Oh, Calypso

A scene from Taiwanese director TSAI MING-LIANG' s 1998 film THE HOLE. Throughout this poetic urban fairytale, the characters re-enact musical numbers from legendary Chinese actress GRACE CHANGE. The original, below:

All My Life by Bruce Baillie

Part of the original wave of New American Cinema in the 60's, BRUCE BAILLIE's work was beautiful in it's simplicity and poeticism, always arriving at a deeply personal awareness of the image.

ALL MY LIFE, made in 1966 on 16mm film, is famously the all-time favorite film of my all-time favorite teacher of film.

...then let's make a vow

The opening scene of MIRANDA JULY's debut feature film YOU AND ME AND EVERYONE WE KNOW is the perfect bridge from her open-hearted, yet noisy video art into the more narrative-concerned world of cinema pursued here on in.

JULY's vision of life and art as a personal act of radical theatricallity and her rejection of an abstracted love, unfortunately, is still a point of contention for a lot of artists and filmgoers. Her dedication no less hindered, the trouble with the work of MIRANDA JULY is certainly not in its absence of unveiled beauty. Rather, we should rejoice in art so willfully transparent.

KEECHIE by No Age

Ever since I saw ANDY BRUNTEL's music video for BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY's CURSED SLEEP, I have been paying attention to his every move. Unlike most promos made by bands and labels, BRUNTEL approaches the music video as a distinct art form, somewhere between a short film, and experimental video. He brings his surrealist visions to the small screen with impeccable set design and cinematography, and with an incredible consistency among various projects.

This clip, of one of the noisier tracks from your little brother's favorite band NO AGE, is a good argument for the re-consideration of the possibilities of the music video among artists.

The Limits of Control

Featuring music by Japanese metal band BORIS, the new film by JIM JARMUSCH is a wonder of texture and variations on a filmic theme. While the "momentary" camera-work by CHRISTOPHER DOYLE is a delight, the soundtrack (that's including the pure music of the dialogue), is one of the richest in recent memory.

Punk rock

Audio of MOGWAI's "PUNK ROCK," the lead track on the album COME ON DIE YOUNG, synched up with the video footage of IGGY POP interviewed by PETER GZOWSKI sampled in the song.

"Do you understand what I'm saying, sir?"

The Last Days of the Guitar

The previous clip from ROY ANDERSSON reminds me of the beauty of the live, improvised guitar filling a scene in long-take cinema.

In the GUS VAN SANT film LAST DAYS, the KURT COBAIN stand-in played by MICHAEL PITT draws out a scene while looping takes on guitar, vocals, and drums. In both of these instances, the amplified sound becomes another aspect of the stunning architecture of the scene.

You, the Living

For reasons unknown, ROY ANDERSSON remains Sweden's best kept filmmaking secret. His newest film is still yet to be distributed to the U.S., and we are left watching clips like this on the internet.

I can't think of another filmmaker who has developed such a huge and original style, while dedicating his work to the absurd, joyous ends of people as a whole. His films are strange, unsettling, and a huge delight, which is needlessly a rare combination of elements.