Well it certainly would have been interesting to hear George Kuchar's take on
WAVELENGTH. In my experience he always had these funny contrarian takes on
"avant-garde" films. I never sat down and had discussions with him about this
but he would often throw out these one-liners that were hilarious. For example,
about Rose Lowder's "Bouquet" films, "Oh. Really nice color in those movies."
About a Nathaniel Dorsky film with lots of very dark shots, "I'll have to bring
my night vision goggles next time." About Jeffrey Skoller's "The Malady of
Death" (relayed by Skoller): "Whatever it is you did, Jeff, it couldn't have
been that bad." Say these lines to yourself in your best G. Kuchar voice and
you'll see what I'm talking.
No doubt that George knew this stuff as well as anyone. But it is really his
irreverence and his refusal to take anything in life too seriously that I find
to be the most inspiring about this amazing man...
Steve Polta
--- On Sun, 3/4/12, gregg biermann <mubba...@optonline.net> wrote:
From: gregg biermann <mubba...@optonline.net>
Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Kuchar on the Oscars
To: "Gene Youngblood" <ato...@comcast.net>, "Experimental Film Discussion List"
<frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com>
Date: Sunday, March 4, 2012, 5:28 AM
Yes, Yes. That was it. Thanks Gene.
On 3/3/2012 3:06 PM, Gene Youngblood wrote:
Gregg, the diary you’re thinking of is “Low Light Life”
(1988). George walks into a room at SFAI where Ken Jacobs is
conducting a seminar, looking for food. Ken is extremely
rude to George, insulting him in front of the students, and
George walks out. It’s an embarrassing scene, not unusual
for Ken, but it’s nevertheless interesting since it was at
Ken’s loft in NYC that the Kuchar brothers first showed
their films to the New York underground crowd. Yes, George
loved the films he caricatured, and his stance is never
condescending (the same cannot be said for his pal John
Waters, by way of comparison). George’s knowledge of
Hollywood film history was amazing, and his film and
soundtrack collections were legendary, but he loved all
kinds of movies. A few years ago Film Comment asked some
well known filmmakers to list their top ten favorite movies.
On George’s list were titles you would expect, but he also
included “Wavelength” and Antonioni’s “Eclipse.”
From: gregg biermann
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2012 8:32 AM
To: Experimental
Film Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Kuchar on the
Oscars
The other thing here is that
George's position on the mainstream commercial cinema was
not purely oppositional -- that there is also some sense of
homage to it in his work. You could even argue that he was
alienated to some degree when it came to the avant-garde
film community -- even as it embraced him. I remember in one
of his diary pieces he documents a little lecture by Ken
Jacobs at SFAI that he attended and he ends up walking out
with Ken yelling after him "George, Come back here!" Then
he ends up at some party in Hollywood sitting on a couch
with Nicolas Cage (or some star like that) and he ends up
feeling uncomfortably out of place there as well. Cannot
remember the title -- sometime around 1991.
G
On 2/29/2012 8:43 AM, sc...@financialcleansing.com
wrote:
Sorry, Fred, here I disagree with you.
I'm sure the Hollywood folks could have added
many other people (many of them worthy) to the list
of those recognized in that memorial moment, too.
But that three of those recognized--George Kuchar,
Tim Hetherington, and Ricky Leacock--are makers who
worked outside Hollywood, as independents, is
certainly cause for celebration. It means that, in a
however limited way, independent filmmakers are
being recognized more broadly, as they so rightly
deserve. That Saint Mark Toscano, working at the
Academy, has seen to the preservation not only of
Brakhage's films but Robert Nelson's, and the work
of so many other independents is part of that same
recognition.
Like it or not, the Academy is one of few
organizations devoted to cinema that has the clout
to provide broad recognition, and I was thrilled to
see their images on my TV screen on primetime Sunday
night. Kudos to the Academy for recognizing Kuchar,
Hetherington, and Leacock.
Scott
-------- Original Message
--------
Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Kuchar on the Oscars
From: "Fred Camper" <f...@fredcamper.com>
Date: Tue, February 28, 2012 7:44 pm
To: "Experimental Film Discussion List"
<frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com>
> Yes Owen Land, Ricky Leacock, and Jordan
Belson as well.
Oh, why not Hollis Frampton, and Stan Brakhage, and
Gregory J.
Markopoulos? Or Oscars to Ernie Gehr and Bruce
Baillie, who are among the
living?
Or, one might ask, how likely is any of that?
In all seriousness, am I the only one who finds the
many posts in this
thread a little bizarre?
I thought it was nice when Brakhage was briefly
acknowlwedged in the Oscar
montage, and it's nice when other experimental
filmmakers are acknowledged
too. But when we start talking about awards, have we
forgotten what the
Oscars are, and what values they represent, and how
different the values
of avant-garde film are? Why should we expect, or
even want, more than a
passing nod from the Academy as it is currently
constituted? It's really
great that the money from the Oscar-cast goes to
film preservation,
including of avant-garde work. Is there any reason
to expect more?
Fred Camper
Chicago
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