Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts
Friday, December 26, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Betty Page (1923 - 2008)
Bettie Page 1950
Bettie Page 1955
Bettie's Punishment
Betty Page (also spelled as "Bettie Page"), the iconic model of fetish, burlesque and pin-up photos in the 1950s has died at the age of 85.
More obituaries:
Monday, November 03, 2008
Yma Sumac (1922 - 2008)
Yma Sumac: 'Tumpa'
Yma Sumac: La Castafiore Inca, Part 1
Yma Sumac (13 September 1922 - 1 November 2008), a legendary vocalist (whose memorable voice range covered five octaves) well known to the fans of 1950s exotica, lounge and "Incredibly Strange Music", has passed away.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Bebe Barron (1925 - 2008)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Bebe Barron's last interview in February 2008, talking about Anaïs Nin
Lest we forget... Another electronic music pioneer has passed away: Bebe Barron, who with his husband Louis Barron created the ground-breaking electronic score for the 50s sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet,
died on 20 April.
(The original Star Trek took its cues from Forbidden Planet, which was ambitiously based on Shakespeare's The Tempest; the film also featuring Leslie Nielsen, later best known from The Naked Gun films.)
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Monday, June 02, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Friday, September 14, 2007
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (1954) is a story of one man fighting against vampires in a post-apocalypse world. After a mysterious plague has killed or turned the rest of human race into zombie-like vampires (Romero's 1968 Night of the Living Dead being heavily influenced by this book), Robert Neville -- apparently the sole survivor after having lost his wife and little daughter -- has turned his home into a fortress against which vampires try to attack every night. During daytime, though, Neville runs around Los Angeles in his station wagon, picking up supplies from deserted stores and supermarkets, and hitting stakes to the hearts of vampires unconscious in their coma-like state.
This novel can be seen, like many other works in science fiction and horror of the same era, as another parable of the 1950s American Communist scare, but it's also a study of personal solitude and how one manages to cope with it and the changes it will bring about in one's psyche, physical and mental make-up. Like Robinson Crusoe on his island (to whom Neville actually compares himself at one point), Neville is a lonely man trying to survive in a hostile environment, his paranoia knowing no bounds but still being desperate for any contact, human or animal: his care and nurturing of a frightened stray dog at one of the novel's most emotional points being especially touching.
Following the model of Robinson, Neville also manages to maintain his sanity through various activities keeping him busy, such as working on wooden stakes in his workshop and growing garlic in his hothouse as protection against the vampires. Or at least most of his sanity: while he "medicates" himself with heavy drinking during those lonely evenings when listening to the threatening howls of vampires outside and becomes more paranoid and hermit-like all the time, he also systematically studies the physiological basis of this strange plague (not too much unlike AIDS), and like modern man of post-Enlightenment era, approaches vampirism scientifically rather than through the superstition of ancient legends and popular books like Bram Stoker's classic Dracula, which he merely dismisses as "soap opera"-like.
In the end Neville finds out that in the world where everyone else has turned into vampires, also "normality" is now defined in a new way: representing the "old breed" -- maybe predicting the widening generation gap becoming all the more obvious after the 1950s -- Neville is now an anachronism, a freak, the ultimate outsider, but also a feared and respected legend, as the title of the book indicates.
Film adaptations (which Matheson himself disliked, though both have now a certain cult following):
The Last Man On Earth (1964) trailer
More clips of The Last Man On Earth @ YouTube | The whole film @ archive.org
Omega Man (1971) trailer
More Omega Man clips @ YouTube
Latest news tell there's also a forthcoming film adaptation, starring Will Smith (remember I, Robot, another rendition of a classic science fiction tale?)... I guess it's just better to stick to the original book.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Kiss Me, Deadly
(Click here if you can't see this film trailer of Kiss Me, Deadly.)
The controversial American crime writer Mickey Spillane just died this week. Known for his extreme right-wing opinions and the violence, nihilism and misogynism of his books, the very persona of Spillane paints a bleak picture of the post-World War II American psychopathology. Though I've never read any of his books (and probably never will until I shall ever become even more cynical, jaded and vengeful than I already am), I've found Robert Aldrich's aptly hard-boiled 1955 adaptation Kiss Me, Deadly one of my favourite pieces of film noir. Reflecting the 1950s Zeitgeist of atomic paranoia and anti-Communism, and with its suitably apocalyptic climax when the nuclear(?) Pandora's box will finally be opened, this nihilistic journey of Spillane's sadistic and truly dislikeable anti-hero detective character Mike Hammer (played by Ralph Meeker) reveals something really fundamental about the mindset of this era. Va-va-voom!
There's hardly a more suitable director for this one than Robert Aldrich (1918-1983), known for his controversial films often verging on nihilism; the star-studded war movie Dirty Dozen (1967) probably the most famous of them. Aldrich's films are often about a group of tough, masculine men trying to survive in a harsh, violent environment but he also directed melodramatic (though not less cynical) psychodramas featuring women in such works as Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962), Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) or The Killing of Sister George (1968).
Back to Mike Hammer, a totally different Spillane adaptation is Richard T. Heffron's I, The Jury from 1982, with slick Armand Assante as Mike Hammer and one-time Bond girl Barbara Carrera as the female protagonist. In my teenage video nasty years I actually found this one quite entertaining with all its fast-paced gory action and sordid sex scenes (the plot involves a sex clinic with prostitute-like characters offering an interesting form of "therapy"). But then, the film was scripted by Hollywood's bad boy Larry Cohen, known for such cult shockers as It's Alive, with some social agenda full of satirical picks on consumerism and corporate values, so Cohen probably well understood the garish sleaziness hiding behind Spillanean gung-ho patriotic worldview. I haven't seen this film for years, though, so I can't really assess any of its worth now.
(Click here if you can't see this clip.)
Incidentally, the apocalyptic destruction scene at the final climax of Kiss Me, Deadly (with its ghastly screaming sounds) makes me somehow think of the infamous slow-motion ending of Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (1970) where Daria Halprin's character imagines the destruction of a luxury villa, being simultaneously the symbolic demolition of the American bourgeois way of life, with all the exploding fridges and flying Wonderbread packages. While Pink Floyd's 'Come In Number 51 Your Time Is Up' (a reworking of their 'Careful With That Axe, Eugene') plays in the background -- what a beautiful scene: one of my all-time favourites, absolutely. (Too bad the film itself is considered one of Antonioni's worst.) -- Anyway, I wonder if the makers of Koyaanisqatsi ever saw this one?
Other Mickey Spillane-related video clips @ YouTube + some with keywords 'Mike Hammer'
Juri on Spillane:
1 | 2 | 3
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Monday, September 19, 2005
UbuWeb Film Section in Cease and Desist Limbo
I informed you about UbuWeb relaunch. Now it seems they've gotten into trouble before they even had a chance to get it properly running. Why do I get the cynical feeling that it's not actually the artists' money that is at stake here, but of different sorts of lawyers, agents, corporate businessmen and other "middle men" who take their own cut from the artists' original work? Yeah, it's again the same dispute as with the file-sharing of music: who actually rip off the artists most, some kids who illicitly distribute their music in the Net, or their own big-ass record companies...? (Only echoing here some sentiments already made by such people as Courtney Love, I don't claim to have any proper answers of my own.)
(And as a coincidence, a funny(?) story I just found from Brainwashed.Com.)
From http://www.ubu.com/film/:
(And as a coincidence, a funny(?) story I just found from Brainwashed.Com.)
From http://www.ubu.com/film/:
September 15, 2005
Dear Friends,
We relaunched UbuWeb on September 14th with over 150 avant-garde films in digital formats for your viewing pleasure. Within hours, we received several hostile letters from representatives of filmmakers -- all lawyers and business people, not the artists themselves -- issuing cease and desist letters and threatening lawsuits. Every time, it seemed, we opened our inbox yet another appeared. We had little choice but to obey and as a result, we have iced the section -- for the time being.
We never intended UbuWeb to take any money out of the pockets of these artists; rather we feel that simple exposure to even the most degraded, corrupted, miniscule, and compressed .avi would increase interest and exposure to avant-garde film, a field whose audience has long been in decline. Our idea was to make accessible the generally inaccessible, with the hopes that should you desire to see the film in all its glory, you will make your way to the nearest theatre showing them (although there are very few) or find better copies on DVD. UbuWeb was never meant to be a substitute for the experience of viewing a film; it was meant as a teaser, an appetizer, until you can get to the real thing.
However, the real thing isn't very easy to get to. Most of us don't live anywhere near theatres that show this kind of fare and very few of us can afford the several hundred dollar rental fees, not to mention the cumbersome equipment, to show these films. Thankfully, there is the internet which allows you to get a whiff of these films regardless of your geographical location.
Obviously, certain members of the film community did not share our sentiments. They would rather keep these jewels to themselves or a select few huddled in dark rooms.
One complaint read "Kenneth Anger is penniless and living in a shack, yet you are making his films available for free and taking money away from him?" To which we reply: if the current system of avant-garde film distribution was working so well, why would the great artist Kenneth Anger be living in a shack and not a mansion? Is this really a system to hold on to? Obviously, something isn't working. If they really cared about Kenneth Anger, they would hope to expose his arguably-forgotten work to a non-geographically-specific digital savvy audience via the radical distributive possibilities of internet. Guaranteed, Mr. Anger would see his royalties soar as a result.
UbuWeb doesn't charge money, nor does it make money, nor does it take money. The idea that our efforts in any way would enrich ourselves is preposterous. UbuWeb has been performing its version of community service for ten years without making a penny.
We'll be back with our film section. Just give us some time to sort through permissions, paperwork, and other sordid details. To be continued...
All the best,
UbuWeb
Friday, September 16, 2005
Ubuweb Relaunch
Here is a treat for all you culture vultures:
[forwarded message]
__ U B U W E B __
ubu.com
----------------------------
RELAUNCH :: Fall 2005
----------------------------
A Bump in the Road: After a long summer of rebuilding, UbuWeb is back. Thanks to all our viewers who kindly encouraged our return. We'd also like to thank our new partners for making it all possible: WFMU, PennSound, The Center for Literary Computing, and Artmob. With our expanded bandwidth and storage space, you'll find a wealth of new media files, particularly in our Sound and Film sections (see below).
--- RECENT FEATURES ---
UbuWeb Films: UbuWeb now hosts over 150 avant-garde films in various formats for download by: Kenneth Anger, Samuel Beckett, Jordan Belson, Joseph Beuys, Robert Breer, James Broughton, Luis Buñuel, John Cage, Raashan Roland Kirk, Henri Chopin, Rene Clair, Guy Debord, Marcel Duchamp Viking Eggeling, Ed Emshwiller, Oskar Fischinger, FluxFilms, Robert Frank, Ernie Gehr, Henry Hills, Isidore Isou, Joris Ivens, Ken Jacobs, Dimitri Kirsanov, Peter Kubelka, George Landow, Fernand Leger, Len Lye, Gregory Markopoulos, Jonas Mekas, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Robert Morris & Stan VanDerBeek, Otto Muehl, Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Nam June Paik, Artavazd Pelechian, Robert Rauschenberg, Man Ray, Hans Richter, Walter Ruttmann, Carolee Schneeman, Richard Serra, Situationist International, Harry Smith, Jack Smith, Kiki Smith, Robert Smithson, Michael Snow, Ladislaw Starewicz, Ralph Steiner, Franciszka and Stefan Themerson, Edgard Varêse and Le Corbusier, Dziga Vertov, Rene Vienet, and James and John Whitney, amongst others. (SEE OUR FULL LIST BELOW)
Music With Roots in the Aether: A seminal series of interviews and performances concieved and realized by Robert Ashley in 1976, consisting of 14 hours worth of video and audio. Subjects and performers include: David Behrman, Philip Glass, Alvin Lucier, Gordon Mumma, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and Robert Ashley. Robert Ashley says: Music with Roots in the Aether is a series of interviews with seven composers who seemed to me when I conceived the piece-and who still seem to me twenty-five years later-to be among the most important, influential and active members of the so-called avant-garde movement in American music, a movement that had its origins in the work of and in the stories about composers who started hearing things in a new way at least fifty years ago."
The Charlotte Moorman Archive: UbuWeb is proud to host the audio archive of Charlotte Moorman (1933-1991), containing hours worth of unreleased works and collaborations by Nam June Paik, John, Cage, Earle Brown, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Terry Jennings, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Jackson Mac Low, David Behrman, La Monte Young, Sylvano Bussoti, George Brecht, Dick Higgins, Giuseppe Chiari and others. The
selection is curated by Stephen Vitiello, with special thanks to Barbara Moore / Bound & Unbound.
People Like Us: The Complete Recordings 1992-2005 UbuWeb now hosts the complete works of the UK-based People Like Us. The brainchild of Vicki Bennett, these hundreds of MP3s feature solo works and collaborations with Matmos, Negativland, Wobbly, The Evolution Control Committee, Ergo Phizmiz, Irene Moon, The Jet Black Hair
People, Xper. Xr., Messer Chups, Kenny G and Tipsy.
Christof Migone: Montréal-based Migone is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. His work and research delves into language, voice, bodies, psychopathology, performance, video, intimacy, complicity and endurance. UbuWeb is pleased to present an audio retrospective of Migone's work, both solo and with collaborators. Also featured here
are numerous writings by Migone, including a book-length work, La première phrase et le dernier mot, which is comprised of the first sentence and the last word of every book in Migone's library.
Fall 2005 :: NEW ADDITIONS
Samuel Beckett Film, 1965, 170.0 mb (MPEG)
Glenn Gould Radio Broadcasts and Radio Plays, 1967-1981, MP3
Furious Pig I Don't Like Your Face (1980) MP3
Michael Snow Sinoms (1989) MP3
Derek Beaulieu an afterword after words: notes towards a concrete poetic
(PDF)
Group Ongaku Music of Group Ongaku, 1960-1961 (Takehisa Kosugi, Syuko
Mizuno, Mieko Shiomi, Yasunao Tone), MP3
John Cage & Raashan Roland Kirk Sound, 1966, 309 mb (AVI)
Öyvind Fahlström Manipulate The World! (1963) and The Holy Torsten
Nilsson (1966) MP3
Lasry-Baschet Chronophagie "The Time Eaters" (mid-1960s) MP3
Mairead Byrne Some Differences Between Poetry & Stand-up Comedy, 2004
(PDF)
Carlfriedrich Claus Lautaggregat (1995) MP3
DJ Food Raiding the 20th Century - Words & Music Expansion (starring
Paul Morley and a cast of thousands) (MP3)
John Lennon & Yoko Ono Erection, 1971, 180.7 mb (MPEG)
U B U W E B :: Films
Kenneth Anger
Invocation Of My Demon Brother, 1969, 133.8 mb (AVI)
Invocation Of My Demon Brother, 1969, 110.0 mb (MPEG)
Kustom Kar Kommandos, 1965, 17.1 mb (AVI)
Lucifer Rising, 1970-1981, 321.6 mb (AVI)
Puce Moment, 1949, 42.7 mb (AVI)
Scorpio Rising, 1949, 194.8 mb (AVI)
Eaux D'artifice, 1953, 109.4 mb (AVI)
Samuel Beckett
Film, 1965, 170.0 mb (MPEG)
Jordan Belson
Allures, 1961, 46.0 mb (AVI)
Joseph Beuys
Sonne Statt Reagan, 1982, 4.0 mb (MOV)
Robert Breer
A Man And His Dog Out For Air, 1957, 19.2 mb (MPEG)
James Broughton
This Is It, 1971, 174.5 mb (AVI)
The Gardener of Eden, 1981, 149.1 mb (AVI)
Luis Buñuel
Un Chien andalou, 1929, 322.9 mb (AVI)
Un Chien andalou, 1929, 156.1 mb (MPEG)
John Cage
4'33", BBC, 2004, 38.5 mb (MOV)
John Cage and Raashan Roland Kirk
Sound, 1966, 309.0 mb (AVI)
Henri Chopin
Henri Chopin at Home, undated, 13.9 mb (MOV)
Henri Chopin Performance, undated, 19.3 mb (MOV)
Rene Clair
Entre'act 1924, 249.8 mb (AVI)
Guy Debord
In Girum Imus Nocte Et Consumimur Igni, Part 1, 1978, 345.3 mb (MPEG)
In Girum Imus Nocte Et Consumimur Igni, Part 2, 1978, 580.6 mb (MPEG)
Refutation of All Judgments, 1975, 217.1 mb (MPEG)
Society of the Spectacle, Part 1, 1973, 456.3 mb (MPEG)
Society of the Spectacle, Part 2, 1973, 422.9 mb (MPEG)
Marcel Duchamp
Anemic Cinema 1926, 26.1 mb (AVI)
Viking Eggeling
Symphony Diagonale 1924, 16.5 mb (AVI)
Ed Emshwiller
Sunstone, 1979, 17.8 mb (AVI)
Thanatopsis, 1962, 37.3 mb (AVI)
Oskar Fischinger
Allegretto 1943, 20.3 mb (MPEG)
Komposition In Blau 1935, 36.8 mb (MPEG)
Motion Painting Screener 1947, 87.6 mb (MPEG)
Muntz TV Commercial 1952, 14.0 mb (MPEG)
Studie Nr. 6 1930, 3.3 mb (MPEG)
Studie Nr. 7 1931, 3.5 mb (MPEG)
Studie Nr. 9 1931, 43.5 mb (MPEG)
FluxFilms
[Please note that all FluxFilms are in the MPEG format.]
01: Nam June Paik - Zen For Film (1962-64), 141 mb
02 Dick Higgins - Invocation of Canyons and Boulders (1966), 5 mb
03 George Maciunas - End After 9 (1966), 12 mb
04 Chieko Shiomi - Disappearing Music for Face (1966), 115 mb
05 John Cavanaugh - Blink (1966), 25 mb
06 James Riddle - 9 Minutes (1966), 113 mb
07 George Maciunas - 10 Feet (1966), 6 mb
08 George Maciunas - 1000 Frames, (1966) 6 mb
09 Yoko Ono - Eye Blink (1966), 7 mb
10 George Brecht - Entrance to Exit (1965), 70 mb
11 Robert Watts - Trace #22 (1965), 33 mb
12 Robert Watts - Trace #23 (1965), 32 mb
13 Robert Watts - Trace #24 (1965), 16 mb
14 Yoko Ono - One (1966), 51 mb
15 Yoko Ono - Eye Blink (1966), 10 mb
16 Yoko Ono - Four (1967), 58 mb
17 Pieter Vanderbeck - Five O'Clock in the Morning (1966), 55 mb
18 Joe Jones - Smoking (1966), 54 mb
19 Erik Andersen - Opus 74 Version 2 (1966), 17 mb
20 George Maciunas - Artype (1966), 29 mb
22 Jeff Perkins - Shout (1966), 23 mb
23 Wolf Vostell - Sun in Your Head (Television Decollage) (1963), 73 mb
24 Albert Fine - Readymade (1966), 34 mb
25 George Landow - The Evil Faerie (1966), 4 mb
26 Paul Sharits - Sears Catalogue 1-3 (1965), 8 mb
27 Paul Sharits - Dots 1 & 2 (1965), 7 mb
28 Paul Sharits - Wirst Trick (1965), 6 mb
29 (unnumbered) Paul Sharits - Unrolling Event (1965), 2 mb
29 Paul Sharits - Word Movie (1966), 39 mb
30 Albert Fine - Dance (1963), 30 mb
31 John Cale - Police Car (1966), 15 mb
36 Peter Kennedy & Mike Parr - Flux Film 36 (1970), 27 mb
37 Peter Kennedy & Mike Parr - Flux Film 37 (1970), 17 mb
38 Ben - Je ne vois rien, je n'entends rien, je ne dis rien (1966), 77 mb
39 Ben - Le Traversee du port de Nice a la nage (1963), 34 mb
40 Ben - Faire un effort (1969), 25 mb
41 Ben - Regardez-moi, cela suffit (1962), 70 mb
Robert Frank
Pull My Daisy 1959, 188.8 mb (AVI)
Ernie Gehr
Serene Velocity 1970, 149.8 mb (AVI)
Henry Hills
Gotham, 1990, 6.9 mb (MOV)
Kino Da, 1981, 5.6 mb (MOV)
Money, 1985, 47.2 mb (MOV)
Radio Adios, 1982, 34.3 mb (MOV)
Isidore Isou
Venom and Eternity 1951, 763.2 mb (MPG)
Joris Ivens
Regen 1929, 160.0 mb (AVI)
Ken Jacobs
Blonde Cobra 1963, 438.9 mb (AVI)
Raashan Roland Kirk and John Cage
Sound, 1966, 309.0 mb (AVI)
Dimitri Kirsanov
Menilmontant 1924-25, 350.0 mb (AVI)
Peter Kubelka
Unsere Afrikareise 1966, 50.4 mb (WMV)
George Landow
Remedial Readingprehension 1970, 56.4 mb (AVI)
Fernand Leger
Ballet Mécanique 1924, 52.0 mb (AVI)
Len Lye
A Color Box 1935, 30.5 mb (AVI)
Free Radicals 1958, 27.4 mb (AVI)
Particles in Space 1966, 21.6 mb (AVI)
Rainbow Dance 1936, 39.7 mb (AVI)
Trade Tattoo 1937, 54.3 mb (AVI)
Gregory Markopoulos
Sorrows 1969, 150.0 mb (AVI)
Jonas Mekas
Hare Krishna 1966, 99.9 mb (AVI)
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Lightplay: Black-White-Grey (excerpt) 1932, 99.9 mb (MOV)
Robert Morris & Stan VanDerBeek
Site (excerpt) 1964, 19.2 mb (MOV)
Otto Muehl
Manopsychotisches Ballett, Part 1 1970, 141.1 mb (AVI)
Manopsychotisches Ballett, Part 2 1970, 72.1 mb (AVI)
Yoko Ono and John Lennon
Erection 1971, 180.7 mb (MPEG)
Nam June Paik
Electronic Moon No. 2 1969, 38.1 mb (MP4)
Videotape Study No. 3 1969, 31.1 mb (AVI)
Artavazd Pelechian
Les habitants 1970, 85.0 mb (AVI)
Robert Rauschenberg
Linoleum (excerpt) 1967, 27.8 mb (MOV)
Man Ray
Emak Bakia 1926, 313.8 mb (MPEG)
Le Retour à la raison 1923, 46.2 mb (MPEG)
L'Étoile de mer 1928, 277.4 mb (MPEG)
Hans Richter
Everything Turns Everything Resolves 1929, 31.5 mb (AVI)
Filmstudie 1925, 32.3 mb (AVI)
Rhythm 21 1921, 6.5 mb (MOV)
Ghosts Before Breakfast 1928, 60.5 mb (MPEG)
Rennsymphonie 1929, 138.6 mb (MPEG)
Rhythmus 23 1923, 58.3 mb (MPEG)
Zweigroschenzauber 1929, 47.4 mb (MPEG)
David Rimmer
Variations On A Cellophane Wrapper 1971, 149.2 mb (AVI)
Walter Ruttmann
Lichtspiel Opus I-4 1971, 34.3 mb (AVI)
Carolee Schneeman
Fuses 1965, 217.9 mb (MPEG)
Richard Serra and Carlotta Schoolman
Television Delivers People 1973, 98.3 mb (AVI)
Situationist International
On The Passage of a Few Persons Through a Rather Brief Period of Time
undated, 432.9 mb (AVI)
Harry Smith
Early-Abstractions 1941-57, 496.3 mb (MPEG)
Heaven-and-Earth-Magic 1950-1960, 667.4 mb (MPEG)
Late-Superimpositions 1963, 285.8 mb (MPEG)
Jack Smith
Flaming Creatures 1963, 390.8 mb (AVI)
Normal Love 1963, 704.7 mb (AVI)
Scotch Tape 1963, 70.1 mb (AVI)
Kiki Smith
Jewel (excerpt) 1997, 31.3 mb (AVI)
Robert Smithson
Spiral Jetty (excerpts) 1970, 23.9 mb (AVI)
Michael Snow
Prelude 2000, 25.8 mb (AVI)
Presents 1981, 772.8 mb (AVI)
Ladislaw Starewicz
The Cameraman's Revenge 1912, 143.2 mb (AVI)
The Insect's Christmas 1913, 51.6 mb (AVI)
Ralph Steiner
H20 1929, 99.1 mb (MPEG)
Franciszka and Stefan Themerson
The Eye and the Ear 1944, 97.1 mb (AVI)
Edgard Varêse and Le Corbusier
Poême électronique 1958, 84.2 mb (MPEG)
Dziga Vertov
Kino Eye 1924, 699.9 mb (AVI)
Three Songs About Lenin 1934, 700.0 mb (AVI)
Rene Vienet
The Girls of Kamare, Part 1 1974, 440.5 mb (MPEG)
The Girls of Kamare, Part 2 1974, 431.9 mb (MPEG)
James Whitney
Lapis 1966, 131.3 mb (AVI)
James and John Whitney
Five Film Exercises 1943-44, 83.4 mb (AVI)
Zubi Zuva
X Suite Europe Live undated, 40.3 mb (AVI)
----------------------------
RELAUNCH :: Fall 2005
----------------------------
UBUWEB IS ENTIRELY FREE
__ U B U W E B __
ubu.com
Friday, August 26, 2005
Bad Album Art Galleries
http://www.zonicweb.net/badalbmcvrs/
http://diegeekdie.net/gallery/
http://porktornado.diaryland.com/albumcover.html
http://www.cenedella.com/stone/archives/2003/10/worst_album_cov.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/gallery/0,8542,1343471,00.html
But where's the cover gallery of worst Finnish album covers? I think for example some of the yesteryear works of Poko Records would have their rightful place there...
Monday, June 06, 2005
Another Album Covers Gallery
http://www.showandtellmusic.com:
"A fine assortment of album covers, sound clips, and often acerbic blurbs. Perhaps particularly amusing are the pop-cultural SFnal motifs, sort of the musical/illustration analog of MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED futurism from the perspective of we 'timebinders'. [...] Another record cover art site, but it features reviews of the music as well. VERY eclectic and odd stuff from a novice collector out in the San Francisco Bay area."
More album cover art links
Monday, May 23, 2005
Kenneth Anger
I just received the following e-mail from a person calling himself Rex Coronatus:
"It's over with for Kenneth Anger. Tax problems... His age... his dreams are of Byzantine proportions, but in reality, he is a pitiful, spiteful old man, who would have given anything to have traded places with Victor Neuburg."
Perhaps, perhaps... but let's remember Kenneth Anger as what he once was: an innovative film-maker creating some of the most original works of avantgarde cinema. Too bad if he couldn't live up to it in his later years.
I met Mr. Anger personally in 1998 when he attended Tampere Short Film Festival, and my copy of Midnight Movies now wears his autograph. Instead of a demon in human disguise, in his pullover and wide American smile, he made me more an impression of a Hollywood senior citizen, albeit a slightly lecherous one.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Martin Denny R.I.P.
Martin Denny
10 April 1911 - 2 March 2005
martindenny.com
10 April 1911 - 2 March 2005
Martin Denny, who created "exotica" music in the 1950s and lived to see it enjoy renewed worldwide popularity as "lounge music" and "tiki culture," has died at his Hawaii Kai residence. He was 93.
Christina Denny, his daughter and primary caregiver, said that her father "passed peacefully at 9 p.m." and that he had been "ready to go."
"With the passing of Martin Denny, the world has lost one of its great popular musicians," said Michael Largarticha, Musicians Association of Hawaii president.
"He created a sound that remains unique to this day, an entire genre of music which Martin described as a fusion of Asian, South Pacific, American jazz, Latin American and classical."
martindenny.com
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Bad Mags!
I just found this brilliant site called Bad Mags. As it says, it features cover art from different sorts of sleazy US magazines from the 1950s onwards. Crime, occult sex, skin flicks, gossips, bikers, rock'n'roll -- the seedy underside of America! Ungawa!
This links nice to FinnSleaze, my own cover gallery of (mostly) 1970s Finnish men's magazines. (Its mirrorsite has also a bit more images.)
This links nice to FinnSleaze, my own cover gallery of (mostly) 1970s Finnish men's magazines. (Its mirrorsite has also a bit more images.)
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