stuff that inspires you

[Bryan]

Where on earth did you see the movies of John Paizs? You can rarely even see them in Canada!

(And yeah, he's awesome. I once told him in an elevator that I'd really enjoyed Top of the Food Chain - after being introduced, even - and he looked at me like I'd just slapped his face. Weirdo.)

[gravy boat]

Patton Oswalt's speech to a high school graduation class - which I only found out about because of this board.

Message by Jckinnick:
Just heard about this I wish I was graduating from this high shcool.

http://www.pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?page=spew&id=83

[Martin]

Where on earth did you see the movies of John Paizs? You can rarely even see them in Canada!

(And yeah, he's awesome. I once told him in an elevator that I'd really enjoyed Top of the Food Chain - after being introduced, even - and he looked at me like I'd just slapped his face. Weirdo.)

Being a cinephile has its advantages. I've had VHS copies of Crime Wave and Springtime in Greenland for years, then one of my friends surprised me with quality DVD bootlegs of both. And of course Top of the Food Chain has a proper DVD release (however obscure). One of these days I'll try to track Paizs down for an interview. Quick question: is he well-known in Canada? What's his status there? For an outsider, it's really difficult to tell - he's virtually unheard of anywhere else.

[Bryan]

Paizs is not well-known here at all. Last I heard (which was ~6 years ago) he'd been teaching at a prestigious film school, the Canadian Film Centre, for quite a while. So he's not a complete outsider from the film scene, but he's several tiers below Guy Maddin in terms of strange, Winnipeg-born auteurs.

Seems like the only time his films get screened here is when he's physically present to orchestrate it. I really hope he gets off his ass to do something more personal again. He was just a hired gun on Top of the Food Chain, and even that was something like ten years ago.

I went to a mini-retrospective of his movies in Toronto a few months ago, and despite a pretty good amount of hype in the local arts weeklies, it was pretty sparsely attended. So his following is "cult" at best.

[Martin]

Very interesting, thanks for the info.

[Martin Edison]

Patton Oswalt's speech to a high school graduation class - which I only found out about because of this board.

Message by Jckinnick:
Just heard about this I wish I was graduating from this high shcool.

http://www.pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?page=spew&id=83

Oh man. That was good. Thanks.

[John Junk 2.0]

Rock My Religion by Dan Graham.

Actually, the essay and book are way better than the video, because the video is kind of a piece of shit, but you get the idea from the video, and you don't have to read too much:

http://www.ubu.com/film/graham_rock.html

[Jack from Arkansas]

Sam Maloof

[Martin Edison]

www.aestheticapparatus.com

I hope one day, I can do stuff this awesome.

[dave from knoxville]

Did I mention Wallace Stevens?