Previously on Exploring: My Bookcase - Part 1 :)
This might not seem to meet the "book" requirement of bookcase but hey, it's the 21st century, it's all media.
You can see part of my Things to do folder just creeping into the shot on the left - I must say that I haven't cracked it open in the time since I mentioned it in the first post of this series - let's see if it gets a look before I reach the bottom right corner of the bookcase. (But don't hold your breath)
The first video is a copy of an slightly obscure film by Alex Proyas, director of I, Robot, Dark City, Garage Days and The Crow. It's called Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds.
I posted a review of this on IMDB a few years back (which I'd totally forgotten about until I was looking around for info - it was only when I got to the end of it that I realised that it was me :)
This film has some of the most beautiful imagery and haunting music ever. (Not to overstate it or anything) A three hander set in a post apocalyptic Oz outback (but one which is wildly more fantastical than Mad Max), Spirits of the Air tells the story of Smith, a stranger on the run who happens upon Felix and Betty, far into the desert.
All around them are amazing images of cars buried into the ground like totems, huge flags blowing madly in the desert wind and their house itself is of the old oz pioneer style but decorated everywhere with crucifixes. Felix is an inventor obsessed with flight and making a glider, an obsession which has already left him in a wheel chair. Betty is one of the truly great film characters, just an absolute tripper - I can't describe her but the performance is a delight.
This is not a fast film, it is not action packed but is intense - the imagery and art direction are beautiful, the writing is distinct and very Australian but still universal, the soundtrack is haunting (a lot of windsound montages with a simple tune used to great effect) and the performances are both real and surreal.
Until you see this film (and for those who have enjoyed the increasingly brilliant work of Alex Proyas, you really should) you won't know what you are missing.
(By the way, to the @$#%ing mongrel who stole my Japanese import copy of the soundtrack on CD may you be locked in a room with Betty for a very long time)
Being the slightly obscure fillum, it's been a bit of task finding any video clips - there's apparently a clip on Alex Proyas' Mystery Clock website but it doesn't seem to be working.
Next along the shelf is a video about the art of one of my all time favourite directors, David Lynch. (This is actually the dvd cover but you get the gist)
I couldn't find any clips for this either but here's something from his video-art-music thing Industrial Symphony. (I'll bang on about David Lynch a little more later)
Next up we have a video which is labelled Quince. Quince is kind of tropical fruit and it was also the nickname of a guy I once shared a house with. The tape has my appearance on the quiz/game show The Weakest Link. (which I've since digitised and put onto DVD).
Finally you can see a somewhat florid small picture frame - this came from my friend Mick's wedding - a somewhat interesting affair in a fairly full on Christian way - quite a few references to the wife being obedient to the husband and so on that seemed a little archaic but hey, if they're both happy with that then good on them I suppose. (Given that Mick and his family were expelled from the Exclusive Brethren when he was a kid, I guess it could have been a whole lot weirder)
