Another old movie: The Pleasure Seekers

The Pleasure Seekers(Movie Clip) The Ones That Fly
Evidently they like Vegas stylings at this Madrid nightspot, Ann-Margret (as American "Fran") in hot pink with the title tune by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, in Jean Negulesco's The Pleasure Seekers, 1964.



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Pleasure Seekers, The -- (Movie Clip) Las Meninas
Newly arrived American Susie (Pamela Tiffin) in Madrid at The Prado, with Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, El Greco's Crucifixion, and playboy Emilio (Tony Franciosa), in Jean Negulesco's The Pleasure Seekers, 1964.

Orson Welles on Cavett, etc

Above:"Orson shmoozes about Winston Churchill." Below, this is via a story from Slate discussing this radio interview clip, from 1940, when Welles was on KSAT radio in San Antonio, talking with H.G. Wells.

14 September 2011: Agnes Moorehead and Tim Holt

via Elbert Ventura's article at Slate.

The Cranes are flying/ Летят журавли

Peter Bogdanovich discusses John Simon c. 1970

Cries and Whispers in less than a minute

Dick Burton on Electronovision®

claymation resnais, sort of

Harvey Korman

As you probably know, Harvey Korman died last week. He was only 71, but I notice he looks pretty haggard in some of the photos of him from the past five years or so.

Naturally I prefer to remember him looking like this. I thought about him when I heard that Bob Barr was running for president under the libertarian ticket, as I hate to admit Barr looks a little like him.

But Barr strikes me as mostly humorless, lacking that Harvey K twinkle in the eye, and he's possibly even less presidential, whatever that means. Actually I think they all leave something to be desired, even St Obama and Mister Straight Talk. We could really use a presidential candidate who isn't bought and paid for, and doesn't suck. But where would we find such a man? ... Why am I asking you?

Anyway, if you didn't like Harvey Korman you're probably a putz.





photos: CBS, Warner Bros

"Little terrorist"

via Chapati mystery.

at the movies

from the Christian Science Monitor, via Bob from Michigan.

Kim Novak and one of the Mirisches

I'll be away for a while. Then I'll be back.

Zadi Diaz and epic fu-- the middle eastern cable outages ...whatever

I will go ahead and post a video response to Ms. Diaz-- "Epic Fu", formerly the Jetset Show, is yet another example of how we young people are more likely to get news through non-traditional sources. I haven't made up my mind what I think of Zadi's presentational style, with its heavy emphasis on ironic detachment, seemingly communicating at two levels, suggesting underlying significance if you're predisposed to look for it, but just emanating apolitical cool for the rubes. (I never saw V for Vendetta, but my sense from the ads and my conversations with some who'd seen it suggested to me that it was a product of the same sensibility. )

Zadi's "take" on the cable cuts in the Middle East isn't very clear to me, although I'm guessing Roman Space Boy would probably dig it, and maybe suggest I was stuck in the agitprop sixties. Perhaps ambiguity is the new black.

Oh, incidentally: No, Hillary Clinton's people still haven't contacted me with offers of gobs of money, in case you were wondering. Maybe they had this sense that my intimation of support for her was somewhat less than earnest. (Also, I doubt Mike Gravel would shoot the promo with her as I wrote it, although Joe Biden does strike me as someone who'd eagerly hold her cue cards if he thought it meant he might score a cabinet post.)

from Alive in Baghdad

I'll be gone for a few days, returning next week.
(I meant to post this last week...)

In the meantime, go check out the short documentaries at Journeyman Pictures(most under 1 hr). The following link is to their latest, on far-right groups in Russia(21 min.)

Friday 11 Jan 2008

Plan 9 From Outer Space is in the public domain. So Now you know.

meow.

I have finished my 1st movie. (No, this isn't it(above), but for some reason it came up as related content(?)* on youtube.) I uploaded it to Youtube, but I may fiddle with the editing some more. I sent the url off in an email to some persons I know who I hope might give me a sense of whether the edits are too fast or too slow.

(I have a very poor sense of this, as I tend to favor faster edits than what most people are accustomed to, at least for my generation. By contrast, young people these days, who knows-- they might think my edits are too slow.)

Anyway, I liked this video, even though I don't think it's really similar to mine. If you really want to see mine, it's here: "v. primitive".

*I have since replaced the "flying cats" video since I figured out that it just came up, not as related content, but as something they were promoting. So here's an interview with Claude Lévi Strauss(pt 1) Here's pt 2 and pt 3.

Incidentally, Lévi-Strauss will be 99 on Wednesday the 28th(!)(I guess I shouldn't refer to "young people these days" as I'm just a pup compared to him...)

"greetings from Kabul"(and an Iraqdoc update)

photo courtesy irwfp.org

No, I'm not in Kabul, but presumably our friend Mr. Karzai is. I've included the above image because I'm using it in a short film I'm working on, which I mean to post on youtube in a few days, mainly to refresh and maybe improve my fallow and primitive video editing skills.(I removed the caption for a wee bit of suspense.)


I'm not soliciting funds for the Iraqdoc project right now, because if you sent me money presently I'd use it to pay for niceties like food and dsl. Fortunately I've got rent and electricity covered, so I'd say others have it far more dire than I do, and I expect to actually make some money in the 3-dimensional world in December.

Anyway: at present I plan to go to Syria in March 2008, for 6 to 10 days, to cover the Iraqi diaspora. Then if I can raise funds when I come back I would go back in May for 2-3 weeks, going to Jordan and Lebanon, or to Iraq if it appears funds and conditions allow it. Or maybe in the opposite order, as far as the 1st three countries go: to Lebanon and Jordan in March, then to Syria and maybe Iraq in May.

I've come to the conclusion that one of the things I need to do in order to realize these projects is to post some short films on the internet, so that I can demonstrate my editing skills, video and audio mixing, plus my ability to weave together a coherent and compelling narrative.

movie poster saturday: Ice station zebra

image courtesy impawards.com

There was a story that Howard Hughes liked watching Ice Station Zebra over and over again when he'd reached his nutty recluse stage. (Keep in mind this would be in the late 60s- early 70s, before video tape recorders were readily available. Of course I imagine being able to afford a 16mm print of the film wasn't exactly a big deal to Hughes.)

deborah kerr 1921-2007

photo:leninimports.com

Deborah Kerr passed away on Tuesday. Why I find this hard to believe, I don't know-- it's a little like when Cary Grant died; they were supposed to be around forever.

Iraqdoc 2008

In the past I've postponed my plans to go to Iraq from the summer of 2007 to the fall(i.e., now) and now I am postponing again, to February of 2008. The main reason is money. I estimate I need another $4500-5000 more than what I presently have. My plans have also changed, insofar as I now mean to go to Jordan and Syria, and I don't think I will make it into Iraq. In the meantime, I've been working on some other posts, which I will put up soon.