Monthly Archives: March 2010
The Austere Beauty of Bullitt
The chase scene in Bullitt (1968) is bare bones, beautiful. Its minimal use of music, aside from Lalo Schifrin’s jazz score that leads into the scene, allows you to focus on what’s playing out on screen. Steve McQueen is calm but determined. The villains he is pursuing are quiet, creepy. It is an austere scene, free of unnecessary distractions.…
Graveyard Consumerism: The Great American Flea Market
The sights, sounds, and smells at a flea market are as much a part of the experience as sifting through the discarded possessions of strangers. Part of the appeal is the bizarre voyeurism it involves, gawking at things people once believed they needed but have since found no use for. And as any flea market veteran will attest, the experience…
Ghosts of the Recession, Things Left Behind
Several weeks ago, I received an envelope in the mail from my former employer. It contained a stack of baby photos of my son Ethan that I had accidentally left behind in my office. They were wrapped in a piece of paper inscribed with a note: “I found these photos and I’m sure you will want them. Hope things…
The Death of Jim Marshall
Jim Marshall, the photographer who documented the early days of rock, died in his sleep Tuesday at a New York hotel. He was 74 years old. Marshall was known for a slew of iconic photos, perhaps most notably his shot of Johnny Cash at San Quentin with his middle finger outstretched, or Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire at…
The End/Future of Publishing
Stumbled across this video today about the end/future of publishing put together by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. With the demise of print media having been reported again and again over the past decade, it’s refreshing to hear an optimistic counterpoint for once.
The Sounds of Death Wish II: Hotel Rats and Photostats
Flipping through a stack of discarded vinyl at a thrift store this weekend, I came across a soundtrack album from the film Death Wish II. What interested me first was the cover art, which depicts vigilante Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) unraveling the map of a city exploding with trouble. It’s standard B-movie fare, but if you like that sort of…
The Psychedelia, Redemption of Baseball Iconoclast Dock Ellis
Though he was an accomplished all-star pitcher, Ellis had a reputation on and off the field as a shit-talker who thrived on the adversarial relationship between pitcher and batter. As a result, his reputation preceded him — often playing out in vivid drama each time he took the mound.
Vincent Price on Racism and Religious Prejudice
Here’s a message from the late 1940s/early 1950s delivered by Vincent Price at the conclusion of a radio broadcast of “The Saint.” It has a certain public service announcement feel to it, as Price is attempting to sound more informative and less creepy.
Doug Aitken’s “Migrations”
When Doug Aitken’s “Migrations” was first screened at the Carnegie International 2008, I missed it. This was a mistake. In fact, it should have been easy to see. It was projected each evening in massive format on the front of the museum’s rectangular facade. Now part of the museum’s modern collection, the Aitken film is housed in a small…
