The Golem: How He Came Into the World

Watched this late last night. I’ve seen this a number of times but never reviewed it on my old film blog for some reason… plus this was my first time seeing it in HD (Murnau Foundation restoration), and I think that actually did make a difference to my appreciation of it. One of the film’s primary features was, of course, the wild Expressionist design by Hans Poelzig, and I think it’s fitting that his credit (at least in this restoration) comes immediately after that of the two directors, cos he really was the MVP of this film, way ahead of any of the human performers… Anyway, the scene is medieval Prague, where the Jews have been given their marching orders by the emperor; community leader Rabbi Löw, meanwhile, is messing with some kind of dark forces and working on the titular creature. Will the Golem be the saviour of the Prague ghetto? Or will it be a bigger problem than Löw expected? No prizes for guessing, of course… I found myself enjoying this rather more than I have done in the past; I always liked The Golem without ever really loving it, but I definitely get it a lot more now that it’s so much clearer in high-def. I do remain a bit perplexed by a couple of things, mainly the romance between the rabbi’s daughter and the emperor’s emissary:

I mean, do YOU see the chemistry radiating between those two? Cos damned if I ever have… But this is the other thing I’ve never got:

This comes from the scene in which the Golem is brought to life (the film’s later influence on the 1931 Frankenstein is most obvious here), with the rabbi having been given the magic word which he writes on a strip of parchment then, as we see, he puts it into the amulet thing that animates the Golem. This isn’t a close-up, though, as we’d understand it, in that the film doesn’t cut from a longer shot to a closer one; this is one continous shot of the rabbi and his assistant Famulus carrying the inanimate Golem into the middle of the chamber in long shot, with the rabbi then approaching the camera for the close-up, then going back. I’ve always been a bit baffled by this; I know from having studied early film history that staging in depth and in long shot was the default mode of early cinema, this is how a film made in 1905 or so would’ve handled this business… but this is a film made in 1920, so this was already massively dated even then, most films would’ve just cut to the close-up. I’ve always wondered why Wegener and/or Boese did it this way, and I am almost certainly the only person who ever has.

As I was saying about the design, though. LOOK AT THAT. The illustration of the buildings in the film poster is one thing, but these were real, and BUILT. Goddamn. Hadn’t seen The Golem in years, delightful to revisit it at last…

Maybe, just maybe…

Seen on Tumblr; this is from June 1962, apparently, so three and a half years since Castro conquered in Cuba. Looking at the question about whether or not voodoo was used on Castro, it’s tempting to kind of mock it, cos, well, Castro stuck around for a lot longer than I suspect any in 1962 was expecting him to do, voodoo didn’t have much effect on him… or DID it? Cos I presume that “Voodoo used on Castro?” was asking whether it was used against him, but I looked at this and suddenly thought: what if it was used FOR him? Maybe some curandero on his side using less conventional weapons? I don’t know, maybe that’s what the article was actually asking, not like I’ve actually read it or anything…

Grey Room #16

Particularly pleased with this installment, for whatever that may be worth.

1. Mighty Baby – Egyptian Tomb (1969)
2. Peter Gabriel – Intruder (1980)
3. Naked Raygun – Soldiers Requiem (1988)
4. Marianne Faithfull – Witches’ Song (1979)
5. The Chameleons – In Shreds (1982)
6. Renegade Soundwave – Traitor (1990)
7. Love – Dream (1969)
8. Spahn Ranch – Dubnosis {1998)
9. Machines of Loving Grace – If I Should Explode (1993)
10. David Bowie – Dead Against It (1993)
11. Tame Impala – Jeremy’s Storm (2010)
12. British Sea Power – Childhood Memories (2002)
13. Stereolab – Ping Pong (1994)
14. The Chosen Few – Do Your Thing (1972)
15. Died Pretty – Radio (1997)

So much for political homelessness?

Joe Rogan Calls Trump Fans ‘F**king Nuts’ And Says He’s Been ‘Left-Wing My Whole Life’

In a conversation with comedian Ron White, Rogan made the highly charged remark about the MAGA faithful on his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
“Trump supporters are fucking nuts, man,” Rogan said. “They’re rabid.”
Rogan continued in what appeared to be a cautionary tale about political worship.
“He represents something other than just a person to them,” Rogan said. “He represents a leader that they wish they had, which is a real problem in our society in general with leaders. We look to them as if there’s something different than every other person that’s ever been a leader before. Like, ‘This is the one. This is the one that’s going to save us.’”
Earlier in the podcast, Rogan took issue with the perception of himself as right-wing “because I look right-wing and because I did kind of help Trump.” (Rogan’s interview with Trump before the 2024 election and last-minute endorsement of him were credited with helping the Republican to victory.)
“I’ve been left-wing my whole life,” Rogan continued. “I have very left-wing views on a lot of things. But I also recognize when government is taking over our lives. And what we were sold with the Trump administration would be that would end and it would be ‘drain the swamp.’ Obviously, it’s not been ideal in that regard.”

I mean… he’s not actually wrong about this stuff, especially the bit about Trump’s supporters, but it’s just… fantastically rich coming from Joe Rogaine, who’s hitherto been fond of describing himself as “politically homeless” to try and pretend that he’s not just a platform for the right. I’ve heard some bullshit come out of Joe’s mouth over the years, but this is about the bullshittest; whatever good things he has admittedly supported in recent years, he’s still responsible for spreading some horrendous ideas from horrendous people. I imagine one of those people, probably someone like Peter Thiel, will be on his show sometime soon to show him the error of his ways.

Before liberals run to place Rogan on their team, note that he then ranted about COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pandemic safety protocols as examples of “insanity.”

Ah, that’s more like it.

It gets worse for Ed…

No, really:

Oh dear. I’m sure Ed Sheeran is a lovely chap who normally and correctly finds Stephen Yaxley-Lennon abhorrent, so surely he realises just how terrible this looks for him… funny that, as far as I can see, Ed hasn’t repudiated the cunt, though. Depeche Mode shut down Richard Spencer immediately, so why not you, Edward? Admittedly he’s probably afraid of saying anything publicly at the moment, but a statement telling Yaxxers to go fuck himself would actually be something people would appreciate from him…

Max’s muesli

For someone who was apparently all over the late 60s art scene and a major part thereof, I’m surprised that I can’t remember ever having heard of Peter Max (who’s just left us aged 88) before now:

Max began his career in graphic design in the 1960s and his swirly, colorful, instantly recognizable designs epitomized the era’s “flower power” art. But thanks to his prolific output and fun, accessible style, Max’s work remained well known and popular well into the 21st century.
He described his own work as “always on the side of the peaceful nature. I don’t discuss in my paintings negative things, I don’t dwell on it in my mind and don’t dwell on it in my canvasses.”
Max was the official artist for the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the Indianapolis 500, the World Cup, the World Series and many other events. His art appeared on a Boeing 777 airplane and a Norwegian Cruise Line ship. His portrait subjects ranged from US presidents to Taylor Swift.
But in his first flush of success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, his mural-like tableaus of flowers, the cosmos and cartoonish figures – all in vivid colors such as turquoise, orange and neon green – seemed to be everywhere. Dorm room walls were plastered with his posters. Household furnishings such as clocks and bedspreads sported his designs.
He even created covers for the Manhattan Yellow Pages, a business phone directory distributed to millions of people. Max himself was featured on the cover of Life magazine in 1969, his trademark dark, bushy mustache framing a hearty grin. […]
By the 1960s, Max’s bold, unique style was a hit with ad agencies, publications, the corporate world and in pop culture, leading to a booming commercial business. “My work was really, I would say, almost exploited,” he said. “It was on mugs, it was on bedsheets, it was on dresses, it was on silks and scarves and ties – 70 product lines.”

DJ Food has a bunch of Peter Max art at his blog, in which he describes Max as pushing himself as a brand and being “arguably better at it than Warhol”, which is quite an accolade in its way. And yet I still don’t remember ever hearing of him before now, and of the Max art on the DJ Food blog the only one I even vaguely recall seeing before is the Evergreen magazine cover (probably on Tumblr years ago). Anyway, John Coulthart has been reposting an assortment of Max-related stuff over on BS…

…and THIS, I must say, is what has me interested. Cos not only did he get his art on the packaging, he’s credited with “developing” the product itself, whatever that might mean. I don’t know what he actually had to do with that side of things, but I kind of love the idea of it anyway. Maybe Campbell’s should’ve got Warhol to do something like this for them…

Sheer(an) stupidity

I have very little occasion to talk about Ed Sheeran, but since his current tour has fallen apart in kind of spectacular fashion, well, I’ve got one now. This began a couple of days ago when Macklemore, one of his opening acts, said bad words on stage:

Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of the US leg of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour, after the American rapper drew headlines for saying “free Palestine” on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
In a brief speech between songs on 4 September, the Grammy-winning artist told the audience he wanted the people of Gaza and “the occupied West Bank” to know “we have not forgotten about them”, prompting a petition from the Israeli American Council demanding his removal from the tour. […]
Macklemore, long an outspoken supporter of the rights of Palestinians and those in Gaza, delivered the remarks at his first appearance on the Loop tour on 4 September. “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: ‘Free Palestine,’” he said in a two-minute speech. “I said: ‘Free Palestine!’ I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.” […]
Macklemore explained that the decision came after a week of “difficult conversations” with Sheeran, a friend of 13 years whom he considers a “brother”, though “as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can’t change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened.” According to Macklemore, Sheeran was under pressure from stadium owners rallied by Robert Kraft – the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and their Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Sheeran was next slated to play – to drop Macklemore from the tour, lest the English singer be barred from their venues. “Ed was in a fucked up position,” the rapper wrote. “He knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it had never been before.
“What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years,” he added. “So why is it an issue now? Because now I’m sharing the stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stages in America.”

In acknowledging that this bullshit isn’t really Sheeran’s fault, Macklemore is being far more generous to him than I think most people would be. Cos ultimately, though Ed was placed in an undeniably difficult position, he did still cave to the pressure… he probably stood to lose millions of dollars if he didn’t, I know, but, well, with the news that his other opening acts and his own backing band have all quit the tour in protest as well, he’s clearly going to do that anyway now. Hard not to feel sorry for him in some respects, but if he’d shown a bit more spine he’d be in the same position financially but he’d still be respected to whatever extent he was before all this (however little that may admittedly have been).

Look who’s back

To everyone’s surprise, Mitch McConnell turns out to be alive after all:

US Republican Mitch McConnell has returned to the Senate for the first time in three months, looking noticeably more frail than before he was hospitalised in June.
Mr McConnell’s lengthy absence from the Senate generated a flood of criticism and online speculation, as he initially remained quiet for weeks about his condition.
The 84-year-old senator eventually disclosed a month later that he had been “briefly unconscious” due to a fall in his home and had also been treated for mild pneumonia.
He briefly addressed reporters from a wheelchair outside the Senate chamber, smiling but speaking slowly and with some difficulty. […]
Reporters and photographers were told by Senate staff not to take video of his remarks in the second-floor hallway, even though video is often permitted in that area. Still images were allowed.

That seems like an odd stipulation, but he seems to be in enough different positions in the photos I’ve seen that he is plausibly alive and mobile in spite of everything. I just don’t understand this determination of his to finish his term, which I don’t think I realised was actually coming to an end in January and he’s not contesting it again; he’s an octogenarian in clearly terrible health, he’s obviously not fit for work, no one would begrudge him not returning to the senate and just finally taking “early” retirement. It would be better for him too. But no, his commitment to doing evil—cos he’s not there to do good, let’s admit it—is apparently just that strong… bah.