And what makes the film so emotionally and cinematically rich is the juxtaposition between Shepard and Wenders—the German with a fantastical pastiche obsession with Americana and the rough-tongued “rock and roll Jesus with a cowboy mouth” himself, whose words are engrained in the sprawling western landscape. The two have collaborated many times since, but this holds as by far their best work—creating something that speaks to the human condition so effortlessly in a way that few films have been able to. No one does melancholic American isolation like a misanthropic German.
Looking Back on Our Favorite Palme d’Or Winners of Years Past
Rather than live on in the hearts and minds of my fellow man, I would rather live on in my apartment.
John le Carré’s cameo in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, at 1:15:55 approx.
Only spotted this on my third viewing of the film. Neat-o!
History of comics by Jim Steranko
Creative Writing Assignment: Riverbank Sketch
Preamble – The following is a creative writing assignment from earlier this week. I’d like to share it here, as a momentary diversion from the endless reblogging and linking.
From any angle, the new headquarters of the European Central Bank is a formidable sight. It squats on the Frankfurt skyline, a giant monolith of glass and steel. Construction has not yet been completed, and from my position on this bench on the riverbank, I can see deep into the complex anatomy of its structure. A latticework of scaffolding runs up the centre, joining two disparate halves together like some ancient prehistoric circuitry, with sheets of glass creeping up this framework as though reaching for the sun.
Glimmers of movement can be discerned in the fading gloom of dusk. Shadows of workmen move amongst the scaffolds, sparks flying from their tools, whilst mechanical lifts ascend and descend according to their own singular purpose. Looming on the periphery, several cranes raise materials to the workmen waiting inside, then lower their heads to await further instruction. The whirring sound of their activity is carried on the wind, faint, and then merges into the ambient noise of life on the river bank.
There’s a sweep of curved glass on each face of the building, and there don’t seem to be any right angles. At first, I imagine that this is some kind of trick of the light, my tired eyes imagining something that isn’t there. But then I realise this is actually the case; one of the corners of the building at the bottom is pointing in the opposite direction as the corresponding top corner. My eyes slowly travel up and down to verify this, and I’m impressed enough by this architectural feature to emit a low whistle. Simultaneously, a woman walks past me with her dog. She doesn’t notice, or pretends not to, perhaps she is frequently assailed by whistling gentleman as she follows this path each evening, but at least the dog acknowledges the sound, its ears twitching instinctively.
The brave new world of…2013
You may not have a robot dog, techno-comforts or kids listening to “futura-rock.” But some of the predictions in this recently-rediscovered issue of the Los Angeles Times Magazine largely hold true.
Predictions about the increased prevalence of telecommunication, smarter cars (though ours don’t look as funky as the ones seen above) and globalization all seem to be rather spot-on, considering they were made in 1988!
That said, there’s no way your morning starts out like this:
With a barely perceptible click, the Morrow house turns itself on, as it has every morning since the family had it retrofitted with the Smart House system of wiring five years ago…in the study, the family’s personalized home newspaper, featuring articles on the subjects that interest them…is being printed by laser-jet printer off the home computer – all while the family sleeps.
Read through the full article here.
Photos: Los Angeles Times
The Private Eye is a serialized sci-fi detective comic set in a future where privacy is considered a sacred right and everyone has a secret identity. It’s written by Brian K Vaughan (Ex Machina, Y: The Last man, Saga) and illustrated by Marcos Martin (Amazing Spider-man, Daredevil, Robin: Year One). This is the same creative team behind the insanely good Dr. Strange: The Oath.
The unique thing about The Private Eye is that it’s being directly offered by BKV and Martin through Panel Syndicate as a download with a pay-what-you-want price tag a la Bandcamp and VHX. We’ve long been proponents of this sort of donation-based content delivery and really hope this can open the door for more creators to get their work in the hands of readers.
The Private Eye is available in three languages and formats (including PDF for those of you without a good comic reader app). Head on over and check it out, and throw some cash their way.
Alan Moore walks through Northampton town centre carrying a walking stick that’s been sculpted to resemble a dangerous snake, and a hairbrush. The 59-year-old writer moves with a slight trip in his step, thus the cane, and keeps the brush to hand because he hasn’t visited a barber since he was a teenager. For decades Moore has maintained his tremendous mane of hair, his wizard’s beard, through bursts of aggressive combing. “That way it tends to manage itself.”
Alan Moore, eccentric genius behind graphic-novel classics V for Vendetta and Watchmen, rejected big-movie riches. Now he has made a low-budget film in his beloved home town, Northampton
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Hear Giorgio Moroder's first ever DJ set
Here’s Giorgio Moroder’s first ever DJ set, captured live at Deep Space in New York recently. CS
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AMC made a Breaking Bad art book to give out to the cast and crew and they sent me a copy along with a bag of meth from the prop department!
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