Year: 2025

Baseball’s Golden Age: The Photographs of Charles M. Conlon Neal McCabe & Constance McCabe Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1993          The fact that this fabulous yet little-known book concerns baseball is of secondary concern.  What will excite you is the incredible photography contained between its covers.  Though the material is somewhat documentary in nature, there’s … Continue reading “HISTORY AND A GREAT LOOK”

         Yesterday marked seven months since the catastrophic fires that destroyed the communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, California.  As an affected individual, I found myself flooded with images from that sorry day, yet not all of them were bad.  I said it then and I’ll say it now – tragic as it was, living … Continue reading “THE TIME HAS NOT PASSED QUICKLY”

         Here’s a snippet of dialogue drawn from the super-cheapo mid-century sci-fi feature, Terror from the Year 5000 (1958; Robert J. Gurney, Jr.\Arthur Florman).  It was brought to my attention by representatives of the National Department of Redundancy Department.  The poor excuse for an actor who was forced to deliver the words did so with … Continue reading “REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE”

         Hot on the trail of Tuesday’s post, AI remains at the top of my mind.  Check out this music video created by the brilliant Irish director and writer, Ruairi Robinson.  It’s remarkable!  Save for the lyrics (drawn from Rudyard Kipling’s poem of the same name), Boots was created entirely by generative AI.  Nothing in … Continue reading “KICK UP YOUR HEELS!”

         A friend of mine who’s a special effects wizard tipped me off to Runway’s Aleph, yet another offering from the world of Artificial Intelligence.  At first, I was amused.  But the deeper I delved was the more I found its implications fascinating.  Check it out for yourself: https://runwayml.com/research/introducing-runway-aleph          For anyone who might’ve spent … Continue reading “RUNWAY ALEPH”

         From an appearance at Soho House in West Hollywood on behalf of the Variety 120 Screening Series, sponsored by the digital projection company Barco and held on July 10.  This little chat – with thanks to hostess Jazz Tancay – followed a screening of Frank Capra’s classic holiday season film, It’s a Wonderful Life … Continue reading “CHRISTMAS IN JULY”

         I was shooting tests for an upcoming feature at Panavision Woodland Hills last week when all of a sudden, this guy appeared and offered up his services as the 3rd AC.          What choice did I have but to go along?          Then again, how could I refuse?

          Eight years-old yesterday – and living his best life!  Have you ever seen a more handsome guy?

         In this final installment, the great jazz pianist continues to expound upon themes that will enlighten cinematographers of a certain type.  And in doing so, it also affirms that Evans wasn’t just a brilliant musician and clear thinker, he was one cool cat!          Q: When you start playing, to what extent do you … Continue reading “BILL EVANS’ HELSINKI INTERVIEW, PART 3”

         A couple of weeks ago I posted some remarks made by the great jazz pianist Bill Evans.  Though he was speaking about himself and his trio, they applied as much to cinematography as they did to music.  Further research revealed some equally fascinating truths drawn from a post-concert interview conducted in Helsinki at the … Continue reading “MORE SMART TALK FROM A VERY SMART GUY”