Only hours after the death of Ingmar Berman, another of the great 21st Century cinematographers has passed away. Michaelangelo Antonioni will always be remembered by film buffs for works like Zabriskie Point and Blowup, often imitated but very seldom equalled.
This scene from Blowup (featuring a 20-year old Jane Birkin) shows Antonioni’s version of 1960s swinging London. Of course, being Antonioni, what this film is about is pretty much not what this film is about:
Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director of film and stage, passed away this morning at his home on Fårö in Sweden. Bergman was, above all, a storyteller, something the younger generation of directors imitating his cinematic style often forget. Start watching a Bergman film at any point, and soon the narrative pulls you in. Regardless of any start or finish or context, the storyteller Bergman is always fascinating, always gripping, as in this scene from his 1957 film Wild Strawberries:
Cartoonist and satirist Garry Trudeau is a man I can respect. I like it that we appear to be on the same wavelength in broad strokes, but if a Doonesbury cartoon should contain a message that appears to contradict what I believe to be true, I would sit up and take notice. But I really know nothing about the man, apart from what I have learnt from reading thousands upon thousands of editions of his daily cartoon. So what a surprise to stumble upon this article from the Washington Post, offering a very rare look inside the head of a man who could be America’s conscience.
The cyberpunk future we were promised has arrived at last: an armed Brazilian gang used Orkut to lure a top RPG gamer (not played by Keanu Reeves) to a location in São Paolo, where he was kidnapped and held at gunpoint for five hours. Their objective was to force him to give up his password to the MOG GunBound, then selling his valuable character for $8,000. The hostage refused to reveal his password, and was eventually released unharmed.
Dolphins, it turns out, are not only really intelligent, but are in fact intelligent enough to be perverts. For the seaman’s best friend, according to the kind of dodgy news sources reporting this kind of thing, are always up for a spot of dogging:
One of the world’s top designers of luxury subs, US Submarines president Bruce Jones, told Bloomberg that dolphins were a problem for the amorous owners of his multi-million dollar vessels. “Dolphins are easily excited when they sense people making love. They get jealous and bang their noses against the window,” Mr Jones said.
I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent. —Arthur C. Clarke
