9.10.2009

God Gave Rock and Roll To You...

The couch I watched all my vacation movies from.

Whenever I visit Portland, I stay with my beloved friend Derek, who lives in the same building I used to live in. It's a little bit like going back in time, to return to the exact same building where I spent my formative years making all the strange choices one makes in their early 20's, but I love staying somewhere familiar and cozy. Not to mention that Derek's apartment is impeccably decorated with a film memorabilia collection that demands its very own future post.

Derek also has the amazing skill of curating an evening at home with absolutely appropriate drinks and films that you'd never end up watching otherwise, and blowing out your mind with their awesomeness, no matter how avant-garde. On my last trip, I was introduced to the super-trippy short films of Kenneth Anger, and the beautiful underwater cinematography of Jean Painleve. The Criterion Collection recently put out an amazing collection of his works, including a big chunk of films re-scored by Yo La Tengo called "Science is Fiction." Beautiful! Here's a sampler.


Also, I guess when you search "Jean Painleve octopus" on YouTube, the following video comes up as well. A magical non-sequitur to take you into whatever today has to offer you! Enjoy.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

thanks for posting the "science fiction." Was that yo la tengo's score on that video? Whatever it was, I liked it. They also did the music for the movie Adventureland, the former and latter of which are excellent.

P.s. Yay for his job at the clock maker's!

Squidhelmet said...

God gave rock n ROOOOLLLL 2 U!

LOVE that shit! I totally remember seeing this movie in the theater back in the 1800s and tracking that song back to Kiss. Such a guilty pleasure. When they break it down at the end and whisper-sing it in a round - like they're singin it straight into your heart! :D

Squidhelmet said...

Saw this on BoingBoing and I thought you could add it to your catalog of weird videos.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/09/11/lynchian-version-of.html