A book like this one is long, long overdue: a quality overview of one of the 20th century's most important and influential artists.
This book is thoroughly exceptional on all levels: the quality of both writing and image are very high, and there are plenty of both. Hutchison's writing is informed and clear. She does a great job at discussing the work and (most importantly) contextualizing it within broader cultural and counter-cultural happenings. In addition to her writing there are several contributions from Anger himself, as well as short essays by notable art critics like Carolee Schneemann. Also, there is a fair amount of archival materials, such as documents, letters from Anger to various friends and collaborators and so on. Although, as the writer notes in the preface, the book is not an exhaustive deconstruction of the artist's work, it is a highly satisfying and detailed overview of an amazing body of work.
The images in this book are absolutely beautiful. It is obvious that a lot of work went into their preparation and selection. Apparently, Anger himself approved the reproduction, englarment and restoration of the images. In addition to the film stills there are plenty of archival photos and promotional materials such as posters. There is a wealth of visual stimulation in this book! It's smartly designed also, containing a lot of visual information in an attractive lay out.
Another strong point of this publication is that, in addition to covering the artist's better-known works (The Magick Lantern films) there is a fair amount of information on lesser-known projects. In addition to the Lantern films, there are sections about little known documentaries (about Aleister Crowley, Elliot Smith and more), collaborations (with Stan Brakhage for example), and the artist's more recent work (1981 - 2004).
This book is worth your time and money. It will please Anger fans as well as serving to as a quality introduction to newcomers.
Now, hopefully, the films will finally see release on DVD this year!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-s ... 32978.html"Mexican Spitfire" Mystery Solved After 7 Decades!
Beautiful actress Lupe Velez, the Sofia Vergara of her day, was famous for not only her passionate acting and love life (plenty of paramours and a marriage to "Tarzan" aka Johnny Weismuller) but also for a devastating tragedy and urban myth: that she died with her head in a toilet after committing suicide once she found out she was pregnant by a new lover who "didn't want to marry her."
It appears the tempestuous Lupe preferred death over unwed motherhood, and the actress carefully scripted the last moments of life. Her plan? Dress in a beautiful gown trimmed with flowers, lie down on her silk-covered movie star bed, overdose on Seconal sleeping pills and drift off to death.
But the scene didn't play out like the 36-year-old fiery bombshell intended, and gossip vultures descended. Word leaked out that the lifeless Lupe wasn't found sleeping peacefully on her bed, and rumors began to swirl, reaching an ugly crescendo in the underground best-selling book "Hollywood Babylon." Author Kenneth Anger claims Lupe was found drowned with her head in the toilet after throwing up the remains of a spicy last meal.
For years, fans and officials have searched unsuccessfully for death scene photos to prove once and for all what really happened the night of Dec. 14th, 1944 at Lupe Velez's Rodeo Drive home, but no pictures could be found and her file had mysteriously "disappeared" from the police department.
But now, thanks to a source close to the case, my co-author (of our book "Beverly Hills Confidential: A Century of Stars, Scandals and Murder) had found the only known official photo from the death scene. Here, published for the first time, a look at how Lupe Velez really died. Kenneth Anger got it wrong. Lupe was found on the floor, not in the bathroom "jammed down the toilet bowl" as he had written.
'Hollywood Babylon' Author Kenneth Anger Isn't Surprised by Harvey Weinstein: Showbiz Is a "Synonym for Sin"
6:50 AM PST 11/9/2017 by Gary Baum
The industry's oldest living scandalmonger and pioneering queer filmmaker shrugs at the current state of industry infamy since Weinstein's fall.
It's Halloween. Two evenings have passed since Anthony Rapp went public with Kevin Spacey's alleged pedophilic advances. Tomorrow, Brett Ratner's and Dustin Hoffman's predacious behavior will make headlines. But for 90-year-old Hollywood enfant terrible Kenneth Anger — the pioneering gay underground filmmaker — the news since Harvey Weinstein's fall collectively elicits a shrug. After all, aside from his noted contributions to avant garde film (hailed by everyone from Scorsese to Sontag), Anger also is the industry's oldest living scandalmonger, the author of the 1970s best- seller Hollywood Babylon and its sequel — salacious and much disputed histories of Golden Age cinema.