Today’s movie = Rip Torn is magic
"Rorschach. The critics who attacked it were afraid of their own erotic impulses or the stunning lack of them; those who applauded the film were driven by their fantasies, haunted by their darknesses..."
- Milton Moses Ginsberg from "How To Fall Into Oblivian and Take Your Movie With You"
Milton Moses Ginsberg's 1969 classic Coming Apart is a film that defies description. Rip Torn plays a Psychiatrist who wires his apartment/office for film and sound recording. Some say that the mechanics of the film are meant to showcase the protagonist's own breakdown. Whatever the case, Rip Torn is amazing in his portrayal of a man on the edge, secretly recording a revolving door of female clientele - whom he proceeds to exploit for his own purpose/fantasy/something.
I have a deep and abounding love for Rip Torn. From films like this one on to his work with Garry Shandling. The man is a crazed genius. Ginsberg also comes across as a disturbed genius type - he's only directed four films (this one in '69, one in 1973, another in 1999 and finally 2001) and has for the most part worked as an editor. The essay that I've referenced above is an extra on the DVD reissue of the film. In it, Ginsberg basically details the way in which he essentially alienated a lot of "important" people in the world of filmmaking so that he didn't need to compromise his project. Clearly ahead of his time, Ginsberg's fascination with busting up the conventional relationship between viewer and cinema (a la classical Hollywood narrative) is amazing to watch.
I offer for your consideration a brief clip from Coming Apart:
Rip Torn in Milton Moses Ginsberg's Coming Apart (1969)
Bollywood vs. Tollywood vs. Kollywood vs. Lollywood and so on
I referenced my interest in Bollywood in this site's inaugural post. So I figured I would get the ball rolling by clarifying (for the YouTube cruising masses) the distinctions that exist in Sub-Continental film.
Often, people see a movie clip with South Asian folks and automatically assume that makes it "Bollywood" - not so! The post title basically highlights some of the diversity of the regional cinema that exists within the Indian Sub-Continent.
Bollywood is a term that is specific to the Hindi film industry based out of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India.
Kollywood is a term that is used specifically in reference to Tamil cinema and the Tamil film industry based out of Chennai (formerly Madras) in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India.
Tollywood references Telugu language cinema that is centred geographically in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.
Lollywood is indicative of Pakistani film, coming out of the city of Lahore, Pakistan.
While Bollywood film is huge, it would be a mistake to assume that these regional cinemas are small fish in comparison. Lollywood is probably the one that is smallest, but the Pakistani film industry is growing. I'll write about the growth of Lollywood horror in a future post.
Just for fun and in order to differentiate I'll post a couple of clips that come from each of these cinemas. Some will be familiar (I can't resist the re-post) and others might be new to you:
Welcome!
United Mental Force is a pop culture blog filtered through my interests (B and cult cinema, books, punk rock, Bollywood etc.) and occasionally my friends' as well. Prepare to read entries that will cruise through music, film, books and more. Some entries will be funny, some will be nerdily informative and occasionally some posts (depending upon the issue) will showcase my extreme distaste/anger. At the end of the day I hope to generate a little community of like minded pop cult. enthusiasts who will want to share ideas, dialogue and more!