David Lynch 1946-2025

 Art, Artists, Books, Films, Miscellaneous, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Quotes, Television, Video and Film
Jan 202025
 

Still from “Mulholland Drive”

Club Silencio scene with Rebekah Del Rio from David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive

Today would have been artist and filmmaker David Lynch’s 79th birthday.

Although it was sad to hear of his passing, it was such a joy to spend the weekend looking through his artwork, reading the tributes from those who knew him, and rewatching his films and the documentary about him, The Art Life.

He also wrote Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity, a short book filled with his thoughts on transcendental meditation, his films, digital video, creativity and more- worth checking out. Below is a short clip from one of his interviews with The Atlantic.

He also acted occasionally, both in his Twin Peaks series and in other projects. Below he plays another famous director, John Ford, in a clip from Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans.

And here he is on Louis C.K.’s show Louie.

David Lynch’s creative legacy will continue to influence and inspire people for many years to come. He was one of the greats.

Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022)

 Art, Artists, Films, Video and Film
Sep 152022
 

Above are scenes from Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film, Breathless, starring Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

The first two pictures are from a press conference scene where Seberg’s character asks an author (played by influential director Jean-Pierre Melville) for his “greatest ambition in life” He replies- “To become immortal, and then die”.

Although it was sad to hear of Godard’s passing, he has certainly achieved immortality through his beautiful work.

Jamie XX- Gosh

 Art, Music, Video and Film
Feb 122017
 

Jamie xx- Gosh

The Grammy Awards are tonight and the above video is one of the nominations for Best Music Video. It was directed by Romain Gavras, son of Costa-Gavras who has made numerous feature films, including Z and Missing, which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Romain Gavras has received a lot of attention in the past for his more violent videos including Born Free for M.I.A., which depicts a military attack on red haired people, and Justice’s Stress, which focused on a Parisian youth gang. The video for Gosh takes place in the Chinese city of Tianducheng. The city was built to replicate Paris and to house 10,000 residents, but its current population of about 2,000 gives it a ghost town quality which adds to the eeriness of this video.

For a more on the making of Gosh– here is a behind the scenes look, which includes a scene of the children’s hair being bleached (and only for that day!)-

For even more information, Dazed has an interesting article on Gosh, the director’s previous work, and an interview with Gavras.

Throwback Thursday- Beirut

 Films, Music, Throwback Thursday
Oct 082015
 

Beirut- Elephant Gun

This video for Beirut’s song from 2007 was directed by Alma Har’el who also directed the famous Sigur Rós video Fjögur píanó which stars Shia LeBeouf (seen below). She also directed the documentary film Bombay Beach which takes place in the community near the Salton Sea.

Beirut are playing 10/8/15 at the Hollywood Palladium

Throwback Thursday- Repo Man / Black Flag

 Films, Music, Throwback Thursday
Mar 122015
 

Repo Man Trailer

Repo Man (1984), Alex Cox’s film about aliens, car repossession, and punk rock takes place in Los Angeles in the 1980′s and stars Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton. It received good reviews at the time of its release and has since become a cult classic. The punk rock soundtrack is great too and includes tracks like the one below- Black Flag’s TV Party, as well as songs from Fear, Iggy Pop and Circle Jerks, who make an appearance in the film.

Alex Cox went on to make Sid and Nancy and Straight to Hell (which features Joe Strummer and Courtney Love) .

Repo Man is playing at the Regent Theater on Sunday (3/15) with a performance afterwards by Harry Dean Stanton and a band that includes Harper Simon.

Films to Watch- Agnés Varda- “The Beaches of Agnés”

 Art, Artists, Films, Los Angeles Art Shows, Los Angeles Art Shows
Dec 072013
 

I first discovered Agnés Varda through the documentary, The Beaches of Agnés.  She’s an incredible person, who at 85 (80 in the film), is still making films. This unique presentation of her life is both compelling and inspiring.

Check out some of her work at LACMA’s Agnés Varda in Californialand.

Los Angeles Art Shows- “Agnés Varda in Californialand” at LACMA

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, California Art Shows, Films, Los Angeles Art Shows, Los Angeles Art Shows, Video and Film
Dec 072013
 

vardalions1

Image from Agnés Varda in Californialand at LACMA

Tonight (12/7) at 7:30pm, LIONS LOVE (…AND LIES) is playing at LACMA along with Black Panthers.

Info from LACMA’s website for this event:

Agnès Varda’s first-ever American feature film was shot while she was living in Los Angeles with husband Jacques Demy (his own U.S. debut, Model Shop, was released the same year). LIONS LOVE (…AND LIES) finds Warhol superstar Viva joined by Hair cocreators James Rado and Gerome Ragni as the trio, in various states of undress, play host to visiting cinéma vérité luminary Shirley Clarke (The Cool World, Portrait of Jason) in a Hollywood bungalow. Sunsoaked Southern California counterculture, New York bohemia, and Left Bank abandon all intermingle in this film about a film. LIONS LOVE (…AND LIES) graced the debut cover of Warhol’s Interview magazine and is Varda’s anarchic paean to the age of aquarius and Tinseltown transience with guest spots by everyone from Eddie Constantine to Peter Bogdanovich. This is an encore screening of the brand-new, LACMA-supported restoration of this film—in partnership with the Annenberg Foundation and The Film Foundation—which is also the inspiration for the filmmaker’s LACMA exhibit Agnès Varda in Californialand.

Also screening, Black Panthers (1969, 30 minutes, color, DCP)—another film newly restored by LACMA, the Annenberg Foundation and The Film Foundation—and Varda’s American debut: a powerful document of the eponymous Oakland movement’s efforts to free activist Huey Newton.

Some interesting facts about Viva– aside from being one of the stars of this film and Warhol’s movies, she also had small parts in Paris, Texas; Midnight Cowboy; and Play It Again, Sam. Both her daughters, Alexandra Auder and Gaby Hoffman, are actresses as well. She currently lives and paints in Palm Springs.

Definitely two films worth checking out. If you miss this screening, clips from the LIONS LOVE(…AND LIES) are playing in the exhibition as well.