Monday, November 29, 2021

David Gulpilil 1953-2021



 

The End Of The F***ing World. Netflix 2 seasons

 






A rollicking wild ride of a pitch black series that is based on a graphic novel and comes complete with a slash and burn noir feeling. The graphic novel remains unseen by me and the remarkable two leads of the series Alex Lawther and Jessica Barden do look like cartoon drawings come to life. They are stringy and loose, they look like they just stepped out of a bottle of ink. They play two some what disturbed teenagers who take their lives and us on the lam and journey on a remarkable series of short episodes, that run only about 20 or so minutes. The graphic novel I’ve been told takes place in the United States but for the series has been moved to Great Britain landing in a dull and lifeless suburbia that could actually  be anywhere.

The references abound. A touch of  the cohen brothers is the most obvious stain, but lets not forget the long history in film of  the couple on the lam which runs from the 30’s to the present, there is even a major character named Bonnie. There will be blood, (in more ways than one)  as I drop a toast to another influence, and also mix in some very pretty poison. The two young leads (who aren’t really that young) and as I said are wonderful. Alex Lawther is especially touching as the lonely boy who looks like he might disappear from view, but is pulled back to earth by Jessica Barden as Alyssa. She is one tough cookie for sure.

The story more than touches on Parental discord and failure, it pretty much smacks us in the face. A mother finds her young  daughter using lipstick and makes her eat it to teach her to be a more obidinant daughter. A mother takes her own life in front of her young son, who is soon dipping his hand in boiling oil so that he can feel something. A daughter gets married young but runs away from her new husband on their wedding day, a daughter runs over a rival for her lovers attention, a son carries his fathers urn of ashes with him wherever he goes. 

Oh the violence is there and disturbing, and is so outrageous and tart that we laugh on the other side of our faces. The supporting cast is also terrific especially Naomi Ackie as a young black woman seeking revenge for those who murdered her lover, a sexual serial killer and abuser, she is also on the loose screw side of the fence and is damned and damaged.

The musical background is also tangy and great with lots of top pop hits from the past both recent and far away. The entire package is beautifully written, acted and directed and made with saturated colors and decors that are hard to place. Its all mix and match both in its look and the characters. Not an easy view for sure, but easily one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. I loved it. 

Friday, November 26, 2021

Stephen Sondheim 1930-2021

 Big loss. And that fat pile of orange shit still walks this earth. Un fucking fair. 



Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Joseph Yoakum. What I Saw. Moma

 Another fantastic exhibition now on at The Museum Of Modern Art is the large Joseph Yoakum show of his amazing fantastical mostly landscape drawings. I have to add to this that I owned 2 of his drawings which sadly I had to sell to get rent money. My old friend Cynthia Carlson (who has loaded a drawing that she owns to the show) came back from Chicago where she met and bought a stack of his work. She offered me I recall 2 of them for very low prices and I loved them for years until as I said I had to sell them. Now On Moma's walls are a brilliant display of this self taught outsider artist. There are several stories of his life, all of which he brought forth, and who knows. What I do know is what he saw, and what I saw and this is a wonderful exhibition. As I said most of his work is of make believe landscapes that may be based on actual scenes, but it doesn't really matter. They are delicately colored with pencils and pastels along with pen and ink and they vibrant and move in many ways. Yoakum lived and worked for a short period in Chicago and that's where the artists of that place embraced him and bought lots of his drawings. When I owned the 2 he was not very well known, but he was always adored by us artists. That's usually the case with self taught and outsiders, the artists discover them before the establishment does. Its like real estate. We move into neighborhoods no one wants to live in, and then the hoards and the vandals come in, and take over the hoods. This happened to me in Chelsea where I lived from 1967 to I was displaced in 2001. Anyway enough of the history and more of Yoakum. He didn't make art for a very long time, maybe 10 years or so, beginning when he was 71 so take that to heart artists who are still not recognized, and I doubt he even cared about star power. He was a true original and for a short while I had a few of his drawings to myself. Now with this great show his work comes to us all, and grab this chance to see his wonderful work. The show will be on until March. Bravo Joseph. 











   

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Sophie Taeuber-Arp. The Museum Of Modern Art

 On now until March is a ravishing large retrospective of the little known but immensely important and talented artist, Sophie Taeuber-Arp. I have of course known her brilliant work for a long time, and this exhibition will re-introduce her to those of us who know her art, and those who are unfamiliar with her work. Taeuber-Arp was married to that other great artist of the Dada period and beyond Jean Arp and together and separately they created a rich array of paintings, sculptures and interiors. Sophie was a teacher, and a designer of textiles, furniture, sculptural reliefs, interiors, graphic design, paintings and of course her marvelous puppets, all of which are richly displayed in the large  3rd floor galleries. The show sprawls in a good way and is beautifully installed and arranged to give her life and career the richly deserved look that she warrants. Her life was not exactly a bowl of cherries especially when the 2nd World War came, and artists had to flee or hide. Sadly her life was cut short by a deadly accident of carbon monoxide poisoning as she slept at the summer house of the artist Max Bill because of a missed tram. 



















She was only 54. I loved her show, and artists in the city and beyond should make a point to view this great exhibition which is on until March. I might make a second trip to see it. I did have the luxurious gift of seeing it on a member's only day, so I pretty much had the galleries to myself.     

Saturday, November 20, 2021

You go Leah

You go Leah. Just came across this on the net. Lea takes on a homophobic preacher on the subway. I also got into a scene a few years ago on the subway with one of these piles of shit. I let him have it good, and he replied that I was going to go to hell. "I'm already in hell because you are on this subway." With that the riders laughed and applauded me, and this pile of shit exited the car. I know how Leah felt. Another note on her that in the Gore Bush election I stood behind her on the line to vote and she was as much fun as I thought she would be. Unfortunately this election wasn't much fun. Anyway copy the link and enjoy her giving this scumbag a new hole.  


 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/oitnb-actress-lea-delaria-takes-746576/


New Piece untitled or whatever. 2021. Mixed

 My work has always been difficult to photograph, and this new piece of mine was a bitch to photograph. That said I think its pretty good, but of course you can never get the full picture from a picture. I present it here as a wink, or a nod to my art. Thank you for looking. 



Thursday, November 18, 2021

Jimmie Durham 1940-2021



 

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Riders of Justice 2021

 







Opening and closing during a Christmas season in Denmark, the film begins with a stolen bicycle and goes on from there to the main thrust of the film that has a horrible train wreck and a long search for revenge. On the train is a mother and her teenage daughter who are there because of the stolen bike, a car that won’t start and a disappointing overseas phone call so hey lets take the train into the city and have a fun day, the mom more or less tells her daughter. Also on the train is Otto a statistician and probability expert who has just been fired and is lunging his belongings home. The train is crowded and Otto the gentleman offers his seat to the mother. Otto has noticed a man throwing away an expensive sandwich and a juice not eaten. Later on this discarding of expensive food will convince Otto that this man who tossed the food also tossed the train.


A minute later disaster strikes and the mother is killed, the daughter and Otto are injured but survive. The father and husband of the daughter and wife is a military commander and is away serving in the Danish army in Afghanistan.  Played by the great Mads Mikklesen he is summoned back home to bury his wife and take care of his teenage daughter. Thus begins this fantastic and fabulous action thriller that has a lot of dry wit and humor thrown in. Otto goes to the police after healing. He tells them that in all probability this was no accident but an act of terrorism. He points out to them that also on the train was a former member of the Riders of Justice, a harsh criminal biker group (who by the way we never see riding their bikes) and was on his way to testify against the leader.

Otto gives the police all sorts of reasons and theories to suspect terror and not an accident including how the bald tattooed heavy- set member of the gang always sat in the same seat in the same train car. The police of course scoff at this, but Otto is determined. With the help of two brilliant friends another statistician called Lennart and acted by Lars Brygmann and an over weight computer hacking nerd Emmenthaler played by Nicolas Bro the trio set out to get more proof of their theories.

I was expecting some sort of action violent revenge thriller, everything about the publicity sets it up and us for this kind of movie. However we get much more including some very funny moments, wonderful performances and yes violence. The three friends take their evidence right to Mads who is frozen and shut down but open to their reasoning, and the four of them set out to get revenge on the “Riders” for the killing of Mads wife. Meanwhile his teenage daughter  is reeking with sorrow and despair and is fighting with Mads day and night. They are encourged to seek out help and counseling but Mads will have nothing to do with that idea, and the daughter Mathilde played by Andrea Heick Godeberg is left with her anger and despair. They live in a pretty house with a huge spectacular barn in the back,  surrounded by nature and seclusion. The daughter is pretty and intelligent and has a boyfriend who is smart, very tall, rides a motorcycle and has dyed blue hair. Her father hates him for keeping her out late, wow 10:30 and punches him in the face. More violence will fall down on them and indeed us.

Into the mix comes a rescued charming young gay victim of sex trafficking who is saved by the team in a complex set of scenes and becomes their au pair. Wait there is more, much more, but how much should I give away? Wonderfully written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen who knows his stuff, and I thought of those marvelous Ealing studio comedies like “The Lady Killers” and “The Lavender Hill Mob” that usually starred Alec Guinness and his charming gang of criminals. Some mentioned “The Three Stooges” but this group is too gentle in their own way, and too kind in their own way to be compared to the Stooges. Might be my favorite film of the year.

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Steven Mark Klein 1950-2021

 Just was shocked to see Steven's obit in the times today. I was friendly with him in the early 70's but we lost touch for years. He changed identities many times, smart. The last time I saw him was at the Housing Works Bookstore some years ago. 


 

Friday, November 12, 2021

Lock This pile of stinking shit up

He just looks like he stinks with bad body odor. Now get the fat orange pile of shit indicted. Good news. Traitors and fascists. Wake the fuck up Amerika. we out number these bags of shit. 


 
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/us/politics/bannon-indicted.html

Thursday, November 11, 2021

The Harder They Fall. 2021








A revisionist western of sorts, influenced by Leone, Peckinpah but also Tarantino and his recent films of imagining what if this really happened instead of what really happened. There were of course African Americans back in the Wild West days and a few films have given us glimpses of them most recently in “Godless” and a few years back “Unforgiven”. Now in “The Harder They Fall”, African Americans take center stage, there are no “major” white actors and those seen are very few and peripheral to the thrust of the movie. They are more or less walk on parts. The shoe as the saying goes is on the other foot. The major characters are named after actual people who lived in the West during the time period depicted, but that’s where the reality ends and fantasy takes over. 


The main thrust of the film is a story of revenge, which is a theme in movies and indeed westerns for as long as celluloid has flown through projectors. It is also a rousing gun show of two rival black gangs who roam the west robbing banks and shooting it out between themselves. One gang is getting their leader back after a daring and clever break out on a train guarded by men of the U.S. Calvery and its here that the great Idris Elba makes his dramatic entrance. Also on hand are two tough women bandits one played by the wonderful Regina King as Trudy who gives a nasty over the hill scenery chewing performance, and the owner of a rival saloon and sometime performer Stagecoach Mary played by Zazie Beetz who reminded me of a young Hallie Berry. The members of both gangs include a wide range of types and bad hombres and women including Jonathan Majors, Devon Cole, LaKeith Stanfield, Danielle Deadwyler and Delroy Lindo as a fierce sheriff all of whom give terrific rowdy performances.

Directed by Jeymes Samuel who also co-wrote the screenplay and did the score. Samuel directed it with verve and vividness and with some great set pieces that I think will be talked about and remembered down the road. One of my favorite scenes is when they ride into a white town to rob the bank and in an eye opening jaw dropping scene we see that this town is indeed all white including the mud and dust in the streets and all the buildings. Some might have some problem with a vicious knock down brawl between 2 women which is usually referred to as a cat fight, but then again there are many vicious scenes in this over 2 hour donnybrook of a movie. The music score is an imaginative blend and mix of many different styles from Nina Simone to hip hop and Reggae and the wide screen panoramas of the west are also impressive and vivid. The many extreme gunfights and killings are outlandish and cartoon like in their depictions.   If not seen in the theatre then a nice big screen TV is a must. The outcome of the movie, the revenge thing is a little bit of a let down, and there is a clue that maybe a sequel is in the works. Also the long running time might be daunting for some, still this is one of the best films I’ve seen this year in my meager viewings of new films. Definitely not for everyone especially those who have an aversion to graphic violence.        

Site Meter