Fun and informative mini-documentary from 1968 on the animators and studio behind the creation of Yellow Submarine.
Plus, a trailer for Yellow Submarine, which, given its age, looks like it was shot underwater.
In recent news, Robert Zemeckis’ plan to make a 3D version of Yellow Submarine for Disney has been given the red light. It ain’t happening. Zemeckis’ last big-budget animated flick, Mars Needs Moms (dreadful title)) was a mega bomb. It took in $7 million at the box office while costing $150 million to make. Disney figured investing in another Zemeckis project was just too risky. I doubt that fans of the original Beatles’ film are shedding any tears over this turn of events. And for some of us, Yellow Submarine has always been in 3D.
The 1970 documentary Satanis: The Devil’s Mass is a goofy, occasionally fascinating, exploitation flick that takes us “behind the scenes” of Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan. It’s all rather silly and even though it contains plenty of nudity the overall effect is about as sexy as watching snails copulate.
The interviews with LaVey’s neighbors and followers are often hilarious. And LaVey oozes all of the smarmy charm of a used car salesman in a 5 dollar Halloween costume. This is sinema verite for the raincoat crowd.
NSFW unless you’re working in the anteroom of a cathedral in Hell.
There’s very little information to be found on this 1991 “documentary” on Arthur Lee. The three key people involved in its creation are dead or, in the case of Crimson Crout, nowhere to be found. Directed by the mysterious Crout from a concept by Arthur Lee and compiled by Los Angeles writer, deejay and garage/punk/psychedelic promoter Frank Beeson, the video has amateur production values overall but is redeemed by laid back interviews with Lee (conducted by a barely present Beeson) and some decent live footage of Lee performing with latter day Love members Melvan Whittington and Joe Blocker as well as two members of The Knack, Bruce Gary and Berton Averre.
The film was made during Lee’s tentative re-emergence as an artist after a long dormant period during the 1980s. His return to the public eye was interrupted when he was incarcerated in 1995 for possession of a hand gun.
The live footage is taken from a series of gigs in 1989, during which Lee was regaining his footing as a performer.
The documentary, like Lee, is a bit ramshackle. The good news is that a decade after it was shot, a re-invigorated Arthur Lee returned to the stage for some of the best live shows of his incredible life, receiving the accolades he so richly deserved.
I can’t find anything on director Crimson Crout other than he released a 45rpm record in 1975 with two songs, “10,000 Years” and Redneck Ways.” John Einarson, author of the excellent Arthur Lee biography Forever Changes Arthur Lee And The Book Of Love was unable to track down the “elusive” Crout in researching his book. Who is this mystery man? Beeson?
Per un Pugno di Canzoni (For A Handful Of Songs) is a 1966 Italian film that looks like some weird cross-hybrid of a teen go-go flick and spaghetti western. Here’s three of the several bands that appeared in the film.
Garage rockers I Kings, I Pelati (later known as I Colors) and The Honeybeats released a handful albums between them and a had a few hits in Italy before disappearing into the mist only to re-appear perfectly preserved on Youtube,
Al Pacino sporting a giant hairpiece like the one worn by Phil Spector during his trial for the murder of club hostess Lana Clarkson, in 2005.
Filming continues on David Mamet’s biopic of the infamous record producer, though there has been much controversy over Mamet’s alleged belief Spector was wrongly jailed for the killing.
New York City’s Lower East Side filmed in 1967/68.
I visited the East Village in 1967 and when I moved there 10 years later not much had changed. The East Village, Tompkins Square and Alphabet City were in decay, whole areas were virtual urban wastelands. But, out of the ruins great things were rising in the arts and culture. During the mid-70s through the 1980s, the area was vibrant with a bohemian vibe. Then came gentrification and many of us were pushed out, along with the poor and elderly. The area is thriving now with fine restaurants, fashion boutiques and trendy bar after bar after bar. It’s still a wasteland - an expensive, well-maintained, cultural wasteland. Where once were bookstores, rock clubs and shops filled with hip affordable clothing there are now fast food chains, designer brand boutiques and banks popping up like a bad case of corporate herpes. Yes, I know I sound like a disgruntled ex-New Yorker. I am one.
The soundtrack is “All Tomorrow’s Parties” by The Velvet Underground.
For your listening and viewing pleasure, a mix of psychedelic tunes from France, India, Britain, Indonesia and The United States.
The mix concludes with two songs from one of my all-time favorite albums, “No Other” by Gene Clark. It’s a masterpiece that has been unheard by far too many people. I hope Clark’s songs included here will be a compelling introduction to those of you who haven’t heard the album and will seek it out. It’s really quite brilliant.
The visuals are comprised of excerpts from global experimental film makers, both contemporary and pioneers of early 20th century movie magic, including Larry Jordan, Jonas Mekas, Toshio Matsumoto, Segundo de Chomón and Maurice Lemaitre.
Songs:
“Aere Perennius” - Docdail
“Karye Pyar” - Nahid Akhtar
“Somebody’s Calling My Name” - Baby Grandmothers
“Don’t Let It Get You Down” - Shadrack Chameleon
“Pemain Bola” - Rasela
“Child Of Nature” - The Beatles
“Love’s The Thing” - Smoke Rings
“Didunia Yang Laing” - Ariesta Birawa Group
“Forge Your Own Chains” - D.R. Hooker
“Milkman” - Ema
“Written On The Forehead”- PJ Harvey
“That Shocking Day” - Ivo’s Group
“Who Can I Say You Are” - Morley Grey
“Heavy Head” - Little Sammy Gaha
“Strength Of Strings” - Gene Clark
“No Other”- Gene Clark
I’m fascinated by the films of British documentarian Nick Broomfield. One of the pioneers of the “You get a documentary plus ME!” school in films like Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam, Kurt and Courtney and Biggie & Tupac, the button-pushing Broomfield’s almost libelous directing techniques are both hilarious and riveting. I would never miss one of his films, which can be good sleazy fun (there is of course, another side of Broomfield’s work in socially-conscious films like Ghosts, Behind the Rent Strike and Battle for Haditha which I’m not addressing here).
One of Broomfield’s oft-used narrative tropes that I enjoy the most is when he knocks on the door of a subject’s home and when they aren’t there or refuse to talk to him, this is seen as evidence that they are hiding something. But he never comes right out and says that (libel laws being what they are) he usually just asks some form of this question pointedly right after we’ve seen a door slammed in his face or a security guard leading him away, “But what is ____ trying to hide?”
Nick Broomfield can be a gleefully immoral documentarian, which is why I was so tremendously pleased to find that the latest target of Broomfield’s patented style of hit and run filmmaking is none other than that snowbilly grifter herself, Sarah Palin! Broomfield’s Sarah Palin—You Betcha! is set to join Werner Herzog, Jessica Yu and Morgan Spurlock’s new films at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
The film is supposed to examine Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, AK in detail and promises interviews with Palin’s parents, political associates and former brother-in-law. Broomfield told the Daily Mail:
“People are frightened to talk. Wasilla makes Twin Peaks look like a walk in the park. It’s a devout evangelical community – 76 churches with a population of only six thousand.”
And how many meth labs?
I’m just sorry that Broomfield wasn’t able to get El Duce on camera talking about Sarah Palin. (On a side note, about 20 years ago at a party for the Beastie Boys in Los Angeles, El Duce cheerfully told me that he had raped a friend of mine’s dog).
Below, in a clip released on YouTube, Nick Broomfield confronts Sarah Palin in public, in his signature Nick Broomfield style:
I have a secret I need to get off my chest - I love dance films. They’re just so extraordinarily bad yet good at the same time. For all the terrible acting and clunky dialog, you can just zone out and focus on some incredible acrobatic moves or the pretty costumes. Hell, some of them even have decent soundtracks that sound great on a big booming Dolby cinema system (Timbaland’s minimal opus “Bounce” as used in Step Up 2 is one particular example).
So this is where The FP comes in. I know very little about this film other than the fact that the trailer looks amazing - like a cross between Step Up, Mortal Kombat and Zoolander. In true grind house style, I would go so far as to say the trailer is so good that the film itself feels a bit irrelevant Still, I would definitely watch this if it came up on late night cable TV.
What I can work out, gleamed with a little help from IMDB, is that the film was directed by Brandon and Jason Trost (brothers I presume) and is the second incarnation of the film after a 2007 short, also directed by the brothers. Its about rival gangs doing battle with a Dance Dance Revolution-style video game for control of their local trailer park (Frazier Park, the “FP” of the title). It was definitely made on the cheap and I don’t think it’s supposed to be taken very seriously:
