Pixillation was one of the first collaborations between Lillian Schwartz and Ken Knowlton during their stint at Bell Labs using Knowlton’s self written computer animation language EXPLOR. Made in 1970 this 4 minute film crams in a spectacular amount of visual information, cutting from geometric sequences reminiscent of Cellular Automata to analogue sequences of organic forms – immersions of liquids and oils so favoured by the West Coast light show fanatacists around the same time.
rarefilmm | The Cave of Forgotten Films Posts
Jimmy is a self-loathing and frustrated musician who works at a candy shop. He takes out his rage on his long suffering wife and his business partner and best friend, who lives next door. Jimmy’s marital problems come to a head when his wife discovers that she’s pregnant and one of her friends, an actress, comes to stay with them. Based on the play, the story takes place in England in the 1950’s.
The film tells about two brother doctors, one of whom operated on a boy, and the other assisted him. A blood transfusion was necessary and the surgeon poured the boy blood from the wrong group, as a result of which the boy died, and the brothers’ life changed. The first became a kerosene salesman, the second – the chairman of the City Council.
Alex Andero feels stuck washing dishes in his family’s trattoria in New York City. He wants to write screenplays, and he has a great idea. Trouble is, he’s not much with a typewriter; so, when his cousin calls and says a producer likes the idea and wants a script, Alex swallows his homophobia and asks for help from Elliot Springer, a talented writer who’s an insecure, gay, Jewish nebbish. Elliot doesn’t want the job, but Alex sets him up with Joey, a good-looking actor who works in the cafe. Elliot and Joey are soon getting it on, the script is slowly emerging, and Alex is discovering the beauty of Gwen, a woman in his writing class. Then, ego and greed threaten the partnership.
Canadian poet Leonard Cohen who now resides on the island of Hydra in Greece, is shown in his native city of Montreal. The program explores Cohens childhood and his subsequent development as one of Canadas leading new writers. The film takes viewers to the house Cohen was brought up in as well as to the places of Montreal he enjoys frequenting his favorite bistro, a three dollar-a-day hotel, the public park, the exclusive section called Westmount, and a Greek grocery store. Cohen himself is shown at a recording session, at public readings of his poetry, displaying home movies of his childhood, and commenting on university life. He also reflects on his visit to Cuba, his girlfriend in Greece, his obsession with danger and his friends and their personalities.
Once Upon a Time was filmed entirely in different spaces in and around John Berger’s house in the Haute Savoie in France. It’s a moving and unusual meditation on our experience of time, as revealed through a careful selection of contrasting and thought-provoking time-centred ‘stories’, both old and new. And whether written by himself or others, all were read by John and beautifully edited, using only the filmed images of things found inside the house in books or on the walls, or outside in the surrounding countryside and nearest town.
On the sea beach, a tourist inflates and creates an entire campsite out of plastic. In this colorful inflated environment, there is a plastic substitute for everything, even for feelings. On the beach, a ravishing love, jealousy and revenge, and in the end tragedy, are born.