Movies »Jazz on a Summer’s Day

jazz on a summer's dayI put on the 1960 documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day on a recent half day afternoon while Jim was still at work hoping for some pleasant background entertainment as I took care of stuff around the house, but I quickly found myself far more enthralled than I expected – and I even went so far as to pour a smallish glass of wine as this soothing and stunning film washed over me.

Centered at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and interspersed with the WASPy beauty of a yacht race, the movie is almost without dialogue, except for the the occasional introductions from a radio program and the banter of performers – and what performers they are! From a cooler than cool Thelonious Monk, to a cheery, feather-capped Anita O'Day, from an energetic Chuck Berry to the solemn and powerful Mahalia Jackson, the music will be instantly diggable to any fan of the genre, and possibly even create a few new ones.

Beyond the performances, the style of the film and the subjects are highly inspiring. The director seems to almost know the exact images that would excite the current nostalgic movement: a man gathering old timey bottles, a ragtime band playing on the back of a pickup through the coastal Rhode Island landscape, a woman's perfectly red lips and pony tail – these are the images that can make men who name their babies Miles and open up speakeasy barbershops weep.

It plays like a living, breathing mid-century Sartorialist, and it's little wonder that the pure visual aesthetics (and fashions in particular) are given so much weight once you learn that noted fashion photographer Bert Stern (famous for his intimate shots of Marilyn) is behind the lens. He's just as amazed by Dinah Washington's white silk banded gown as her vocals. Stern's amazing eye, combined with what has to be one of the most impressive lineups in jazz festival history, make this seemingly simple film into an extraordinary experience.

I hope this collection of stills will further inspire you to watch.

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Posted on July 20, 2009

Movies »Angel Heart

angel heart Angel Heart is nothing if not divisive, managing a strange balance between campy, sly humor (DeNiro chews it up as a “Louis Cyphre” – literally, and not too hard to figure out, “Lucifer”) and a dedication to taking itself seriously as a genre piece (the genre in question being?occult noir). It's a film both extremely crude and intricate that splits audiences in half: for every person who does not care for it, you're likely to find somebody else who counts it among their favorite films.

It's overwhelmed by the controversial appearance of a very sexed up young Lisa Bonet in a very un-Cosby like role, a performance as alarming upon the film's release in 1987 as it remains in most viewers' memories. Aside from the very graphic sexuality (which nearly earned the movie an X rating), the particulars of the plot tend to have been forgotten by most viewers over the years; I recalled the mood much more vividly than any plot particulars.

It's too bad, in a way, because the story (which I was really excited to learn was based upon a novel called Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg, author of Brix Pick Gray Matters) is, on one hand, pretty straight forward. It's also pretty compelling, even as the final twists and turns delve into deeper, pulpier areas. When demons reclaim souls with special effect yellow eyes that would have worked fine decades earlier, these days they're just daring you to giggle even as you hunker under the palpable dread and muck that the rest of the movie has so effectively conjured up.

When it comes to building atmosphere and creating beautiful images, director Alan Parker is a master. Mickey Rourke, who, in the late '80s still looked human, is perfect as rumpled private detective Harry Angel. Roger Ebert wrote eloquently of his performance, “Rourke occupies the center of the film like a violent unmade bed.”

You really have to give yourself over to the movie to enjoy it, and roll with both the surprises and the obvious. Once you accept it on its own terms, you'll discover an underrated cult classic that it still (at the very least) far more interesting than most new releases you're likely to come across.

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Posted on May 25, 2009

Songs »Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee This is my favorite Christmas song. My sister and I loved to dance to it while decorating the tree

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Posted on December 18, 2005