| Re: Season of the Severed Head, resumed |
http://groups.google.com .. |
| Parry (parry@perfectmail.com) |
2003/09/11 03:58 |
elag <elag@cloud9.net> wrote in message news:<3F5EAB73.273D23B9@cloud9.net>...
> Parry wrote:
> >
> > elag <elag@cloud9.net> wrote in message news:<3F5578AD.4DEC92BC@cloud9.net>...
> > [snip for length]
> > > Hmm... I feel a Godard festival coming on.
> >
> > Must be nice. My movie options are more like: maybe I'll tape After
> > the Thin Man tonight. (It was pretty good.)
>
> Now you have "Shadow of the Thin Man", "The Thin Man Goes Home" and
> "Song of the Thin Man" to look forward to.
I've probably seen them all. Myrna Loy was a doll.
> I may check out some Mario
> Bava films this week. I recall he is one of those guys you like.
I've seen a few and have mixed feelings about them. Bava more or less
authored the look of the Italian horror film boom so his films are
interesting to see from that perspective. In "Blood and Black Lace"
one gets to see the black-gloved serial killer that Argento borrowed
time and again. That and "Black Sunday" are the best Bavas I've seen.
Others like "Planet of the Vampires" look great but are boring
overall, while there are 70's films which I thought were dispensable.
Cythera was an enthusiast for the Freda-Bava film "Caltiki," but I
haven't seen it. I'm most curious to see "Danger: Diabolik" and
"Twitch of the Death Nerve" (the latter mainly for the title, which
may not even be Bava's). "Plant of the Vampires" and "Diabolik" have
the kind of 60's look referenced in the recent movie "CQ" (worth a
see). The Freda stuff I've seen was more perverse and enjoyable,
though.
> > > I just recently saw "Pierrot
> > > Le Fou". Somewhere I read that this is the film where "Godard tries to
> > > do everything and almost succeeds" and I'd agree w/ that. It is a very
> > > interesting film, but I guess it's another one that would frustrate the
> > > "average movie goer". What the hell is it about, anyway?!
> >
> > I have the script lying around somewhere. I'll have to fish it out.
>
> Well, I do know what it's about... it's just that it's about so many
> things. The literary refs are so many that it demands to be seen a
> couple of times... it's the kind of film that requires footnotes, but I
> groove on that sort of thing.
In that case, *you* should have a copy of the script.
> > [snip]
> > > > > But I'm not bitter...
> > > >
> > > > It's the same up here. In fact, the chains only run Hollywood product.
> > > > In Toronto, the "reperatory" theatres which used to run foreign films
> > > > now play second run action features. I think even the theatre that
> > > > used to run films from the 40's and earlier is gone. Elsewhere,
> > > > university film societies seem to be largely a thing of the past. And
> > > > most of the independent and foreign films we do get to see don't veer
> > > > far from the beaten track. Hollywood: it's your only choice.
> > >
> > > I'm a sad cat. I guess it's lucky I ended up in one of the few places
> > > where I can see a Gloria Swanson film, "M", a silent Felix the cat
> > > cartoon and a Carl Dreyer retrospective in the same week.
> > >
> > > One day I hope the Inet will serve the needs of fans of old, obscure,
> > > experimental and underground films as well as the mainstream.
> >
> > Given our luck trying to move 500 kb of gif loops over usenet, I'm not
> > holding my breath.
>
> If we weren't hobbled by slow dial-ups and iffy phone lines it wouldn't
> have been such a big deal. Also, it's the very proliferation of giant
> multipart media files in the groups that make it so hard to find one w/
> retention long enough to be practical... otherwise we'd use alt.binaries.misc.
>
> Just the fact that Buster Keaton and Bunuel clips reside on my hard
> drive fill me w/ hope for the future.
All I know about the future is that it will be expensive.
> > [snip]
> > > It's been said that some of the best animation in "Snow White" used the
> > > live actors merely as references and that the rotoscoped sections were a
> > > bit stiff. Philosophically I'd be inclined to say that being enslaved
> > > by the rotoscope process is an unacceptable limitation, though it can be
> > > useful. I think all animators have recourse to models of some kind even
> > > if the goal is high style non naturalistic animation.
> > >
> > > Personally, at this time I'm more interested is denying physics and
> > > Muybridge, but I'm open to using whatever technique which might improve
> > > the cartoon. I actually think that eventually, if I gain enough skill,
> > > I might try to realize some of my shelved live action ideas in the realm
> > > of animation. That would be far in the future...
> >
> > Just curious: have you seen any of Walerian Borowczyk's animations? I
> > haven't, but the stills from them are intriguing and I enjoyed his
> > (live action) features.
>
> No, but they do look interesting... I wonder where I might find them...
I recall a place called Luminoius Video Wurks in Medford, NY peddling
a compilation tape (surely dubbed from a Eurpoean release), so perhaps
some enterprising video rental in your area may have it.
> His 2-D & 3-D art is also very nice.
Where have you seen his 3-D art?
> > [snip]
> > > > > I must say that the new Ren & Stimpy hasn't impressed me so far, even
> > > > > though I liked most of the original ones... the new one w/ Bakshi was
> > > > > just terrible and unfunny. In fact the whole Spike TV block seems
> > > > > pretty horrid. I'd rather use the time rereading my old copies of ZAP
> > > > > underground comics... at least when they're vulgar they have the
> > > > > advantage of being totally uncensored.
> > > >
> > > > Spike leads the vanguard of irrelevance. It began as The Nashville
> > > > Network and mostly ran line-dancing programs. Now it's evolved into
> > > > the First Network for Men, if one forgets Playboy, the sports
> > > > channels, the car stations, and pretty much all the networks really.
> > >
> > > I'm a bit put off by the idea of a testosterone network... is this
> > > really what men are about? <woof woof> I guess in the majority they may
> > > be right. I'm equally disturbed by "women's networks" such as Lifetime
> > > and WE... save me from these empty, shoe buying, harlequin romance
> > > reading, sob sisters.
> >
> > entertainment industry (cum lifestyle industry), politics, news, etc.
> > That sitcom Bottom had a fair assessment of men, though: one was
> > crazy, vain and obsessed with sex, the other just wanted to get drunk
> > and watch tv.
>
> Yes... I suppose that it's mainly the relentlessly narrowing targeting
> of demographics which irks me. As the market continues to fragment the
> lowest common denominator moved lower and lower and risk aversion
> reaches medieval heights.
>
> I resent being a target, but I guess I don't even live in the same world
> as they do.
>
> > > Next:
> > >
> > > The Dimwit Network
> > > The Illiterate Network
> > > The Gilded Turd Network
> >
> > Except in Canada we'll rename them the Knucklehead Network and the No
> > Books Network, and run last year's programming interspersed with Just
> > For Laughs out-takes.
>
> I used to call TNN The Numbskull Network, the increasingly empty TLC
> (The Learning Channel) has become The Lunkhead Channel and SciFi has
> unexpectedly morphed into "The Psychic Friends Network" (PsyFi).
>
> On the bright side there are fewer reasons to turn on that electronic
> annoyance device.
>
> > [snip]
> > > > > > > Those are classics of "getting around the code". It's amazing that even
> > > > > > > a navel couldn't be shown (on tv until the '70s). Now there are navels
> > > > > > > everywhere, even on oranges!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Yes, we're up to our belly buttons in navels. I find it comical that
> > > > > > American network television now censors the word "god," as in
> > > > > > "*-damn."
> > > > >
> > > > > I even wrote a complaint email to Cartoon network when they cut "Sweet
> > > > > Zombie Jesus" out of Futurama... I mean this was at 11pm.
> > > > >
> > > > > Back to navels... I think there was a syndicated comic strip artist in
> > > > > the 60's who got tired of the navels in his strip being erased by the
> > > > > censors, so he included a crate of navel oranges in one strip and the
> > > > > censor gave up. I wish I could remember what strip that was...
> > > >
> > > > "Li'l Abner"?
> > >
> > > I finally realized that it was Beetle Bailey. The censor reputedly kept
> > > a box on his desk labeled "Bettle Bailey's Belly Button Box" full of
> > > navels snipped from (mainly) Miss Buxley's midriff.
> >
> > What did he use those excised images for? Well, I don't have any
> > guesses I would want to publish on a family newsgroup. I wonder if the
> > censor would peruse S. Clay Wilson or Tom of Finland and get upset
> > whenever he saw a navel.
>
> Elsewhere I gave you an imagined belly button collage... I think
> spraying a window shade w/ adhesive and shaking out the navels upon it
> might be a good use for all those tiny spots of ink.
>
> > [snip]
> > > > I concur wholeheartedly with your "Agh!" point. Still no go. I've been
> > > > checking a.b.c. since you posted the message and no posts have
> > > > appeared. Of course, now I'm even more eager to see the stuff. Should
> > > > we make a last attempt and post it to a pre-agreed server such as
> > > > "news.so-net.com.hk" or should I just ask you to e-mail me the loops
> > > > (I'd give to an alternate e-mail address)?
> > >
> > > OK, send me a valid address, but beware that the files are relatively
> > > large (164k & 246k on disk - about 1/3 of a floppy). I doubt that my
> > > little sketches can live up to the anticipation, though.
> >
> > Will do. Those file sizes aren't all that big. I'll soak my eyeballs
> > in detergent tonight to get them ready.
>
> Pie eyes require pie.
Never touch the stuff (booze, that is; pies are okay).
The gifs were quite nice and, despite not being long enough to have
actual gags, funny. The rickety motion has a nice comic effect of
making the character seem happy and oblivious like a wobbly toddler.
He's so buoyant I expect something grand guignol to beset him. Is this
character one you're planning to use? He's reminiscent of a golliwog,
so that may be a source of friction.
The Little Rascals-type music was easy to imagine without your having
to prompt me. Robert Crumb's Cheap Suit Serenaders once covered that
theme and that version sprang to mind. For other old-time recordings,
maybe too old actually, you might check the on-line Edison cylinder
archive (there's a Portland, Oregon connection, incidentally):
http://www.tinfoil.com/
-- Parry
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