Category: film

Jim Morrison Interview (1970) (26 years old)

~ 21st Century Poet ~ Leave a comment

He was a thinker. I could quibble with some of his thoughts (like getting caught in the focus on the individual trap and not realizing he was surrounded by women artists), but that is not the point. Much of this conversation is sadly relevant, partly because they touch on some perennial questions and partly because there is some prescience in Jim’s thoughts. And remember he was 26. I could post actual philosophers and write 5,000 words on this, but no one would click on it…

A 20/20 Report on Rap from 1981 [Video]

~ 21st Century Poet ~ Leave a comment

Here’s a little time capsule: A 20/20 Report on rap. Surprisingly, it didn’t do a bad job talking about its origins. Of course they missed quite a few things, like the dozens, Gil Scott-Heron, and if they were really on it they would have included a toasting clip from a Jamaican sound system instead of the clip they showed, but I was surprised they even generally got the idea. They tried to put it in some historical and cultural context as well, while showing some respect. Usually there is much more condescension in stories like this from sources like this. The reporter also predicted rap would have staying power. Not too shabby considering the source.

In the end, he states everybody can rap. Maybe, but not everybody can rap well. It’s like saying everyone can sing. But he was trying to make the point that the music was accessible to the makers and the listeners.

For the hardcore old school Hip Hop heads: because he went to the epicenter to get footage, there are actually a couple of clips I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Enjoy the time capsule. The discerning viewer will see how much (and how little) things have changed, in all respects.

I just took another look at the beginning of the video and caught the producer’s name: Danny Schechter. That was Danny Schechter the News Dissector, who recently passed away. Now the quality makes sense. This happened to be from the time Danny spent in corporate news, but he was a good ol’ leftie. Like anyone, he wasn’t perfect or always right, but he left a legacy of engagement and activism when he died, from the struggle for South Africa to media freedom. Here is my post on him from 2013:

Danny Schechter The News Dissector

Ornette Coleman: “I’m in love with eternity…I don’t care about how many changes that goes on, as long as it keeps going on.”

~ 21st Century Poet ~ Leave a comment

“This is what I really would love to have in my music: presence. You know, as long as I can live. I mean I don’t care about nothing I played yesterday if I can go home right now and write some music that, is a presence. You know? That’s why they have machines, you know, so, if you want the past, there’s a machine that’s got the past. Right there, you know…which I think is very good, you know; so therefore, that means we as human beings can be in the present.”

List of every film mentioned in the documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself

~ 21st Century Poet ~ Leave a comment

I recently watched the doc (though doc is not a great label here) Los Angeles Plays Itself. I quickly became amazed at the number of films mentioned and began to think about writing a few down. Then more and more films were mentioned. And then even more. I gave up, decided to enjoy the film, and do an internet search later. (I say internet search because I think it is wise for people to stop free advertising for and supporting an evil company. I’ve been using Duckduckgo with fairly good results for a while now. Check it out). The internet search instantly bore fruit. The person at the website words, words, words did yeoman’s work cataloging every film mentioned. Job well done.