No narrator, all outdoors
Manfred Kirschheimers gloriously innocent curiosity about graffiti and trains in nyc in the 80s
Complete with a sick soundtrack and almost no dialogue or words
Feb 23, 2025
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My sister is an architectural historian and lover of cities who runs the account @formfollowsfantasy, and last time we were together she showed me this beautiful and concise (only 77 min) documentary about Timothy āSpeedā Levitch, a divinely inspired double decker bus tour guide in 1990s NYC. He is quite literally in constant conversation with the city and its inanimate (to most people) objects, and he possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of where the cityās great artists, writers, and performers prospered and suffered. He leads groups of unsuspecting tourists from all over the world on rambling jaunts through the city where he shares what appear to be stream-of-consciousness poetic performances with them from the roof of a double decker bus. Everything that enables the flow of life is ācruiseā (a well composed outfit, undeniable sexual connection with a passerby) and everything that disrupts that flow is āanti-cruiseā (cops, the never-ending grind of work for money). Words to live by.
Dec 7, 2021
A documentary about grafitti and breakdancing. Between the antagonists (Ed Koch and Cap), the pearl clutching public and the charismatic subjects it really keeps you engaged. Also really solid editing. Tony silver was on one.
you can watch it on nightflight but if money is tight Iām sure if you poke around the usual spots you can find it ;)
May 12, 2024
on itās face this is not a particularly interesting documentary, the editing is serviceable and the interviews arenāt exactly dynamic, but what it lacks in creativity it more than makes up for in content. blank city tells the story of the no wave movement in 70s/80s downtown nyc from the ones who lived it. truly one of the most inspiring documentaries that i found at a pivotal point in my life that changed the trajectory of how i view filmmaking, art, and just coolness in general. blank city is the story of one of the most transgressive artist communities of all time and theyāre not very well known, just a few names made it to the mainstream with many others becoming underground legends. in fact a few of the films featured in this documentary are only viewable by screening at the museum of modern art, totally unreleased everywhere else (and trust me iāve tried to find them) this doc got me into the new york art scene, velvet underground, jim jarmusch, glenn oābrienās tv party, patti smith, andy warhol, lydia lunch, john lurie, jean-michel basquiat and on and on and on. this film opened a gateway into filmmaking that i had never even considered at that point in my life and iām grateful i found it. the best part is: kino lorber was kind enough to upload the entire thing on youtube to watch right now!
Jan 17, 2025
Top Recs from @oldbitchyoubury
Feb 23, 2025
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The best is weird stuff where you donāt know the rules like shotput, triple jump, diving. Nothing too exciting
Feb 23, 2025
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At a party last night I remembered that my childhood bff (Anna) and I got Webkinz at the same time we learned about the mystical bits of Catholicism. Two secular Jewish girls became obsessed with the magic, impossibility, and depth of romance surrounding saints, relics, angels, and being saved. It seemed just like a plot line from a video game or Y/A book series. So we named our Webkinz as follows: the panda was Apostle Paul, the pig was Mary Magdalene, and we saved up our money for a hippo we called Pope JP2. Because we were like 11, we got pretty good at games and nothing felt more hysterically funny than seeing āMary Magdaleneā up in second place on the Webkinz leaderboards. I cracked myself up as a kid and tbh that shit is just as funny now.
Feb 23, 2025