Endless odds on the eternal

by Ryland Walker Knight

Slaughter
Given my proclivity to waste time, it shouldn't surprise that every now and again I'll do just that and make lists, or obsess over details of a list, and try my damnedest to craft the best representation of my tastes as possible. It's a fool's game, no doubt. It kills the clock in ways I shouldn't allow it to, but nevertheless do allow. So I figured with all the investment I've put into these things the past week, even in the past twenty-four, I thought I'd go ahead and re-link to my VINYL IS FAVORITES page and my Auteurs profile, which has that incomplete-but-still-fun-to-tinker-with list-maker of favorite auteurs. Further, it was a year ago, roughly, that I launched that FAVORITES catch-all. So what more "excuse" do I need to say, "Look at this!" Now, on this alarmingly cold morning, I'll gear up because, as ever, I should try to get a run in.

Convergence for your ramparts [ i ] (7/14/09)

by Ryland Walker Knight

i. les vieux voir des jeunes

VINYL IS PODCAST #3: Synecdoche, Eustache

by Ryland Walker Knight and Mark Haslam

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RWK here. We're back this episode to talk about some films we've seen but haven't finished writing about despite our due diligence (we promise) and a certain setback specific to Mark, which you'll just have to hear to believe. The episode starts with a talk of a recent advance screening in Berkeley of Synecdoche, New York that Mark was able to attend, which leads to a host of issues, including that trope of the/a title. In fact, I make passing reference to Michael Sicinski's review of Hunger, in which he makes passing reference to Charlie Kaufman's "regrettable" appropriation of the term as opposed to Steve McQueen's "mindbogglingly simple" solution to making the "Issue picture" viable though "cinema as synecdoche," which I then turn into talk about Bresson's cinema of metonymy, even metonymy of sensation, which somehow leads into (an altogether too brief) talk of our recent adventures with the current Jean Eustache series at PFA, which continues this weekend with, yes, a soft-titled presentation of Numéro Zéro on Sunday evening. There's also room for more talk of On Dangerous Ground and the Jia Zhang-Ke films I've been seeing, too, with special attention (at the close) to The World, which I hope to write about soon. Oh, and, there's two songs this episode, which you can find on my imeem page right here. (Again, if you want them gone, just shake a hand via email.) So, please, listen and tell us things. First, though, while our words (down)load, maybe look at these things--

Reminder for the day: Saturday, Eustache begins at PFA.

by Ryland Walker Knight

[Note the words at the bottom of the frame]
This Saturday, the 4th, sees the beginning of PFA's Jean Eustache series, No Wave, with a screening of his most famous film, an epic of hurt, or so I'm told, called La Maman et la putain. Back in February, on his podcast, Mick LaSalle recommended the Bay Area go see the film and the theatre sold out. I don't think this blog post can drum up quite that much interest, but, heck, we try. For some other words to strike up your imagination, read Rosenbaum here. Also of note, my friend Julien Guillemet told me last week that Numéro Zéro is hilarious, sordid, a must-see; of course it sounds great, as Juliet Clark has described it: "In a string of long, stationary takes, the camera watches over Eustache’s shoulder while he pours countless glasses of whiskey and [his grandmother] Odette tells the stories of her life. A number of her themes resonate with those of Eustache’s films: cruelty, male philandering, the Rosière festival of Pessac. Numéro Zéro is a return to origins—of cinema and of the self—and an experiment in narration, both restrained and deeply personal." It shows Sunday, October 12th, at 7pm. I hope to see all of the films, time and energy providing, and to write some words along the way through the month.

Monday Morning UPDATE: Why was I afraid? As much as Leaud's Alexandre is a pain, and as irritating as he can get, the film is wholly pleasurable, somehow. Part of it, no doubt, is Bernadette Lafont. More soon.