Passages

[hearthesilence]

My uncle and aunt live in Abbey Road, and one of the road signs is just outside their house - and they're more than familiar with the sound of it being not very surreptitiously removed by souvenir hunters, often at night when they think no-one's looking.

But it's not their property, so they're not bothered.

(What is their property is a house that they bought a few years before a certain Beatles album made their address globally famous - and they don't regret that investment for a single millisecond!)

I've only been there twice, once in December 2007 and again sometime in the summer of 2017, and I'm impressed at how well-managed it is in terms of dealing with the constant trickle of tourists, especially when it's a residential area AND a working facility that's very active. The extensive graffiti is a dead giveaway regarding how many people go there, but it's kind of a nice compromise where they allow tourists to do their thing - leave a note, cross the street, take photos - but maintain everything in working fashion, from traffic to the studio itself.

Anyway, it is a very nice neighborhood - even without the connection to the Beatles, if I could afford London I'd consider living there!

[MichaelB]

and they sure as hell don't suggest he was also closely and controversially associated with Everton Football Club as per your original post. He was a good man

With respect, that's precisely what they do suggest - as does this, and much more besides.

My single-sentence précis was entirely reasonable, and supported by ample evidence.

[ynwa]

and they sure as hell don't suggest he was also closely and controversially associated with Everton Football Club as per your original post. He was a good man

With respect, that's precisely what they do suggest - as does this, and much more besides.

My single-sentence précis was entirely reasonable, and supported by ample evidence.

why are you quoting daily star and "everton fans"
lol you know nothing about football

[MichaelB]

Moving on from this deeply tedious quibbling about my perfectly accurate précis, the Film Polski website has published its annual impressively thorough list of all Polish film and TV people who have died in the previous twelve months.

The only really big name is Jan Nowicki, whose passing was noted here at the time.

[brundlefly]

Jan Nowicki, whose passing was noted here at the time.

Almost a year late, then, but just watched Zanussi's Spiral this past week and his is an astounding performance. Instantly unlikable, perpetually impenetrable, and still deeply sympathetic.

[flyonthewall2983]

Bobby Knight

[TechnicolorAcid]

The only really big name is Jan Nowicki, whose passing was noted here at the time.

He definitely was one of the best moments of The Hourglass Sanatorium as the blind train conductor, a haunting performance marked by those soulless eyes which will stay with me for as long as I’m alive.

[hearthesilence]

The shot used of the exterior building on Friends that is suppose to be their building is a block from my apartment. There are always crowds of tourists on that corner taking pictures. Now it will become a memorial scene on that street and the crowds will be tenfold

For those who want to see it for themselves...

[FrauBlucher]

If you notice this house is in the video across from the Friends building. It hasn't changed at all after, what, 70 years. Crazy

[FrauBlucher]

The shot used of the exterior building on Friends that is suppose to be their building is a block from my apartment. There are always crowds of tourists on that corner taking pictures. Now it will become a memorial scene on that street and the crowds will be tenfold

For those who want to see it for themselves...

Btw... I would wager a bet that most of those people are tourists from around the country and the world more than "New Yorkers" as the video states.

[hearthesilence]

Same here. Nothing against Perry - he died much too young and clearly dedicated his life and success to helping others struggling with their addictions - but I was never a fan of the show. It's far from the worst thing on television, and I don't doubt it was better than most laugh-track/studio-audience sitcoms, but it never came close to breaking free from all the self-inflicted limitations of the form, and the longer I live here, the more I cringe at the idea that the show's antiseptic surburban-like blandness - one that blights pretty much ANY network sitcom regardless of whether it's in Chicago, San Francisco, Brooklyn, etc. - has come to represent some ideal representation of New York City to so many of its fans. I rarely say this in real life because the majority of people I grew up regularly watch the show in perpetuity, and even now, for a few superfans I know who live far from NYC, when they make a rare trip here, they inevitably think about visiting places with some tenuous relationship to it.

[Lemmy Caution]

Friends, on Dvd, was massively popular among young people in China. The NYTimes even ran an article about Chinese mourning Matthew Perry, including at a Friends themed cafe in Shanghai. A lot of Chinese used Friends to improve their English. And it was popular because a lot of young Chinese were aspiring urban professionals, without models or precedent in post-war China as their parents and grandparents grew up under extremely dissimilar circumstances. So Friends offered a road map of sorts, a glance at how westerners lived, something to aspire to, while even being a free English tutor.

I watched the first 2 or 3 seasons. Sure it embraced standard sitcom formulas and seemed to have little to do with NYC. But the show is well done with some good writing. However I didn't like 5 of the characters, only interested in Lisa Kudrow's ditzy character with unique humor. I think part of the appeal of such ensemble shows is that you'd want to join in and be part of the group. But with Friends, I wouldn't want to know any of them, as they all seemed somewhat annoying to me. I never got far enough into the show where they started pairing off. Then again I rarely watch any sitcoms or even tv shows, so I'm not really the target audience.

[hearthesilence]

I'll also admit, it's pretty amazing how many movie stars appeared on the show back when they were arguably at the height of their film careers (at a time when it was very rare for A-list movie stars to appear on any network TV show that wasn't a talk show being used to promote their movies). It usually seemed to happen because of a prior connection with a cast member but still, who else could cast Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Winona Ryder, Reese Witherspoon, Robin Williams and of course Brad Pitt, not to mention George Clooney when he was still on ER and Alec Baldwin before 30 Rock? (I've only seen half of those episodes, but still impressive on paper.) But to be brutally honest, I never found any of the main characters interesting - again there was a blandness and shallowness to them that pretty much reflected the show in general.

[FrauBlucher]

The show is an international phenomena that I don't quite understand. I much preferred Seinfeld when they were sharing Thursday nights. Usually if I watched Friends it's because I didn't change the channel after Seinfeld or had nothing else to do. Also, Friends in terms of it's writing became a template for sitcoms that came after with the snarky, woe is me type of characters. Kind of like gosh golly gee with some sarcasm attached. That didn't interest me. I do agree with Lemmy that Lisa Kudrow's character was the interesting one who seemed to be outside of that mold.

[clownmeat]

Pioneering Canadian filmmaker Donald Shebib, director of Goin' Down the Road, a watershed moment for English Canadian cinema

[willoneill]

Donald Shebib, director of landmark Canadian film Goin' Down the Road

[beamish14]

Donald Shebib, director of landmark Canadian film Goin' Down the Road

Now I’m thinking of John Candy screaming “Yonge Street! Yonge Streeeet!”

[fdm]

Frank Borman

[hearthesilence]

John Bailey, longtime ASC board member and former AMPAS president, on Nov. 9 at the age of 81.

He's had quite a career, having served as a camera assistant (Two-Lane Blacktop), camera operator (Days of Heaven) or cinematographer (Mishima) for quite a few films that are now in the Criterion Collection.

[beamish14]

John Bailey, longtime ASC board member and former AMPAS president, on Nov. 9 at the age of 81.

He's had quite a career, having served as a camera assistant (Two-Lane Blacktop), camera operator (Days of Heaven) or cinematographer (Mishima) for quite a few films that are now in the Criterion Collection.

Oh, that’s horrible. Stunning partnership with Paul Schrader, and he was a camera operator on many iconic films as you mentioned, including Boulevard Nights, and handling all of the reshoots on Winter Kills after Vilmos Zsigmond had to leave to film Heaven’s Gate (see if you can actually tell who did what; it’s very seamless)

He directed a single feature, Mariette in Ecstasy, in 1996, but it was never released, and has only screened at one or two festivals and a retrospective of his work. I’d love to know the full story of what happened with it

[hearthesilence]

It wouldn't surprise me if he left an oral history or some extensive recollection of his work - if he hasn't, one could be pieced together from the enormous amount of info he left on record. Even during the pandemic, he was still recording and doing intros for Film Forum screenings via Zoom.

Also didn't realize this until now, but the link I posted (which I got from the ASC's announcement) just goes to an interview from 2020. An obituary from them will be forthcoming.

[beamish14]

It wouldn't surprise me if he left an oral history or some extensive recollection of his work - if he hasn't, one could be pieced together from the enormous amount of info he left on record. Even during the pandemic, he was still recording and doing intros for Film Forum screenings via Zoom.

Also didn't realize this until now, but the link I posted (which I got from the ASC's announcement) just goes to an interview from 2020. An obituary from them will be forthcoming.

The Academy has been collecting oral histories from a wide array of people. They’ve actually been to Hong Kong to record some from people like Sammo Hung, and they’ve shown excerpts at screenings

[Fred Holywell]

He directed a single feature, Mariette in Ecstasy, in 1996, but it was never released, and has only screened at one or two festivals and a retrospective of his work. I’d love to know the full story of what happened with it

Bailey also directed the crime drama China Moon, which was released in 1994 after sitting on the shelf for a few years, as well as some documentary/performance films. Apparently, both China Moon and Mariette in Ecstasy were caught up in their production companies' financial problems (Orion and Savoy Pictures, respectively), which affected their release, or lack thereof.

[beamish14]

He directed a single feature, Mariette in Ecstasy, in 1996, but it was never released, and has only screened at one or two festivals and a retrospective of his work. I’d love to know the full story of what happened with it

Bailey also directed the crime drama China Moon, which was released in 1994 after sitting on the shelf for a few years, as well as some documentary/performance films. Apparently, both China Moon and Mariette in Ecstasy were caught up in their production companies' financial problems (Orion and Savoy Pictures, respectively), which affected their release, or lack thereof.

I completely forgot about China Moon!

[Aunt Peg]

Does anybody know why John Bailey was fired as director from The Long Walk Home (1990)?

He directed the first couple of days and then was replaced by Richard Pearce.