The City Dark is a feature documentary about light pollution and the disappearance of the night. The film follows filmmaker Ian Cheney, who moves to New York City and discovers skies almost completely devoid of stars. Posing a deceptively simple question — why do we need the night? — he leads viewers no quest to understand what is lost in the glare of city lights.
Upon one of the first things I noticed when I moved to Los Angeles was the inability to see the stars in the sky. Of course the city has plenty to offer to compensate, but that dull tint that covers the night skyline of heavy urban environments is still a sad thing. Looking forward to this flick.
Werner Herzog is opening up a film school based around weekend seminars. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet and talk with the famed eccentric filmmaker. I love the mantra by how these classes are to be run, here’s a taste:
4. The Rogue Film School will not teach anything technical related to film-making. For this purpose, please enroll at your local film school.
5. The Rogue Film School is about a way of life. It is about a climate, the excitement that makes film possible. It will be about poetry, films, music, images, literature.
7. Excerpts of films will be discussed, which could include your submitted films; they may be shown and discussed as well. Depending on the materials, the attention will revolve around essential questions: how does music function in film? How do you narrate a story? (This will certainly depart from the brainless teachings of three-act-screenplays). How do you sensitize an audience? How is space created and understood by an audience? How do you produce and edit a film? How do you create illumination and an ecstasy of truth?
8. Related, but more practical subjects, will be the art of lockpicking. Traveling on foot. The exhilaration of being shot at unsuccessfully. The athletic side of filmmaking. The creation of your own shooting permits. The neutralization of bureaucracy. Guerrilla tactics. Self reliance.
9. Censorship will be enforced. There will be no talk of shamans, of yoga classes, nutritional values, herbal teas, discovering your Boundaries, and Inner Growth.
Reads almost like a satire but that’s always been the fine line that Herzog has walked all these years. Simply put — Awesome.
[Rogue Film School via Chud]
Great little interview of Garson Yu, the preeminent master of motion graphics and title sequences. An almost under-appreciated art form in its own right that’s slowly getting its due. His studio’s work on Watchmen was one of the best things about that film.
Wired’s collective web and print team put together their list of favorite Sci-fi films. This time, from Star Wars (1977) and onwards. Again, if you just want to see what flicks made it on the list and not click through numerous thumbnails:
-Star Wars: A New Hope
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind
-Capricorn One
-Alien
-Stalker
-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
-Outland
-Road Warrior
-E.T.
-Blade Runner
-Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
-Liquid Sky
-2010
-The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
-The Hidden
-Robocop
-Spaceballs
-Terminator II
-Twelve Monkeys
-Starship Troopers
-Gattaca
-The Matrix
-The Iron Giant
-Children of Men
On a side-note, do a google search for “robocop” and “unicorn” if you want to amuse yourself for the day.
Refreshing a good one from earlier this summer. What could you say in 42 seconds? That was the idea behind the 42 Second Dream Film Festival. Amongst the entries is this one by Chris Milk with the description
a man watches his life pass before him
A simple concept that is nonetheless moving. Shot on Lensbaby Lenses and Canon 5D Mark II SLR Camera
Over at Underwire they compile a list of favorite Sci-fi films from the various staff at Wired’s blog and Wired Magazine. The following list is for everything pre-Star Wars (1977), while tomorrow will summarize their favorites from that point onwards. Loving the unadulterated resurgence of people showing their love for Sci-fi. Much ado no doubt to District 9, because who are we kidding — T4 and Transformers 2 didn’t do S#@*! for the genre. Oh and in case you’re too lazy to click around or suffer from debilitating carpal tunnel… here you go:
-A Trip to the Moon
-The Thing From Another World
-The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
-Them!
-Invasion of the Body Snatchers
-The Fabulous World of Jules Verne
-The Creation of the Humanoids
-Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
-Fahrenheit 451
-Fantastic Voyage
-2001: A space Odyssey
-Planet of the Apes
-Solaris
-Silent Running
-Soylent Green
-Day of the Dolphin
-Zardoz
-A Boy and His Dog
-Logan’s Run
-Lassie Come Home
L.A.-based, world-renowned experimental noise pop duo No Age will appear live at the Cinefamily to perform their brand-new score for Jean-Jacques Annaud’s majestic 1988 film The Bear, a near-wordless cinematic expedition deep into the savagery and tenderness of the animal kingdom. Told from the titular species’ point of view, The Bear chronicles the journey of an orphan bear cub and a lone adult bear banding together to avoid two human hunters. Along the way, director Annaud has great fun with the storytelling possibilities from a non-human perspective, including dream sequences and an unforgettable psychdelic mushroom bear trip! With nearly no (human) dialogue, the film easily lends itself to live scoring, and No Age drummer Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall have crafted a shimmering 90-minute set of sonic blasts and delicate textures that perfectly complement the peculiar, touching and altogether unique experience that is The Bear.
Having been to a live-scored Cinefamily film before (Bergman’s Magician) I can vouch that they are a complete and utter treat to behold. Now take one of LA’s more prominent bands in recent years and combine their sonic accompaniments to an epic film from THE PERSPECTIVE OF A BEAR. No better way to spend a Sunday evening I’d say.
on an august morning in 1978, french filmmaker claude lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a ferrari 275 gtb Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 and had a friend, a professional formula 1 race car driver, drive at breakneck speeds through the heart of paris.
He was arrested after his 1976 film, C’était un rendez-vous, featuring a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 being illegally driven at high speed through the streets of Paris, was first shown publicly.
Head over to Tons of Land to watch this 8-minute film that at times, feels too ridiculous to be real (and I mean that in a good way).
Film archivist Serge Bromberg uncovers a treasure trove of imagery from an unfinished film called L’Enfer starring Romy Schneider and directed by the French master Henri-Georges Clouzot, known for Wages of Fear and Diabolique.
