All Posts Tagged With: "bound to lose"

Link Round-Up: 1 Year in Austin!

September 29th, 2008 • Agnes Varnum • 1 comment • Related Posts • Tags

For some reason, I’ve taken to naming my link round-ups with whatever is going on in my life. Sometimes it means something but today it doesn’t. Just thought I’d share :) Here’s what is cool from my inbox:

- The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose is now available on DVD. If you haven’t seen it, do. It’s about a band of quirky musicians who seem to have learned a lot about life in their decades of playing together.

- This week on P.O.V., a very important film by a wonderful filmmaker, Roger Weisberg’s Critical Condition. “Critical Condition puts a human face on the nation’s growing health care crisis by capturing the harrowing struggles of four critically ill Americans who discover that being uninsured can cost them their jobs, health, home, savings, and even their lives.”

- Byron Hurt, the maker of the wonderful Beyond Beats and Rhymes, is working on a new project about black . In anticipation of the release of his new short called Barack & Curtis, a comparison of two well-known black men (Curtis is Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent, and I presume you know who Barack is?), Hurt has been posting clips of material that didn’t make it into the short as a lead-up. Good sh*t!

- I like weird stuff like this: “V2 Cinema presents the short documentary feature BACK TO ROOM 666 (aka DE VOLTA AO QUARTO 666), starring director Wim Wenders, on www.v2cinema.com. Directed by Gustavo Spolidoro, the movie updates the scenary of Wenders’ Room 666 (1982), now with the German filmmaker as the interviewee. The is the third of five from online series Boundaries of Thought: THINK TANK(AKA Fronteiras do Pensamento: ENSAIOS VISUAIS).”

- My friends Robert and Almudena (pictured above) won an Emmy! Big hugs and congrats to you both on such a fine job. It is well-deserved. If you haven’t seen Made in L.A., now is the time.

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Bound to Lose, Dec. 7 in NYC

December 2nd, 2007 • Agnes Varnum • Comments Off • Related Posts • Tags

rounders2.jpgA critic who appears in Bound to Lose, opening December 7 at Anthology Film Archives in , notes that The Holy Modal Rounders have never really achieved critical or financial success from playing music, a hobby (?) they have been pursuing for over 40 years – in fits and starts, kind of like an on-again-off-again relationship. So why, one might ask, should I watch a film about them? What I found so intriguing is that we get a kind of longitudinal view of Peter Stampfel’s and Steve Weber’s lives over many years. What is the sum of a life? How does it look when you are many years along and take a look backwards? Have you made the right choices? Do you have regrets?

Like most of us, they are flawed human beings. They have failed relationships, they’ve done a lot of drugs, they’ve tried to make it as musicians, they’ve had day jobs, they’ve known famous people and are known themselves. Life is not only about success but also about failure, and these guys have seen a lot of that but they keep on keepin’ on. They recognize that it doesn’t really matter what others think of you; that you have to do what makes your own heart full even if it doesn’t jive with the expectations of others.

I don’t think I’m giving up too much about this film because each person that watches it will filter the of the film through their own lens. Filmmakers Paul Lovelace and Sam Wainwright Douglas followed Peter and Steve for quite a while, and speak to many who have known them over the years. This 3-dimensional view of these men through these many vantage points, plus their own appearances, will give you a lot of fodder for thought. The music? Well, you’ll dig or hate it, but in terms of the evolution of folk, psychedelica and punk, their contribution is visible and probably more important than they get credit for.

The New York screenings will be presented with a host of live music and other rare, related short films. It looks like it’s going to be a fantastic way to connect with this scene of old-time New York folks. If you loved A Mighty Wind, you’ll need to be a part of this. Get the full schedule>>

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