Offscreen Notes
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B.B. King: 1925-2015
B.B. King may not have had much impact in the world of cinema, but when it comes to popular music, often a driving force in the movies, B.B. was a giant among giants. King’s rags (on the Mississippi plantation fields) to riches (accolades in the world of blues music, recording and live) story is a common theme in many Hollywood classics where the ‘little guy’ rises to the occasion. As a blues singer and guitarist King had few peers when it came to the dynamic interchange between his soulful voice and mellifluous guitar tone. As an amateur blues guitarist B.B. taught me that no matter how closely you may emulate the notes of a famous guitar phrase, the SOUND comes from more than just the notes. And B.B. had an unmistakable SOUND. Along with his two other namesakes Albert and Freddie, the three ‘Kings’ solidified the ever lasting presence of blues-inspired guitar playing across the history of rock and roll. As Muddy Waters sang, “the blues had a baby and named it rock and roll.” Together the three Kings influenced more seminal rock guitarists (Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Michael Bloomfield, Jack White, Joe Perry, Keith Richards, Bill Nelson, Roy Buchanan, Gary Moore, Billy Gibbons, and onward) than any other group of players. Before he died, at age 88, King was the subject of a feature length documentary by Jon Brewer, B.B. King: The Life of Riley, which is soon to be released in theatres, VOD, pay-per-view, and on DVD (trailer here). I can just hear B.B. exchanging notes with Jimi up in guitar heaven.
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Manoel de Oliveira 1908-2015
The oldest living (and active) filmmaker is no longer, as Manoel de Oliveira passed away at the age of 106 on April 2, 2015. Check Fandor for an appreciative obit with links to audio-visual essays (and fine one from Kevin B. Lee), clips, etc.
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An Interview with Nima Javidi, director of Melbourne
Just posted, an interview with the young Iranian director of the award winning suspense drama Melbourne, Nima Javidi.
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Francesco Rosi, Anita Ekberg, RIP
Bad week for lovers of Italian cinema, with the deaths of the great director Francesco Rosi (at age 92 on Janaury 10, 2015) and Anita Ekberg, who died a day later at age 83 also in Italy. Ekberg was born in Sweden but chose to live in the country which gave the most to her acting career, Italy, where her appearance as Marcello’s angelic muse/fantasy in the Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita is arguably one of the most famous moments in cinema history. My personal favorite of her roles is as the uptight conservative Dr. Antonio Mazzuolo’s 50 foot fantasy terror billboard woman come to life in Fellini’s contribution to the omnibus film Boccaccio 70. Rosi was a writer/director of several key films of the 1960s, mixing a neo neo-realist aesthetic with contemporary social issues in such classics as Salvatore Giuliano (a huge influence on Martin Scorsese and the gangster/crime genres), Hands Over the City, The Mattei Affair, Lucky Luciano and Christ Stopped at Eboli.
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Preview of the 2014 World Film Festival
Writer David Hanley gives his recommendations on ten films to see at the 2014 WFF.
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More on An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
If my analysis of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge in issue 18/5 was not enough for you, I was contacted by a fellow fan of the film, Patricia D’Ascoli, after she read my piece and graciously provided a link to her own analysis, a comparison between the version that appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959 and the version that aired on Twilight Zone and how they differ from the Bierce short story. The paper served a pedagogical tool to help her Literary Criticism students cultivate their analytical writing skills. Here essay appeared in the Winter 2014 edition of the literary newsletter, Connecticut Muse (it begins on page 4). [the link appears to be dead now, alas]
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Artsforum Magazine
Recently discovered this Canadian wide-ranging cultural issues online journal which reminds me in its scope and literary bent of the excellent print magazine, The Believer Magazine, perhaps with a more politically driven interest (and from a Canadian perspective). Still, it is an ‘old-fashioned’ (I mean this in a good sense) liberal arts style magazine with a critical interest in all the arts (film, poetry, painting, photography, music, television, theatre, fiction).
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NFB does the 1960s
New NFB fiction channel focuses on their films made in or set in the 1960s.
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Wolf Koenig (1927-2014)
One of the great pioneers of Canadian cinema, Wolf Koenig, passed away on June 27, 2014 at the age of 86. Koenig’s often teamed up with Roman Kroiter or Colin Low and together they helped shape the history of Canadian cinema with their classic documentaries, animation and fiction films. As a member of the famed Unit B at the NFB, Koenig was part of the cinema verite (or direct cinema) documentary movement, with such films as City of Gold, Corral, Lonely Boy, and Glenn Gould: On the Record.
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The Glorious and The Grotesque: Horror Cinema of the 70s and 80s
Offscreen would like to announce the official launch of a new website dedicated to the study of horror cinema of the 1970s and 1980s, created, designed and written by Justin H. Langlois: The Glorious and The Grotesque: Horror Cinema of the 70s and 80s. This website is ‘sponsored’ by Offscreen, meaning that its development was encouraged by Offscreen and supported through editorial suggestions and guidance. This idea of sponsored websites is a new Offscreen initiative, which aims at helping to nurture and promote online film writing by young and upcoming critics, researchers, historians, and scholars. Stay tuned for other ‘sponsored’ websites to be announced on Offscreen. Langlois is an MA Graduate student in Film Studies at Concordia University, and this website bears the fruit of his graduate research. As it stands the content was written by Justin, but the goal of these ‘sponsored’ websites is to make them an ‘open source’ reference point for ongoing research that any one can contribute to in any number of ways, depending on the nature and subject of the website. For example, where “The Glorious and The Grotesque” is concerned, interested readers can contribute additional entries on remakes, reviews of relevant material, links, and sources. All contributors will be cited by name on the website. Received material will of course be subject to editorial scrutiny but the hope is to keep the sites open to a variety of writing styles, approaches and research methodologies. Final decision on inclusion will be reserved to the site creator and/or Offscreen. Any one interested in submitting a contribution to “The Glorious and The Grotesque” website please email their queries or submissions to either Justin H. Langlois or Donato Totaro.
