Passages

[jbeall]

David Lodge

[MichaelB]

For clarity, this is David Lodge the novelist, not David Lodge the actor, who's been dead two decades.

The more recently deceased David Lodge made no contribution to cinema at all that I can see (bar the setting of his first novel The Picturegoers), although he adapted his own novel Nice Work and Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit for British television at the turn of the 1990s. His Small World was also adapted for television, but by Howard Schuman.

[Mr Sausage]

Jeff Baena.

[hearthesilence]

Tom Johnson, minimalist composer and Village Voice critic whose columns documented the renaissance of avant-garde music in downtown New York during the 1970s.

[figzzz]

Roger Pratt

[fdm]

Peter Yarrow

[hearthesilence]

Roger Pratt

Quite a career, he was the cinematographer for Terry Gilliam's Brazil, The Fisher King and 12 Monkeys as well as Tim Burton's first Batman film and two of Mike Leigh's best films, High Hopes and Meantime. Along with Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa, I think that's four films he's shot in Criterion's library.

[hearthesilence]

Beej Chaney of the Minneapolis-based band the Suburbs.

[beamish14]

Roger Pratt

Quite a career, he was the cinematographer for Terry Gilliam's Brazil, The Fisher King and 12 Monkeys as well as Tim Burton's first Batman film and two of Mike Leigh's best films, High Hopes and Meantime. Along with Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa, I think that's four films he's shot in Criterion's library.

Also Kate Bush’s remarkable short film The Line, the Cross, and the Curve. I thought he was DP on her music video for ”Cloudbusting”, which was directed by Brazil editor Julian Doyle from a treatment co-written by Terry Gilliam

Mike Leigh and Tim Roth just appeared at an American Cinematheque screening of Meantime several days ago, and I wonder if they discussed his passing

[colinr0380]

Plus 1989's Batman! And the 1998 Richard Eyre version of King Lear with Ian Holm in the title role. As well as two great collaborations with Neil Jordan and Julianne Moore at the turn of the millennium with the 1999 remake of The End of the Affair and the Samuel Beckett short Not I from 2000.

I'm not a particular fan of the overblown Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but the highlights of that film are Pratt's cinematography and Patrick Doyle's score, which combine to almost reach that grandiose hysterical tone being strived for.

Speaking of comically grandiose, on his work with Gilliam he was also the cinematographer on maybe the best looking Python film ever, where the gorgeously deluxe look is kind of the joke - the short that begins The Meaning of Life, The Crimson Permanent Assurance.

[beamish14]

Plus 1989's Batman! And the 1998 Richard Eyre version of King Lear with Ian Holm in the title role. As well as two great collaborations with Neil Jordan and Julianne Moore at the turn of the millennium with the 1999 remake of The End of the Affair and the Samuel Beckett short Not I from 2000.

I'm not a particular fan of the overblown Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but the highlights of that film are Pratt's cinematography and Patrick Doyle's score, which combine to almost reach that grandiose hysterical tone being strived for.

Speaking of comically grandiose, on his work with Gilliam he was also the cinematographer on maybe the best looking Python film ever, where the gorgeously deluxe look is kind of the joke - the short that begins The Meaning of Life, The Crimson Permanent Assurance.

I’m just in awe of the VFX on Crimson Permanent Assurance. On his commentary, Gilliam discusses how difficult it was to light the glass on the miniature buildings.

Tim Burton must’ve really been taken with Brazil, as Batman also shares a title designer with it, and Charles McKeowen contributed so much to its screenplay that press releases acknowledge him for his work, although the WGA did not award him a co-writing credit

[beamish14]

Bob Laemmle, owner of the once-great Laemmle arthouse theatre chain. I have some great memories of going to their Santa Monica multiplex and seeing films like Perfect Blue and Princess Mononoke for the first time. They also had a number of 70mm revivals at their Santa Monica Blvd. location, which was chopped up into several smaller screens.

[CSM126]

Anita Bryant

[JSC]

Anita Bryant

Didn't really recall much about her, but then I remembered her appearence in Roger and Me!

[dadaistnun]

Gunvor Nelson

[Peg of the PreCodes]

https://www.newsfromme.com/2025/01/09/m ... ger-r-i-p/

Michael Schlesinger, film producer and preservation advocate. I only met him once, and he was trying to sell me the just-released Biffle & Shooster DVD, but his enthusiasm then and online, was never less than 24 karat. I just might listen to a commentary track in his honor.

[hearthesilence]

Some lovely tributes to Schlesinger on social media as well. Joseph McBride writes that Schlesinger green lit It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles when he was the head of Paramount Repertory, but it ultimately cost him his job when studio executives saw it, not realizing it was a silent film focused on poor people of color, and promptly had him escorted off the lot by security. Christa Fuller also writes that Schlesigner personally saved White Dog when it looked like it was doomed to sit on the shelf.

[hearthesilence]

Sam Moore, who was the surviving half of Sam and Dave, one of Stax/Volt's greatest acts, perhaps second only to Otis Redding (not counting the legendary house band Booker T. & The MG's who were on virtually every record during the label and studio's heyday).

[Lemmy Caution]

There was a 1994 release Rhythm, Country & Blues which featured duets between soul and country singers. The standout track for me was Rainy Night in Georgia by Sam Moore & Conway Twitty. Great singing, while both of their personalities shine through. Twitty passed away prior to the release and the project was dedicated to his memory. There are fun pairings such Al Green & Lyle Lovett. But I think the 90's production makes it all very listenable but limits the impact.

Otherwise, lotta great Sam & Dave to listen to. Did Sam Moore ever do any duets with a female vocalist? Seems an obvious play.

it's a shame that Sam's drug habit prevented him from achieving any kind of sustainable solo career. I recall a documentary entitled Sam & Dope, which was depressing.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Sam Moore's 'Soul Man' made a comeback (with Lou Reed) in the film of same name in the mid-80s, whose good intentions were a little misguided, let's say.

[hearthesilence]

He occasionally appeared as a duet partner on high profile albums, though usually they were MOR albums for long established artists. He typically delivered though even if the song or record wasn’t anything earthshaking.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Sam Moore was also in the John Cusack/Tim Robbins comedy Tapeheads. I've never heard of this film, but it has an eclectic cast, for sure.

[Roger Ryan]

Sam Moore was also in the John Cusack/Tim Robbins comedy Tapeheads. I've never heard of this film, but it has an eclectic cast, for sure.

Moore’s performance in this film is the first thing I thought of when I heard of his passing, quickly followed his Sam and Dave hits playing in my head, of course, so he made an impact even though I only saw Tapeheads once on cable circa 1990. Similar to the vibe of Repo Man and Allan Arkush’s Get Crazy where the effort earns good will because it has an understanding of the music business/music culture it’s sending up.

[MichaelB]

Tony Slattery, ubiquitous on British comedy panel shows and light entertainment from the mid-80s through the 1990s, and by far most famous for that (Wikipedia notes that his ubiquity was such by the early 1990s that that in itself started to be satirised; it came to an abrupt end following a prolonged bout of illness that was related to his bipolar disorder and various addictions), but he also played small acting roles in the likes of The Crying Game, Carry On Columbus, Peter's Friends and How to Get Ahead in Advertising.

[JSC]

Very sad. I always liked his energy on Whose Line is it Anyway, but it seemed (at least for the public) like
he spent a good chunk of his remaining years trying to simply cope with the business of living. I remember a
documentary about him that came out a few years ago which was a bit depressing.