blind is a short film (5:17 - in Japanese w/ English subtitles) set in post-nuclear Tokyo. The film may be viewed at the
blind website, at
Vimeo or at
YouTube.
Parents please be advised: although the film features a young child, viewing by young children is not especially recommended, as they may be frightened.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 6, 2011 -
29 comments
"It's a stretch of pavement both enriched and torn apart by class and ethnic divisions. When you go over a bridge or under a viaduct on this street you've left one country for another. It's the American melting pot at full boil."
Halsted Street USA. (1995, 56 minutes, Color)
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 31, 2010 -
13 comments
The Grand Generation (1993 - 27 min.) is a warm and inspiring portrait of six elderly Americans whose vigor belies their age. The film is a cogent reminder that most of us probably don't hear nearly enough of what the very oldest among us have to say.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 4, 2010 -
7 comments
"Men working on the river would move in time to the beat of the music. It was everywhere: on the street, in the church. In the tonks and barrelhouses where people went to be together. Like the beating of a big heart. It gave everyone a good feeling." The Cradle is Rocking is a delightful 12-minute film that, though somewhat damaged (Folkstreams has found what may be the only surviving print), is highly recommended viewing for anyone interested in American roots music: in this case, New Orleans jazz. The film's thoughtful and affable narrator is trumpeter
George "Kid Sheik" Cola, who can be heard along with Captain John Handy serving up some fine old-school Dixieland jazz
here and
here.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Dec 9, 2009 -
13 comments
The opening shots of 1920s New York City are wonderful, then you get a zany high-speed Harold Lloyd blazing down the avenues, and that's fun to watch, but the real killer is the horse-drawn trolley absolutely
tearing-ass through lower Manhattan, full gallop. Ends badly. Then it's over to San Francisco for one last bit of homicidal vehicular activity with a bus. Well, they sure don't drive
like they used to!
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 25, 2008 -
37 comments
If you can make it through the glacially paced intro and can put up with the typically clunky, often laughable and jingoistic fifties-style narration, this 1958 film from Chevrolet,
The American Look is worth viewing. Chock full of futuristic telephones, toasters, blenders, office machines, architecture and more, it's a mid-century design lover's dream. The film is visually striking and elegant, and presented in widescreen format. Here's part
2 and part
3. Or see it here in its
entirety.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 12, 2008 -
15 comments
Puleng is a lovely and evocative animated short film
(about 3 minutes) with a refreshingly simple yet sophisticated visual style. A poignant little portrait of life ended and life renewed.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 12, 2007 -
11 comments
