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The subject is from Michael Che on Hot Ones. That episode is embedded below. That being said… I like this movie heavy newsletter, and if you are into film at a more technical level, those 18 cuts in 22 seconds of Rocky IV are just as sublime as bad filmmaking gets. It’s why the Director’s Cut had Stallone remove the robot entirely, I am dead sure of it.

Not related, but I do love the idea “cancel culture” is just “accountability culture” and that “woke” means “informed with empathy”. SORRY I KNOW THINGS AND CARE, GUIZE.

SO, HOW ARE ALL YOU DOING?

I exist, which is quite more than enough. It does seem life is the process of slowly giving up and accepting things. It’s weird, because I think of a philosophical quote from North Shore a lot. It is about people riding the wave and letting it take them, vs trying to cut it up and control it. The latter? It’s not very zen, man. Lebowski wouldn’t like it. Water is the most powerful force on the planet, to some extent. It carves valleys, it gives life. Don’t try to control it. It’s a simple analogy for giving up on trying to find a form for existence, and just let the existence take you on your path. The Dude abides.

I thought about that quote “water seeks its own level” for years before I got it.

Pascal’s principle sort of demonstrates that pressure is uniformly transmitted throughout a liquid. That’s the science side of it. Then I found Bruce Lee. “Be as water, my friend”.

 

 

I think about this photo more than I care to admit

 

ALSO… IT IS SPOOKY SEASON! COME ONE COME ALL! This is my Christmas. What movies you gonna watch?

 

SPACE (and a bit of perspective from the ground)

“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” – Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I just found out this guy is named the “Cosmic Cutie”. 37 years and I never knew. Hope he packed a towel.

 

  • That being said… it never fails to impress me that large rocks can hide in plain site, that is… if plain site was a piece of coal 200 ft away during a new moon in the dead of night:

Evidence Indicates There’s Another Planet the Size of Mars in Our Solar System: If it’s there, the rumored Planet 9 may have company. https://interestingengineering.com/evidence-indicates-another-planet-size-of-mars-in-solar-system

 

  • When I was a kid, I thought lava, quicksand, and garbage disposals would be WAY bigger threats than they are. It seems we’re always looking in the wrong direction. SO… In the “solar flares are a bitch” category:

Every Rover on Mars Is About to Enter Safe Mode: The sun just put Red Planet projects on hold. https://interestingengineering.com/every-rover-on-mars-is-about-to-enter-safe-mode

It reminds me of this. Honestly, I bawled when I read this comic. Hey, I’m an emotional dude.

 

 

  • La Palma Volcano Lava Hits Ocean, Creating a Pyramid and Toxic Gas Risks The authorities told residents of the Spanish island to keep their windows shut, warning of powerful chemical reactions as molten rock meets seawater. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/world/europe/la-palma-volcano-lava-ocean.html

Ahhhh yes, “The Banality of the Apocalypse”… when it comes for you after dinner, and you were so happy you just put finished and put away the dishes. =(

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 

  • Why you hate Ted Cruz’s face, as explained by science:

“In an interview with Quartz, George Washington University’s Richard E. Cytowic said the unusual movements of Cruz’s face may make him seem less sincere to the human brain than other candidates. “The normal way a face moves is what’s called the Duchenne smile, named after the 19th century French neurologist. So the mouth goes up, the eyes narrow and the eyes crinkle at the outside, forming crows feet,” said Cytowic, a professor of neurology. “Cruz doesn’t give a Duchenne smile. His mouth goes in a tight line across or else it curves down in an anti-Duchenne smile. So he doesn’t come across as sincere at all.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/03/03/why-you-may-not-like-ted-cruzs-face-according-science/81265836/

 

  • Upshot here: loss of ice shelf is making the Earth’s crust literally warp.

Crustal motion generated by rapid ice-mass loss from Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets has previously been considered in Global Navigational Satellite System (GNSS) analyses and numerical models across regions of ice retreat. However, the fingerprint of ice-mass loss is not limited to glaciated areas, but is characterized by a global pattern of 3-D crustal deformation. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL095477

 

COMEDY BUT REALITY

 

  • Watching Holmes’ growth as a comic and person has been bonkers and enjoyable. This clip is so brilliant, coming from a naive Catholic trying to comprehend a new reality they learn about and grow into (Thanks John, for the clip. Others, if you like it, watch his show Crashing on HBO. It’s charming):
@jasoncapitalmotivationWatch until the end… ???? #PeteHolmes? original sound – Jason Capital

 

  • If you want to see them talk about it for a few minutes, here’s an interview, but yes… at the Oscars, high on acid, and Trey Parker’s eyes are EVERYWHERE. interview: https://youtu.be/xsvQuJmASSk

 

  • In social mischief’s category of fun, apparently your area code with 867-5309 works virtually anywhere.

 

MUSIC

 

 

 

  • THIS IS 30 MINUTES, but this bassist and music theorist is addictive, and here he breaks down the severely weird Girl from Ipanema:

 

MOVIES, TV BUT ALSO PHILOSOPHY

 

  • SORRY NOT SORRY: Free Guy is as philosophically deep as Annihilation about the human condition, and I can’t get anyone to take this seriously, and frankly I don’t care because I’m right, and I AM REALLY PROUD of this post:

Fishbits’ Documentary Fest – some of my favorite documentaries of all time

 

  • I am today years old when I noticed this:

 

 

 

  • So Stallone is putting out a Rocky IV Director’s Cut, and inexplicably removed Paulie’s Robot. I do not know why, and no one else really does either… but I think it’s because there’s 18 cuts in this 22 seconds of film. That is absolutely chef’s kiss filmmaking.

 

  • While we’re at it, Monty brought up that the 1980s featured so many weird robots. Riptide, anyone?

riptide title

 

  • I made a list of my favorite documentaries. Long story short, you’re not allowed to question whether you should watch 13th, James Baldwin’s “I am not your Negro”, or Errol Morris’ “The Fog of War”. They’re too important to ignore. Other than that, there are some wonderful gems and important films in this list that range from politics, society, culture, people, sports, and more:

Fishbits’ Documentary Fest – some of my favorite documentaries of all time

 

 

  • And again, speaking about Ebert, his review of a movie that sits in my brain, occupying space, is unreal… just because I actually have existential emotions about the studio interference and editing process. It’s Erich Von Stroheim’s “Greed”, which is available on Youtube for the 2hr version, and you can rent/buy the 4 hour version. HOWEVER CRITERION HASN’T TOUCHED GREED YET? WTAH?

But Ebert’s comment here actually relaxes my unbridled curiosity about the 9 hour, 42 reel version: The original version of “Greed” is perhaps a masterpiece more lamented than missed; there is a point after which an audience will simply not sit still. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-greed-1925

This commentary on the 1999 restoration to 4 hours is really interesting, too.

“Fables of the Reconstruction: The 4-Hour GREED https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2021/06/fables-of-the-reconstruction-the-4-hour-greed/

 

 

  • Fred Astaire (with Bob Hope) at the 1970 Oscars… He’s 71 here, and the dancing is fantastic…

 

  • Criterion is saving film, however slowly. The notion that Wim Wenders’ “Until the End of the World” FINALLY got it’s Director’s Cut of 4h47m is so exciting. I was very fortunate to have seen this on the big screen in Boulder at the University at Chem 140.

“Conceived as the ultimate road movie, this decades-in-the-making science-fiction epic from Wim Wenders follows the restless Claire Tourneur (Solveig Dommartin) across continents as she pursues a mysterious stranger (William Hurt) in possession of a device that can make the blind see and bring dream images to waking life. With an eclectic soundtrack that gathers a host of the director’s favorite musicians, along with gorgeous cinematography by Robby Müller, this breathless adventure in the shadow of Armageddon takes its heroes to the ends of the earth and into the oneiric depths of their own souls. Presented here in its triumphant 287-minute director’s cut, Until the End of the World assumes its rightful place as Wenders’ magnum opus, a cosmic ode to the pleasures and perils of the image and a prescient meditation on cinema’s digital future”. https://www.criterion.com/films/28767-until-the-end-of-the-world

Visually it was such a prescient, hip, beautifully shot film. I just got the new release, so I’ll dig in forthrightly. =)

 

  • One of the most important films of my entire life is yet another masterful work that has fallen into the shadows. Stop me if you’ve heard this before:

A politician (Sam Waterson), a poet (John Heard), and a physicist (Liv Ullman) all meet at Mont St. Michel in France to talk about politics, systems, the environment, nature, and the philosophy of life and existence. Absolutely stunning, a film about the environment taking on some incredibly complex issues, akin to My Dinner with Andre or possibly the same environmental commentary as Silent Running. It was filmed in 1993, and it’s never gotten a proper DVD release, while the VHS goes for a significant amount of money, to this day. $80 on Amazon right now. Well, you can watch, but it’s not some flashy 4K Criterion transfer, vs a bad bootleg of the VHS. It’s truly wonderful, mentally stimulating, visually arresting, and Phillip Glass’ score is marvelous. None of which you can find quality copies anywhere, and that is a shame.

This is the full film, and I highly, HIGHLY suggest you take the time to enjoy it.

 

  • Considered by many to be Jacques Tati’s masterpiece, PlayTime is a perfectly orchestrated city symphony. Shot on 70mm on a huge constructed set of concrete, glass and steel, the film was the most ambitious project Tati ever took on. Now diligently restored in-line with the filmmaker’s particular, perfectionist approach, audiences can once again enjoy the expansive scope of his comic vision. STUDIOCANAL’s PlayTime returns to cinemas from 7 November in a new 4K restoration, opening at BFI Southbank as part of a wider Jacques Tati season. It will screen in the French Film Festival UK this November and in selected cinemas nationwide.

 

  • I sold Stan Brakhage cigarettes at the defunct Jones’ Drug on the Hill in Boulder, Colorado. We would talk a bit, and he was a fascinating man. I realize I don’t heap on experimental film too often, but it’s about 4 minutes, and this read about MOTHLIGHT is fantastic:

CLOSE-UP: DIRECT CINEMA: J. Hoberman on Stan Brakhage’s Mothlight https://www.artforum.com/print/201207/j-hoberman-on-stan-brakhage-s-mothlight-31955

 

 

  • The freedom of the freeze frame in Thelma and Louise”

The film emphasizes this decision by ending with the Thunderbird in mid-air, where no clear fate is defined for the women except for the one they chose. Thus, the final freeze frame sets the women free because nothing can stop their decision to “keep on going.” Not their old lives, not the police, and certainly not gravity. https://filmschoolrejects.com/thelma-and-louise-freeze-frame/

Thelma And Louise Freeze

 

What really interests me about that is that it started with Harold and Maude’s E-Type Hearse over the hill, where all the cameras failed and they made a compromise in using a freeze frame, which became somewhat iconic and informed cinematic vocabulary for years to come.

 

 

  • This is legendary film history:

Bill Murray Reveals Why He Agreed to do GARFIELD; he thought Joel Coen, one the Coen Brothers, was writing the film, but it was actually Joel Cohen. https://collider.com/bill-murray-garfield-the-coen-brothers/

 

 

People, Culture, Society

 

  • The world is burning. This is insane… sharing the real, palpable fear of life and death, with brave as hell firefighters who are still just human people.

 

@tommyregisterAs close to death as one can be! #firefighter #fire #wildlandfire #fires #california #Antelopefire #fy #fyp #viral? original sound – Tommy Register

 

 

  • This was a great interview:

 

  • Jimmy Kimmel isn’t a guy I would say is an “anchor point” for the new and old guard of Hollywood, but that’s not fair. He’s in sports, comedy, and he’s been around the block. Richard Pryor loved Crank Yankers, he was friends with Tommy Lasorda. Unreal. Also, I’m not a religious person, but there’s great talk about people in Hollywood that are a “mensch”. Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds… well Kimmel has likely gotta be in there:

 

 

@bigbankzCrazy experience being here? Sweet Dreams – PuppetMaster

 

 

  • I know who could fill those homes, honestly.

 

 

VEHICLES

  • Skunkworks’ boss won’t comment on it.

Mysterious Stealthy Shape That Resembles Future Fighter Concepts Spotted At Radar Test Range (Updated) The apparent low-observable aircraft test shape appeared in broad daylight at Lockheed Martin’s Helendale radar cross-section measurement range. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42480/mysterious-stealthy-shape-that-resembles-future-fighter-concepts-spotted-at-radar-test-range

Helendale_test_shape

 

  • Bloomberg Infographic on the why the chip shortage has had a massive impact on production:

 

 

  • AND, this yacht is supposed to save the world (and the helm looks like a cute seal on an iceberg):

This Nuclear-Powered Superyacht Is Longer Than the Titanic and Costs $700 Million Designed to attract the best and brightest minds in exploring and combating climate change, the vessel plans to be a “science city” on the water https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/nuclear-powered-superyacht-longer-than-titanic-700-million

More: https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/the-atomic-superyacht-on-a-voyage-to-save-the-planet/

And: “Why not take the wealthiest people in the world, pull them together with the smartest and brightest scientists, and allow them to experience firsthand what’s taking place?” asks Aaron Olivera, the Gibraltar-born, Singapore-based entrepreneur behind the idea. “Wealthy people can go online and buy anything they want, but they cannot buy a new mental model with which to see the world.” https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/earth-300-megayacht/index.html

boat in the water

 

  • QUITE THE SUNDECK… Daydreaming and everyday business don’t usually go hand in hand, but that’s where Lazzarini Design comes in to show it’s possible. Once more, the Italian design studio proposes a new take on the superyacht of tomorrow, one that disrupts established norms and invites flights of fancy.

The Shape Superyacht Concept Has Gaping Hole in the Superstructure, Plenty of Attitude https://www.autoevolution.com/news/the-shape-superyacht-concept-has-gaping-hole-in-the-superstructure-plenty-of-attitude-170123.html#

 

 

  • Speaking of Harold and Maude, a guy did rebuild the E-Type Hearse, because the film one was a one-off that truly got smashed up.

Fifty years later, are you ready to excuse the Harold and Maude producers for making a hearse out of an E-Type? https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2021/05/10/fifty-years-later-are-you-ready-to-excuse-the-harold-and-maude-producers-for-making-a-hearse-out-of-an-e-type

Post Image

 

  • FROM THE NOPE FILES, Saudi Arabian Edition:

 

By Uncle FishbitsCategories: Newsletter