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Archive for the ‘At the Movies’ Category

Mermaid Avenue

Posted in At the Movies, Favorite Things, Video, tagged , , , , , on February 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Mermaid AvenueIt’s yet another Sunday morning and I’m a bit tired.  Time for a little music.

Casablanca was on TCM last night and, of course, we had to watch.  It’s one of those films that I could watch on an endless loop.   It has so much going for it- great performances, great story, memorable writing with lines that became part of our language, incredible characters (Conrad Veidt’s  Strasser is the prototype for  Nazi film  villains), romance, action and surprisingly great humor.  

It also has the glow of Ingrid Bergman.

That brings us to my selection for the day from the CD, Mermaid Avenue, from the collaboration of Billy Bragg and Wilco with their versions of song  lyrics from Woody Guthrie.  For more info, click on the album cover above.

This is the song, Ingrid Bergman, from that CD.  I wish I had a better video to accompany it but enjoy the song anyway…

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At the Movies: WW II

Posted in At the Movies, Favorite Things, tagged , , , , , , on January 27, 2009| 3 Comments »

Casablanca-posterSome of my favorite films to have on in the studio are those that have something to do with World War II.  Not necessarily combat films, although there are a number of those that I find really engrossing, but rather films that have to do with the periphery of the war and how the world coped with a raging war or its aftermath.

Of course, many will immediately think of films like Casablanca and I can’t deny that it is one of my favorites as well.  It’s just a treasure trove of great dialogue and powerful moments ( the dueling anthem scene with Nazis being drowned out by the patrons exuberant  and emotional La Marseillaise is a classic) and remains as powerful a story today as ever.

idiots delightI think I am most taken by the film that deal with the ideology of the times.  For example, Idiot’s Delight, starring Clark Gable, was made before our entry into WW II and was an appeal to the nation to rise up against the Nazi tide that was sweeping through Europe.

It’s filled with great ideological dialogue, words that really do more than just propel the story forward.  They’re meant to stir and anger, to drive people to action.movie-watch-on-the-rhine

Another along the same lines is Lillian Hellman‘s Watch on the Rhine with Bette Davis and an incredible performance from Paul Lukas as the simply worded Resistance fighter.  Again, it takes place before our entry into the war and portrays us as innocent and naive but as the events of the film take place we, as represented by the characters, begin to understand and show our resolve to fight for freedom.

There are so many powerful films from this time that it would be impossible to list them all in a simple blog.  The Best Years of Our Lives, Mrs. Miniver, 49th Parallel, Hangmen Also Die!  and on and on.  They were meaningful films in a trying time and I think the overriding emotion of them still shines through.  I recommend that anyone with a feeling for the drama of history take a look…

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Bad Bailey

Posted in At the Movies, Favorite Things, Neat Stuff, Video, tagged , , , , on December 20, 2008| Leave a Comment »

george-baileyIt’s that time of the year  when you hunker down on a cold, snowy night and watch a holiday classic.  One of the most beloved is It’s a Wonderful Life from director Frank Capra.  It has long been one of my favorites and it would be easy to go on and on about its message and how the final scene with the redemption of George Bailey makes me tear up just thinking about it.

But yesterday David Terrenoire  wrote in his great blog, A Dark Planet, about how he secretly preferred Potterville, George Bailey’s bizarro world version of his hometown, to the original Bedford Falls.  Potterville was a rockin’ town.  Strip clubs.  Hot music.  Bedford Falls was, by contrast, a real snore.

George Bailey Close-upHe cited an article by Wendell  Jamieson in the NY Times that made his case for the same thought.  Jamieson even goes so far as to state that George Bailey would be facing prison time for the loss of the 8000 dollars, regardless of restitution.  

Just before I had read these two articles I had come across a video entitled Bad Bailey.  It’s put together as a movie trailer and using eerie music and a drastic realignment of the movie’s actual scenes make for pretty disturbing viewing, especially for lovers of the movie.  It made me realize how much darkness there was in the film which, I think, probably made it so powerful.  Just shows what a little editing can achieve…

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Outlaws

Posted in At the Movies, Favorite Things, Influences, Painting, Technique/History, tagged , , , , , on December 12, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The FearA few days back I talked briefly about a series of pieces from 2006 called Outlaws, small and dark figurative paintings of individuals sometimes looking out windows, sometimes holding handguns.  They were a departure and some followers of my work were a bit put off.  Some were fearful of the figures, seeing them as menacing.  Most saw the fear in these characters, their past haunting them.

There was an observation I made concerning people’s reactions.  Those who were disturbed by the images saw the central figure as an intruder peering in through the window.  Those who were more empathetic with these figures saw them looking out the window.  They saw that these characters were the fearful ones.

These pieces were inspired by some silent films I was watching at the time.  These films from around 1918-1927 were made in the aftermath of the first World War, a time when expressionism emerged.  Many of these films were dark and gritty, filled with raw emotion and violence.  When two figures fought, it was not the clean, one-punch knockouts of later films.  They grappled, clawing at one another in a horrible realism.  One that stands out is  Sunrise  from the great F.W. Murnau, probably best known for his vampire classic,  Nosferatu.  It is the story of a married farmer seduced by a city woman who conspires to kill his wife and go to the city.  It’s a great story that is dark and full of wonderful imagery.  There is a train ride into the city that is a great piece of film.  Though most people think that Wings won the first Oscar for best picure, Sunrise won the award that year as Most Unique and Artistic Production, a short lived award that basically  split the Best Movie award into two parts.  It was great then and is still quite moving.Confession

Also, around that time I saw a group of Goya’s small pieces at the Frick in NYC.  They were done by covering  ivory palates with carbon and dripping water on to the surface then manipulating the puddle until an image emerges.  I was taken by them, mainly because I fully understood the technique.  It was how I had taught myself to paint.  I saw it as an opportunity to express the faces and figures that have inhabited my mind for decades.

I only do a few of these a year now and the handful I have in the studio are what I consider personal treasures that still provoke thought from me, time and time again.Night and the City

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Pablo Picasso was never called an…

Posted in At the Movies, Video, tagged , , , , , on December 2, 2008| Leave a Comment »

It’s Tuesday.  Tuesday deserves this.

This is the cover of Pablo Picasso by the Burning Sensations that was in the cult film Repo Man (from ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith).  The Modern Lovers did this song originally but the Peter Gunn-style horns in this version make it for me.

 

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Sunday Morning Music

Posted in At the Movies, Favorite Things, Uncategorized, Video, tagged on November 16, 2008| 1 Comment »

I wanted to leave the week with a little something other than painting.  I was going to have a clip of the great film, The Third Man, starring Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard.  While searching for a clip I came across this, the Crazy Rockers, an Indonesian rock band from the early 1960’s doing their version of the unmistakable title theme from the movie.  It’s pretty cool…

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At the Movies #1

Posted in At the Movies, tagged , , on September 24, 2008| Leave a Comment »

I watch a lot of movies in the studio when I am painting, mostly older films from the 30’s and 40’s because of their strong use of dialogue.  That’s important because I can’t always look at the screen.  But the beauty of the language and the way a story is told makes up for the sometime lack of visuals.  Every so often I want to share a quote or a moment from some of my favorites.  This is from Jimmy Stewart’s character, Elwood P. Dowd in the classic  “Harvey”:


“Years ago my mother used to say to to me, she’d say, ‘In this  world, Elwood, you must be’ – she always called me Elwood – ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant’  Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.”

Something to think about.  Thanks, Elwood.

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