1. Goodness, what a treasure over at If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats: the original recording sessions of François Truffaut's interviews with Alfred Hitchcock, featuring plenty of material not in Hitchcock/Truffaut. Most recent update: June 30th, 2008.
["From now until I run out, If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger . . . will be bringing our visitors the interview recordings that made up the bulk of a coffee-table book beloved by millions, Hitchcock/Truffaut. The voices you will hear are those of Alfred Hitchcock, the director of Waltzes in Vienna, Easy Virtue and Juno and the Paycock; François Truffaut, ex-film critic, pioneering cinephile hustler and co-director of Tire-au-flanc 62 and Une histoire d'eau; and Helen Scott, interpreter and Truffaut groupie extraordinaire."]
2. "When a movie hurts too much": The latest post at Roger Ebert's Journal, inspired by House commenter Ali Arikan.
["The blog entry "In Search of Redemption" inspired an outpouring of reader comments remarkable not only for their number but for their intelligence and thought. It became obvious that many of us go to the movies seeking some sort of release or healing. Many of you mentioned titles that especially affected you; two of my most-admired films, "Hoop Dreams" and "Grave of the Fireflies," were frequently listed. You all had your reasons. Now Ali Arikan, a longtime contributor to this site, has written me about why he was so affected by a relatively unlikely title, "The Out-of-Towners." His reasons were personal; he can post them below if he chooses to. But in connection with his explanation, he quoted the first paragraph of one of my reviews."]
3. "Alex Gibney on Gandalf, Obama and the Death of the American Dream": Steven Boone interviews the Gonzo filmmaker for Spout.
["My version of The Godfather would open with a voice in the darkness saying, “I don’t believe in America. The American Dream is a once-beguiling fairy tale; show’s over, y’all.” But The Dream is still real to many people, and the violence that powerful private interests have done to it in the last century pains them like a kidney punch. Gonzo journalism pioneer Hunter S. Thompson was one of the wounded, and so is Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Darkside), the far more straight-laced director of the entertaining documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson. They share a proprietary sense of outrage over abuses of power they’ve witnessed in their times. For them, America’s Nixons, Enrons and Bush-Cheneys have desecrated the church, the front lawn. For all their passionate trouble-making, there’s no denying that Gibney and the late Thompson, two white males who came up through America’s hallowed institutions (Thompson through the U.S. Air Force; Gibney through Yale), are insiders. When I went to interview Gibney about Gonzo, I remembered the film’s procession of leathery right-wingers and elites, former Thompson nemeses, who have warm, friendly things to say about “Dr. Gonzo” now that he’s dead, now that his caricature as a gun-toting drughead has endured beyond his politics. I wondered if, in the end, being inside got the hole dug any better than chucking rocks from outside."]
4. Latest articles from the Moving Image Source: Michael Atkinson on William Holden and David Schwartz on Chantal Akerman.
["Though it is an invisible and largely unspoken presence, the weight of history is evident in every moment of Chantal Akerman's work. Ever since she made her first film, the 11-minute short Saute ma ville (Blow Up My Town), in 1968, she has been concerned with the question—and the impossibility—of situating one's self comfortably in the world. The many autobiographical passages in her films and videos (including letters, diaries, and phone calls) make us aware of her specific identity as a Jewish European woman born five years after the end of World War II. Yet her work is deeply ambivalent about the way that she (and others) are identified by their membership in a group—whether by race, nation, or gender."]
5. "'Yankee Doodle' turns 250 — maybe": From MSNBC.
["Wish "Yankee Doodle" a happy 250th birthday. Maybe. The original lyrics to one of America's best-known songs, one associated with the American Revolution, were actually written a couple decades earlier during the French and Indian War, although an exact date has eluded historians. Some peg the year as 1755, when the war's first major battles were fought, or 1756. The other year often cited is 1758. Now, a state archaeologist believes he has narrowed down the date to sometime in June of that year, when a large British-led army was mustering at Albany for an expedition against the French."]
Quote of the Day: Clare Booth Luce
Image of the Day (click to enlarge): Just yesterday, Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross tied the knot. Happy 4th from The House Next Door!
Clip of the Day: This one never gets old. The Count's a horny little muppet.
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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged. Suggestions for links are also welcome. Please send to keithuhlich@gmail.com.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Links for the Day (July 4th, 2008)
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3 comments:
Keith, thanks for the clip of the day. It brought back many fond memories of hearing this song multiple times a day for several years. I also remember the Count as a plastic costume which someone near and dear to me wore each Halloween and in which he sweated profusely. Keep up the great work! OOGA BOOGA
Between this and the Metropolis reels being found it is a good time to be a movie lover!
When I was a kid, I thought the Count was a pimp. This was partially due to the fact that, in my neighborhood, there WAS a pimp with a Widow's Peak and cape.
This clip proves that I was right. The Count IS a pimp!
"Go and get me something to count, you bat bitches!"
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