Lună februarie 2013

Jack Smith and the distruction of Atlantis – (USA, 2006)

roqdoc ff Lasă un comentariu

600full-jack-smith-and-the-destruction-of-atlantis-poster

Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis is a documentary film that premiered in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. It is a collection of interviews and clips by and about the revolutionary artist Jack Smith. It was directed by Mary Jordan and produced by Tongue Press Productions. The film was given a limited release in NYC movie theatres beginning on April 11, 2007.

 

 

VIDEO REMOVED (Perioada de vizionare expirată)

05-portrait_jack_smith

8Jordan is a Canadian-born filmmaker known for her documentary shorts resulting from extended visits to Africa and Southeast Asia. David Ebony, whose review of the film appeared in Art in America, had met Smith in the late 70s soon after moving to New York and at that time „attempted to assist him with a number of ‘slide-show performances.'” Ebony’s review, following the documentary, covers some of the difficult exhibition history of Flaming Creatures(1963), Smith’s best known film, and difficult collaborations with Jonas Mekas and Andy Warhol and others. Voiceovers from Smith, culled from some 14 hours of interviews with various critics and friends, supplemented the archival visual materials, footage and extensive interviews with filmmaker John Waters, Smith’s sister Mary Sue Slater, playwright Richard Foreman, Smith and Warhol star Mario Montez, writer Gary Indiana, and musician John Zorn, among others. Ebony concludes that the film „[i]n the end … manages to evoke the quirky and often cantankerous personality of its subject without ever making him seem merely a disgruntled artist and social misfit, as some may think him. … I feel that Jordan’s multifaceted and impassioned portrait rings true. Smith, in fact, comes off in the film as an ingenious art-world Cassandra, more relevant today than ever.

Wesley Morris, whose review appeared in the Boston Globe, was impressed that Jordan managed to convey Smith’s „unmitigated avant-gardism[,] … his manias and paranoia, his peculiar genius[,] … his financial poverty, credibly suggest[ing] his victimization through artistic robbery … ([t]hat’s how Smith felt anyway…)[, and finally,] … also telling a story about art in America.” Morris wrote that „Jordan wrangles the obligatory talking heads, but the things they say are smart, vivid, complex, miffed, and uncensored …[, including] Judith Malina,Taylor Mead” among the others listed above and more.

License: Standard YouTube License

Danny La Rue – A Fabulous Life In Drag – UK Super Star Female Impersonator! – (BBC, UK)

roqdoc ff Lasă un comentariu

Danny La Rue

” The Unforgettable Danny La Rue’ & that he was! Before Rupaul had raced or Lilly Savage had shop lifted, Danny La Rue was it. From very humble beginnings to fisticuffs with Princess Margaret, he did it all & no lip syncing either. Danny sang, danced, acted, entertained but mainly sparkled and to dazzling effect, capturing the hearts of a nation. Adore him all over again as we take a trip down memory lane – sequins at the ready now”

DANNY-LA-RUE-001 Born as Daniel Patrick Carroll in Cork City,[1] Ireland, in 1927, La Rue was the youngest of either four or five siblings. The family moved to England when he was six and he was brought up at Earnshaw Street in Soho, central London. When the family home was destroyed during the Blitz, his mother, a seamstress, moved her children to Kenn, a Devon village where young Daniel developed an interest in dramatics. “There weren’t enough girls so I got the pick of the roles … My Juliet was very convincing”, La Rue recalled.[2]

He served in the British Royal Navy as a young man following his father’s footsteps, and even had a brief career delivering groceries, but he became known for his skill as a female impersonator (or „comic in a frock” as he preferred to be called) in Britain and was featured in theatre productions, and in film, television, and records.

Career

Among his celebrity impersonations were Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, and Margaret Thatcher. At one point he had his own nightclub in Hanover Square, and also performed on London‘s West End. In the 1960s he was among Britain’s highest-paid entertainers. He used to own the Swan at Streatley hotel in the 1970s. In 1982 he played Dolly Levi in the musical Hello, Dolly!. He also has the distinction of being the only man to take over a woman’s role in the West End theatre when he replaced Avis Bunnage in Oh, What a Lovely War![2] and he was until his death still a regular performer in traditional Christmas pantomime shows in Britain. 56252789CG018_Mrs_Henderson

In 1968 his version of „On Mother Kelly’s Doorstep” reached number 33 in the UK singles chart; La Rue later adopted the song as his theme tune.

He appeared in Every Day’s a Holiday, The Frankie Howerd Show, Our Miss Fred, Twiggs, Decidedly Dusty, Entertainment Express, Blackpool Bonanza and the BBC Play of the Month. He made a guest appearance in the Mr. Bean episode Mr. Bean in Room 426 in 1993.

He most recently appeared in Hello Danny a biographical show performed at Benidorm Palace, Spain on 11 November 2007. The part of La Rue was played by Jerry Lane, and La Rue appeared at the start of the show and then in an interview on stage in the second half. He also performed a number of songs, including Jayne County‘s „Queenage Baby”, accompanied by Dave Peterson to a sellout crowd.

License: Standard YouTube License

Paris is burning – (USA, 1990)

roqdoc ff Lasă un comentariu

PIB Paris Is Burning is a 1990 documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African American, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it. Many members of the ball culture community consider Paris Is Burning to be an invaluable documentary of the end of the „Golden Age” of New York City drag balls, as well as a thoughtful exploration of race, class, and gender in America.

Awards

  • License -Standard YouTube Licens