happy halloween from planetcool

happy halloween everybody! hey, the freaks come out at night, so i guess that makes me a freak. (mmm, something new for me.) here's a shot from ken russell's marvelous 'mahler,' where the composer encounters a painted pumpkin head outside his lake house. the man is robert powell... and we suspect his wife alma, (played by my darling, georgina hale) is responsible for the startling placement of the pumpkin-guy. i love all my friends, and wish them all the treats they can handle, and only the best kind of tricks.

happy late birthday robert powell

man, i'm tired. i had a full week. i was unable to post last night on account of a disruption in our internet service. and now, i'm typing with my right index finger bandaged due to a freak umbrella accident earlier in the day. so bear with me as far as like, typos and other carelessness due to fatigue and an injured finger. that being said, i checked my celebrity birthday source, and realized i should probably say happy 65th birthday to the english actor robert powell. apparently most people would probably recognize him from his starring role in the 'jesus of nazareth' miniseries. but i know him best from his great work in ken russell films. he played the doomed captain walker in 'tommy,' which was probably the first time i ever saw him. and then he also starred as gustav mahler in russell's 1974 fantastic biography picture 'mahler.' (one of ken's best... it manages to seamlessly stitch classic realism with moments of high camp outrageousness.) in this shot, we see powell-as-mahler, in one such fantasy sequence, sword in hand, silver swastika on his chest, atop an english hill, about to chow down hungrily on the head of a pig. in fact, it looks like he might already have his mouth full of snout. mmm, tasty isn't it, gustav? it might go down well with a big swig of milk. so umm, happy late birthday, robert. you are a very cool member of the planet.

father moon

here is one of my favorite shots from the whole film. it's robert powell as captain walker, alive in his child's imagination, providing light and hope from the periphery of the boy's damaged self. from a filmmaking standpoint, i am still puzzled as to how ken russell got this shot, and got it so flawlessly. just what kind of prop is robert powell holding? is it glass? a reflective web of silk? is it some kind of well-diffused bulb? i still can't tell. all i know is i don't see any wires. and it works. pure genius. wow.

father sun

this is practically the opening shot of 'tommy.' i've seen it hundreds of times... but looking at it just now, i realize that ken must've stood around and waited for the perfect sunset. its not a mat. its not any kind of special effects. (at least none that i've ever heard of.) just robert powell and the sky. and i can even tell its really robert powell. i could pick his shoulders out of a police line up. i don't even think i need to point out the genius of the plain composition. and i've always said that ken russell would've made a great director of silent films. i timed it tonight, and for the first 7:00 full minutes of 'tommy,' there is actually no spoken (or even sung) dialogue. everything is communicated by facial expressions and the lulls and swells in the music. and all of it so artfully done, you almost don't notice the lack of words. honestly, ken proves that sometimes words are entirely unneccsessary. amen.

easter sunday

i solemnly recognize Easter. this may come as a puzzling stance for some that have known me over my wilder years, but i mean it. my recognition of the day has nothing to do with marshmallow canaries or hollow candied chicks. there are no colored eggs, there are no chocolate rabbits. happily, however,
there is Christ. amen.