This Is Not AI

But “generate a Wes Anderson film” is everyone’s favorite prompt.

I keep saying I’m going to the next movie, when the last one I watched was Darjeeling Limited.

But this time I might!

This Guy

My first post on the originale blogge was David Lynch. It seems fitting that I should comment on how he affected me, the central character of the universe.

I’ll spare you.

Someone asked me what Lynch I would be staying up late watching. I thought “probably none; his work is always spinning in my head anyway; it’s easy to call scenes to mind simply by thinking about them.”

[partial view of the home Lynch shelf]

Please note Lynch on Lynch on the far left, too worn to be legible anymore. I love his intuition and his thinking, the dream logic, the credit he seems to give to his audience for being as artistic as he is. And Alan Splet (sound engineer) and Angelo Badalementi. The struggle to find expression in images and sound when words just won’t do. An endless source of inspiration, fascination, humor, and wonder for me. A lot of great tributes out there, including Kyle MacLachlan and Defector.

Long in the Tooth

I have zero desire to watch the same film over. The nostalgiafication of Star Wars was nauseating.

The Wilhelm Scream

It’s positively ubiquitous! According to Gizmodo

The sound effect that’s been heard in countless movies and TV shows over the decades technically has two birthdays. As a sound itself, it originally debuted in the 1951 film Distant Drums from singer-songwriter Sheb Wooley. But it was officially given its name with the minor character of Private Wilhelm in The Charge at Feather River, a western that came out July 11, 1953. In that movie, Wilhelm (played by actor Ralph Brooks) screams after being shot in the thigh with an arrow, which would come to define its use: in all of its appearances in future media, it would be used when someone got shot, blasted back by an explosion, or fell from a high distance.

Recently, CBS News did a story on the Wilhelm Scream, and the outlet revealed that it managed to find a tape with the first recording session Wooley did for the scream. CalArts researcher Craig Smith explained to CBS that he found the tape among many from the archives of the University of Southern California’s film school that were close to being trashed.

New Wes Anderson

I like most of Wes Anderson’s films. They are quirky for sure, and not for everyone. I like his color palette, and symmetry. The script is usually pretty odd, but sometimes funny. This new one has another ensemble cast, but based on this trailer, I think it might be a miss. That being said, I don’t think any of his trailers make the films look great…

Any of you bastards fans of Wes Anderson?

Cello!

I watched Tár this week. The featured musical pieces include Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor (above). The subtleties are lost on my underdeveloped musical perceiving apparatus, but I rather enjoyed the passages from Elgar.

Also, and independently, I learned that the lyric from “A Quick One While He’s Away” is not

cello cello cello cello cello cello cello

but

jerrald jerrald jerrald jerrald jerrald jerrald jerrald