Laughing Tree Presents...

Alice by Jan Svankmajer

2012-06-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

My favorite adaptation Lewis Carroll story. Svankmajer outstanding artistry is inspiring.

Also a recent interview done with Svankmajer can be read here:

http://www.sampsoniaway.org/blog/2012/06/05/freedom-is-becoming-the-only-theme-an-interview-with-jan-svankmajer/

Ingmar Bergman commercial

2012-06-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

Here's one of about ten commercial spots Ingmar Bergman did for Bris - anti-bacterial soup
In this one he pokes fun at 3-D films.

Sun Ra documentary 2005

2012-06-06T22:27:00.003-07:00

O, we sing this song to... abolish sorrow

O, we sing this song for... the great tomorrow

"Sun Ra and his Arkestra were the subject of a few documentary films, notably Robert Mugge's 'A Joyful Noise' (1980), which interspersed performances and rehearsals with Sun Ra's commentary on various subjects ranging from today's youth to his own place in the cosmos.

Don Letts' 'Sun Ra, Brother From Another Planet' from 2005, reuses some of Mugge's material and includes some additional interviews."

Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa

2012-06-06T15:06:00.001-07:00

RASHOMON Director: Akira Kurosawa
A heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view.

Here's a link to the Sense of Cinema article about the Tenno or the Emperor as he was called by his contemporaries in Japan.
http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/kurosawa/

Dziga Vertov

2012-05-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

4. If a fake apple and a real apple are filmed so that one cannot be distinguished from the other on the screen, this is not ability, but incompetence - inability to photograph.

The real apple has to be filmed in such a way that no counterfeit can be possible. the real apple can be tasted and eaten, while the artificial one cannot - a good cameraman can understand this easily.

-Dziga Vertov

JLG

2012-05-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

When it was invented cinema fostered, or impressed, a different way of seeing called editing, which is to put something in relation to someone in a different way than novels or paintings. This is why it was successful, enormously successful, because it opened people’s eyes in a certain way. With painting there was a single relationship to the painting, with literature there was a single relationship to the novel, but when people saw a film there was something that was at least double, and when someone watched it became triple. There was something different which in its technical form gradually came to be called editing, meaning there was a connection. It was something that filmed not things, but the connection between things.

—Jean-Luc Godard

two songs

2012-05-14T00:41:00.001-07:00

The following two songs are not all that different. Yes, from different generations but the struggles and the pains are similar.

Aceyalone:

Dock Boggs:

Contact Field Orchestra

2012-02-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Contact Field Orchestra shared a snippet from their new recording. It connected with me and motivated me to create this video for it. The music is much much better than the video I edited, so I would suggest you stop watching this and buy the tape.
Contact Field Recordings Vol. 1
here's the snippet:
http://soundcloud.com/contactfieldorchestra/contact-field-orchestra-vol-1

to get the limited cassettes of Contact Field Recordings Vol. 1:
http://hnr.bigcartel.com/product/contact-field-orchestra-combo-pack

The Great Train Robbery - 1903

2011-12-25T00:23:00.000-08:00

The Great Train Robbery
Filmed in November 1903 at Edison's New York studio, at Essex County Park in New Jersey, and along the Lackawanna railroad and released in December 1903.
Directed by Edwin S Porter and stars Justus D. Barnes as the head bandit, G. M. Anderson as a slain passenger and a robber, Walter Cameron as the sheriff.

Ingmar Bergman

2011-11-24T01:33:00.000-08:00

There’s always a tension in me between my urge to destroy and my will to live . . . Every morning I wake up with a new wrath, a new suspiciousness, a new desire to live.
– Ingmar Bergman

Alexander Sokurov

2011-11-24T01:32:00.000-08:00

I think, that if an artist, a film director starts to treat himself as a person with unlimited freedom, then such a person becomes dangerous for humanity.

- Alexander Sokurov

Sokurov, directed Russian Ark, essentially the first un-edited motion picture, running 96 minutes without a cut.

spelling is a lossed art

2011-10-14T02:20:00.000-07:00

spelling is a lossed art form

Tom Waits For No Man - animation short

2011-09-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

I just discovered this really nice animation of a Tom Waits song. The information after this clip is copied from the youtube page and there's a link to go to as well: http://www.tomwaitslibrary.com/filmography/animation.html
It's fascinating that it was never released but the filmmaker, Lyon Lamb, received an Academy Award for this impressive rotoscoping work. The vibe is right in tune with Mr. Waits. I think this was done before his role in Jarmusch's Down By Law.

Tom Waits performed in 1978 live at the La Brea stage in Hollywood, photographed and rotoscoped.The original live action was shot with 5 cameras - 2 high, 2 low and one hand held.. shot by Dan O'Dowd and crew..The music from "The One That Got Away" blared in the background as Tom sang the lyrics. Donna Gordon is the dancer performing as the stripper, 6 takes and 13 hours of video footage were edited to make a 5 1/2 minute live action short which we turned into animation. A total of 5,500 frames were captured, re-drawn, inked and painted by hand onto celluloid acitate to create this film. Produced by Lyon Lamb Video Animation Systems and directed by John Lamb, the film bore some cool new technology and talent ..and was created specifically for a burgeoning video music market that didn't yet exist and arguably may be the first music video created for the MTV market.However, a series of unfortunate events prohibited the film from ever
being released or sold commercially, consequently catapulting it into obscurity.
In 1979, an Academy Award was presented to Lyon Lamb for the technology used in this short.
More about this amazing lost film can be found @ ....TomWaitsLibrary.com and Wikipedia.

The Big Red One - the novel

2011-08-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

I realized I hadn't posted anything for a while so. Well I finished reading Sam Fuller's The Big Red One I've never been big on war books, but I trusted Sam Fuller to take me on a trip. I knew he wouldn't let me down. Sure he's not Faulkner but then again Faulkner wasn't Fuller when it came to the camera. Now I have to re-watch the film, and Lee Marvin is perfect for the Sergeant.

(I'd add a clip from the movie but like I said I read the book not watched the movie... I've seen the movie I just finished reading the book)

An Evening with Groucho

2011-07-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

from:
http://www.archive.org/details/OTRR_An_Evening_With_Groucho_Singles

An Evening with Groucho is a look at the life of Groucho Marx and the Marx Brothers, as told by Groucho.

Groucho Marx Biography:

Born: October 2, 1890 in New York City, New York
Died: August 19, 1977 in Los Angeles, California

Groucho was born Julius Henry Marx on October 2, 1890 in New York. He was the third of the five surviving sons of Sam and Minnie Marx. He was the first of the brothers to start stage career aged 15 in an act called The Leroy Trio. Other acts followed, but none of them was a great success. Twice the other members of the act disappeared overnight and left him penniless in a town far away from home.

When his brothers came on stage, they finally had a success with the musical comedy called I'll Say She Is. It was at one of the performances of this show that Groucho got his painted moustache. He arrived late at the theater and used greasepaint to create a moustache. He found this so much easier than a glued on moustache that he insisted on using this technique from then on.

Always being a liberal, Groucho sometimes made critical remarks about politics and had friends which were regarded as communist by the US of the 1950s. This led to Groucho being investigated by the FBI.

When Marx Brothers became popular again in the last sixties/early seventies Groucho made a comeback with a show in Carnegie Hall in 1972. At the film festival in Cannes in 1972, he was made Commandeur des Arts et Lettres and in 1974 he received a special Academy Award for the achievements of the Marx Brothers.

Groucho died on August 19th, 1977 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. His ashes are at Eden Memorial Park, San Fernando, California.

Armenians arriving to America

2011-07-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

Armenian Community Opening from LaughingTree Films on Vimeo.

A short piece we produced, on Armenians immigrating to America. The entire segment focused mainly on California, but I'm really pleased with this opening.

The California Courier

2011-06-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is a video I created giving a brief historical overview of The California Courier

The California Courier is an English-language Armenian weekly newspaper published since 1958 in USA. The current publisher of the weekly is Harut Sassounian.

In 1958, two young men in Fresno -- George Mason (Elmassian) and Reese Cleghorn -- had the foresight to publish an English-language newspaper, so that those unfamiliar with their native tongue could stay in touch with community news.
Cleghorn went on to become Professor and Dean of the School of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Mason continued publishing the Courier with his popular weekly opinion column titled, "This and That" and wrote amusing Armenian wisecracks under the rubric "Uncle Hadji" and "Dear Dickran."
After moving to Los Angeles and becoming a prominent stock broker, Mason employed a succession of part-time editors and stringers. The most colorful personality to run the paper was a Japanese-American by the name of Seico Hanashiro, who worked at the Fresno post office during the day and published the Courier from his garage in his spare time. In the process, Seico knew more about the Armenian community than did most Armenians!
In 1983, Mason hired as full time editor of the Courier a young man by the name of Harut Sassounian, who subsequently became the publisher of the newspaper and moved it from Fresno to Glendale.

http://www.archive.org/details/TheCaliforniaCourier

Peter Falk

2011-06-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Falk, you inspired us, you influenced us, you taught us. Thankfully you left a body of work that will continue to inspire and influence us. Thank you Mr Falk.

Sam Fuller screen test for The Godfather with Pacino

2011-06-16T00:26:00.000-07:00

Sam Fuller's screen test for the role of Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part 2
I'm still trying to absorb this idea. I'd be curious to know who's idea it was, Coppola's or Fuller's? This I suppose is the only time Pacino and Fuller acted together. Hmm, maybe it was Pacino's idea.

Fuller_Pacino_Screentest from Heiko van der Scherm on Vimeo.

Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band

2011-06-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

All At One Point - memories and playlist

Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band
part 1

part 2

Remembering the great days of helping Carlos Nino on All At One Point which was broadcasted on kpfk on wednesday nights back in the late 90s.
I still have a lot of the playlists I'd make for Carlos. The music has never left me and silly youtube has allowed me to find some of those fresh tracks that I can share them now with the rest of you.

I was watching Sanford and Sons earlier and started searching for stand-up by Redd Foxx, which not sure how but led me to remembering this album.

Composed by Bill Cosby. Composed soon after the assassination of Dr. King.

yeah, I already know what song is next. Gary Bartz and the NTU troupe...

in a Mochilla Axelrod mood

2011-06-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

being in the mood from something moving... I visited Mochilla.com to see and hear some good riddums. B+ and Coleman give us a performance by David Axelrod. All respect due.

Axelrod Trailer

Moving to Raspur

2011-06-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

Done with Babylon, I think I'm going to move to Raspur

What's Up Tiger Lily

I was invited there by the one and only Grand Exalted High Macha of Raspur

High Macha Of Rashpur: Good afternoon. I am the Grand Exalted High Macha of Raspur, a non-existent but real-sounding country.
Phil Moscowitz: Uh-huh.
High Macha Of Rashpur: Yes. We're on a waiting list. As soon as there's an opening on the map, we're next.

Discovering Fractured Flickers

2011-06-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

After not watching it for years I finally found a copy of What's Up Tiger Lily. It's truly Woody Allen showing off his comedic and cinematic excellence. The truth is I fell in love with Mie Hama. The truth is I saw some Armenian-ness in her Japanese physical features, but that's a different story. While the credits aren't helpful... well I don't know about the closing credits because my attention was elsewhere. The internet helped me find Mie Hama... but the reason for this post is another discovery... Fractured Flickers

Fractured Flickers was produced by Jay Ward. Ward went on to also create Rocky & Bullwinkle and we all know that the character of Boris Badenov was inspired by some of the performances by Akim Tamiroff (but that's a story for another time)
To cut a long story short... Fractured Flickers was program that featured comedy redubbing of silent films and each episode also featured a celebrity guest whom the host Hans Conried interviewed.
Below seem to be the only three clips I've been able to find online... maybe somebody out there can help me find more. I even read somewhere that the show should be in the Public Domain because of copyright conflicts. The first one is the one and only Rod Serling discussing Twilight Zone and other oddities. The second one is of Barbara Eden, I just like her comedic timing in the clip. Last of the three is the opening credit sequence and we see hints of Rocky & Bullwinkle and some fun at Walter Cronkites expense.

Fractured Flickers guest Rod Serling:

Fractured Flickers guest Barbara Eden:

Fractured Flickers Opening:

Agnes Varda - Le Bonhuer

2011-05-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

A friend reminded me of this film... in an indirect way.
I remember when I first saw it it inspired me to write a story, now I just need to remember where that story is and if it's any good.

Le Bonjeur - 1965

Directed by Agnes Varda

Tortilla Flats - 1942 - Drinking Song

2011-05-27T01:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not doing justice to this post, I should write paragraphs but I'm in the mood to share now not later.

Tortilla Flats - 1942 - Drinking Song

Akim Tamiroff's verse:

"listen amigos and I will ask you this/
why is a glass just like a woman's kiss/ (muah)
when it's full of wine it makes you blind a little bit/
when the wine is gone you can see through it..."

The paisanos celebrate Danny's inheritance with an "impromptu" drinking song (words by Broadway's Frank Loesser.) Spencer Tracy, John Garfield, Akim Tamiroff, Sheldon Leonard.

The film is actually quite fun and stays pretty true to the book.

Tortilla Flats - 1942
Directed by Victor Fleming
This was Fleming's second film with Tamiroff the first being Reckless 1935
so Tamiroff shared the screen with Hedy Lemarr in Tortilla Flats and Jean Harlow in Reckless... not bad.
Other information about Tortilla Flats... Stars Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lemarr. Based on a Steinbeck novel. Frank Morgan was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.