After my 10th-grade binge and subsequent lack of involvement, Hutton was probably the first experimental filmmaker I got into, so it was especially cool seeing some of his stuff on film. Probably more walkouts in the course of the evening than any other screening I've been too, which surprised me since I've always thought of Hutton as one of the most accessible avant gardists. I'd seen the first two New York Portraits, but this one wasn't available back when I marathoned his works. I had pretty much the same impression of this as of those: lots of beautiful images, but not put together particularly well. It's like an album that has a lot of great songs but ends up being somewhat of a letdown because of the overall structure. Of course I also think At Sea is too rigorously structured. Is it terribly bourgeois to prefer something like Images of Asian Music or Time and Tide? In any case I don't remember any of the shots from the first two being as good as the one with the flapping clothes or several others in this, so I think this has the edge.
I think I'd gotten this and Skagadfjordur mixed up in my mind, but regardless, one of the most beautiful films of the 90s. Also somewhat reminiscent of Cornell.
A floating repairman! So pedestrian but so sick. Like a more rigorous Vertov. But maybe I'm just thinking that now cuz that shot looks like something straight out of Vertov.
I remember thinking this was just a tepid warm-up for Time and Tide, but I was trippin balls, this shit rocks! Reminded me super strongly of that scattershotly brilliant book Winter's Tale.
Aw man, kind of a letdown. I mean I wasn't expecting the inconsistent bleeping, repeated performances, and dada brilliance of Long Live the Kane, but I was at least expecting some more creativity from the man's battle raps (that's not to say he doesn't prove he could still rhyme with the best of them on some of the tracks). After the "no faggots" line I was curious to see how Kane reacted to Mr. Cee's coming out, and in an interview about that the interviewer also asks him what he thinks his best album was and he says this one because it's from a more worldwide perspective whereas the first one "was a dope local album." Damn straight but I ain't tryna hear your corporatized bullshit King! I should emphasize it's still a more than solid album and I'll probably get more out of it on future listens with more reasonable expectations (and I should say again, there are some fantastic lines), but it's no Long Live the Kane.
Choice cuts: Mortal Combat, Wrath of Kane, I Get the Job Done
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