“Crashing Through” Beat Happening. Calvin Johnson, Author of the K Records Manifesto, Instigator of The International Pop Underground https://youtu.be/_sY5QcTXxzg
You reminded me of the answer given in an interview when Otto Preminger was asked why he preferred to shoot so much on location rather than in a studio. He replied, “On location you can’t move the walls.” The imposed limitations drove him to be more creative. It made the movie better.
I look to the young filmmakers in my midst who complain all the time about being denied access to the easy path. “Why doesn’t someone just hire me to direct their movie?” I hope that someday they look back on that struggle as the reason they turned out something so good once someone finally does ask. The battle makes us warriors.
(I just hope I don’t die of dysentery while I wait in the trenches for my turn.)
“I am mad as hell” maybe the first time in film, suggesting a popular revolt against the big other Ola LaCan. What better way to Xpress it. Unfortunately, rebellions always end up with new oppressors a true conundrum.
Ted, as with every post, you give me pause to consider the state of my own growth as well as the business we work in. I’m a little contrarian here. What I want to say is, on the one hand, my partner and LOVED experiencing TAR on a big screen with a non-industry audience. It was a phenomenal communal experience. All of us milling about talking with strangers as we struggled to give a give a one or two word reaction. But Tar is the kind of masterpiece that inspires a dialogue - not a sound bite. That said , as much as I love folks like Nolan, I feel we and the whole world would be deprived of an entire world of art and cinema without it. I think one thing that is overlooked in the current narrative “streaming is vanilla ice cream and ruining cinema.” I wish I had time - truly - to comb thru the offerings of Netflix Hulu Amazon and put an asterisk next to the films that - plain and simple - would never ever be made if they had to meet the marketing $ and threshold for a theatrical release. I’d go so far as to so, that amongst the THOUSANDS of programmers - the ones that feel like no one anywhere cared and that yields mediocrity, but so of much worse. Often unwatchable garbage. I am TRYING to embrace the word ‘content,’ but to me it’s equivalent to ‘widget.’ So, amongst mounds of coal, I dare say, streamers have launched a renaissance of INDIE film. I’ll use one simple example. But there are an incalculable amount. One of my absolute favorite films of the last few years LANGUAGE LESSONS, not only offers one of Mark Duplass’s most phenomenal performances, it also marks a beautiful directorial debut . I love this film. I feel I can confidently say there is no way in hell it would ever get made, let alone shown anywhere, if it had to hit theatrical metrics. I’ve discovered so many directors writers actors - from around the world - that I would never know about were it not for streaming. So yes you may spend 45 minutes scrolling through the mind numbing ‘content’ in order to pick something to watch... but deep within piles and piles of coal, you find that Diamond like LANGUAGE LESSONS. For me, my cinematic brain has been challenged and expanded by the indie filmmakers who get a shot because of streaming...
3 years later your words ring truer than ever. My doc wasn't really about me at least in the beginning. It was about working with my son and their friends to bridge the gap from what they've learned/ are learning in school and what shape their career might take. I had a call with Alan McIntyre and my team yesterday where Alan talked about his 3 pronged approach to filmmaking. Paid work, teaching gigs and making his own films. I'm planning another one with Taylor next week to really get ignited from her spark. I want to bring as many emerging filmmakers into the NonDe space as possible. Always organizing!
a classmate of mine did put out a manifesto as part of the press kit for their first movie and the Gen X cynic in me laughed through the whole thing. But it worked with lazy critics who used it as an excuse to call him the next Terrence Malick and overlooked so many issues with the film. Speaking of Mike Watt, Page 5 has my interview with him from the first fIREHOSE tour in Raleigh. His car had blown up on him before they hit the road. https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog/technician-v68n64-1987-03-13#?c=&m=&cv=4&xywh=6659%2C100%2C2504%2C919
“Crashing Through” Beat Happening. Calvin Johnson, Author of the K Records Manifesto, Instigator of The International Pop Underground https://youtu.be/_sY5QcTXxzg
You reminded me of the answer given in an interview when Otto Preminger was asked why he preferred to shoot so much on location rather than in a studio. He replied, “On location you can’t move the walls.” The imposed limitations drove him to be more creative. It made the movie better.
I look to the young filmmakers in my midst who complain all the time about being denied access to the easy path. “Why doesn’t someone just hire me to direct their movie?” I hope that someday they look back on that struggle as the reason they turned out something so good once someone finally does ask. The battle makes us warriors.
(I just hope I don’t die of dysentery while I wait in the trenches for my turn.)
Nicely done Ted,
“I am mad as hell” maybe the first time in film, suggesting a popular revolt against the big other Ola LaCan. What better way to Xpress it. Unfortunately, rebellions always end up with new oppressors a true conundrum.
Ted, as with every post, you give me pause to consider the state of my own growth as well as the business we work in. I’m a little contrarian here. What I want to say is, on the one hand, my partner and LOVED experiencing TAR on a big screen with a non-industry audience. It was a phenomenal communal experience. All of us milling about talking with strangers as we struggled to give a give a one or two word reaction. But Tar is the kind of masterpiece that inspires a dialogue - not a sound bite. That said , as much as I love folks like Nolan, I feel we and the whole world would be deprived of an entire world of art and cinema without it. I think one thing that is overlooked in the current narrative “streaming is vanilla ice cream and ruining cinema.” I wish I had time - truly - to comb thru the offerings of Netflix Hulu Amazon and put an asterisk next to the films that - plain and simple - would never ever be made if they had to meet the marketing $ and threshold for a theatrical release. I’d go so far as to so, that amongst the THOUSANDS of programmers - the ones that feel like no one anywhere cared and that yields mediocrity, but so of much worse. Often unwatchable garbage. I am TRYING to embrace the word ‘content,’ but to me it’s equivalent to ‘widget.’ So, amongst mounds of coal, I dare say, streamers have launched a renaissance of INDIE film. I’ll use one simple example. But there are an incalculable amount. One of my absolute favorite films of the last few years LANGUAGE LESSONS, not only offers one of Mark Duplass’s most phenomenal performances, it also marks a beautiful directorial debut . I love this film. I feel I can confidently say there is no way in hell it would ever get made, let alone shown anywhere, if it had to hit theatrical metrics. I’ve discovered so many directors writers actors - from around the world - that I would never know about were it not for streaming. So yes you may spend 45 minutes scrolling through the mind numbing ‘content’ in order to pick something to watch... but deep within piles and piles of coal, you find that Diamond like LANGUAGE LESSONS. For me, my cinematic brain has been challenged and expanded by the indie filmmakers who get a shot because of streaming...
3 years later your words ring truer than ever. My doc wasn't really about me at least in the beginning. It was about working with my son and their friends to bridge the gap from what they've learned/ are learning in school and what shape their career might take. I had a call with Alan McIntyre and my team yesterday where Alan talked about his 3 pronged approach to filmmaking. Paid work, teaching gigs and making his own films. I'm planning another one with Taylor next week to really get ignited from her spark. I want to bring as many emerging filmmakers into the NonDe space as possible. Always organizing!
a classmate of mine did put out a manifesto as part of the press kit for their first movie and the Gen X cynic in me laughed through the whole thing. But it worked with lazy critics who used it as an excuse to call him the next Terrence Malick and overlooked so many issues with the film. Speaking of Mike Watt, Page 5 has my interview with him from the first fIREHOSE tour in Raleigh. His car had blown up on him before they hit the road. https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog/technician-v68n64-1987-03-13#?c=&m=&cv=4&xywh=6659%2C100%2C2504%2C919
I look forward to seeing it on the BIG screen. Please release a branded edible to go with the total experience.