BreakBeatDJ

Anyone else notice that Zavvi US has almost two pages of steels now? For months and months, sometimes they would only have 10 or less available for US, now it's nearly two pages. Not sure it means anything, maybe I just haven't looked for a while.

You're def right, that's the tour de force. Have you seen Todd Haynes' movie Safe, Julianne Moore? For some reason that always struck me as a 1990s version of Woman/Influence. Stylistically completely different, but embracing and exploring the complications of the lives of women under the pressure of domestic definition, women as the anti-victim, suffering from that "problem with no name" (Betty Friedman). Highly recommend any Todd Haynes movie actually.

I don't want to bog down this thread with a history of cinema rant . . . but, Cassavetes also invented Kickstarter. The dude was a force. ------- The story goes like this: it’s 1956, and John Cassavetes is an ambitious young actor teaching workshops in New York City. One night, Cassavetes appears on Jean Shepard’s late night talk show, Night People, to promote some of his upcoming projects. On the show, Cassavetes starts griping about the artificiality of Hollywood and his disdain for the repetitive and formulaic drivel the studio system churns out. In a general sense, he insults the very project he was supposed to be there promoting. Cassavetes then tells listeners that if they want to see something authentic, unpolished, and intimate, that they should send him money and he’ll make it happen. Shockingly enough, money started rolling in. Cassavetes amassed about $2,000 from the appearance. So he made good on his promise, and his directorial debut Shadows was born. Along with the crowdfunding and financing from friends, as well as his paychecks from acting jobs, he secured $40,000 for the film. Compared to the amount studios usually spent on films at the time, this was nothing. (For some perspective: Paramount spent around $1.75 million on Sunset Boulevard in 1950.) _____ I'll stop now. Enjoy your adventure through 60s/70s independent cinema!

So glad you watched this film @hansreinhardt !!! My avatar thanks you. This is the most important film in Independent cinema history. It is literally the first American "New Wave" independent movie ever. This movie changed everything. A generation of filmmakers, including Scorsese, Coppola, et al, credit this film as being the one that set them free (Scorsese noted - ". . . after Shadows there were no more excuses."). The 60s cinema, and Irving Penn's true masterpiece Bonnie and Clyde, don't happen unless Cassavetes makes this movie. It was a colossal moment in film history that is almost impossible for us to imagine now. With a 16mm camera, an ensemble of young hungry actors, and 2 years, he literally lit the fuse that would eventually bring down old Hollywood, with this one little movie. Here is what I wrote for Challenge 12 about Cassavetes, mentioning Shadows. ______ JOHN CASSAVETES (probably not a surprise to those of you who looked closely at my vague avatar) The beginning of the end of old Hollywood began with one director and one film: John Cassavetes' 1959 Shadows. Scorsese noted - after Shadows there were no more excuses. Cassavetes inspired a landslide of filmmakers to challenge studio system control and fight for creative freedom, both in style and content. We take it for granted that studios want to hear what Fincher, Lynch, Nolan, and others mentioned here, have to say. When Cassavetes made Shadows, a movie about the adventures of three black siblings in New York, with his stolen shots and 16mm verite loose camera, no one was interested. He made it anyway. And he kept making them. Over the next two decades Cassavetes funded his independent films (Husbands, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, etc.) by appearing as an actor in movies like The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary's Baby. Cassavetes took great joy in using Hollywood money to undermine Hollywood itself. His avant garde filmmaking style is disarming to many. His camera is never judgmental. It doesn't guide the eye to where you should look, it forces you to open your eyes. He doesn't tell you what you should think, the action plays out in front of you and you are forced to participate. It's the cinema of embracing the complexity of being authentically human, not by pointing it out, but by experiencing it. My favorite Cassavetes' film is Husbands. But, I love his wife and collaborator Gena Rowland's brave and shocking performance in A Woman Under the Influence. By the time Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde becomes a counter culture darling of individualism and self-expression in 1967, old Hollywood was diminished. And the independent film wave of the 90s (Soderbergh, PTA, Linklater, Ferrara, Egoyan, Haynes, Leigh, Jarmusch, Sofia C., Tarantino) blew up what was left. John Cassavetes lit the fuse for all of them. ______

Yeah, I agree. The first one was so ridiculous, but, I can not stop watching it once I start. This one will hopefully leverage some great effects to be even more over the top. I'm hoping to see Glenn Powell vertically surf an F5 on a flying cow.

And still do.

Yeah, I know zero tricks. But I consider collecting cards part of cardistry, my way of deluding myself I'm good with a deck. However on game night, my fellas love to see what deck I'm going to pull out. You have to really break these decks in to actually play with them. We have a coupla bros who have gotten good at cheating with the new slippery decks. I'm def a collector of the art on the cards first.

Hey, nice to have another member interested in cardistry decks. I'd point you to a subscription at King's Wild Project. I like Theory11, but often their designs can feel a bit computer-y to me. Don't get me wrong, they are fantastic decks and I have many of them. But Jackson Robinson is a fantastic illustrator and I actually prefer his LoTR decks at King's Wild, they take on more of a book illustration, shire feel, than the T11 decks. Follow King's Wild Project's Kickstarter, that's where the really good stuff ends up. Their legacy boxes are beautiful. Fellowship Two Towers

Oh all good, okay . . . my sarcasm often doesn't translate on forums and I get in to trouble for it occasionally. I actually should thank Ken for his patience when I said that . . . @deckard99 calmly and zen like let me find out I was an idiot on my own.

@Gary K Is the above edit clearer that I'm making fun of myself? Which I do regularly. 🤣

Is this the worst take on an edition ever? OCTOBER 26, 2022 BreakBeatDJ wrote about MAG BR2049 "Are there any other examples of large acrylic cases? . . . . It has a bit of a, "padlocked razors at the pharmacy" feel." Geez was I wrong, this BR2049 acrylic case is amazing. • BLADE RUNNER 2049 : MAG MPM #07 Thanks MP staff for the great packaging and this amazing edition • THE PRESTIGE : BLUFANS EXCLUSINVE #49 4K/BR WEA STEELBOOK DOUBLE LENTICULAR Thanks @extantsrevenge @cypheria078 and MP staff • THE GREAT GATSBY : BLUFANS EXCLUSIVE #51 4K/BR WEA STEELBOOK DOUBLE LENTICULAR Thanks @extantsrevenge @cypheria078 and MP staff

Legends of the Fall more a propos. Anyone else got one? Seriously though, hope you’re not hurt too badly @hansreinhardt. I see a toddler gate as my secret Santa gift to you next year.

Wow. Just watched that. Amazing.

Rob Gronkowski is doing his Kick of Destiny again this year during the Super Bowl. They did a new TV ad with Gronk wandering depressed through the desert, alone. Then all of a sudden, a motorcycle pulls up and it's Carl Weathers. He takes off his helmet and says . . . "This time, you won't miss, get in". And it's like, yeah, dude has got some serious gravitas, even in this not so great commercial. FanDuel announced they are adjusting the Super Bowl ad featuring Weathers out of respect. Curious what they do. He deserves respect.

I have some of my early radio sets from the late 80s when I was a kid on tape, and some really rare stuff from the radio in NYC. If you're nice to me, someday I may put some of that stuff up here. 🤣 Unfortunately, I have ZERO tapes from my live sets and parties. I played at the Beat club on Byrd Rd. in Miami when I was 15, it was the first hip hop club in the south. So dumb I didn't record anything from those sets. They would be historically valuable now. I was just worried about making people dance, not getting shot, and wasn't focused on recording.

Yeah, this is great. So, when I quit Djing, Downtempo was 90-110, just on the edge of danceable. The emergence of a lot of hip lounges (no dance floors, with couches, very intimate, designer drinks) in NYC in mid/late 90s played a lot of electronica/chill wave/downtempo. That's why I was confused by the term. Downtempo then was super laid back, slow. What you're describing above is a diff genre for sure. I have no idea what it is today. Terms def change. Thanks for the explanation! I always enjoy your posts.

Nice set. I love seeing all the gear and Mad Dog turning knobs on his eurorack modular synths. But . . . educate me . . . It's called downtime live, but this isn't downtempo. Is that the event name? This is what counted as downtempo when I was coming up.

This is all wrong. My 13 year old self had it right . . . “A two liter of root beer, a large pepperoni lovers, piping hot, the Raiders on Monday Night Football with the sound off, The Meters on the turntable.” A “Swift horse under” me would chafe my ass more than the couch.

Kudos to Shout. I would have loved to have been in that pitch meeting when this idea was thrown out there. Love it, it's ridiculously kitch and smart at the same time. My grandma loves snow globes, I can just see her showing this off to her friends.

Well, this is making me glad I'm not a Movie on a Disk in a Case in a Slip in a Box in a Box kinda collector.

Well, I'm a director/cinematographer of TV commercials who has increasingly done color grading and editing over the last 20 years, so not a pure colorist, but have spent thousands of hours at the Resolve panel (just finished working on a NatGeo segment. fyi) coloring commercials and other advertising short films. So, my work is largely about skin tone, proper color balance and other secondary corrections, I seldom get to do anything "creative" in terms of a broader look design, like a movie colorist would. To be honest, I probably trust your judgement, and @hal56 on these Cameron films more than my own, I don't own all of these new versions. But, I do remember very clearly when all the teal/orange spectrum grading started appearing particularly in action/crime films. It does not feel modern to me anymore. I think Cameron is trying to future proof the look of his films, even with some of the smoothing filters, that make people look waxy, and the various color pushes, not just teal, but the entire blue spectrum seems to be sinking in to the shadows more than I would like. I don't know how it's going to play, but I am with you, I'd prefer a more balanced, rich, crushed look, like the originals. One more note . . . after sitting in edit suites with a lot of different film makers, there is a certain amount of insecurity that sets in. Does it look good? Is it dynamic enough? Is it too natural? On and on and on, and after looking at their footage for weeks, months, years, they are fundamentally bored with it. That insecurity often translates in to a lot of really poor decisions for color and gamma. I've done it myself, out of insecurity that I didn't light a scene well enough, or the look is too bland. Cameron is not above that, and my guess is there's no one around to tell him no. Pure speculation. You all may have discussed this above, forgive me if it's repetitive.

Yeah, I'm sure we were saying the same thing . . . any chance I get to be a nerd and talk coloring, I go overboard.

Hopefully properly glued and requires no assembly.

It makes me so happy you're stoked for Kindergarten Cop. One of those wonderful guilty pleasures movies