[<<] December 2005 Jahsonic (02) [>>]
"Method of this work:
literary montage.
I have nothing to say only to show." (Passagenwerk (1927 - 1940) - Walter Benjamin)
2005, Dec 14; 14:17 ::: The Unknown (1927) - Tod Browning
The Lon Chaney Collection (1928) - Various [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Inspired by Coulteray's Sadism in the Movies (1965).
See also: film - Lon Chaney - amputation - The Unknown (1927) - 1927
2005, Dec 14; 14:42 ::: Sadism in the Movies (1965) - George de Coulteray
Sadism in the Movies (1965) - George de Coulteray [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
I believe I mentioned this title before, I own a badly translated 1965 copy on Medical Press of N.Y. The title should more aptly be Violence in the Movies as this book mentions very few examples of sexual sadism. The translation is by Steve Hult, for example the film Peeping Tom is billed as The Peeper, I suppose a literal translation of the French title Le Voyeur. The images are all listed at the back of the book, without mentioning the titles and an index is not included. The French copies of this book are always expensive, usually starting at 60 Euros. A very interesting book, but if you are looking for sexual sadism in the movies, grabbing a copy of Jean Streff's (French-language only) Le Masochisme au cinéma might satisfy you more.
I've included the table of contents on Coulteray's page. It is very similar to a list at Wikipedia, classifying films by gory death scene.
See also: George de Coulteray - violent films - 1965
2005, Dec 14; 14:17 ::: Mademoiselle (1966) - Tony Richardson
Mademoiselle (1966) - Tony Richardson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Ettore Manni
Plot Synopsis: In a French village, Manou is an Italian logger, virile, with a broad laugh. He can't say no to women's sexual invitations, and jealous villagers blame him for recent fires and a flood. He is innocent; the culprit is "Mademoiselle," town schoolmarm, a recent arrival admired by all, but sexually repressed and obsessed with Manou. She sets the first fire accidentally and throbs watching a shirtless Manou perform heroics. Subsequent catastrophes are no accident and express her mad passion for him. Also, after befriending Manou's son, she turns on the lad, making him miserable and raising his suspicions. Her designs, Manou's frank innocence, and the town's xenophobia mix explosively.
See also: Tony Richardson - British cinema - 1966
2005, Dec 14; 09:17 ::: Andy Votel presents: Prog Is Not a Four Letter Word (2005) - Various Artists
Andy Votel presents: Prog Is Not a Four Letter Word (2005) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Track Listings
1.Pozzo Del Pichio - Merta 2.Visitors - Visitors 3.Baris Manco - Lambaya Puf De 4.Drugi Nacin - Zuti List 5.Bran - Breuddweyd 6.Breakout - Powiedzielismy Juz Wszystko 7.San Ul Lim - Frustration 8.Egg - Fugue In D Minor 9.3 Hurel - Omur Biter Yol Bitmez 10.Illes - Nem Erdekel Amit Mondsz 11.Jean Claude Vannier - Les Gardes Volent Au SecoursDu Roi 12.Embryo - Music Of Today 13.Jazz Q - Toledo.Product Description:
Andy Votel of Twisted Nerve Records has wasted no time in following up the superb Folk Is A Four Letter Word compilation with another delve into a previously uncool musical genre- that most maligned of all, PROG!! But forget the over-compiled and by now mainstream works of Yes, ELP, Genesis, Tull, the Moodies and so forth. This, boys and girls, is Obscurity City. The prog here originates from some of the furthest flung corners of the continent - Poland (Breakout), Turkey (Baris Manco), Germany (Embryo), Italy (Pozzo Del Pichio), France (Jean Claude Vannier) and Wales (Bran) There's even a trip to darkest Filipino territory courtesy of San Ul Lim, stopping off for a Canterbury tale from Egg on the way. Most of these tracks have never been on CD before. Now here they are in a beautifully remastered form, and it's time for all who previously doubted to rediscover. Cherry Red. 2005.See also: Andy Votel - progressive rock - rock
2005, Dec 12; 19:17 ::: Beauty and The Beast (1946) - Jean Cocteau, René Clément
Beauty and The Beast (1946) - Jean Cocteau, René Clément [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
See also: Beauty and The Beast (1946) - Jean Cocteau - 1946 - French cinema - monster - beast - ugly
2005, Dec 11; 11:17 ::: La vie des dames galantes () Brantôme
Brantôme. La vie des dames galantes. Volumes 1-2. Paris: Collections Athêna Bibliophile, 1948. , illustration by Paul-Emile Bécat
Image sourced here.Brantôme Dames Galantes Google gallery
Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur (and abbé) de Brantôme (c. 1540 - July 15, 1614) was a French historian and biographer. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_de_Bourdeille,_seigneur_de_Brant%C3%B4me [Dec 2005]
Pierre de Bourdeilles, Abbé de Brantôme, a witty and brilliant writer of the mid-16th century listed anecdotes in his Les Vies des Dames Galantes of the eccentric sexual customs and habits of his time. Brantôme tells a story of the introduction of girdles of chastity into France. During the time of King Henry (probably Henri II, 1547- 1559), there was a merchant who brought some of these belts to the fair of Saint Germain. Some jealous husbands bought them, but the saner people of the land drove the merchant out, and threatened him with dire consequences if he came back with them. But Brantôme's writings are taken somewhat lightly, as he had acquired a reputation for savouring sexual scandal. --http://www.ksontheweb.com/ift/articles/article.ift?artid=1689&cat_id=24 [Dec 2005]
See also: Paul-Emile Bécat [1885 -], 23 Illustrazioni più copertine per La vie des dames galantes () Brantôme http://www.sademarchese.org/libri/damesgalantes/brantome.htm [Dec 2005]
The works of Brantôme include: "Vies des capitaines étrangers et francais"; "Vies des dames illustres"; "Vies des dames galantes". His manner of writing is between the style of a biography and that of a personal memoir. At times he himself appears in his recital and most often he relates what he has personally seen. He has the most important qualification for a writer of memoirs: curiosity. Wherever he went, and he traveled in countries of all kinds, he observed, he listened, he asked questions, he informed himself. But he has no power of criticism; he is a doubtful witness. He has moreover, no sense of morality, in the modern meaning of the word. He admires but one thing in men and that is bravery; that this courage may be of a criminal character is of little consequence to him. He is not the man to bear malice towards others under pretext that they have "some little trifle of murder" on their conscience. In like manner he has few scruples either as to a choice of means or as to the sources of profit and ways of making gain. --http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02742a.htm [Dec 2005]
See also: French erotica - Paul-Emile Bécat
2005, Dec 11; 11:17 ::: Le Genou De Claire/Claire's Knee (1970) - Eric Rohmer
Le Genou De Claire/Claire's Knee (1970) - Eric Rohmer
Images sourced here.
Le Genou De Claire/Claire's Knee (1970) - Eric Rohmer [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
This film, like the rest of Rohmer's work, is insidious first because it insists on a level of civilized dialogue and intellectual subtlety practically unknown in the cinema and, more importantly, because beneath its conventional, presumed "plot", significantly minimal, there evolves a secret, second reality which constitutes a deeper meaning of the work. The film is not a mere story of summer-lit amorous entanglements, but, as in Laclos' Dangerous Acquaintances, the manipulation and corruption of innocents, who are still capable of feeling, by sated, world- weary cynics toying with their emotions in the guise of benevolence. The subversion of the work thus resides in its carefuly constructed ambiguity, so typical of great literature and life. --Amos Vogel via Film As a Subversive Art (1974) - Amos Vogel [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Eric Rohmer (born Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer, April 4, 1920, Nancy, France) is a French film director. He is regarded as a key figure in the post-war New Wave cinema and is a former editor of influential French film journal Cahiers du Cinema.
Scherer fashioned his pseudonym from the names of two famous artists: director Erich von Stroheim and writer Sax Rohmer, author of the Fu Manchu series.
Rohmer was the last of the French New Wave directors to become established, working as the editor of the Cahiers du Cinema periodical from 1957 to 1963, while most of his Cahiers colleagues (among them Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut) were making their name in international cinema. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Rohmer [Dec 2005]
See also: Eric Rohmer - French cinema - erotic movies - 1970
2005, Dec 11; 11:17 ::: Top twenty wanted movies wanted by impossiblyfunky.com--http://www.impossiblefunky.com/masterwants.htm [Dec 2005]
- Angels and Cherubs / Angeles Y Querubines (Rafael Corkidi, 1972, Cine Producciones/Azteca, Mexico)
- Big Grey-Blue Bird, A / Bottom, ein großer graublauer Vogel / Grosso uccello grigio azzurro, Un (Thomas Schamoni, 1971, West Germany)
- Hu-Man (Jérôme Laperrousaz, France, 1975)
- Birds In Peru / Birds Come To Die In Peru / Les Oiseaux Vont Mourir Au Perou (Romain Gary, 1968)
- Kingdom, The / Okuku (Kanai Katsu, Japan, 1973)
- Brand X (Win / Wynn / Wyn Chamberlain, 1970 (Starring Taylor Meade & Sam Shepard))
- Death May Be Your Santa Claus (Frankie Dymon Jr, UK, 1969)
- Pink Lady's Motion Picture / Pinku redi no katsudoshashin (Shusei Kotani / Tom Kotani, 1978, Japan)
- There Is No 13 (William Sachs, 1974, Film Ventures International)
- Boob Tube Strikes Again / The Coming Of Seymour / Fabulous Fanny (Lee Frost, 1977)
- Heartbeat In The Brain (Amanda Feilding, UK, 1970)
- Poupée, La / The Doll / He, She, Or It / Lalka / Die Puppe (Jacques Baratier, 1962, France)
- Troika (Frederic Hobbs & Gordon Mueller, 1969, USA, Emerson)
- What Is It? (Crispin Hellion Glover, USA)
- Bells Of Silesia, The / Das Unheil / Les Cloches De Silésie (Peter Fleischmann, 1972, Germany)
- Marines, Les / Il fiore e la violenza (Francois Reichenbach, 1957, France)
- Without Warning / The Story Without A Name / Sangue Sotto la Luna / Achtung! Blondinengangster (Arnold Laven, USA, 1952)
- Pubertinaje (José Antonio Alcaraz, Pablo Leder & Luis Urias, 1971, Mexico, Producciones Viskin)
- Big Departure, The / Grand Depart, Le (Martial Raysse, 1972, France, Nouvelles Editions de Films)
2005, Dec 11; 11:17 ::: Sex O'Clock U.S.A. (1976) - François Reichenbach
Poster for Sex O'Clock U.S.A. (1976) - François Reichenbach
Genre: Documentary
Plot Outline: The director films common people in sexual related situations, in a variety of true, gripping, funny, dramatic, disturbing, imaginative ways - in the country than facing a big moral change in their view of adult, public and sexual life. --http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257146/combined [Dec 2005]
See also: French cinema - documentary film - 1976
2005, Dec 11; 10:17 ::: Le manoir du diable/The Devil's Castle (1896) - Georges Méliès
Poster for Le manoir du diable/The Devil's Castle (1896) - Georges Méliès
Image sourced here.Plot: A bat appears and transforms into The Devil. The Devil manifests a cauldron and conjures several illusions forth to torment two passing friends. But they eventually get the upper hand and banish him using a crucifix.
Georges Méliès (1861-1938) was the grandfather of both the science-fiction and fantasy film. Melies was originally an amateur magician who jumped upon the novelty of the movie camera after the Lumiere Brothers made the very first film in 1895. In almost no time, Georges Méliès hit upon special effects trickery. This came about by accident when his camera jammed one day – when playing his footage back the jump in the film appeared to make an object vanish. Georges Méliès quickly began experimenting with stop-action camera effects. His first such film was The Lady Vanishes (1896) in which he appears as a conjuror and makes a lady disappear in a puff of smoke. His films rapidly started to progress in sophistication and Melies discovered most of the modern special effects tricks – animation, superimposition, split-screen, miniatures, even the fade and the dissolve. Georges Méliès also built the first ever movie studio – a studio with a single set in his country garden in Montreuil. Georges Méliès made some 500 films, none more than 15 minutes long, between 1896 and the eventual bankruptcy of his studio in 1914. His most sophisticated work, and the one he has become most famous for, was the prototypical science fiction film A Trip to the Moon (1902).
At heart though, Méliès’s films though were little more than glorified magic shows. Amid all of his discoveries, for example, Melies never discovered the concept of moving his camera. His shows were exactly like stage shows where the camera remained in a fixed position in exactly the same place that the audience would sit and the trick effects would take place on the stage before it.
The Devil’s Manor was one of his early films and in this case he is simply playing with stop-action camera effects. These allow the Devil to appear and manifest all manner of items – ghosts, witches, acrobats and angelic visions from out of a cauldron – and to transform back and forth into a bat. The film is on a single note, but it is made with a sense of humour, most amusingly the end crucifix joke, which is probably the first use of a crucifix to despatch evil in a film. The film lasts about two minutes and has only a single camera set-up. --Richard Scheib 1990 via http://www.moria.co.nz/fantasy/devilsmanor.htm [Dec 2005]
See also: horror film - Georges Méliès - 1896
2005, Dec 11; 10:17 ::: A Trip To The Moon (1902) - Georges Méliès
Les Selenites from A Trip To The Moon (1902) - Georges Méliès
Image sourced here.Le Voyage dans la lune is a 1902 French science fiction black and white silent film known in its English language release as A Trip to the Moon. Based on the Jules Verne novel From the Earth to the Moon, it was written and directed by Georges Méliès. Running time is 14 minutes at 16 frames per second.
It is recognized as one of the first films of the sci-fi genre, and for its innovative animation.
Plot
A group of astronomers decide to go to the Moon, so they build a rocket in the shape of a bullet. The astronomers embark and are launched by a cannon to the moon by a crowd of beautiful women. Once they land on the moon, they take a nap. After waking up, they go into a cavern and find giant mushrooms. One astronomer opens his umbrella and it promptly turns into a giant mushroom. At this point, an alien appears, but it is easily killed by an astronomer. After more aliens appear and become more hostile, it becomes increasingly difficult to kill them because the astronomers become surrounded. The aliens kidnap the astronomers and bring them to their leader. After the astronomers kill the aliens' leader, they run back to their ship, get inside, and tip the ship over a ledge on the moon. The ship falls from the ledge on the moon all the way down to an ocean on Earth, where they are rescued and taken ashore.Trivia
Méliès had intended on releasing the film into the United States to profit from it, however, Thomas A. Edison's film technicians had secretly made copies of it and distributed it throughout the country thus putting money into Edison's pocket. Méliès never profited from it and eventually went broke.The scene where the moon gets the rocket in the eye is the earliest known example of stop-motion in history. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le Voyage dans la Lune [Dec 2005]
See also: science fiction film - Georges Méliès - 1902
2005, Dec 11; 08:52 ::: Etienne Robertson"I am only satisfied if my spectators, shivering and shuddering, raise their hands or cover their eyes out of fear of ghosts and devils dashing towards them; if even the most indiscreet among them run into the arms of a skeleton."So spoke 'Robertson', (Etienne-Gaspard Robert) a Belgian who travelled round in Europe during the first decade of the 18th century, with his special shows in which he used many techniques solely with the aim of 'scaring people to death'. --http://www.acmi.net.au/AIC/PHANTASMAGORIE.html [Dec 2005]
"Come by agreement Mr. Reeves, bringing me a lanthorn, with pictures on glass, to make strange things appear on the wall, very pretty". -- via Samuel Pepys' Diary, August 19th, 1666The precursor of motion pictures, the magic lantern was invented in the 1650s with numerous people developing working models.
Thomas Walgensten is reputed to be the first to use the term Laterna Magica. He traveled around Europe demonstrating and selling projectors to royalty.
It soon became a traveling showman's instrument and for the next 200 years lanternists were putting on programs at inns, castles, fairs and eventually theatres.
One of the first to exploit the screen's possibilities was the Belgian Etienne Gaspard Robert who called himself "Robertson". He noted the French public's taste for the macabre during the waning years of the Revolution and by 1799 was staging elaborate ghost shows at the Pavilon d'Echiquier in Paris .
Three years later, Robertson moved his "Fantasmagorie" to a former Capuchin convent. Spectators were led down dark passagways to the old chapel where they sat facing a screen behind which were concealed several magic lanterns and six assistants. As thunder roared and lightening flashed ghosts, goblins, and demons came hurlting at the audience.
This would help lead to a whole genre of macabre magic-lantern shows which became part of the standard repertoire of 19th century showman.
With the advancement of science and technology came improvements in lanterns and their accessories: better lamps were made, reflectors and condenser lenses added, projection became brighter and sharper, and photographic slides replaced the old hand-painted pictures.
Capable of limited animation and certain special effects, slides changed every 30 seconds or so as a live showman presented illustrated songs and stories to musical accompaniment. The audience cheering, clapping, and booing much as they did while viewing a popular melodrama of the day.
These shows would fade in popularity with the rise of the motion picture and were soon regated to illustrating songs between reels at nickelodeons.
Another form of entertainment to emerge in the 1850s were the panoramas in which vast paintings were wound across the stage of the theatre, accompanied by lighting and sound effects.
Thidon's Theatre of Art depicted noted battles with sheet brass soldiers, horses and ships moving along a revolving belt in front of the scenery. The guns and cannons were so fixed that the operators behind the scenes could puff smoke through them with the boom coming from a bass drum.
By now most well-to-do Americans and Europeans were familiar with moving pictures, thanks to parlor toys such as the thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, stroboscope and smaller versions of magic lanterns.
Perhaps the most popular was the Zoetrope, a slotted revolving drum. Peering through the slits, hand-drawn clowns, acrobats, and animals seemed to leap through their paces on the strips of paper fitted inside the drum.
The series photos of Eadweard Muybridge would provide the essential link between still photography and motion pictures. This British eccentric begun a series of studies of animal locomotion in 1872 under the sponsorship of Governor Leland Stanford of California.
His experiments with a galloping horse and a battery of 12 cameras were disrupted by a murder trail (he killed his wife's lover) and self-imposed exile to Central America during most of 1875.
He resumed work with Leland Stanford in 1877 and moved forward on several fronts. Using 24 cameras and animproved shutter-release method, Muybridge made numerous studies of animals and humans in motion.
Muybridge traveled and lectured extensively, projecting his serial pictures by a device he called the Zoopraxiscope. Actually it showed colored elongated drawings that recreated the motion his battery of cameras had analyzed.
These experiments and lectures would strongly influence such innovators as Professor Etienne-Jules Marey and Thomas Edison and stimulated their subsequent discoveries. --http://pages.zdnet.com/kinema/id30.html [Dec 2005]
See also: magic - phantasmagoria - horror - 1790s
2005, Dec 11; 08:17 ::: A Pictorial History of Horror Movies (1973) - Denis Gifford
A Pictorial History of Horror Movies (1973) - Denis Gifford [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Denis Gifford (1927-2000)
It is with a profound sadness that I read of Denis Gifford's passing, for it was Denis who changed my life and began me on a quest to learn more about the elusive qualities of the horror film. For my tenth Christmas my parents treated me to a copy of Denis' "A Pictorial History of Horror Movies", mostly because I had asked for it, but more probably they had discovered that I was creeping about in the early hours, (although at that time the BBC used to sign off no later than 1am.), with my face pressed close to the black and white tv. and the volume turned as low as possible watching The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Frankenstein or some of the "forbidden" Hammer films. Despite only having three channels, there seemed to be a better selection from our favourite genre on television then, than there is now! --Kimball Jenkins via http://www.missinglinkclassichorror.co.uk/gifford.htm [Dec 2005]
See also: horror movies - 1973
2005, Dec 08; 21:21 ::: The Occult (1971) - Colin Wilson
The Occult (1971) - Colin Wilson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Book Description
Featuring a new introduction by the author, Occult is a powerful synthesis of available material. Colin Wilson utilizes a wide-ranging survey of paranormal experience to explain his own theory of the sixth sense, showing how it is at the center of all occult phenomenon and offering an insightful exploration of humanity's latent powers. Written with a refreshingly optimistic and stimulating interpretation, Occult is a journey of enlightenment.But there was, equally, a positive side to Crowley. This emerges in Seabrook's account of Elizabeth Fox's experience at Thelema. She was the "film star" who somehow avoided becoming Crowley's mistress. Seabrook says that before she came to Cefalu she was in a depressed condition due to too much night life and bath-tub gin. Crowley dismayed her by telling her that she must begin with a month's solitary meditation in a lean-to shelter on the cliff-top. When she objected, he pointed out that there was a boat leaving the next day. To comply, she had to meditate naked, except for a wooly burnoose that could be utilized on chilly days. The shelter was completely empty; the latrine was a lime pit outside the "tent." "She would have, said Master Therion, the sun, moon, stars, sky, sea, the universe to read and play with." At night, a child would quietly deposit a loaf of bread, bunch of grapes and a pitcher of water beside her.
She decided to give it a try. The first days confirmed her fears. Sun, moon and sea are all very well, but if you feel bored, they are boring. For the first days she felt nervous and resentful. By the nineteenth day, her chief sensation was boredom. And then, quite suddenly, she began to feel "perfect calm, deep joy, renewal of strength and courage."
There is nothing strange in all this, although few people know it. The mind must be made to stop running like a wristwatch. It must be persuaded to relax and sit still. Its hidden fountain of strength must be persuaded to flow. This is the secret of the Hindu ascetics who sit still for years. It is not penance, but a continuous trickle of deep delight. What is more, this is an automatic process. Our subconscious robot will adjust to any conditions if it is given long enough. It adjusts to stillness, so that the stillness ceases to cause boredom. For you have boredom when nothing is happening inside you. And nothing is happening inside you when the outside world keeps the mind distracted. If the outside world is distracted for long enough, the inner power-house begins to work.
(This brief excerpt is from Colin Wilson's excellent volume The Occult 1971. New York: Vintage Books. pp 374-375)
See also: occult - Colin Wilson - 1971
2005, Dec 07; 16:21 ::: The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl from Paris (1998) - Francoise Hardy
The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl from Paris (1998) - Francoise Hardy [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Françoise Hardy (born January 17, 1944 in Paris) is a French singer and actress.
Françoise Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961. In April 1962, shortly after finishing school, her first album Oh oh Chéri appeared, with the title song written by Johnny Hallyday's writing duo. The flip side of the record, "Tous les garçons et les filles" became a huge success, with 2 million copies sold. She had long hair and usually wore jeans with a leather jacket while accompanying her songs on the guitar.
She sang in English, Italian, Spanish, and German occasionally. In 1963, she represented France in the Grand Prix d'Eurovision de la Chanson with L'amour s'en va and took fifth place. In 1968, she received the Grand Prix du Disque Académie Charles Gros.
In 1981, she married her long-time friend and colleague Jacques Dutronc, with whom she had already had a son (Thomas Dutronc) in 1973. In May 2000, she had a comeback with the album Clair Obscur. Her son played the guitar, and her husband sang the duet "Puisque vous partez en voyage." Iggy Pop and Étienne Daho participated, as well. She currently lives near Paris. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_Hardy [Dec 2005]
In France, the conservative defenders of the classic French chanson had prejudices against many of those artists - for example Françoise Hardy or France Gall. "Our music was very simple; simple songs, influenced by English and American pop music. Back then, we were called the 'yeh-yeh-singers' in France because we supposedly imitated the English and kept saying 'yeah'" (Françoise Hardy). --http://www.panatomic.de/content/releases/fc1/infoe [Dec 2005]
See also: French music - pop music - 1960
2005, Dec 06; 19:21 ::: Femmes De Paris V.1 (2002) - Various Artists
Femmes De Paris V.1 (2002) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
See also: French music - pop music - 1960
2005, Dec 05; 22:21 ::: Studies in Entertainment (1986) - Tani Modleski
Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratisation of Desire (2002) - Brian McNair [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Synopsis
Exploring various forms of contemporary mass art and culture, from rock-'n'-roll music to "slasher" films, from women's romances to "retro" fashion style, these innovative and politically engaged essays reflect the paradox inherent in taking a critical approach to mass culture. They draw on a variety of theories, including feminist theory, Frankfurt School Critical Theory, linguistic theory, and psychoanalysis, to reveal the very complicated workings of popular texts, to make explicit the text's ideological effects on consumers, and to challenge the outmoded (and, as two contributors argue, misogynist) dichotomy between high art and mass culture. It offers a provocative array of essays explaining important facets of contemporary culture.see also: entertainment
2005, Dec 05; 10:21 ::: Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure (c. 1928)
Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure (c. 1928)
Featured on The Good Old Naughty Days (Polissons et Galipettes) (2002) - Michel Reilhac [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure, sometimes known simply as Eveready, is a pornographic animated cartoon made in the United States circa 1928, depicting the unlikely adventures of the perpetually aroused title character with, among others, a man, a woman, and a cow. The artists are unknown, but a widespread rumor states that a group of famous animators (various versions of the rumor credit Max Fleischer, Walter Lantz, Paul Terry, and George Stalling) created the film for a private party in honor of Winsor McCay. It then circulated informally, shown only at small underground festivals or parties, until 2002 when it was included in the theatrically released compilation The Good Old Naughty Days. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eveready_Harton_in_Buried_Treasure [Dec 2005]
The Good Old Naughty Days (French title: Polissons et galipettes), released in 2002, is a collection of film clips from silent pornographic films made between 1905 and 1930, re-edited by director Michel Reilhac, with a new soundtrack by Eric Le Guen. Most of the films were made in France and were intended to be shown in brothels. The collection also includes a pornographic animation from the United States, Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure, made by unknown artists in or around 1928 and never theatrically released before.
It is the first R18 rated film to be issued for display in cinemas in the United Kingdom. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Old_Naughty_Days [Dec 2005]
see also: vintage erotica
2005, Dec 05; 10:21 ::: They Call Us Misfits (1968) - Stefan Jarl
Dom kallar oss mods / They Call Us Misfits (1968) - Stefan Jarl
In 1968, fresh from studies at the Swedish Institute of Film, a young man named Stefan Jarl made a feature documentary with fellow student Jan Lindqvist about two Stockholm "Mod" hippies. "They Call Us Misfits" was intended to allow teenagers to see themselves. The film not only succeeded in that, but – after some trouble with censors over sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll – it become a reference point for Scandinavian film.
Jarl went on to make two more films about misfits Kenta and Stoffe in 1979 and 1993. In the sequels, restlessness and pot smoking give way to family trouble and heroin overdoses – plus the paradox of yuppie offspring. The films bare the unattractive underbelly of the Swedish welfare state. --http://www.filmfestival.gr/docfestival/2004a/jarl.html [Dec 2005]
See also: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062900/combined [Dec 2005]
In 1968, Stefan Jarl's and Jan Lindqvist's documentary Dom kallar oss mods (They Call Us Misfits) was released. The film, the first in what would become a trilogy, is an uncompromising account of the life of two alienated teenagers. Stefan Jarl went on to make several other celebrated documentaries in the 1980s and 1990s. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Sweden#Postwar [Dec 2005]
See also: mod - 1968 - Sweden - Scandinavia
2005, Dec 05; 10:21 ::: Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratisation of Desire (2002) - Brian McNair
Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratisation of Desire (2002) - Brian McNair [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
From Library Journal
A British academic and a journalist, McNair is optimistic about the increasing sexualization of culture and the media. Going forward from his Mediated Sex, he reports that the presentation of diverse kinds of sex in the media is a "barometer and a catalyst" for democracy in capitalist cultures because it makes the society open to many realities. McNair uses (but does not limit himself to) the usual examples of gender-bending in society, films, television, magazines, art, and the "pornosphere," both British and American. Among his subjects are Stonewall, Monica Lewinsky, Robert Mapplethorpe, Deep Throat, Sex in the City, The Full Monty, Sade, and Brett Easton Ellis. Some examples are given thought-provoking historical analysis, while others are just mentioned. Part of his analysis shows how advanced capitalist countries arrived at this point. Another strand looks at "striptease culture," where ordinary people bare themselves physically or emotionally on the Internet or on confessional or reality television. All of these things make capitalism and the social order more inclusive and thus more stable, argues McNair. This is a provocative thesis, intelligently argued. Suitable for media studies, gender studies, popular culture, academic, and large public library collections. J. Dunham, John Jay Coll., CUNY --Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.Book Description
This book explores the increasing 'sexualisation' of contemporary life, considering the impact on mass culture and relating it to wider changes in post-war society.About the author
His books include Mediated Sex (1996), The Sociology of Journalism (1998) and Journalism and Democracy (Routledge, 2000). ...See also: academic study of pornography - desire
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