Archive for the 'Film & Video' Category

Emergent Linguistic Behavior

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

Gatherers of Light

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

I’m nearing the end of my project of excavating old images from the depths of my hard drive. There have been some interesting discoveries along the way. A few days ago, I found a set of photos I thought had been lost, from March 23rd, 2002. That’s when I made a road trip to Shreveport [...]

The Boboli Video

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

And now here comes a video from the unfathomable T Bill featuring Xy and yours truly at the Kroger grocery in Bloomington, Indiana, circa mid ’90s. I guess I gave this raw footage to T Bill when he visited years ago and then forgot about it. I never expected to see it again. But, lo [...]

Second Alpha-Cinematic Circumnavigation

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

We’ve finished our second pass through the alphabet. The first go-round took three years and was interrupted by Katrina; this second go-round took thirteen months and was interrupted by the birth of our daughter.
Out of 130-odd DVDs, my favorites were 28 Days Later, A.I., The Bridge on the River Kwai, Baraka, The Bicycle Thief, Cabaret, [...]

Hillbilly Hercules II

Friday, March 28th, 2008

I didn’t have anything to do with the production of this short video from 1994, but friend Rob Womack just advised me it’s on YouTube and it certainly deserves to be seen by more people.

Observant viewers will note Xy in the role of Athena. Bonus points if you can spot her other appearance.

Amaretto Sour

Thursday, March 20th, 2008

Some friends have suggested posting old ROX videos on YouTube.

I wonder if this is a good idea?

Sweeney

Saturday, December 22nd, 2007

Xy and I went to see Sweeney Todd at a suburban cineplex last night. It’s a truly impressive film, masterful, the latest iteration of a story that goes back at least 160 years — and yet I had two major reservations.
For one thing, both Xy and I were somewhat squeamish with regard to the graphic [...]

Obligatory and Unsatisfactory Ruminations on the Public Housing Debacle in New Orleans

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

The struggle over public housing has been building for years here in New Orleans. Now it’s ramping up to new levels.
It’s a disgusting and pathetic spectacle. With apologies to Mom and Dad, it’s a clusterfuck. There’s just no other word to describe it. I don’t have it in me to play reporter and account for [...]

Caitlyn

Saturday, December 15th, 2007

Last night Xy and I took one of her students out to dinner at Venezia’s. We had pasta and pizza and then got desert at Angelo Brocato’s. After that we went to see The Golden Compass at the Prytania.
Caitlyn is very quiet and serious, one of Xy’s smartest students. In fact, Xy’s says Caitlyn is [...]

Celebrating Helen on PBS

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Please take a moment to contact your local PBS affiliate and ask them to air the film Helen Hill: Celebrating a Life in Film. You can get further information about how to do this here.

ReTubed

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Let me see if I got this straight. The American Society of Civil Engineers got pissed off about the video PSA produced by high school students and posted by Levees.org to YouTube. ASCE demanded the video be removed. So Levees.org removed it. Then, the Times-Picayune wrote a story about it. As part of their online [...]

Unsolved

Friday, September 14th, 2007

There will be a segment about Helen Hill’s unsolved murder case on America’s Most Wanted tomorrow night. I believe they’ll be using some video I shot of her jazz funeral.
Also, Helen’s brother, Jake Hill, is in New Orleans to hold a meeting and press conference at the Sound Café (2700 Chartres) this afternoon (Sept. 14th, [...]

RCA Dome

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

In anticipation of tonite’s massively hyped match between the Saints and the Colts, I’d like to draw your attention to ROX #82: The RCA State.
In this episode, we visit the famed RCA Dome, scene of tonight’s action. Note that this was shot back in 1995. But it’s still relevant, dammit. Watch it if you don’t [...]

Two Events

Sunday, June 24th, 2007

On Thursday, Xy and I went on down to Spanish Plaza, caught the tail end of Dennis Quaid and the Sharks and watched The Big Easy on the big screen. (I wrote about this event in advance, but remember, I am not a marketing tool.) It was fun in a cheesy way. As Chris Martel [...]

Falling Together

Friday, June 22nd, 2007

I was interviewed this morning for Falling Together, which is a documentary film about the rebuilding of New Orleans. (At least I think that’s what it is. I can’t keep up with all that’s going on.) We sat on the porch of my neighbor’s abandoned house, and I talked for almost 90 minutes. I didn’t [...]

I Am Not a Marketing Tool

Monday, June 18th, 2007

I like Netflix. They’ve got a nice service that I enjoy and they did right by their customers after Katrina, automatically suspending all subscriptions within the disaster zone.
But by God, I am not promoting this event on Thursday. Dennis Quaid rocks Spanish Plaza, followed by a screening of The Big Easy? I have no clue [...]

Z

Friday, June 8th, 2007

Woo to the hoo. We’ve reached the final letter of the alphabet. We watched three films that began with Z.

Z (1969) This is a French film but it is set in Greece. Since I speak neither French nor Greek, my confusion was minimal. The story concerns violent political intrigue and is based on real [...]

Y

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

Three films that start with Y.

The Yes Men (2004) This documentary chronicles the global adventures of a pair of ingenious and ballsy political pranksters. New Orleanians will remember these guys impersonated a HUD official and declared the re-opening of the housing projects. (That event took place after this film was produced.) Just after Katrina I [...]

X

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

Everybody knows that X is the coolest letter in the alphabet, yet there was only one X movie on my list: X: The Unheard Music (1985). It’s a documentary about the band, X. The band is great, but the movie is merely good with some great moments (and of course great music). I think the [...]

W

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007

We are rapidly closing in on the end of this three-year video adventure. For those just joining us, we’ve been watching all the movies I’ve always wanted to see, but somehow never did… in alphabetical order.
We now present those titles that begin with W. That’s double-u, not Dubya. My apologies to any who might [...]