HELL IS EXPENSIVE

Hollywood routinely confuses tragedy with importance. That is, filmmakers (and some critics) regularly and oddly think that dark, depressing, evil, suicide, etc, means a film is significant. It's simply not true. The Dark Knight, about a man who thinks he is a bat, was praised by critics as if it was written by Albert Camus. Hitchcock sent up all this Hollywood pseudo stuff years ago with his masterpiece trailer for Psycho, where he looks at the toilet in the infamous bathroom and says: terrible things happened here. However, in this jugular vein, Kate Winslet, a wonderful thespian, suicides in both her pictures this year. Or as her film husband, Leonardo DeCaprio, says in one film: She did it to herself! (or words to that effect). Will Smith apparently kills himself in a movie as well. The one positive thing about all this is it tends to inhibit a sequel. Hell is expensive to portray on film. If the filmmakers are atheists, then of course there would be no sequel, or at least not with the "suicidee."

FILMS THAT WERE NEVER MADE

Bleak Hotel by D M Thomas turns out to be a great new book about how The White Hotel was (to date) not made into a movie. I gladly gave D M permission to use my emails in the sorry, sometimes hilarious saga. Films that were never made is an interesting genre. I, Claudius was a great pity--Josef Von Sternberg started shooting with Charles Laughton. Some great scenes survive. I met Sternberg in Melbourne in 1967 and showed him my paintings and 8MM shorts--he said stick to movies. He was quite bitter about Hollywood, which I didn't understand at the time, since he had done so many great things. Probably all the films never made would be as good as the films, or better, than the movies made. They couldn't be worse.

THE GERTRUDE STEIN MYSTERY

Above is the title of my new film. It reveals that Stein lived on into the 21st Century, changing history throughout her life in incredible secret missions.

Speaking of history as current events unfold, anyone interested in the Thirties Great Depression should check out my documentary BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME made in 1975. It chronicles that decade and made quite a splash when it came out, and since has been used widely in colleges and schools. Ditto my film SWASTIKA was used at Harvard for years to teach history regarding the Nazification of Germany under Hitler.

Obama era begins

Well, most people are sighing with relief at the election result.

Onwards!

I am looking forward to reading D M Thomas' new book BLEAK HOTEL about the non-making of his masterpiece, THE WHITE HOTEL, into a movie. He is a wonderful writer and very funny when he so desires. He has William Golding's last written document--his phone number.

I have nearly finished my latest film, a faux documentary about the adventures of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. I shot the last few scenes in Tibet in October.

HOLY MACKERAL

My opening in London on 18 September , 2008 happened to be in the middle of the Lehman crash--signaling the ensuing crash worldwide, but also adjacent to the strange Sotheby's Hirst auction of sharks and stuff. Having exhibited rotting meat in 1970 at the Sigi Krauss Gallery in Covent Garden I was not a stranger to organic mediums. Anyway, I went to Tesco that day and saw canned mackeral on sale for 32p. This was a fantastic bargain since Sotheby's had just sold a shark for nine million pounds. I bought six cans and stuck them on gold painted canvas in the form of a cross, thus creating a work called Holy Mackeral. I presented it at my opening to the merriment of my friends and guests.

LA- LONDON- TIBET- LONDON- LA

My mate Eric Clapton opened my art retrospective in London at Jane England--it was a great night. 

Pamela and I then took off to the Tibetan Plateau for a film festival and photography festival for 5 days. Let's just say for the time being it was a mind expanding experience. Then back to London and the Midlands including Stratford On Avon and Birmingham. Hard to believe Shakespeare wrote those plays after being inside Ann Hathaway's cottage--just does not seem right. Or to quote my brother Tiriel in the film The Castle, the vibe isn't right.

I sit now in Wholefoods in West Hollywood contemplating the universe. Its big.

EXHIBITION IN LONDON SEPTEMBER 2008

I am having a retrospective show at England & C0. in London 20 September to 11 October.

It will cover my work from the sixties until now. So not much time for blogging at the moment.

Be there or be square. 

UFO FILES UNCLASSIFIED

The site with my article is:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/plan-9-from-outer space/2007/11/02/1193619145400.html?page+fullpage

Astronauts Edgar Mitchell's statements that "visitors" are real

I emailed my friend William Birnes, publisher of UFO magazine and one of the "UFO Hunters" on History Channel, and asked him whether this whole issue was now going to break open. He replied: We're trying. 

I previously researched unclassified U.S files on the subject of UFOs and published the result in the Sydney Morning Herald.(See site below)

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell says aliens have visited

I have been involved in this subject for decades now, and today is the first time someone with this astronaut's credibility has spoken out in this way. On British radio he said there has been a coverup by governments (sic) for six decades that "aliens" have been here and in contact.

Let's see how this unfolds.

THE MAKING OF MAD DOG MORGAN

Australian Screen asked me for some comments on the eventful making of this film in Australia in the early Seventies, starring Dennis Hopper, so please go to this site to see what I wrote: http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/mad-dog-morgan/filmmakers/

SCANDAL AND ART : BIOGRAPHICAL INFO AND CURRENT WORKS

Since I just started this blog I am only now getting the hang of it. There is a pretty good bio and information on my past endeavors on Wikipedia, but it is not up to date. Last year I shot a film called STEIN GERTRUDE STEIN, a "docufiction" on the life of this cultural icon. I think it is full of surprises and reminds me stylistically of my film BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME. I am just completing that film now. More on this new film soon.

Last year I also wrote some articles for the Sydney Morning Herald that garnered world wide attention, particularly an article about scandalous declassified FBI files I located linking Robert F. Kennedy to the death of Marilyn Monroe. I ended up on Fox News explaining the files. My favorite article, however, was about the true story behind the making of Citizen Kane, a tale of exquisite revenge. I am preparing films on Salvador Dali, Billy The Alien Kid (for kids!) and some that have to remain confidential for the time being.

I have an exhibition of paintings and other works at a great gallery in London in September: England & Co. in Westbourne Grove. Be there or be square.

Australian Screen

The Australian National Film archives have a great new site up called as above. Its a great resource for anyone interested in OZ film.

The Return of Captain Invincible

The huge amount of chatter on the net from move buffs comparing my film to the current Hancock, ("the return of the Return of Captain Invincible," etc), got me to thinking I should start a blog where I could receive comments directly. So this is a start. Check out Hollywood Elsewhere. The basic problem is you can't copyright an IDEA. It's only in the Fine Arts that the concept of provenance translates into monetary value. Here in Hollywood taking other people's ideas is currency, and big fish eat the smaller fish just like in that Star Wars sequence.