Passages

[agnamaracs]

Composer Scott Johnson, best known for "John Somebody" and the score to Schrader's Patty Hearst

[beamish14]

Composer Scott Johnson, best known for "John Somebody" and the score to Schrader's Patty Hearst

That is an absolutely gorgeous score

[colinr0380]

Paul O'Grady, who was the UK's most famous drag queen, Lily Savage, in the 90s. He kind of followed the same trajectory as Graham Norton did, starting with a turn on Channel 4's Viva Cabaret! show in 1994, becoming an unorthodox replacement for Paula Yates as bed-bound interviewer on Channel 4's early morning Big Breakfast show, before in the mid-2000s out of drag becoming a surprisingly entertaining (and pretty much beloved) early evening light entertainment chat show host with his Paul O'Grady show.

He has one appearance in film, in a blink and you'll miss him moment where he is in the enviable position of blowing a kiss at Daniel Day-Lewis in In The Name of the Father!

[Calvin]

Ryuichi Sakamoto

[ryannichols7]

I had a bad feeling this was coming when Yukihiro Takahashi passed a few months ago. Sakamoto had been very open about being in frail health after his cancer

right there with Brian Eno as one of my all time favorite musicians. truly a special one, from YMO to his solo records and scores (often the best part of movies I don't even like sometimes!). his album async from a few years ago is really beautiful

[beamish14]

Ryuichi Sakamoto

His versatility was unparalleled. Gorgeous synth-based works like his score for the limited series Wild Palms, lush orchestral pieces like The Sheltering Sky, and beautiful, pensive works that include his score for Tony Takitani

He was an incredible collaborator as well, equally at home as a guest with Public Image Limited and producing/performing on Virginia Astley’s wonderful 1986 album Hope in a Darkened Heart. To say he will just be missed is an enormous understatement; he’s left an incredible void in contemporary music

[Computer Raheem]

Ryuichi Sakamoto

While it was hard to be fully surprised by Sakamoto's passing, it was still completely devastating news to wake up to. Sakamoto's most recent work, more than most other contemporary composer, helped me learn to appreciate and seek out more experimental and avant-garde works, to a point where it came as a surprise when I first learned that, for a time, he was a genuine pop act in his native country. I always looked forward to just hearing about any new project he was attached to, especially with the knowledge that each one could be the final work we get to hear from him. Now that we're here, I'm not certain as to how to feel, but at least I'll always have those works that spoke to me first.

My personal favorite piece of his is "Bibo no Aozora", both in its pop-friendly original package and his chamber-hall-ready reinterpretation (used to great effect in the final moments of Babel)

[hearthesilence]

He really had the type of career most musicians dreamed of, even when they attain massive success. From Yellow Magic Orchestra through his film scores, he never came off like a dilettante. There have been some great remembrances already - I particularly liked Jason Moran's (and sadly that sushi restaurant, Kajitsu, closed abruptly back in September).

And from his own website:

...we would like to share one of Sakamoto's favorite quotes:

"Ars longa, vita brevis.
Art is long, life is short.

[hearthesilence]

Music executive Seymour Stein, best known for his label Sire Records

[colinr0380]

Ryuichi Sakamoto

His versatility was unparalleled. Gorgeous synth-based works like his score for the limited series Wild Palms, lush orchestral pieces like The Sheltering Sky, and beautiful, pensive works that include his score for Tony Takitani

He was an incredible collaborator as well, equally at home as a guest with Public Image Limited and producing/performing on Virginia Astley’s wonderful 1986 album Hope in a Darkened Heart. To say he will just be missed is an enormous understatement; he’s left an incredible void in contemporary music

Such an incredible body of work. Criterion-wise he of course turns up on the commentary track for The Last Emperor, although has maybe controversial opinions about the historical events being depicted! It is amazing to look through his filmography as composer and see all the directors he contributed scores for: Donald Cammell's final film Wild Side, Brian de Palma's Femme Fatale, Takashi Miike's 2011 remake of Harakiri, along with Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence he also scored Oshima's last film Gohatto. Plus the film directed by novelist Ryu Murakami (more famous for writing the novel that Audition was based on), Tokyo Decadence.

Along with two really significant anime films: Shinji Aramaki's somewhat controversial move into full CGI animation with the 2004 feature version of Appleseed, and the magnificent score for Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise which reaches its peak in its (major spoiler) final battle/countdown scene followed by the 'encompassing the entirety of human civilisation' montage.

[DarkImbecile]

Norman Reynolds, who was about as legendary as a production designer could be

[The Narrator Returns]

He's done much more iconic movies but I'll always love him first and foremost for his work on Barry Levinson's Avalon.

[hearthesilence]

Norman Reynolds, who was about as legendary as a production designer could be

Absolutely. The designs for the original Star Wars trilogy by far hold up better for me than anything else about those movies, and his work on The Empire Strikes Back is the crown jewel of the entire series. The first film (with John Barry) already set a high bar, but so much of the second was like starting over and imagining wholly new elements - he didn't just match Barry's work in the first film, he surpassed it and made what are still the most memorable set pieces.

[MichaelB]

Cinematographer Bill Butler, two days short of his 102nd birthday.

[Big Ben]

Cinematographer Bill Butler, two days short of his 102nd birthday.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill at a screening of Jaws in Bigfork, Montana where he lived and it's one my favorite movie going memories. He cackled with delight during the screening when children in the audience freaked out, particularly at the sequence where Dreyfuss' character discovers the corpse in the isolated boat. Bill was a really stand up dude and graciously spent hours with all the guests and answered everyone's questions. He was immensely proud of his work on Jaws and spoke warmly of Spielberg too. By all accounts a really stand up guy.

[beamish14]

Norman Reynolds, who was about as legendary as a production designer could be

Return to Oz and Young Sherlock Holmes in the same year. Both are incredibly-designed universes

[beamish14]

Cinematographer Bill Butler, two days short of his 102nd birthday.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill at a screening of Jaws in Bigfork, Montana where he lived and it's one my favorite movie going memories. He cackled with delight during the screening when children in the audience freaked out, particularly at the sequence where Dreyfuss' character discovers the corpse in the isolated boat. Bill was a really stand up dude and graciously spent hours with all the guests and answered everyone's questions. He was immensely proud of his work on Jaws and spoke warmly of Spielberg too. By all accounts a really stand up guy.

Please tell me you asked about Graffiti Bridge; his photography alone makes that film watchable.

I knew that he replaced Haskell Wexler on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but I forgot that he also did it on The Conversation.

[jazzo]

Vivian Trimble, from the groundbreaking bands Luscious Jackson, Kostars, and Dusty Trails.

I’ve seen LJ about four times, and it was hard not to fall in love with the poise and grace she brought to the shows.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqtsOPvP8cn ... ZhZTRhOWQ=

[GaryC]

Australian cartoonist and filmmaker Bruce Petty, aged 93. His short film Leisure (1976), won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.

[dwk]

Nightmare on Elm Street cinematographer Jacques Haitkin

[beamish14]

Nightmare on Elm Street cinematographer Jacques Haitkin

Love his work on The Hidden. What a huge resume, including 2nd unit photography and camera op credits

[colinr0380]

Nightmare on Elm Street cinematographer Jacques Haitkin

Love his work on The Hidden. What a huge resume, including 2nd unit photography and camera op credits

And the Director of Photography on Corman production Galaxy of Terror, which has a pre-Freddy Robert Englund in the cast! That is an amazing looking film both production design and photography-wise, with an utterly bonkers plot explanation for why everything is taking place!

[The Narrator Returns]

Michael Lerner

[beamish14]

Michael Lerner

Just wonderful in Bigas Luna’s Anguish. A joy to watch in everything he appeared in, even if they were bit parts

[Grand Wazoo]

Also fantastic in Life During Wartime.