Obituaries

THOMAS M. DISCH, R.I.P.

i was saddened to read today that writer and poet Tom Disch committed suicide in his New York apartment on July 4th. I’ve always been a big fan of Disch’s classic intellectual science-fiction novels of the 1970s: the amazing Camp Concentration, 334, and On Wings of Song, as well as his great collections of short fiction, Getting into Death and Fundamental Disch. Following my teenage years, when I read a lot of science fiction, Disch was one of the few writers, along with J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, and Stanislaw Lem, who retained a space on my bookshelf. I met […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 7, 2008
GEORGE CARLIN, R.I.P.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 23, 2008
PAUL ARTHUR, R.I.P.

Manohla Dargis notes the passing of film historian, critic and filmmaker Paul Arthur in the New York Times. An excerpt: He was first published in the early 1970s, and over the next few decades he wrote fluidly and accessibly on a range of topics, notably avant-garde cinema but also film noir and documentary. His work appeared in publications including Artforum, Film Comment, Cineaste, The Village Voice and USA Today magazine. For several years starting in the mid-1980s he served on the board for two venerable avant-garde film institutions in New York: the Collective for Living Cinema, an adventurous screening space, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Mar 30, 2008
HEATH LEDGER, R.I.P.

Sad, sad news about a great actor who meant so much to the film community. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2008
ST. CLAIRE BOURNE, RIP

Sadly, this just in from Adrienne Jones, Treasurer and Membership Director of the Black Documentary Collective: We regret to inform everyone that St Clair Bourne, our founder, has passed away. Details of his passing will follow. Also, information about his memorial service will be sent as soon as we have it. Members have expressed interest in making donations to the family. We would like to contribute money through our BDC/St Clair Bourne fund. If you wish to make a donation, please forward payment to: BDCP.O. Box 610Hamilton Grange StationNew York, NY 10031. In the memo line please write BDC/St Clair […]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 16, 2007
MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI, 1912-2007

The great Michelangelo Antonioni, director of such films as L’Avventura, Red Desert, Blow-Up and The Passenger, died in Italy yesterday. He was 94. The New York Times in its obituary quotes Jack Nicholson’s remarks on the director when he presented him with a career Oscar: ‘In the empty, silent spaces of the world, he has found metaphors that illuminate the silent places our hearts, and found in them, too, a strange and terrible beauty: austere, elegant, enigmatic, haunting.” As they did for Ingmar Bergman, another art-house titan who, stunningly, died just a few hours before Antonioni, The Guardian has set […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 31, 2007
DANIEL ROBERT EPSTEIN, R.I.P.

I didn’t know Daniel Robert Epstein personally, but I read and admired the smart, cinephilic and always entertaining interviews he’d do with film directors over at the Suicide Girls site and would often link to them here. Now, Epstein is reportedly dead at 31. There are few details, but click on the link for some remembrances from Missy Suicide and, at current count, over 300 other posters. And here is another appreciation from Edward Douglas at Coming Soon. Here’s an excerpt from one of Epstein’s favorite interviews — Alejandro Jodorowsky: Epstein: El Topo became a seminal movie after its release […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 18, 2007
ROBERT ALTMAN, R.I.P.

As various news sites, including Reuters, are reporting, Robert Altman died last night in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 81. There are many ways to eulogize this remarkable director, a true maverick who never relinquished his own very personal idea of independence over many decades of work. For now, I’m just going to point you to Matthew Ross’s cover story on Altman in our Spring, 2006 issue. At the time he had just finished A Prarie Home Companion which Ross called “a triumphant new chapter in Altman’s body of work.” In the article, Altman noted that since receiving the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 21, 2006
ADRIENNE SHELLY, R.I.P.

A friend emailed me this afternoon about the sudden passing of actress and director Adrienne Shelly, who was found dead in her office yesterday. This Newsday article has a few more details, but the cause of death is unknown. As an actress Shelly is best known for her work in Hal Hartley’s first two features, The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. A true original in the world of American independent film, she projected a fascinating, low-key charisma on screen and, in Hartley’s work in particular, captured the essence of a brainy and slightly lost young generation trying its hardest to figure […]
by Scott Macaulay on Nov 2, 2006
LEM PODCAST

A few posts below I noted the death of Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem. Benjamin Walker has just posted a podcast devoted to Lem and his work.
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 6, 2006

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