Gate of Flesh from 1964 is the latest (along with Story of a Prostitute, released the same day) of Seijun Suzuki’s films to get the Criterion R1 DVD treatment, and it’s definitely one of his best. It’s a pretty crazy film, but coherently so compared to the films that were to follow (such as Tokyo Drifter or Branded to Kill). Shot in powerful, Technicolor-esque explosive tones, with a Hollywood studio (almost a musical feel) in its set design and staging - which adds lots to the weirdness, since it’s a gritty, film-noir like tale of a gang of nihilistic prostitutes in bombed out post-WW2 Tokyo and a petty thief/murderer they try to shelter from the American authorities. Every frame of the film is tortured, feverish and quite sweaty, even when the tone goes slapstick, while the ideology is basically “I do what I have to do to survive.” Embracing a level of hedonism impossible to find in a Hollywood movie of that era (or any era), part of the humor of the picture comes from the way Suzuki plays with those same Hollywood conventions, for instance, dressing all the whores in their own color coded costumes! Occasionally dreamlike, but always concise, Gate of Flesh is ultimately ninety minutes of perfection. 11:31 PM >>> 0 comments

Watched three movies yesterday! It has been a really long time since I did that, but I was helped out by the excessive heat that made staying inside in the air conditioner land an even more pleasant prospect than normal. Actually watched three documentaries - How to Draw a Bunny (about oddball/artist Ray Johnson) - In The Realm of the Unreal (about oddball/artist Henry Darger) - and Bright Leaves, Ross McElwee’s wonderful exploration of his ties to North Carolina and that state and people’s complicated relationship to tobacco. All were good, but McElwee’s was the one that seemed most interesting to me (and not just because one scene takes place in a bowling alley I’ve been to before), but because it was the complicated, multi-layered kind of picture I’d imagine future generations might watch to try to figure out what was really going on with people around the turn of the century. Plus North Carolina is so beautiful.

This weeks books read were Georgi Gospodinov’s Natural Novel (funny - deconstructed novel of typically satisfying Dalkey Press quality), Isak Dinesen’s Seven Gothic Tales (I was less into these than I thought I would be - too many tales within tales within tales - maybe if it was called One Hundred Gothic Tales I would have been more prepared for what I got - still there was lots of good stuff in there - just too much stuff that didn’t float my boat much) and The Big Con by David W. Mauren (an okay look at the story of the American con man and various types of con jobs, originally published in 1940 - a little too repetitive to be completely entertaining for 300 pages, but still kind of interesting). 9:25 PM >>> 0 comments

The new episode of The Treatment features an interview with Ricky Jay about his latest book (Extraordinary Exhibitions: The Wonderful Remains of an Enormous Head, the Whimsiphusicon & Death to the Savage Unitarians) and his role in Gus Van Sant's Last Days. Listen to it in real audio on the site, or subscribe to the KCRW podcast. 3:56 PM >>> 0 comments

The Flowers of St. Francis, directed by Roberto Rossellini in 1950, wasn’t quite the movie I thought it was going to be. I guess I was expecting since it was telling the story of a saint and his followers, that it would be a pretty pious, spiritual film. In my mind I was picturing how Robert Bresson or maybe Andrei Tarkovsky would handle the material. Of course, Rossellini’s approach is actually much different, lots lighter than I would have imagined. We follow Francis and his followers through a series of short episodes, focusing more on humor, naivety, and actually I’d say a childish simplicity, rather than a really spiritual feeling. There’s a playful, Italian style to the way the monks frolic through the episodes - and frankly I wasn’t surprised to learn after I watched the movie that Frederico Fellini co-wrote the script. I think I’ll like the movie a little more the second time around, when my expectations don’t get in the way of watching what’s actually shown on the screen. I’ve also added the book onto my wish list to get a better idea of the raw source for these tales. 8:26 PM >>> 0 comments

After finishing reading Dombey and Son (which I enjoyed), I tore through Louis Armstrong’s Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, an “autobiography” originally published in 1954 - a tremendously enjoyable read. The Armstrong book focuses on his early years growing up in N.O., and ends when he arrives in Chicago to join King Oliver’s band. What comes through most clearly are Armstrong’s love of the music of that era & his possibly even greater love of his mother’s cooking. I can’t tell you how bad I’m craving some of that New Orleans style red beans & rice after finishing the book! It’s also an amazing portrait of the city, capturing the joys and struggles of life growing up during that era. And the joys of storytelling itself - lots of laughs throughout the book, despite what we’d read today as really tough times.

As a supplement to the book I picked up a real nice 4CD box set put out by JSP called, Breaking out of New Orleans, which has tons of rare music captured to disc from 1922-1929. Lot’s of great obscurities I’d never had the chance to hear before, like Celestin’s Original Tuxedo Orchestra, Fate Marble’s Society of Syncopators, Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola Eight, etc... 101 cuts with pretty good sound for only 25 bucks - the typical superior JSP deal.

I’d sure like to take another trip out to New Orleans. I guess I’ve only been there three times, but it remains one of my favorite cities, one of the few I thought seriously about moving to back at the end of the 90s (when instead, in less than a year, I went from Chapel Hill to San Francisco to Portland and then finally ended up down here). Nowadays I feel pretty settled down, but occasionally that wanderlust feeling, wanting to turn one’s entire life upside down, does peek at me from around the corner. So today I’ve started reading an LA book to settle myself back down, and it’s a great one - Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. I guess I’ve read it before, but I’ve grown a little confused about which of his book I’ve read, and which I’ve yet to read, so I’ve decided to start over from the beginning and knock ‘em all off. I really loved this line, “Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.” 9:33 PM >>> 0 comments

For the last couple of nights I’ve been listening to the 2 CD set of Ella Fitzgerald singing the Harold Arlen song book. So good! So classy! This is the third set of the song books I’ve picked up so far, and I’m starting to feel like a fool for not buying the complete set box long ago, because I know I’m going to eventually end up buying ‘em all anyway. Such great songs on this one (which I only got a month or so back after seeing a short feature on Arlen on a local PBS show that featured an interview with his son), like Stormy Weather, One for My Baby (and One More for the Road), and of course a magical reading of Over the Rainbow. These songs really seem to capture an era - probably one I‘d currently rather be living in than the reality of today (a present I'm particularly fed up with right now, for various reasons).

I’ve always had a weird connection with Ella Fitzgerald’s music, since by some strange coincidence the first time I ever bought a CD by her (the old version of Ella & Duke), was also the day she passed away. Particularly unusual, because I only learned she passed away that day when I got back home to my apartment after just buying the CD! Seems to weird too be true, but it is. 8:53 PM >>> 0 comments

Not surprisingly, another FAST weekend. Besides drawing, I’ve mostly been reading Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens, but I’m not even halfway done - it’s a long book!

Tonight I watched Gus Van Sant’s Gerry - so I’ve finally seen his three most recent movies (I think I watched Elephant last weekend, right? or the weekend before - my own days are a blur to me), all of which I think are pretty amazing works. Last night I watched The Jerk for the first time in decades(!), and still really enjoyed it - still one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.

CD shopping this morning, here’s the list of purchases...

Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars - Ambassador Satch. I’ve been wanting this CD for ages, am currently on Armstrong kick, and found it for only six bucks - sweet.

Benny Goodman - At Carnegie Hall - 1938 - Complete. I previously owned the original CD re-issue, but I’m excited to pick up this expanded one, issued in 1999 - don’t know why it took me so long to pick this up, really.

The Associates - The Affectionate Punch. Finally issued on CD.

Orange Juice - The Glasgow School. Ditto?

I also mail ordered a bunch of stuff tonight, but we’ll pretend I didn’t mention that, okay? 11:09 PM >>> 0 comments

Because of their very nature, it’s extremely rare to come across what one would consider a perfect book, so I’m happy to have just finished reading John Williams 1965 classic, Stoner, which I can add to my short, personal list of flawless works.

In simple, uncomplicated, but beautiful prose, Williams tells the complete life story of one William Stoner. Native of Missouri, born to a poor farmer’s life in 1891, but sent to Columbia University in 1910 to learn more about agriculture, Stoner is seduced away from his family when he discovers a love of literature and learning in one of his required courses. Disappointing his parents expectations, he turns away from their life, and sticks to the university, eventually becoming a professor, and spends most of the rest of his life trying to be a good one. A quiet grace pervades the book, even while Stoner struggles with personal conflicts in the university system, and through a challenging marriage that doesn’t meet his expectations. From these slim, somewhat well worn materials, a precise, inspiring masterpiece of language and ideas and living is created. 8:26 AM >>> 0 comments

Hot, tiring weekend, but some good CD shopping:

Ethiopiques Volumes 4 & 14 (’bout time I bought a couple more of these - I need all 19! So good! V4 as heard in Broken Flowers)

Richard Buckner & Jon Langford - Sir Dark Invader vs. The Fanglord (new Buckner! less interested in Langford - but new Buckner!)

Gary Higgins - Red Hash (re-issue of long lost folk “classic.” Seems to be getting a lot of press. Seems like I‘ll like it.)

Herbie Hancock - Inventions & Dimensions (one of my favorite Hancock CDs, remastered & glad to have this again)

Bobby Hutcherson - Oblique (from 1967 with Herbie Hancock, Joe Chambers & Albert Stinson (who?). Never heard this one before, but I almost always love Hutcherson)

The Thing - Live at Blå (finally tracked down a copy of their last studio album a couple of weeks ago - and already they’ve got a new release. Mats Gustafsson, Paal Nilssen-Love and Ingebright Håker Flaten - three of the great contemporary jazzbos). 5:52 PM >>> 0 comments

Explore Los Angeles online with Huell Howser! Take a video tour of LA's history and neighborhoods. Click on your favorite location and discover how menudo is made, cross the "Bridge to Nowhere" or meet Thai Elvis. 2:34 PM >>> 0 comments