti - not as good, but worth including...

The Plague Dogs

The Plague Dogs is a 1982 animated film from director Martin Rosen centering around two dogs who escape from a medical research facility, and hilarity ensues...
It is based on the novel by Richard Adams who wrote Watership Down - which Rosen also directed in 1978. Like Watership Down this film is kind of a downer and had a feature over at Kindertrauma.
Trailer followed by our feature presentation. 

Holy Mountain

Alejandro Jodorowsky 1973 film Holy Mountain - I will not try to describe what the film is about, beyond saying John Lennon and Yoko Ono fronted money so the film could be made, beyond that I will let the trailer take over from there  - full film after the jump.

The Social Life Of Small Urban Spaces

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces from 1980 by the ubanist William H. Whyte was adapted from his book of the same title. It is a witty little film about plazas  in the urban environment.

The print bellow is poor quality, but it is the best I have found - still worth viewing.

William H. Whyte: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - The Street Corner from MAS on Vimeo.

Night Of The Galactic Railroad

Night of The Galactic Railroad is a 1985 animated film from director Gisaburo Sugii based on the novel by Kenji Miyazawa. It is about two kittens that take a metaphysical journey on a magical train - and if you are wondering, no, there were no cats in the original novel...

The Chimes At Midnight

The Chimes At Midnight is a 1965 Orson Wells film about Shakespeare's character Falstaff, of who the film is named after in its non-US release. 

When The Wind Blows

When The Wind Blows is a cheery 1986 film from director Jimmy T. Murakami about nuclear war. It has the theme to tune by David Bowie and features animation set against an actual 3D background - and is a total downer...

Rudi Gernreich: Basic Black

For the late fashion icon Rudi Gernreich, Basic Black is anything but. Featuring muses Peggy Moffitt and Leon Bing, this short is a forerunner of  of the fashion video (maybe dead today?).

Ben & Arthur

I'm not going to try to tell you what Ben & Arthur is about, other then it is the worst gay movie ever made, but I will say it is 2002 film from director Sam Mraovich.
So, for a description, I will allow Rantasmo to fill you in on the plot. Who is Rantasmo you may be asking? Other than being a guy with the most amazing name ever, and being downright adorable with his little chin beard, he host a web video series called Needs More Gay, which "dissects the highs and lows of gay pop culture with the precision of a dull machete." And his summery of Ben & Arthur is a tour de force (along the lines of MST3K). Spoilers are included, but hey, it the worst gay movie ever made.

The full film jump - because, after that, I know you are dieing to see it. Really you should be. Reason one is you will find out the Mildread is the super of Ben and Aurthur's building for some reason, and that Ben's brother gets way gayer as the film goes on. Also, part 1 is called bnaone with part 2 through 11 titled Ben & Arthur 2/11 to 11/11...

In The Realms Of The Unreal

In The Realms Of The Unreal is a 2004 documentary about the artist and author Henry Darger by Jessica Yu. Darger, working as a janitor, amassed a 15,000 page novel and paintings and drawings that came to light only after is death.

Trailer bellow followed by the feature after the jump...

 

Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles

Another look at Los Angeles. 

Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles of 1972 came on the heels of architectural historian and theorist's seminal 1971 work, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies.  Four Ecologies is an amazing work, this is more so so, but it is a fun ride (pun not intended) with Mr. Banham as he tears around a long gone Los Angeles , starting at LAX, in his Baede-Kar. 

Miracle Mile

I'm feeling romantic for LA. I got back here about three weeks ago and didn't realize how much I missed being here while in Chicago. 

Miracle Mile is a 1988 film staring Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham from director Steve De Jarnatt. The movie starts with Edwards getting a date with Winninghan to pick her up at the diner (Johnie's Coffee Shop) where she works when she gets off - he oversleeps and rushes out to meet her. He is too late and calls her from the payphone outside at 4am. He leaves her a message and waits around the diner for her to come back. While waiting the phone in the booth rings and the voice on the end of the line begins rambling bout a missile set to hit Los Angels in 70 minutes.

Not only does the film unfold in about real time it is set in LA in the late 80's! 

Bellow is the trailer followed by full length film after the jump. 

Good Copy Bad Copy

Tonight we are featuring a nice doc about copyright and music sampling - featuring interviews with Girl Talk and Danger Mouse (among others).  Good Copy Bad Copy is from 2007 and was directed by Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen, and Henrik Moltke. 

Electra Glide in Blue

Electra Glide in Blue is a great movie deserving more than its cult status. It is from 1973 and Stars Robert Blake. The title comes from the Harley Davidson's that traffic cops are issued motorcycle. It was directed by James William Guercio who produced albums for the band Chicago - who are also featured in the film and provide some of the music.

Blake plays John Wintergreen a cop patrolling the highways of Arizona's Monument Vally who gets a chance to become a detective after a murder and an Arizona detective takes him under his wing. Everything is going well until a run in with Jolene, a bar owner played by Jeannine Riley, and shit-hits-the-fan. The scene is really great - could be very cleche`d, but isn't at all. There is a motorcycle chase that isn't great, but other than that  - adding the cinematography by Conrad Hall - the movie is a hidden gem.

The trailer Is bellow followed by the feature after the jump. 

 

Site Update

I finally have started updating my personal web site, IHeartTanis.com. Not much is up there yet with the exception of three furniture projects.

Dark Science

This documentary is a very sad one, but it ends on a fairly happy note - so push through. 

Dark Science is an Australian  a doc by  Frank Haines from 2008. It tells the story of Swedish explorer Erik Mjöberg's 1910 trip to Australia looking for the missing link between ape and man in the  Aboriginal people. He set out by first mocking the Aborigines' customs and then followed that by looting, grave-robbing and smuggling human remains back to Sweden. 

Debbie does Giger

Maybe that should be Giger does Debbie... Anyway, I get to show you something cool about two of my favorite artists. 

in 1981 Deborah Harry released here first solo album, KooKoo, between the Blondie albums Autoamerican and The Hunter. For the cover, the Swiss designer H.R. Giger painted her portrait as well as directing two promotional videos - this was fairly fresh off of his Oscar win for his work on the film Alien. 

The Results, Ummm... See for yourself.

Here is a BBC interview with both Debbie and Giger...

Night of the Juggle

Night of the Juggler is an under-appreciated 1980's action movie directed by Robert Butler and starting James Brolin. An interesting note about the director: apparently, Sidney J. Furie directed the majority of the film before falling ill and being replaced by Butler.

Brolin plays Sean Boyd an ex cop with enemies on the force (one who is trying to kill him - wait till you see what Boyd does to him) who is tearing around the city of New York  - 1980's New York at that - trying to find his daughter who has been kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity. Plus a great cameo by ex porn star Sharon Mitchel working in a peep show. 

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On

This is one of my favorite documentaries...

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On is a 1987 documentary from Kazuo Hara about 62-year-old Okuzaki Kenzo. He was a veteran of the Japanese occupation of  New Guinea during  World War II who gained notoriety by slingshoting ball-bearings  at Emperor Showa protesting  the ruler's war crimes. The documentary follows Okusaki as he sets out to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives... Things get violent quickly but he ends up getting the information he wants.

You may need to play with the closed captioning on the video - they seem to be in Spanish so you'll need to set the Translate caption to your desired language...

 

The La Choy Dragon

Ah, Dilbert the La Choy Dragon... A mascot advertising heat and serve Chinese food that wasn't an outright racist stereotype.

The La Choy Dragon came from the Jim Henson Company and began life as a hand-in puppet before becoming a full body suit that ran around, touting the wonder La Choy Chow Mein from 1965 to 1967 and how it was cooked, by he himself, in Dragon Fire, while knocking stuff over. Early on he was paired with Mert, a meek Muppet foil later not needed because actual people took his place. He was voiced by Jim Henson himself and puppeteered by Frank OZ. If that all wasn't enough, his earliest design by Jim was that of a large bird - guess who that became.

 

After the break, Dilbert feeds some Boy Scouts, a Sad Bride, and the making of the La Choy Dragon...

Redux Riding Hood

Redux Riding Hood was a Disney animated short directed by Steve Moore that went on to be nominated for an Academy Award in 1997.  The Wolf is voiced by Michael Richards and his wife by Mia Farrow - you can also hear Adam West, Don Rickles, and Fabio as well as Dan O'Shannon narrating. The plot is okay, but what it lacks it makes up for in the production design - you can read more about the making over at Steve Moore's Flip Animation Blog.

A Mouse and His Child

A Mouse and His Child, stands with Watership Down and The Polar Express as one of those movies that is made for kids which really freaks kids out. So much so that Jessica M. makes a Traumafession over at one of my favorite site, Kindertrauma.
Anyway, A Mouse and His Child is a 1977 animated film based on the Russell Hoban book of 1967. It is about a mouse and his son whom desire to be self winding. It is voiced by Alan Barzman as the mouse and Marcy Swenson as his child - along with Peter Ustinov, Cloris Leachman, Sally Kellerman, Andy Devine, and John Carradine. So if you read what Jessica M had to say be forewarned.  

Phil Ochs

I've recently become obsessed  with Phil Ochs' music. I found out about him a few years back and only recently began listening to him. right now I think he tops my list of songwriters, but it's his voice that amazes me. There are a few singers that when I hear their voices and I'm floored - Cass Elliot, Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog are two  others - but Ochs tops the list.

Ochs was born in El Paso,  Texas in 1940. He attended Ohio State University for three years before dropping out and moving to Greenwich Village where he began singing at open mic nights and by 1964 was well established enough to release his first album. His songs were for the most part highly political and varied between extremely lighthearted and farcical to extremely dark in tone.  He suffered from Bipolar disorder and was a heavy drinker before his suicide in 1975 at age 35.

One of my personal favorites of Ochs' songs is the The War Is Over from 1968 - here he is singing live from The Bitter End... 

The beginning of The Shining, the end of Blade Runner

It seems like there is no end to the amount of information there is about Stanley Kubrick's The Shining of 1980 and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner of 1982, well here is something to add to the list...

Did you hear that? The closing sequence from the theatrical release of Blade Runner came from unused footage from the opening sequence of The Shining given Ridley Scott by Stanley Kubrick.

First Post

Collage exploring the romanticization of domesticity in advertising. 1/8 The Moon Room

I've finally launched a new personal blog! My old one, at this point, hasn't been updated in about a year. This blog works in tandem with my site, IHeartTanis.com, and is replace the blog called The Deep Channels, which never should have been attempted in the first place. Most of the first posts will come from TDC to save the information there.

Enjoy!