Obituaries
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Raul Ruiz Remembered By James Schamus
The great Chilean filmmaker Raul Ruiz passed away today in Paris. Through his feature The Golden Boat, which was James Schamus’s first as a producer, Raul gave a group of us in New York’s nascent ’80s independent scene (including myself and Robin O’Hara) a wonderful and nearly indescribable introduction to filmmaking. So, I’m grateful here to James for this piece remembering Ruiz and those thrilling and formative days. — Scott Macaulay Raul Ruiz: First Thoughts Raul Ruiz passed away today, age 70, in Paris. He’ll be remembered as one of the truly great, idiosyncratic and visionary voices of world cinema. […]
by James Schamus on Aug 19, 2011 -
POLY STYRENE, R.I.P.
Singer Poly Styrene (Marian Joan Elliott-Said), best known for her work in the iconic punk band X-Ray Spex, died today from breast cancer at 53. From Dangerous Minds: Poly upended every stereotype of the female rock and roll front person. She looked like an innocent school girl but when she opened her mouth she had a soul searing wail that made John Lydon sound like a squealing mama’s boy with his dick stuck in a zipper. Poly had one of the greatest punk rock voices in all of rock and roll. From banshee to wounded vulnerability, Styrene emoted with a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 26, 2011 -
TIM HETHERINGTON, R.I.P.
While traveling today I heard the very sad news that photojournalist and documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, winner of the Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize, with Sebastian Junger, for their documentary, Restrepo, was killed while covering the conflict in Libya. Lauren Wissot interviewed Hetherington and Junger earlier this year for Filmmaker, and she began her piece like this: “Most documentary filmmakers attempt to see the world through the lens of the subjects they’re shooting, but few put their lives on the line to do so.” Of the film, which looked at the conflict in Afghanistan through the viewpoints of U.S. soldiers […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 21, 2011 -
R.I.P, SIDNEY LUMET
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 9, 2011
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ELIZABETH TAYLOR, R.I.P.
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 23, 2011
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DON VAN VLIET, R.I.P.
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 17, 2010 -
HARVEY PEKAR, R.I.P.
The comic book genius and working man’s philosopher Harvey Pekar died today of cancer at age 70. From William Grimes’ New York Times obituary. Harvey Pekar’s life was the subject of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s innovative bio-pic, American Splendor, in which Paul Giamatti played Pekar in the dramatic sections while Pekar appeared as himself in interview segments. The trailer is below. R.I.P., Harvey.
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 13, 2010 -
VIC SKOLNICK, R.I.P.
I was saddened to hear of the death of Vic Skolnick, an influential co-founder of Long Island’s first major art house movie theater, The Cinema Arts Center, in Huntington, N.Y. Passing away at 81 on June 10th, Skolnick, along with his wife, Charlotte Sky, founded what was originally known as the New Community Cinema in 1973. Skolnick, a teacher for twenty years at N.Y. public schools, combined his passion for history with a lifelong love of films. His ambition was to show as many diverse films as possible and educate his loyal audience in innovative cinema. The cinema went through […]
by Melissa Silvestri on Jun 24, 2010 -
PETER BRUNETTE, R.I.P.
I was shocked and tremendously saddened to read at Indiewire this morning the news that film critic Peter Brunette died today of a heart attack while attending the Taorima Film Festival in Italy. Eugene Hernandez’s obituary recalls Brunette’s many accomplishments, including his books on Michelangelo Antonioni, Wong Kar-wai and, most recently, Michael Haneke, as well as his work as director of film studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. From an excerpt from a Wake Forest publication quoted by Hernandez: “People should watch art films for the same reason they should read Virginia Woolf as well as Tom Clancy,” […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 16, 2010 -
DENNIS HOPPER, R.I.P.
Actor and director Dennis Hopper died today at 74. When I heard the news I started searching on YouTube for some of my favorite Hopper moments — not just Blue Velvet, Easy Rider and Apocalypse Now but also that scene from True Romance, his supporting work in Rebel without a Cause and Giant, the experimental abandon of his underrated The Last Movie, his haunted addition to River’s Edge, and the incredible, Linda Manz-starring Out of the Blue. But then I came across this video essay by Matt Zoller Seitz which is an excellent flashback to not only many of Hopper’s […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 29, 2010
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