b.rox

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 [...]

There were four “V” movies on my list, and three of them were quite good. In fact, I’m not sure which of these I liked best:

Victim — 1961. If I said this was gay noir you’d probably get the wrong idea. It’s a taut and suspenseful drama about a time (not that long ago) when [...]

There was only one ‘U’ movie on our list: Under Fire, 1983. Nick Nolte is a photographer running around Nicaragua with Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy, circa 1979, during the civil war. There’s action and politics and romance and intrigue. It was even a little educational.
It was pretty good, but could have been much better. [...]

We continue to make our way through the alphabet, and we’re entering the homestretch.
Ordinarily I make a note of my thoughts on a movie a day or two after viewing. But with the ‘T’ movies, I didn’t. Let’s see if I can remember anything about these 15 films. Here they are in rough order of [...]

I read Dangerblond’s musings on how to put a man to sleep. (Personally I think the Architectures documentary series sounds fascinating, and I don’t think it would put me to sleep at all.) Anyway, I invited Danger to be on my Netflix friends list. She accepted, and according to Netflix we have a 71% similarity [...]

Nero fiddled. I watch movies. But it must be noted that I’m not the emperor.

Here’s a short video I shot and edited featuring three sixth graders at the school where Xy teaches.

Problem Solving on Vimeo
The girls are Kamaria, Tekiesaine & Destiny. They’re singing lyrics of their own, inspired by Xy’s “life skills” lesson, to the tune of “Show Stopper” by Danity Kane.
We’re also sending this video to Children for [...]

Back in the late 80s, when I was just getting interested in video production, I shot some stuff at the County Line Mall in Indianapolis with my friend, Butt. (Yes, yes, that’s his real name, his last name. I will refrain from telling his first name in order to spare him potential Google embarrassment.) He’s [...]

I recently learned that the library here at the University has a stockpile of a few hundred educational filmstrips from the 50s and 60s. They’re getting rid of them, selling them to some company that extracts the silver.
I guess that’s better than just throwing them away. I guess they don’t have much real value. Over [...]

ROX #94, “Hangover Cures,” is finished. The core video was shot in the Quarter about a month before Katrina. Putting it together was a labor of love.

Check it out. (Warning: Contains pickled herring.)

Xy and I are continuing our alphacinematic odyssey, at a much reduced pace. I don’t have as many evenings to watch movies as I once did. Nevertheless, it remains a welcome distraction, and we’ve finally made it through the letter R. It took us five weeks to watch eleven movies. They were mostly pretty good, [...]

Kalypso’s new movie is out. Watch it and get a look at New Orleans one year after Katrina through the eyes of an eleven year old girl. Well done, Kalypso. I’m proud to be your friend and neighbor.

I just got a call from Sandra “18 Wheeler” Hester!
Many New Orleanians have wondered about Sandra’s whereabouts since Katrina. For those outside Orleans Parish, I should explain that Sandra has been one of our most public gadflies, an outspoken critic of the public school system and a star of her own over-the-top public access television [...]

Eleven Months Post-Katrina on Vimeo
Also on YouTube.
This video seems a little disjointed to me, but hopefully you can connect the dots: We personally are OK, but as a city we are not OK, and we’re trying to make it better in any little way we can.

There was only one Q movie on my alphabetical list: Quest for Fire (1982). If I had time for research I suspect I’d discover some serious philosophical issues with this film, but all the same I was deeply impressed by the ambition and imagination at work here. The dawn of humanity is a fascinating topic, [...]

It’s taken a while but we’ve finally viewed all the “P” movies on our list.
I liked these a lot:

Patton — 1970. Great character study.
Persona — 1967. A serious avantgarde Swedish art film that’s perplexing and mysterious and somehow not boring. It’s actually quite gripping, beautiful and painful to watch, even though I didn’t understand it.
Picnic [...]

For our ten month update, I turn the helm over to Xy.

Ten Months Post-Katrina on Vimeo
Also posted to YouTube, or you can download the 5 MB QuickTime movie, but you’ll need QuickTime 7.
See also: Nine Months, Eight Months, Six Months, Five Months.

A few months ago I helped some students at Indiana University who were working on a short documentary titled “From New Orleans to the Midwest.” They got in touch with me through my video mentor and teacher Ron Osgood and asked if I could shoot some footage of New Orleans. So I shot some scenes [...]

Here’s a short (two minute) video for the nine month mark. I uploaded it to both Vimeo and YouTube, so take your pick.

The YouTube one was looking funny so I’m embedding Vimeo’s here, but you can access either via the links above.
And just to give you more options, you can also download it in .mov [...]

Simon Dorfman has posted a video interview with yours truly at PeopleOfNewOrleans.com.