7.29.2012
Stuff I Dig: Zorn's Lemma
An experimental film from American avant-garde filmmaker Hollis Frampton. It begins with a dark screen and a woman narrating from The Bay State Primer, an early American grammar textbook that teaches the letters of the alphabet by using them in sentences derived from the Bible, then the rest of the film is mostly silent. It presents us with a recurring structure that perpetually moves throughout a 24-letter alphabet via various signs in New York with words that propel the film along. Gradually other images are added to the loop, some of them themselves slowly developing as we arrive at them the next time around. It concludes with a man, woman and dog crossing a snowy field, while several narrators each narrate one word at a time read from an 11th century treatise, "On Light, or the Ingression of Forms", by Robert Grosseteste. Ambiguous, metaphorical and fascinating. A veritable masterpiece of structural filmmaking.
"This radical example of reductive cinema is a warning of things to come: 'Meaning' (political, psychological, personal, or whatever) has been eliminated and the work exists purely for itself, demanding attention to structure, pattern and orchestration. Reality is declared impalpable, faceless, incoherent, existing in inexplicable grandeur, independent of us." - Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art
Hollis Frampton on Hollis Frampton:
"Hollis Frampton was born in Ohio, United States, on March 11, 1936, towards the end of the Machine Age. Educated (that is, programmed: taught table manners, the use of the semicolon, and so forth) in Ohio and Massachusetts. The process resulted in satisfaction for no one. Studied (sat around on the lawn at St. Elizabeths) with Ezra Pound, 1957-58. That study is far from concluded. Moved to New York in March, 1958, lived and worked there more than a decade. People I met there composed the faculty of a phantasmal 'graduate school'. Began to make still photographs at the end of 1958. Nothing much came of it. First fumblings with cinema began in the Fall of 1962; the first films I will publicly admit to making came in early 1966. Worked, for years, as a film laboratory technician. More recently, Hunter College and the Cooper Union have been hospitable. Moved to Eaton, New York in mid-1970, where I now live (a process enriched and presumably, prolonged, by the location) and work...See more Hollis Frampton works.
A Bruce Lee Moment: Guru Dan Inosanto on Bruce Lee's Grappling
Guru Dan Inosanto delves into Bruce Lee's thoughts and practices of grappling.
Black Belt: A lot of people think that Bruce Lee’s jeet kune do was only about kickboxing and trapping, but that’s not the whole picture, is it?
Dan Inosanto: Absolutely not. While sifu Bruce was alive, he personally researched grappling arts like Chinese chin-na, Wally Jay’s jujitsu and Japanese judo, and he trained with Gene LeBell. Even in Tao of Jeet Kune Do, he clearly illustrated grappling techniques—throws, locks and submissions. And if you watch the opening scene of Enter the Dragon where he’s fighting Sammo Hung, how does he finish the fight? With a submission.
Black Belt: Why do you think that so many people can’t see past Lee’s kickboxing, trapping and nunchaku work?
Dan Inosanto: Sifu Bruce knew what looked good on camera. [Most] of the techniques in his movies are striking oriented, not because he couldn’t do other things but because he clearly knew that the subtleties of grappling are very hard, if not impossible, for the camera to capture.
Black Belt: Are there different ranges within grappling range?
Dan Inosanto: Certainly. There’s what’s referred to in Tao of Jeet Kune Do as the tie-up range, which is essentially the standing clinch range. This is like what wrestlers do now with pummeling. They have the collar hold. They grab the biceps, triceps, wrist, neck, forearm, etc. These clinch tactics are highly useful for strikers because they allow them to tie up their opponents and gain some time to recover from a solid hit or to catch their breath. Grapplers must learn this range, or else they’ll be unable to bridge the gap and dominate their opponents on the ground. So they have techniques like overhooks, underhooks and the two-on-one to help them achieve the takedown. That’s a different game than the ground game, but they’re both part of the totality of grappling.
Black Belt: What are your thoughts on the grappling legacy of Lee?
Dan Inosanto: My personal thought is that sifu Bruce would think that it’s OK to research other grappling arts, like shooto and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I think that if he’d had information on those systems, he’d have researched them to find out what was valuable.
Street fighting is evolving. Back in the 1960s, nobody knew how to kick like the average street fighter does now. And nowadays, because of media exposure, the average untrained assailant is more familiar with grappling. War, conflict, combat, fighting—however you want to put it—it’s in constant evolution. If your combative technology and strategies don’t evolve, you risk extinction.
For the complete interview on Black Belt magazine, here.
Black Belt: A lot of people think that Bruce Lee’s jeet kune do was only about kickboxing and trapping, but that’s not the whole picture, is it?
Dan Inosanto: Absolutely not. While sifu Bruce was alive, he personally researched grappling arts like Chinese chin-na, Wally Jay’s jujitsu and Japanese judo, and he trained with Gene LeBell. Even in Tao of Jeet Kune Do, he clearly illustrated grappling techniques—throws, locks and submissions. And if you watch the opening scene of Enter the Dragon where he’s fighting Sammo Hung, how does he finish the fight? With a submission.
Black Belt: Why do you think that so many people can’t see past Lee’s kickboxing, trapping and nunchaku work?
Dan Inosanto: Sifu Bruce knew what looked good on camera. [Most] of the techniques in his movies are striking oriented, not because he couldn’t do other things but because he clearly knew that the subtleties of grappling are very hard, if not impossible, for the camera to capture.
Black Belt: Are there different ranges within grappling range?
Dan Inosanto: Certainly. There’s what’s referred to in Tao of Jeet Kune Do as the tie-up range, which is essentially the standing clinch range. This is like what wrestlers do now with pummeling. They have the collar hold. They grab the biceps, triceps, wrist, neck, forearm, etc. These clinch tactics are highly useful for strikers because they allow them to tie up their opponents and gain some time to recover from a solid hit or to catch their breath. Grapplers must learn this range, or else they’ll be unable to bridge the gap and dominate their opponents on the ground. So they have techniques like overhooks, underhooks and the two-on-one to help them achieve the takedown. That’s a different game than the ground game, but they’re both part of the totality of grappling.
Black Belt: What are your thoughts on the grappling legacy of Lee?
Dan Inosanto: My personal thought is that sifu Bruce would think that it’s OK to research other grappling arts, like shooto and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I think that if he’d had information on those systems, he’d have researched them to find out what was valuable.
Street fighting is evolving. Back in the 1960s, nobody knew how to kick like the average street fighter does now. And nowadays, because of media exposure, the average untrained assailant is more familiar with grappling. War, conflict, combat, fighting—however you want to put it—it’s in constant evolution. If your combative technology and strategies don’t evolve, you risk extinction.
For the complete interview on Black Belt magazine, here.
IWTST: Elevator to the Gallows
I Want To See This:
A scene from Elevators to the Gallows directed by Louis Malle. Miles Davis scores the music while Jeanne Moreau does her thing.
A scene from Elevators to the Gallows directed by Louis Malle. Miles Davis scores the music while Jeanne Moreau does her thing.
7.22.2012
Stuff I Dig: Kumi Yamashita
Using light and shadow she creates sculptures.
Simple and dope.
So dope.
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7.10.2012
Stuff I Dig: Craig Baldwin
Cinemad: Craig Baldwin by Cinemad
All at once a filmmaker, archivist, culture jammer,
exhibitor, teacher and underground film historian, Craig Baldwin is one of the pillars
of the experimental film world. As a filmmaker, his landmark TRIBULATION 99
(1991) is a calculated frenzy of reworked found footage layered with every
conspiracy theory ever made forming a pitch-perfect statement of our times. He
hasn’t slowed down since, making four more features, a DVD label and running
Other Cinema in San Francisco's Mission District. A screening room with an
eclectic lineup programmed by Baldwin of beautiful art films and important
political works, OC finds the fringes of film and embraces them. Cinemad talks with Craig about
filmmaking and how to get unusual cinema to the masses.
IWTST: Ballplayer, Pelotero
I Want To See This:
Loren King reports:
“Ballplayer: Pelotero,” which comes to the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline for a preview Wednesday and opens there on Friday, has not gone over well with Major League Baseball. The league is displeased with the film’s allegations of corruption and coercion in the signing process for young prospects from the Dominican Republic. MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said in an e-mail that the league “had a conversation with the Red Sox about the inaccuracies and misrepresentations that were in the documentary,” but did not elaborate on what they were. Valentine said the film simply reflects reality.
7.05.2012
7.04.2012
VA+MA=DI Video Pick: Matthew Dear "Her Fantasy"
Director Tommy O'Haver's video for Matthew Dear's "Her Fantasy" takes us on a journey
through bizarre sequences of debauchery and seduction with a hint of
humor, as he pays homage to Avant Garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger in a
self-described "mash-up."
New album, "Beams" available on 8/27th (UK/Europe) and 8/28th (US).
New album, "Beams" available on 8/27th (UK/Europe) and 8/28th (US).
7.03.2012
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