Oil!

For a couple of months now I’ve been reading Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. It’s a big book, and a tough one to read. Like the work of José Saramago, the style of Pynchon’s writing turns…

15 sci-fi movies, 15 famous architectural locations

‘Brutalist’ architecture seems to be an unwritten law of sci-fi location scouting. I automatically remembered the odd portuguese sci-fi movie, Solveig Nordlund’s Low Flying Aircraft, which was set mostly in the Torralta Towers, since then demolished (notice the Wile E. Coyote eye on our Prime Minister 2 minutes into the video).
That movie has another scene - the ‘futuristic stormtroopers creating havoc’ scene present in 85% of sci-fi - set in the CGD headquarters in Lisbon, which is absent but I think should top the list for architectural Orwellian creepiness (in a tacky, early 90s kind of way).

Trailer (also in HD) for The Fall, directed by Tarsem Singh and produced by David Fincher and Spike Jonze (whaa?). The cinematography alone seems to be three movie tickets’ worth, even if the rest sucks - which I don’t believe it will.

I want to see this film.

More Sunday film silliness: There Will Be Monopoly.
More Sunday film silliness: There Will Be Monopoly.
Steven Seagal emotion chart.

Kottke: When Obama wins

Great backstage photo from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. Are there any backstage photos of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon involving a Braun record player?
Great backstage photo from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. Are there any backstage photos of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon involving a Braun record player?

Moleskine Notebooks: The Ultimate Guide

Volcano + thunderstorm.
‘True Spirit’ by Guillaume Paris, 1992. Each word in the sentence is the brand name of the product displayed under it - left to right: cigarette, soap, margarine, cleaning pad, dog food. (at VVORK)
‘True Spirit’ by Guillaume Paris, 1992. Each word in the sentence is the brand name of the product displayed under it - left to right: cigarette, soap, margarine, cleaning pad, dog food. (at VVORK)
Justice - ‘Stress. It challenges the definition of ‘music video’, as this short film is a brutal synthesis of Clockwork Orange-like nihilistic violence (perhaps even more brutal: no chance for a “it’s set in the future” sigh of relief). This video was directed by Romain Gavras, apparently the son of  director Costa-Gavras, known for his overtly political films. Good to see his offspring leaves no medium (the music video) as ‘safe’.
An incredible set of shipwreck and sea disaster photos.
In 1973, a guy with a strange hat explains an analogue image processor.
CNN is like the worst “news” source. Ever. Here’s ’”Dozens killed in battle against outlaws”. I dig this. It’s Spamusement for sensasionalistic news. (via Neato)
CNN is like the worst “news” source. Ever. Here’s ’”Dozens killed in battle against outlaws”. I dig this. It’s Spamusement for sensasionalistic news. (via Neato)