Passages

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flyonthewall2983
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Re: Passages

#7976 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:55 am

Lawrence Paull, production designer for Blade Runner and Back To The Future

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MichaelB
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Re: Passages

#7977 Post by MichaelB » Sat Nov 16, 2019 8:35 am

Vojtěch Jasný, who like his almost exact contemporary František Vláčil just missed out on being part of the Czechoslovak New Wave generation, and consequently enjoyed much less international attention, although When the Cat Comes (1963) won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, and All My Good Countrymen (1968) is quite correctly regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of Czech cinema.

I met him a decade or so ago - he emigrated to the US after the Soviet invasion of 1968 and consequently spoke perfect English - and he was delightful company, albeit with a rather disconcerting resemblance to the protagonist of Pixar's then recently-released Up.

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Dylan
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:28 pm

Re: Passages

#7978 Post by Dylan » Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:13 am

R.I.P. I've only seen When the Cat Comes, which is a spectacular film and one I'm surprised is still so obscure. I believe it will gain many, many fans if it ever gets a blu-ray release.


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BenoitRouilly
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:49 pm

Re: Passages

#7980 Post by BenoitRouilly » Fri Nov 22, 2019 2:28 pm

Jean Douchet, Cahiers critic, director, cinéphile par excellence, cinema historian, film professor, cine-club animator

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domino harvey
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Re: Passages

#7981 Post by domino harvey » Fri Nov 22, 2019 2:33 pm

RIP, one of the OGs. He directed a few shorts as well

black&huge
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2017 5:35 am

Re: Passages

#7982 Post by black&huge » Fri Nov 22, 2019 3:33 pm

Not being insenstivie but I thought he had already been long passed. His very small (basically cameo) role in House of 1000 Corpses is fun to watch

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Feego
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:30 pm
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Re: Passages

#7983 Post by Feego » Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:25 pm

Slight correction: Pollard did not win the Oscar, losing instead to George Kennedy for Cool Hand Luke. His performance, though, is the source of a favorite non sequitur between my mom and me when we'll just randomly quote his line, "Are there any pictures of Meerna Loy? She's my favorite picture star."

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antnield
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
Location: Cheltenham, England

Re: Passages

#7984 Post by antnield » Sat Nov 23, 2019 7:23 am


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Dylan
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:28 pm

Re: Passages

#7985 Post by Dylan » Mon Nov 25, 2019 5:12 pm


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MichaelB
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Re: Passages

#7986 Post by MichaelB » Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:11 am

Jonathan Miller, a ubiquitous presence in British culture for six full decades - he was one of the original Beyond the Fringe quartet alongside Alan Bennett (now the only survivor), Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and went on to become a renowned theatre, opera and television director (plus one cinema feature: Take a Girl Like You) and also a prolific TV presenter.

His TV output includes two remarkable adaptations, Alice in Wonderland (1966) and Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968), and he also pretty much single-handedly rescued the BBC Television Shakespeare project at the turn of the 1980s when he took over as overall producer from the far more conservative Cedric Messina. While still hamstrung by ground rules agreed with the US co-production partners, which amongst other things meant that his approaches to people like Ingmar Bergman and Peter Brook were rebuffed, Miller's productions (some as director) were noticeably more imaginative and adventurous.

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MichaelB
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Re: Passages

#7987 Post by MichaelB » Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:18 pm

Much like Bergman and Antonioni dying on the same day in 2007, there's something weirdly fitting about two of the great UK-based television polymaths doing the same thing today.

Apart from an occasional stint as a film critic (I remember him referring to a film "directed by Walerian Borowczyk after his talent was removed by surgery") and involvement with the two Barry McKenzie comedies in the early 1970s, Clive James made no significant contribution to the big screen, but on television and the printed page he was close to ubiquitous for many decades - both as one of Britain's greatest TV critics (Nancy Banks-Smith is his only serious rival) and a hugely prolific presenter. In fact, his popularity and tendency towards jocular self-deprecation (he was always acutely aware that Australians were perceived to have a lower social and cultural status than native Britons) tended to undermine the fact that he was a very fine writer indeed, and no mean poet either.

(UPDATE: it seems that he died a few days ago but his family postponed the announcement.)
Last edited by MichaelB on Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Passages

#7988 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Nov 27, 2019 12:37 pm

Here's a Newsnight video with Clive James on poetry.

I used to embarrassingly get Clive James mixed up with Clive Anderson for the longest time, maybe just because they were both ubiquitous on television in my childhood. I think I was most familiar early on with Clive James because of his New Year's Eve round ups on the BBC (that review of the 80s episode has a quite awkwardly relevant zinger right now: "Would Prince Charles ever meet a girl he could fall in love with; and would Prince Andrew ever meet one he couldn't?")

He also belatedly discovered the joys of TV series box sets.

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domino harvey
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Re: Passages

#7989 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:05 pm

35 year old actor Godfrey Gao, of a heart attack while filming an “extreme” Chinese competition show

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Passages

#7990 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:16 pm

Gao was in one of the lesser known Young Adult franchise starters that never got a sequel The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and has since headlined a few films including The Jade Pendant, Legend of the Ancient Sword (directed by Renny Harlin?!?!?) and most recently opposite Shu Qi in alien invasion sci-fi Shanghai Fortress.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Passages

#7991 Post by zedz » Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:58 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:11 am
Jonathan Miller, a ubiquitous presence in British culture for six full decades - he was one of the original Beyond the Fringe quartet alongside Alan Bennett (now the only survivor), Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and went on to become a renowned theatre, opera and television director (plus one cinema feature: Take a Girl Like You) and also a prolific TV presenter.
And whatever else he could find to occupy his fervid brain. Years ago, I saw a fascinating exhibition of his at the Tate about mirrors in art, that encompassed all kinds of different aspects on the concept, from technology (e.g. the use of optical tools by painters), to self-portraiture, to op art.

His psychedelic version of Alice is a truly remarkable bit of television (and, I guess, literary criticism).

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Passages

#7992 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Thu Nov 28, 2019 4:00 am

I love Miller's dictum that successful directing is just reminding the actors what they already know.
I once had a face to face with him when he dropped his credit card in the South Bank café which I retrieved for him. There was a frozen minute when he stood there waiting for me to say something but of course nothing was forthcoming as my brain was in search mode for something erudite. Happened to me once before when I realised I was sitting next to Richard Thompson on top of a no 73 bus for 20 minutes.
zedz wrote:
Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:58 pm
Years ago, I saw a fascinating exhibition of his at the Tate about mirrors in art, that encompassed all kinds of different aspects on the concept, from technology (e.g. the use of optical tools by painters), to self-portraiture, to op art.
I would have loved to see that Do you remember what year or if a catalogue was available?

ethel
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:47 am

Re: Passages

#7993 Post by ethel » Thu Nov 28, 2019 10:16 pm

Jonathan Miller’s reflection exhibition at the Tate was accompanied by a typically brilliant series of short films entitled ON REFLECTION. It’s on YouTube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dYPPaNWwIFQ

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Passages

#7994 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Fri Nov 29, 2019 5:19 am

ethel wrote:
Thu Nov 28, 2019 10:16 pm
Jonathan Miller’s reflection exhibition at the Tate was accompanied by a typically brilliant series of short films entitled ON REFLECTION. It’s on YouTube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dYPPaNWwIFQ
Great stuff Ethel Thanks

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Dylan
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:28 pm

Re: Passages

#7995 Post by Dylan » Fri Nov 29, 2019 11:47 pm

Joan Staley, actress and Playboy Playmate, wonderful in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and many, many other films and tv shows.

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JAP
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Re: Passages

#7996 Post by JAP » Sat Nov 30, 2019 8:22 am

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:
I would have loved to see that Do you remember what year or if a catalogue was available?
Actually the exhibition entitled Mirror Image: Jonathan Miller on Refelection was held at the National Gallery from 16 September to 13 December 1998. You can still find the catalogue here or here. A contemporary interview.

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Buttery Jeb
Just in it for the game.
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:55 pm

Re: Passages

#7997 Post by Buttery Jeb » Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:59 pm


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fiddlesticks
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Re: Passages

#7998 Post by fiddlesticks » Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:31 pm


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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Passages

#7999 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:35 pm

Record executive Joe Smith. Remarkable career, he had a big hand in freeing Van Morrison from his dire situation with Bang Records and signing him with Warner Bros. He later ignited Bonnie Raitt's career when he signed her to Capitol Records (where she cut three unexpectedly huge multiplatinum hit albums). At the same time, I think he's the Deadhead exec who buried Paul's Boutique, telling the Beastie Boys that the new Donnie Osmond record was their priority.

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Morgan Creek
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:55 am
Location: NYC

Re: Passages

#8000 Post by Morgan Creek » Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:59 pm

Smith appears in the recent Linda Ronstadt documentary, acknowledging his bad calls in dissuading her from recording the hugely successful Riddle albums and the canciones.

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