Warhol's Subtle Sadism

The Pope of Greenwhich, aka Ondine, aka Robert Olivio
One of the most memorable sequences belongs to the queen with the Bronx bray, Ondine. He decided to be "the Pope of Greenwich Village," taking the "confession" of Warhol's alleged favorite, the brainless, shrieking, drug-drenched Ingrid Superstar. Ondine is a powerful presence here, eloquently expounding on his many duties as "the Pope" in one breath and screeching his hatred of the church in the other. In a hilarious extended dialogue, he accuses her of being a lesbian — "I've seen you at Page Three and a lot of other dyke joints!" — while she alternately denies and embraces the idea, as the mood strikes her. "You're a subspecies, my dear. You're not even a vegetable!" he screams. Inevitably, the pressure of 35 minutes of improv, even for the self-consumed Ondine, proves too much, and when another woman enters the scene and denounces him as a phony, Ondine verbally and physically assaults her. Ondine's demand that the camera be stopped after he loses control were met with a bland but incontestable denial by Warhol, whose decision to keep the camera running at all cost produces some disturbing effects. Throughout the film there are moments where his refusal to stop shooting, his encouragement of the stars' hunger for the spotlight at any cost, skirts the sadistic. Perhaps "skirt" is too tame; Warhol biographer Victor Bokris mentions that "To turn the pressure up, Andy and Paul [Morrissey] would plant rumors about unpleasant remarks someone had made about someone else."

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Ode to Film from Black and White

Jack White channels Orson Welles channeling Citizen Kane channeling Randolph Hearst. Black Francis wishes he could be a debaser like Luis Buñuel.

The Union Forever - The White Stripes

It can't be love
for there is no true love
It can't be love
for there is no true love

Shure I'm C.F.K.
but you gotta love me
the cost no man can say
but you gotta love me

Well I'm sorry but I'm not
interested in gold mines,
oil wells,shipping or real estate
what would I liked to have been?
everything you hate

There is a man
a certain man
and for the poor you may be shure
that he'll do all he can
who is this one?
[who's favourite son?]
just by his action has the traction
magnets on the run
who likes to smoke?
enjoys a joke?
and wouldn't get a bit
upset if he were really broke?
with wealth and fame
he's still the same
I'll bet you five you're not alive
If you don't now his name

You said the union forever (x2)
You cried the union forever
but that was untrue girl
cause it can't be love


Debaser - The Pixies

got me a movie
i want you to know
slicing up eyeballs
i want you to know
girlie so groovy
i want you to know
don't know about you
but i am un chien andalusia
i am un chien andalusia
i am un chien andalusia
i am un chien andalusia
wanna grow
up to be
be a debaser, (debaser)
debaser, (debaser)
debaser, (debaser)
debaser, (debaser)
debaser, (debaser)
debaser, (debaser)

got me a movie
ha ha ha ho
slicing up eyeballs
ha ha ha ho
girlie so groovie
ha ha ha ho
don't know about you
but i am un chien andalusia
i am un chien andalusia
i am un chien andalusia
i am un chien andalusia

(debaser), debaser
(debaser), debaser
(debaser), debaser
(debaser), debaser
(debaser), debaser
(debaser), debaser

The End

Thanks to Bryan for the link. view the flickr gallery

Brownsploitation

Bombay the Hard Way plays like the soundtrack to some imaginary 1970s B-films with names like Shaft’s Bad-Ass Pilgrimage To India or Ganges Ghetto Payback. Featuring the music of Indian composers (and brothers) Anandji and Kalyanji Shah, who wrote and produced soundtracks for the so-called “Brownsploitation” films made in India’s “Bollywood” during the 60s and 70s, this saffron-funk project is the brain-child of Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Bay Area producer / remixer of Dr. Octagon fame, with additional beats provided by the immensely talented DJ Shadow. The end product is a potent cross-pollination of Secret-Agent-Man guitar themes, Blaxploitation grooves, jazzy horn and flute riffs, hip-hop beats and loops, and traditional Indian instrumentation.

“I got no time to think / Cuz’ I need somebody to love / Yeah! / Baby, I love you so / But you can’t love me more / Why don’t you hold me closer / And I’ll give you more / Yeah!”

Throughout the album, there are fun snatches of dialogue lifted straight out of vintage “brownsploitation” films. These digressions add to the overall enjoyment, helping to make Bombay the Hard Way a classic party record for the new millennium.

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Wesley Willis's Joyrides

A portrait of the self proclaimed rock ‘n’ roll star and “Chicago City Artist”, Wesley Willis.

Despite impossible odds, Chicago native, Wesley Willis became an underground rock icon, revered artist and hero to many before his untimely death in 2003. Through his force of personality and his artistic talents, Wesley’s music and art attracted people from all walks of life. This film follows the prolific artist on his journey from obscurity to fame.

watch clips from the documentary

Hitchcock and Herrmann

I've created a mini-site to house Bernard Herrmann's catalogue of work for reference when reading my final paper. I've only uploaded the first season of the Twilight Zone so far. Much more to come including Citizen Kane, Psycho, Vertigo...

view the mini-site

Parabola Title Credits

view a few of the credits so far

Clark Gable Music Video

watch the video

Experimental: War Paint

watch the experiment

Free Music for Indie Filmmakers from Moby

"This portion of moby.com, 'film music', is for independent and non-profit filmmakers, film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short. To use the site you log in and are then given a password. You can then listen to the available music and download whatever you want to use in your film or video or short. The music is free as long as it's being used in a non-commercial or non-profit film, video, or short. If you want to use it in a commercial film or short then you can apply for an easy license, with any money that's generated being given to the humane society. There are about 70 pieces of music."

visit the site and download free music

hear from Moby

The Birds and The Bees

Interview with Shyamalan: The story never touches on why exactly the trees and plants are so upset with us, what triggers "The Happening." Why did you leave that out?

That was always the intention of the movie—to have this open-ended quality—I wanted it to bleed out into the real world a little. For me, one of the great things about "The Birds" was that you never knew why it happened. By leaving it out you force the audience to consider what their own culpability is, to ask, "Are we blameless?" Because, of course, we aren't.

read the rest of the Newsweek article

Hitchcock Presents Online

An excellent episode from the self-proclaimed master of suspense. A cruel businessman is left for dead after a car accident renders him completely paralyzed. Joseph Cotton guest stars. There are interesting stylistic parallels to Schnabel's Le Scaphandre et le papillon. The Hulu website offers the entire collection of shows online if you're willing to suffer through the compressed file size. Lynch would be outraged but I think Hitchcock would have embraced another medium just as he did television.

Watch Breakdown on Hulu

Looking at Movies: Tutorial intros

Cut paper technique to match DVD introduction.

1. Focal Length
2. The Evolution of Editing: Continuity and Classical Cutting
3. Zoom and Moving Camera Effects
4. Lighting
5. Montage
6. The Moving Camera
7. The Kuleshov Experiment
8. The 180 Rule
9. Suspense and Surprise
10. Snapshot Sound
11. Snapshot Performance
12. Snapshot Editing
13. Shot Types
14. Setting And Expressionism
15. Point of View
16. Persona and Performance
17. Lighting (Night of the Hunter)
18. Introduction
19. Genre
20. Composing the Frame
21. Camera Angles
22. Actualities

Not coming to a theater near you

"If not discerned in its title, this site assumes a bias towards older, often unpopular, and sometimes unknown films that merit a second look. This site caters specifically to those who find an impotent similarity in the “New Releases” section of a video store and whatever’s “coming to a theater near you.”

visit the site