Passages

[Forrest Taft]

Novelist Russell Banks, per Paul Schraders FB-page. I haven’t read his work, but two of my favourite films from the 90s, Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter, were adapted from his novels.

[beamish14]

Novelist Russell Banks, per Paul Schraders FB-page. I haven’t read his work, but two of my favourite films from the 90s, Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter, were adapted from his novels.

His strengths were most evident in his short stories, but Cloudsplitter is phenomenal

[esl]

Adam Rich, best known for his role as Nicholas Bradford in the 1970's sitcom "Eight is Enough" died yesterday at 54. Cause of death was not reported.

[L.A.]

Jeff Beck.

[hearthesilence]

Jeff Beck.

Roger the Engineer is one of my favorite British rock records from the '60s, probably Beck's crowning achievement.

[esl]

Jeff Beck.

Roger the Engineer is one of my favorite British rock records from the '60s, probably Beck's crowning achievement.

Though not on that album "Still I'm Sad"

[hearthesilence]

Jeff Beck.

Roger the Engineer is one of my favorite British rock records from the '60s, probably Beck's crowning achievement.

Though not on that album "Still I'm Sad"

Oh yeah. Whenever I think of the Yardbirds, I generally think of Jeff Beck - he did his best work with them and vice-versa.

And of course, he was immortalized in this film.

[Feego]

90s supermodel Tatjana Patitz, who appeared in George Michael’s “Freedom ‘90” video.

[Michael Kerpan]

Jeff Beck plays Puccini

[beamish14]

Actress Dorothy Tristan, whose very eclectic resume includes End of the Road, Scarecrow, Klute, and Down and Out in Beverly Hills

[MichaelB]

British director Gerry O'Hara (That Kind of Girl, The Brute, The Bitch), at 98.

[hearthesilence]

Apparently when Antonioni told Beck that he was going to smash his guitar in Blow Up (using an emphasis that suggested it was an important part of that scene), Beck said he would never destroy a guitar, which makes logical sense - the guy designed, built and rebuilt guitars (and cars for that matter) with so much attention and care, I can see how he would be opposed to destroying the result of that kind of handiwork. They ended up buying really lousy guitars as props, ones Beck was perfectly willing to destroy, and according to Beck they were so cheap they came in plastic bags.

[colinr0380]

British director Gerry O'Hara (That Kind of Girl, The Brute, The Bitch), at 98.

I'm very sorry to hear that. I cannot really speak to his more famous films starring Joan Collins but I was really impressed by his films that the BFI released in their Flipside series, That Kind Of Girl, All The Right Noises (which may be particularly thematically relevant right now with all the Romeo & Juliet situation occurring, given that Olivia Hussey's character in this film is an underage schoolgirl in an affair with a married man!) and especially the great ensemble drama The Pleasure Girls. Those three films at least very much impressed me by tackling some extremely complicated social and relationship issues, and whilst they have a definite perspective about some of the behaviour going on (particularly the earliest film That Kind Of Girl, which feels like an outgrowth of the sex education 'social hygiene' film into a more narrative feature) there also felt that as they progressed and developed there was an extremely refreshing downplaying of any imposed moralising from the filmmaker (leaving it up to the audience to make up their own minds, perhaps), instead always treating their characters as complicated and flawed human beings just figuring out their way through life, and sometimes leaving a messy trail of disappointment and compromise in their wake!

[brundlefly]

British director Gerry O'Hara (That Kind of Girl, The Brute, The Bitch), at 98.

I'm very sorry to hear that. I cannot really speak to his more famous films starring Joan Collins but I was really impressed by his films that the BFI released in their Flipside series, That Kind Of Girl, All The Right Noises (which may be particularly thematically relevant right now with all the Romeo & Juliet situation occurring, given that Olivia Hussey's character in this film is an underage schoolgirl in an affair with a married man!) and especially the great ensemble drama The Pleasure Girls. Those three films at least very much impressed me by tackling some extremely complicated social and relationship issues, and whilst they have a definite perspective about some of the behaviour going on (particularly the earliest film That Kind Of Girl, which feels like an outgrowth of the sex education 'social hygiene' film into a more narrative feature) there also felt that as they progressed and developed there was an extremely refreshing downplaying of any imposed moralising from the filmmaker (leaving it up to the audience to make up their own minds, perhaps), instead always treating their characters as complicated and flawed human beings just figuring out their way through life, and sometimes leaving a messy trail of disappointment and compromise in their wake!

That Kind of Girl and The Pleasure Girls were among the films cited by Edgar Wright as inspirations for Last Night in Soho.

[colinr0380]

Edgar Wright was certainly influenced by the right material there! I would very much contend that That Kind of Girl works really well in a double bill with Repulsion, both being thematically in the same territory and set in the same milieu, but one is more down to earth than the other. I'll leave you to decide which is which!

[Beloved Aunt]

Actress Dorothy Tristan, whose very eclectic resume includes End of the Road, Scarecrow, Klute, and Down and Out in Beverly Hills

Rest In Peace. John Simon made her performance in End of the Road sound absolutely brilliant. I've always wondered, given his occasional tendency to champion the thespian gifts of the odd relatively talent-free female star he found attractive (I.e. Jacqueline Bisset, ANouk Aimee), whether I or anyone else would agree with him about that. Not enough to actually, you know, seek out the film itself, which sounds utterly godawful

[Fred Holywell]

Lisa Marie Presley

[hearthesilence]

Lisa Marie Presley

Her 2003 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. I'm not sure if she actually dropped out of public life or if I simply tuned out what news there was prior to her death, but on some level I just assumed she was able to live her life and raise a family, getting a chance to experience all the things her father didn't as a parent. (I remember my surprise when I found out her daughter was doing well, having appeared in some of Soderbergh's work - seeing your children grow up into adults and attain a good deal of success is definitely a blessing.)

The Letterman interview is the only time I remember seeing her on TV outside of a news story, and I just remember being struck by how much of her father was visible in her face (and her mannerisms, though that's only apparent now that I'm more familiar with him). Elvis was always this long dead mythical figure when I was growing up, so that alone made the resemblance startling. But watching it now, it's also kind of sad realizing she was the closest living link to him, not just genetically but also the memories she mentions keeping to herself.

[GaryC]

Actress Dorothy Tristan, whose very eclectic resume includes End of the Road, Scarecrow, Klute, and Down and Out in Beverly Hills

Rest In Peace. John Simon made her performance in End of the Road sound absolutely brilliant. I've always wondered, given his occasional tendency to champion the thespian gifts of the odd relatively talent-free female star he found attractive (I.e. Jacqueline Bisset, ANouk Aimee), whether I or anyone else would agree with him about that. Not enough to actually, you know, seek out the film itself, which sounds utterly godawful

There is a lot of interest in End of the Road, including Dorothy Tristan's performance (and those of Stacy Keach and James Earl Jones) and there are some things which I'm not sure worked. It's the only film from a novel by John Barth (who is still with us) though he dislikes it for a couple of aspects which aren't in his novel, otherwise it's a fairly close adaptation which I'd say is faithful to the spirit of the piece. It was the first film directed by Aram Avakian, better known as an editor up to then, and the first film photographed by Gordon Willis. It has been a while since I saw it, but Warners's DVD has an interview documentary directed by none other than Steven Soderbergh, who is an admirer of the film and has been trying to get an version of Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor off the ground for years.

Rated X by the MPAA on release, though it's a R now. It had a brief cinema run in the UK in 1972 without a BBFC certificate. You have to wonder if Nicolas Roeg saw it, as shots from it (Jones's character ranting) are on the many television sets that Thomas Jerome Newton is watching in The Man Who Fell to Earth.

For another view, here's Lee Hill (critic and biographer of co-scriptwriter Terry Southern), who rates the film highly. I didn't hear about the London screening this was advertising as I'd have gone to it if I'd been able. It's been a while since I saw it.

[MichaelB]

All-time male Emmy champion Hector Ramirez, with 74 nominations and 18 wins. (The overall champion is producer Sheila Nevins, with 78 nominations and 30 wins.)

If you don't recognise the name, it's hard to believe that you won't have seen his work at some point.

[beamish14]

Yukihiro Takahashi of Yellow Magic Orchestra

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I’ve seen the YMO members live solo except Takahashi unfortunately. I DID see him as part of YMO back in 2011 for what was one of the best concerts I ever attended at the Hollywood Bowl. This was prior to their resurgence with Light in the Attic reissues a few years ago, so the audience was 85% Japanese as opposed to non-Japanese fans. His solo albums are excellent and have listened to Savannah, Neuromantic and Murdered by the Music numerous times. He also has a great side project with Keiichi Suzuki, who did the music for the video game Earthbound and Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage films, called The Beatniks that’s a bit of fun post-new wave music. Then there’s his contribution to the legendary Sadistic Mika Band! He also wrote what’s probably YMO’s catchiest song too, “Rydeen”. It’s an understatement to say he’s a legend and a major loss for music.

[Calvin]

Yukihiro Takahashi also collaborated with Nobuhiko Obayashi on several films, most notably as the lead role (as well as composer) in his silly industry farce April Fish.

[MichaelB]

Miiko Taka, best known for starring opposite Marlon Brando in Sayonara.

[ellipsis7]

Gina Lollobrigida "La Lollo"...