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...

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:/).