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Jeanne-Claude, 1935-2009.
Thu, Nov 19 2009 6:00 PM
Jeanne-Claude -- Christo's collaborator and partner -- died today in Manhattan at the age of 74. It was fitting, in a way, not only because the artist pair have been residents of the city since 1964, but because their last big completed project was "The Gates," which turned Central Park's walkways into a series of orange vinyl doorways and drapes... Read More...
John Hughes, 1950-2009.
Thu, Aug 6 2009 4:06 PM
Variety is reporting that John Hughes has passed away at the age of 59. Hughes was the man responsible for writing and directing some of the defining films of the teen genre and, without question, of the '80s: "Sixteen Candles," "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," not to mention comedy "Planes, Trains... Read More...
Ann Savage, 1921-2008.
Mon, Dec 29 2008 1:46 PM
Ann Savage, 1940s uber femme fatale, passed away on Christmas day at age 87. Last seen playing "Mother" in Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg," casting that was halfway between a cinephile in-joke and the perfect measure of Maddin's favorite Freudian themes, Savage was probably best known for her role in Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 "Detour... Read More...
Rudy Ray Moore, 1927-2008.
Mon, Oct 20 2008 3:22 PM
The man was Dolemite, not to mention otherwise funny like burning. From Mike White: Moore passed away at age 81 on Sunday October 19, 2008. Via rhymed couplets, free form verse, and dirty versions of the alphabet, Moore entertained audiences for decades. His best-remembered routine, "The Signifying Monkey," continues to echo through the world of popular... Read More...
David Foster Wallace, 1962-2008.
Mon, Sep 15 2008 4:34 PM
I read "Infinite Jest" in college. A friend passed it along, told me it was something she knew I'd like. Hefting the 1000-plus pages, I thought that I was duty bound, therefore, to hate it, and started reading right away to prove so -- such is the unfortunate person I was. And still am. I ended up finishing the book in three days, at the expense... Read More...
September.
Thu, Sep 11 2008 3:19 PM
"Man on Wire": Philippe Petit in 1974, © 2008 Jean-Louis Blondeau / Polaris Images... Read More...
by IFC.com - Indie Eye
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Goodbye, grey market.
Tue, Sep 2 2008 1:51 PM
Mike White has pulled the plug on SuperHappyFun, the great grey market movie site crouched under the dubious protection of the Berne Act with bootleg offerings of the obscure, the commercially undesirable, the unavailable and the out of print. He eulogizes: In actuality, I loved that the titles on SuperHappyFun were being ousted by legitimate release. My dream... Read More...
Don LaFontaine, 1940-2008.
Tue, Sep 2 2008 10:59 AM
You do know who he is. Don LaFontaine was the voice of the voiceover for over 5,000 commercials, network spots and, of course, movie trailers, promising in tones of comforting, gravelly authority forthcoming drama, laughs, action and tears, almost certainly taking place "In a world..." From CNN: His favorite work was one he did for the 1980 film "The... Read More...
Mourning Manny Farber.
Wed, Aug 20 2008 2:04 PM
More on the passing of critic Manny Farber: J. Hoberman at the Village Voice (alongside a reprint of his 1981 essay "Termite Makes Right"): Farber wasn't like other critics. He didn't proselytize and he didn't create systems. Rather, he articulated his idiosyncratic perception, which is to say: He had a sensibility. Farber was as punchy... Read More...
Termite art.
Mon, Aug 18 2008 4:38 PM
Manny Farber, critic and artist, passed away last night at the age of 91. From Glenn Kenny at Some Came Running: What I found, and find, most valuable in his criticism is his ability to apprehend the entirety of a film--he got it from every angle. He could appreciate a B war picture in the same sense that the guy on the street could, while fully comprehending... Read More...
Youssef Chahine, 1926-2008.
Mon, Jul 28 2008 5:25 PM
After suffering a brain hemorrhage several weeks ago, Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine passed away on Sunday at the age of 82. A.O. Scott at the New York Times: Whether his subject was the domestic struggles of poor and middle-class Cairenes, his own youth in Alexandria, the building of the Aswan Dam or the life of the medieval philosopher Averroes, Mr. Chahine's... Read More...
Cyd Charisse, 1922-2008.
Tue, Jun 17 2008 6:55 PM
Cyd Charisse, the impossibly long-limbed actress and dancer (born Tula Ellice Finklea) who starred alongside Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in classic musicals like "The Band Wagon" and "Singin' in the Rain," passed away today. From the AP: Her height was 5 feet, 6 inches, but in high heels and full-length stockings, she seemed serenely tall... Read More...