Jan 18, 2010

Jonas Mekas的声明

自2009年7月起,Jonas Mekas就不再与Maya Stendhal Gallery有任何法律或经济上的关系了,但Maya Stendhal Gallery仍然在两个网站上 jonasmekas.com jonasmekas.net 上出售Jonas Mekas的影片以及提供免费下载。因此,Jonas Mekas号召大家抵制Maya Stendhal Gallery。 Jonas Mekas的新个人网站仍在建设中,网址: jonasmekasfilm.com

类似的问题,Su Friedrich和Women Make Movies也搞到决裂。

这样的事情是一种不幸,传播者与创造者本来是相互依赖的,却因为权益问题闹成敌人。

还是那句话,If there was no copyright, the world would be in peace.

等待乌托邦的到来。

Nov 25, 2009

Boss' glasses

Dr. Barbara is cleaning her office and she found these old asymmetrical glasses. Sharp!


Nov 9, 2009

Howl's Moving Castle - LEGO

I want this!
Pictures from Flickr "imagine's brickzone"

Oct 30, 2009

Oct 28, 2009

Oct 20, 2009

范儿

For those Taiwanese who knows nothing but badmouthing mainland China.

from My Mod Met

Oct 13, 2009

All That Heaven Allows (I) - 记录纽约电影节“先锋视野”(一)


昨 天,10月10号,纽约电影节结束了。一些电影还在林肯中心的Alice Tully Hall放着,但电影节结束了。对于电影节的评论到处都是,平民论者批判电影节精英主义,所有的片子都艰涩无比,精英主义者则说,这才是艺术。一方面因为 电影节的选片委员会成员大都是搞电影评论的,没什么策展人,缺乏策展的思维和经验,另一方面,其实也不都是纽约客的错,纽约电影节这样的电影节的主体,也 就是feature film的部分,会很受其先锋嘎纳电影节的影响。对今年嘎纳电影节作总结时,影人们说,如今去电影院看电影和穿了一身黑去教堂参加葬礼没什么区别。当然,电影和电影人也都是环境的产物,在过去的一年多时间里,这个世界并不快乐。

其实我不懂人们为什么会去电影节看大片儿,此处大片儿指Lars von Trier的Antichrist这样的片子。这样的片子一个月之后就会上剧院,何苦为赶这一个月的先锋花那荒谬的20刀。我同意这样的片子是要看大屏 幕,但这20刀实在是...纽约的美丽,纽约的罪恶...这年头看电影也要很富有吗?

对于我来说,电影节最有价值的是短片的部分,短片除 了在电影节很难在其它地方看到。纽约电影节“先锋视野”(Views from the Avant-Garde)今年是第13个年头。如果说今年的纽约电影节是有争议的一年,那么今年的“先锋视野”则是毫无争议非常好的一年。

每年的“视野”都是一个周末,全世界的“先锋”人们在林肯中心扎堆儿两天。今年的“视野”,10月2日至10月4日,分成11个单元,一共60部片子,长短不一,最长的“La Rabbia di Pasolini” 83分钟,最短的“Horizon Line”只有1分钟。

10 月2日周五下午,我谎称要去看医生请了半天假,然后直奔机场。2点半的航班,晚点半个多小时搞得我很紧张,因为我计划好要赶6点半开演的La Rabbia di Pasolini,好在飞机仍然在4点半左右到达了LGA。脏兮兮的厕所,没有礼貌的人群...一切的一切都大声地呼喊着,欢迎回到纽约。

一 班巴士,两班地铁,我6点就到了林肯中心的Walter Reade Theater。买好了当晚的一张票,周六的5张票和周日的5张票。Chris周六才到,孤单的我毫无戒备地到处乱逛乱看着,突然人群里 出现一张熟悉的脸,反应了两秒,才想起来是Patrick Friel,原来在芝加哥打工的老板,现在是同家组织Chicago Filmmakers办的Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival的主策划人。在这儿碰上他再自然不过了,不知为什么还是吓了我一跳,从他看我的眼神是认出我来了,我一个人不知所措了许久,最终过去打了 招呼。Patrick是个怪人,一个看上去像12岁男童的40岁老男人,一个即使和他相处很久你也不知道他在想什么,说什么是什么意思,那样的人。他的头 发如今稍长,Chris后来看到他,说他不像12岁男童了,像个女同。

6点半准时开演Pasolini的La Rabbia(愤怒)。观众里很多意大利人,很多意大利帅哥。我禁不住短信好朋友意大利女孩儿Eleonora,抱怨为什么意大利帅哥连看都没看我一眼,她说,都是gay吧。

La Rabbia原是Pasolini在1963年参加制作的一部纪录片,原片被制作公司剪得乱七八糟,完全不合Pasolini的意。当时制片公司同时还雇 用了另一个电影人Giovanni Fuareschi,计划两个人在最后成品中的戏份基本五五分成。由于Pasolini和Giovanni极端不合以及Pasolini对 Giovanni的极端鄙视,Pasolini曾宣称要将自己的名字从该纪录片项目中撤回。最终Pasolini并没有撤回他的名字,但由于对该项目的严 重不满,日后Pasolini拒绝了Ferranti请他重做La Rabbia的请求。2007年,Pasolini的第一个版本,也就是较长未受他人剪辑的版本的La Rabbia被发现。意大利导演Giuseppe Bertolucci根据历史文档重建了La Rabbia,努力将La Rabbia修复成Pasolini当年想象的样子,2008年公映。La Rabbia原片属于found-footage filmmaking,全片都是由newsreel组成,有历史事件譬如朝鲜战争,原子弹爆炸,名人譬如斯大林,玛丽莲梦露,也有反映平民百姓的譬如反映 意大利中产阶级生活的。Pasolini将newsreel编辑在一起,不按时间顺序或任何逻辑,完全顺应他的诗意,充满人性和愤怒。

纽 约电影节“视野”首先放了1963年版本中Pasolini的部分,只有十几分钟,具有明显且严重的破碎感,而且由于时间较短,很难把观众带入画外音诗歌 的意境之中。而Bertolucci2008年83分钟的版本则非常漂亮。足够的时间,足够的画面,足够的诗歌,人才能真的走进片子里面。两部片子放完之 后,又放了一些关于Pasolini的史料,有采访,也有六七十年代意大利的喜剧表演如何把Pasolini说成一个玩笑的片段。这些史料的放映使得当晚 的program不仅仅是关于La Rabbia的,并且是关于Pasolini的,以及电影文化(film culture)的。

晚上回到Susan的住处,几个朋友一起吃饭,看Arrested Development,晚上和Bajornas聊天到凌晨。他说,Sex and the City电影的全体人员,除了Sarah Jessica Parker,都非常mean。

Oct 12, 2009

busy week

While I am still trying to finish my writing on my first visit to the Views at NYFF, I am looking forward to a very busy movie week. YAH~

Wednesday: film studies lecture on Edgar G. Ulmer in the afternoon, UCLA Film and Television Archive double feature at night: The Salvation Hunters and In The Land Of The Head Hunters. AND dinner with Chris in between: recap of the Views. Hopefully he is bringing my very wanted films by Ben Russell.

Thursday: Cairo Station

Friday: Afghan Star

Saturday - Sunday: 24-Hour Horrorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Movie Marathon!

Oct 9, 2009

marathons

好吧,其实是被Chris说动了,下周末去24小时恐怖电影马拉松。 如果隔壁的
Jeni's冰激凌店24小时营业就好了,神经会需要salty caramel的安抚。
这回我不会像上次科幻24小时马拉松时硬着头皮到处找人陪我去了,反正也
找不到,这事儿不适合广大的人民群众。带好枕头,穿好宽松的背带裤(如果
不是因为要很多兜儿藏吃的,我宁愿穿睡裤),有B同学中间给我送两次饭,
就差不多了。

其实心还没从纽约电影节两天的“先锋视野”长跑回来,还在惯性地跑着。

我拿着恐怖电影马拉松的宣传单给Jennifer看,她说,yeah, it's
your kinda thing.

Sep 28, 2009

crawl

There are many sleeping drafts lying in the post archive of my blog. You'd be surprised how more frequently this blog would have been updated if all the drafts were actually finished. This blog is a symptom of my life. It's fractured, unfinished, unsatisfying, without a style of its own, without any consistency, and going nowhere. It's filled with failed attempts. I repeatedly tell myself that it's good that I am still reaching out to my dreams, but no real progress has been made so far. I am disappointed, frustrated and confused. Concentration is at large. Direction is at large.

I work for a boss who spends hours chitchatting. She likes coming to my desk to check on my work and hurry me on my work after chitchatting. She likes to make me feel bad if I am behind the schedule she sets for me. I feel fortunate for having a job. So have I been told to feel so, all the time. This job takes the bulk of my awake time. I'll be doing this job for many many more days, yet I don't know if this will be worth anything.

I stay in a country where I have no freedom, legally and financially. Freedom has always been the most important to me. In lack of freedom, I am quiet and dead. In most people's opinion, I am doing well. I have a job and I have successfully obtained a working visa. There were cheerful moments for such accomplishments, but they didn't last very long.

I watched the first episode of Ken Burns' new documentary on national parks yesterday. John Muir was a significant figure in the history of national parks, especially the Yosemite. When he was 52, he was home with his wife and daughters, away from the nature he loved. He was tied to the everyday chores, and he was dying. His wife sent him back to the wilderness because she knew that's where his life belongs.

Some people need periodical success to motivate their lives, like making a million dollars or getting a promotion. I need to be with the people I appreciate, doing the things I love.

Cai Kangyong said, sometimes in life we need to crawl to progress, if crawling is the only way to progress, then crawl we shall.
Jennifer said to me, you patience will pay off some day.

I started watching films seriously when I was in highschool; I started studying French when I was in college; the study of both came to their climax at OSU graduate school. After school, I no longer have an environment to continue a systematic and intensive study, but I refuse to let them die. This past saturday, I was told that my dream might never come true. I cried, not because I was mad at the person who said this to me, but because I realized, what he said might be true. For the first time in years my dream was shaken.

I had been here before, but I had believed in myself firmly and waited patiently and optimistically. My spirit was so young and blind at the time that I didn't even have an alternative plan. Today I have too much to lose. I can only crawl, but I'll try to keep myself blind, so that I can still crawl, as if I am crawling towards a goal.

Sep 1, 2009

a chocolate house, in this economy

Recently I discovered David Lebovitz's blog. David is an American food critic currently living in Paris. I discovered his blog from an airplane magazine article in which he talks about how doing a cooking show is much more difficult than what people would normally imagine. I am no foodie. Food, especially western cuisine, is completely foreign to me. David Lebovitz's writing is informative and witty. He makes everything sound so easy and his pictures make everything look so delicious. I know even though the recipes are just right up there, the caramelized white chocolate ice cream I make will probably taste very different. Yet I am still always heavily tempted.

I find myself reading David lebovitz's blog a lot more often and enthusiastically than some of my favorite film blogs. His blog has practically become a second shelter for this hopeless dreamer(me)'s dreams. Film used to be the one and the only. Unlike those film blogs, David's writing on food, restaurants and everything food related doesn't remind me of any unfulfilled academic ambition of mine, so it is an even warmer shelter. And unlike films, food is usually a lot more delightful. It is too often that a good film contains more reality and emotion than my nerve can handle after a day's work. I know I need to work on my nerve, otherwise I will be losing my chance of becoming a qualified cinephile. However, it is just so much easier to turn to those lovely pictures of chocolates, apricots, fresh sea food...aren't they just as bright as sunshine?

Another reason I like David Lebovitz's blog is that it doesn't show much of what has been defined as "this economy". In this economy, David Lebovitz is still looking for the darkest chocolate, the creamist scoop of ice cream, and the perfect antique café au lait bowls. It is such a comfort to read his blog while for my job as a money-begging chick, all I type everyday is "deficit budget", "reduced funding", etc.

David Lebovitz is not living in a vacancy of reality. On his facebook page, he links all kinds of webpages including many journal articles that tell sad stories of good restaurants closing due to this economy. Maybe it comes down to a matter of selective memory, maybe he doesn't want this economy to ruin the mood of his blog too.

As long as David Lebovitz is not talking about "this economy", I have a place to dream and dream only.

Aug 19, 2009

sad, indeed

I posted a YouTube link of BLU's MUTO on my account on Douban. 3 friends told me they couldn't open it because YouTube is possibly banned in China, too.

How can this still be surprising to me, after they banned Wikipedia, Google, Facebook, and hundreds of critics' blog?

So I wrote another entry informing my friends of the link on Vimeo and the download link on BLU's website. This is the English translation of my entry:

The link of MUTO on YouTube cannot be opened in China. I wonder if Vimeo can be opened.
If not, please try BLU's website blublu.org. MUTO is free for download. Monetary donation is not required but appreciated. However donation is in Euro, because BLU is a Europe-based artist. Harvard University sent him an invitation to draw a wall in Harvard, BLU refused.

After I posted my entry, I was told that my entry is being censored. For the sake of my life, I cannot figure out why. I wonder if it is something I said or I drew the "lucky straw" in a random censorship policy? Douban showed me a list of possible reasons an entry could be censored or deleted for. It is a list of all kinds of policy that you cannot criticize. Criticizing a policy is against the policy. It is self-protective.

This might be the most pathetic and insecure way to establish an authority. Of course it is not Douban's fault. It is the policy environment that Douban has to survive. Douban is just a website after all. It can be easily censored or deleted, just like my entry, due to its violation of some bigger policy.

Eva could survive in China because she works with commercial/mainstream cinema. Danjie could develop a career in China because she deals with mainstream visual arts. Not me, not now. The whole idea of avant-garde is against unity, against censorship, against constraints, against power, against any form of control. It is supposed to be limitless. I love China, but I know I cannot go back.

Jul 15, 2009

宋冬

I studied painting over weekends with Song Dong for a year. Now he is the hero in the New York Times Art Section headline story. Unbelieveable.

The show at MoMA is what the Times calls The Collective Ingredients of a Beijing Life, which is a heavy dose of accelerator to my homesickness. The show will continue through September 21. I hope we have time on our east-coast trip so that I can take my parents to see the show. I am sure my mom still has a pretty clear recollection of how he hated my dumpling painting, how he loved my paper-collage chair, and his long hair. If we can't make it in late July, I must go on my labor day trip to New York.

宋冬, another reason to go to New York.

Jul 13, 2009

Missing

When Chen Qizhen sings in her Meaning of Traveling:

You've tasted the night of Paris
You've stepped on the snow of Beijing

I always miss Beijing, very much.

Jun 5, 2009

Death meets Judgment

David Carradine died yesterday.

He was found in a hotel room closet with a rope tied to his neck and genitals.

First it was reported as suicide. I wondered, why genitals?

Today it is reported that his death might be an accident from attempting auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Film people are trying to divert public attention from the cause of his death to the fact that he's dead.

Death collides with judgment, who wins?