Golden Age of Hollywood Book Club discussion

TBD. I have a list saved somewhere with active links. Will post when it turns up.

Many of these pioneering works are quit brief pieces which you can find on-line. So they're easy-to-view. minimal time investment for hugely educating and fascinating visual rewards. Some are mind-blowing even in our era of visual-saturation.

Which ones have you seen? Any?

I have seen a few Maya Deren things and several Man Ray things. I have watched some Brakhage but I didn't get through it. I've seen both of the Dali/Bunuel collaborations. I have seen most of Warhol's screentests and big chunks of Chelsea Girls, as well as some of the Edie shorts. But I have never sat through Empire or Taylor Mead's Ass.

Well, here's one off the top-of-my-head. "Meshes of the Afternoon". Easily found on Youtube.

Classic. I think The Private Life of a Cat is also easily found.

Here's a collection of early American avante-garde cinema which has been on my wish-list for a long time. You can see a listing of directors and titles in the liner notes.

https://tinyurl.com/qmthjqb

I just noticed that James Benning's " 11 X 14" is available to view online.

Benning's directorial style emphasizes long (2 mins) shots with a fixed camera to give the viewer the impression that they're present in a particular time and place; as if you're part of it. Pedestrians saunter by like ghosts but nothing intrinsically changes over the length of the shot so it feels like being in a painting. I'm interested to sample some more of his stuff sometime, for instance 'One Way Boogie Woogie' is another acclaimed title.

Do y'all think that Andy Warhol's films are experimental?

Some might call them that. I thought they were indigestible...

:p

Eh, that wacko. I appreciate him more as an artist than as either a person or a 'filmmaker'. With his movies, He was doing kinda like what Lou Reed did with his anti-music LP, 'Metal Machine Music'. Just some self-made agitprop to irk critics and thus, be provocative.

Indigestible is an excellent word for how I feel about them. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't alone when I think that a 2 hour film of someone sleeping is idiotic. I don't have much appreciation for Warhol in any medium....hey, I can draw a Campbell's soup can.

He was a pioneering artist but the kind of which I feel that, "if it hadn't been him then someone else similar to him, right around the same time, would've followed the exact same path".

You can't say this about truly milestone artists; but you can usually say it about pop-artists.

I have to admit that I do like Keith Haring's work but there is a certain humor about it that I don't find with Warhol.

You people just can't appreciate the power and beauty of Taylor Mead's Ass. But in all seriousness, the Edie films and Chelsea Girls are pretty interesting. I like the screen tests, too.

How outre'! Dee-Luxe! Dee-lish! Deee-vine!

I guess we're just comfortable middle-brows around here. ha

It's funny--just awhile after seeing this thread I found the film Factory Girl at Goodwill. Pretty good, but I wish they actually had some of Warhol's Edie films in the extras. Dylan wouldn't let them use his name so his character name is "Quinn." They did better with the Warhol portion. Overall, a good biopic if you care about 60's NYC.

I should probably tell the Taylor Mead story for those not in the know. The story is that a critic made a comment about Warhol's Tarzan to the effect of "I really don't need to see Taylor Mead's ass for two hours." So, being Warhol and Mead, they decided to literally make a film of Taylor Mead's ass for two hours.

I must be a total dork but I would not pay to see a film of Taylor Mead's ass or a man sleeping. I just don't see the attraction of Warhol's work in film.

Feh! No more Andy Warhol discussion!

LOL. I think they showed in one theater in the Village. Mostly an excuse for the Factory people to get out of the Factory for their partying. I doubt if anybody actually stared at his ass or the Empire State Building or people sitting on a couch for the whole time. OK. I'm done!

Me too!

Hey, who here has seen the Eames films? Crazy trippy but scientifically fascinating stuff!

Early photographer pioneer, if memory serves. Kodak and Eames. Right? Are his products similar to Edweard Muybridge?

It was a couple that had their hands in lots of pies--particularly design. The films that I've seen and probably the best known are The Powers of 10 and the much earlier study for the Powers of 10. It starts with a close up of somebody's hand and moves slowly out to reveal the earth, then moves out into the galaxy. Then slowly comes back to the hand and becomes more and more microscopic. Really fascinating. I think the whole thing is on youtube.

'The Way Things Work'; German movie --is one of those kinds of flicks.

Walter Ruttmann is the only German experimental film director with whom I am familiar. I have seen clips from his Berlin: Symphony of a Great City which is more of a documentary of one day in the city from dawn to midnight. It looks really interesting for the modern day viewer but I don't know if it is available in its entirety. Otherwise, experimental film is lost on me. Expressionist German film such as Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is another story....love it.

Darnit. I wish I could locate the list I once made. You'd sing a different tune!