Tosh Berman's Blog, page 244
January 4, 2014
Dancing in the Street - A Rock And Roll History episode 1
A fascinating BBC multi-segement documentary on Rock n' Roll history. This is part one and it is a narrative I know about, but still... it's great to hear these people tell their tale. Watch it!
January 4, 2013
I just got back from a week-long trip and while I was away I had a friend stay and take care of the house. But now that I am back, he's still here. I would think it would be obvious that once I return, he would leave, even on the day of my arrival. But he doesn't move an inch outside the house nor does he remove his stuff. I should have known something strange about this when he replaced my couch with his couch. He also went through my vinyl collection, and seemed to got rid of it. In its place is his collection of records. What was really disturbing to me, was that when I went to bed that night (and afterwards) he would get in bed with me like it was his own bed. I was also a little peeved that he removed all my personal artwork off the walls, and replaced them with his own paintings. And to be totally honest, I am not that crazy about his paintings. I really need my own space, so now I am thinking of moving on and getting a small apartment somewhere in West Hollywood or in the Atwater Village area.
January 3, 2014
Reading In Translation: "Translating Music, Foam of the Daze by Boris Vian
Pianococktail from L'´ecume des jours (the old film version)A wonderful write-up from the blog "Reading in Translation" regarding Boris Vian's "Foam of the Daze" translated by Brian Harper (TamTam Books) Read it here:http://readingintranslation.com/2013/04/17/translating-music-foam-of-the-daze-by-boris-vian-translated-by-brian-harper/#comments
January 3, 2014
January 3, 2014
I occasionally act in films and commercials, and through my agent I got a small part in a commercial for Sunkist Oranges. I flew into Switzerland to meet the director Jean-Luc Godard , who time-to-time has done commercial work. He's a man of few words, but once I arrived at his apartment he silently took photographs of me with a polaroid camera. He then had me sit by a table that was purchased in Ikea, and in front of me were three Sunkist oranges on a plate. As he brought out a video camera he told me to slowly peel the oranges. At first I did it too fast, and he got kind of angry and short with me. Once he replaced the peeled orange with a new one, I instinctually knew I had to peel this orange in a very seductive manner. He seemed pleased with my 'performance' and then I noticed that he had a wall of VHS tapes. What he told me is that he prefers to watch films on VHS instead of going to a movie theater or watching it on a DVD. It seems he purchases DVD's but then has them transferred to VHS. He invited me to watch a film with him, but I had to decline his nice offer, because I had to fly back home. The one thing that really stood out for me, is his eyes. He probably has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on a human face.
January 2, 2014
January 2, 2014
I woke up around 2:AM, after an odd dream of watching myself in a movie projected at the Egyptian Theatre. I was in a scene where Jane Fonda,Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Mina Loy were talking about men, and i was just sitting at their table saying nothing. But I remember watching the film, thinking "I have no script and I don't know what I am supposed to do in this scene." I remember feeling anxiety about that, as well as being in the audience watching this film. Once woken I decided to get out of bed and wearing my red plaid PJs I went to Astro Diner down the hill from my house. I didn't feel I needed to get dressed, because one, it was in the middle of the night, and two, it's my neighborhood. I had a craving for a strawberry malt or milk shake. I haven't had one in years, and it just seemed that the moment was perfect to drink a malt by the googie-era large window facing Fletcher.
January 1, 2014
January 1, 2014
I woke up thinking that this is a new year, but alas, it feels very much like any other day. The one big difference is that I woke up in someone else's home. I haven't the foggiest idea who they are. But they seem to be nice. I went into their kitchen, and made myself a little breakfast. To my shock they only had whole wheat bread, and I'm pretty much devoted to Wonder's white bread. I did make a sandwich of sorts, but after making it, I didn't feel like eating it. So I wonder off to Ralphs super market to buy myself a loaf of Wonder's white bread. I went back to their house, but the door was locked and it seems no one was in. Luckily I found a window that was slightly opened on the second floor. I climbed up the tree, and once I got on the limb, I made a jump towards the window. Besides crashing into the glass, I was perfectly OK. And I didn't lose the grip of my loaf of bread. I went downstairs to the kitchen and made a proper sandwich.
December 27, 2013
"My Lunches With Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles" Edited by Peter Biskind
Totally a readable can't put it down book, but in the end, it is also a very depressing book. Over a period of time, the independent filmmaker Henry Jaglom had a series of lunches with Orson Welles at his favorite restaurant, and taped all their conversations. The first question that comes to mind is why would Welles want to have his conversations taped, especially when it deals with nitty gritty business issues? The second horrible thing is that Welles comes off as a bitter broken down guy who is basically full of anger and seems not to be able to really comprehend why he is not part of - then circa 1984- film industry.
I think what it comes down to it is old-fashioned insecurity. There is no doubt in my mind that Welles is a fantastic filmmaker, and even personality - but there does seem to be a problem with focus in his life. Also I wonder why Jaglom never funded or actually produce a Welles film? Yet he is with him complaining and bellyaching about this and that. In a funny way he comes off as Iago to Welles Othello.
Welles is also has harsh opinions on individuals which I think are totally unfair, and worst, makes him an over-sized cry baby. The book he did with Peter Bogdanovich is pretty great because one, it exposes Welles' strength as a filmmaker and figure, and two, it also showed his catty-side. This book, only shows his catty-side, and it is not a nice portrait of a man, who like Nixon, shouldn't have his conversations taped.
"Jane & Serge" by Andrew Birkin (Taschen Books)
The book unfolds in front of a reader/looker slowly like water pouring into sand. At first the photographs by Jane Birkin's brother Andrew, who by the way is a Peter Pan expert and an interesting scriptwriter on top of that, are extremely intimate. It is sort of like going to a stranger's house and looking at their photo album, and then all of sudden you recognize a famous face in the background. There is something lovely and sincere about these images, but it becomes more clearer when you read the little booklet that comes with the photo album.
Andrew Birkin writes a very moving narrative that goes with the images in the book. Each photograph is annotated with a commentary of some sort that is separate from the actual book of photos. But what makes this a really special deal is Andrew's essay about his feelings for his sister and Serge Gainsbourg himself. He loved him. And he loves his sister and the children as well. But the little booklet adds a context to the picturesque narrative - and like all family albums there is sense of sadness or that life won't be like this forever. Some of the most beautiful images are of Kate, the daughter of Jane and her first husband John Barry. The sad irony is that Kate passed away after the completion of this book. Nevertheless, along with my production through TamTam Books (Gilles Verlant's fantastic bio on Serge "Gainsbourg") and the recent 33 1/3 study on "Melody Nelson" one gets a fantastic picture of life as lived by Jane and Serge.
December 23, 2013
December 22, 2013
"The Boy Detective" by Roger Rosenblatt
Ecco ISBN: 9780062241344I picked this book up at the Strand, mostly because I was interested in how the author wrote about his childhood and especially it's location, New York City. A wonderful read especially on the L train from Bushwick to 14th Street.
What's impressive is that the book is both a memoir as well as a study on the nature and beauty of detective fiction. The mixture of his love for that type of literature and location is really great. If you want a narrative that goes from A to B forget about it. This is a haunted look back to childhood and New York itself. Very reflective with a side of noir.
