RZA has singlehandedly elevated the Cinese Kung Fu Film to an accepted Art Foem. I told him they were going to screen The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter at The Museum Of Modern Art in NYC. He was happy. Anyway Check this one out, I hadn’t ever heard of it so we can thank the Film Lovers of the WuTang for turning us on to this one.
Here is a great interview with the superfantastic Bob Downey, father of Robert Downey,Jr. I know Bob very well, we worked on a lot of projects together and he really is a Prince. The folks at the ReelBlack Vault in Philadelphia did a great job on this interview, I’ve talked to Bob about his films many, many timess and these guys got him to reveal a lot of incredible information, stuff I knew about but never heard it so clearly expressed. Bob loves Philadelphia, he made several films ther with Max Raab, an old friend, they were planning a documentary when Max died. Anyway enjoy this wonderful interview and maybe check oput some of Bob’s films. I think Greaser’s Palace is on Amazon Prime these days.
I bought the Criterion Collection Bluray Zatiochi box set, it is great. I am going to write a piece on it soon, maybe even rate them! In the meantime here is the star of the Zatoichi films, Shintaro Katsu singing Unchain My Heart. He loved to sing, when his brother, Tomisaburo Wakayama, star of LOne Wolf and Cub, sang a song for a Lone Wolf film, Shintaro got angry and told the filmmakers to take it out. I guess he didn’t want his brother straying onto his musical turf. They did not remove the song and you can hear it in the film still. Anyway here is the great Shintaro Katsu singing. Enjoy.
If you like Rap music, Hip-Hop, remixes then you should know it all started with King Tubby, a Jamaican electrical engineer/Artist. Working in a small studio he built in his mother’s house he changed music all over the world by creating Dub Plates, remixes of songs mainly without the vocals and using echo, EQ and reverb in a new unique manner. What a genius! Certain artists not only create great works, they also create whole new Genres of Art. I’m thinking of people like Fritz Lang, Mario Bava and King Tubby. Here is a documentary about him. Check it out, mon.
A Young Thelonious Monk playing at the legendary Minton’s, where BeBop was born. Dizzy Gillespie ripped off his look.
Here is a cool documentary on the great composer/musician Thelonious Monk. I always liked Monk but it was after working with Bob Downey that I really became a Super Monk Fan. Because Bob loved Monk, as a young guy in Grennwich Village he was in aqwe of the great Maestro. He saw him walking doen the street one time and was so im pressed by his bearing, his coolness, his genius. He told me he even got a job as a waiter at the 5 Spot, where Monk had a long residency and worked up the nerve to say hello to Monk one evening in the kitchen. To which Monk reponded, “Where’s the fucking orange juice!” I edited a film for Bob called Hugo Pool and we got Danilo Perez, a great Pasnamanian pianist to record a Monk influenced score for it. Anyway I coulsd go on and on about Monk but here watch this doc for yourself and dig the man in action.
Lila Aviles-Filmmaker
Here is a very cool new film that is really worth checking out. La Camarista (The Chambermaid) is the story of a hard working young single mom that works as a chambermaid in an upscale hotel in Mexico. The subtle performances really make this film great, the commentary on the class system, done in a naturalistic almost invisible manner. So well done. Lila Aviles, the director is talented, she is an actress and directs theater and you can tell from the acting. Real characters, no fake stereotypes waltzing around the screen. All The Actors are great especially the title character ,Gabriela Cartol and Teresa Sánchez as Minitoy. Here’s the trailer:
Here is a short documentary about the great director,Antonio Margheriti. Margheriti was a very prolific director, who did a lot with very little money. His cheap Italian Sci-Fi films got American distribution, a big deal back in the ’60s. He made every kind of film,Horror, Sci-Fi, Action, Cannibal, Westerns, Hercules, he did it all.
Here is a great analysis of Mullholland Drive. This London Girl really breaks it down for you. I suggest you watch the film before watching this but if you have seen the film you will enjoy this. I know I did.
Here is a short film about one of my favorite cameramen of all time, Gianni DiVenanzo. I encourage everyone to seek out the films he shot and enjoy them. Such a brilliant filmmaker, a unique talent. He died young, only 45 years old. Vittorio Storaro tells the story. Here’s a link to a great site dedicated to him.
http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscuro/dop/venanzo/venanzo.html
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Here is a German film of an Edgar Wallace mystery. Creature With The Blue Hand, starring everybody’s favorite psycho Klaus Kinski as twins no less! Double your pleasure, double your fun! There were a lot of Edgar Wallce films made in Germany. This one I was turned onto by Quentin Tarantino, he programmed it as part of a personally curated batch of films that aired on Spike Tv about 10 years ago. Anyway it’s a nice clean version in German mit subtitles so Enjoy!
Here is the Beat Film to end all Beat Films, written and narrated by Kerouac, directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie. It gives you a view into the Art Life of 50s NYC. I lived there in the late 70’s. It was pretty similar. I remember being at Guffanti Film Lab and seeing this film, they were making a print for Marty Scorsese. I think this film was a big influence on him. This version has Italian subtitles so you can practice your Italiano.
Here is a cool BBC doc on Clint Eastwood from back in 1977. He was the biggest star in the world at that time thanks to the Westerns of Sergio Leone. It’s full of fascinating characters, Paulene Kael basically saying she does not like Clint as an actor or director, the great editor Ferris Webster, the great editor turned director Don Siegal, Sergio Leone, Richard Burton. This is an amazing document. Check it out.