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Ripping into fruits on a hot summers day, juice dribbling down my exposed chest pooling at my feet. Sitting in cool river streams, a part of the natural world around me. Not a thought beyond the immediate. Stuff like that.
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Staying at the Roxy in NY (formerly the Tribeca Grand) is akin to being on an elegant cruise in Manhattan. It’s my home away from home in the city. Everything is there: from live jazz in the massive atrium lobby with the glass elevator zipping up and down and the divine food and drinks (I recommend the lobster roll and a mescal cocktail) in recessed leather booths shaped like teacups, to the gorgeous red velvet theater below - which offers the best films on screen in Manhattan - curated by the brilliant Illyse Singer. After attending a killer film and fascinating Q&A, retreat to the Django, the speakeasy next door, which stays open til 4AM and is often where the hottest underground music acts play… What else could you ask for?Â
Jan 16, 2025
I have another indie theater that I prefer because it’s cozier, has better vibes, is much closer to me, and everybody who works there is genuinely passionate about film. It’s not really anything special visually but it’s a beautiful institution and it’s so fun to be there ❤️
But this one is an old art deco theatre designed by architect John Eberson (he designed Loew’s Paradise in the Bronx and the Paradise Theatre in Chicago)! It’s pretty run down/poorly managed and staffed but it’s a gorgeous building and definitely worth visiting. Not my photos but included for illustrative purposes!!
Nov 14, 2024
Buckle up, kkelmyss.
There are two film formats still projected in theaters today: 35mm and 70mm (aka 65mm).
35mm was repurposed from Kodak's 135 photographic film standard. Instead of running the film horizontally behind the lens, it was run vertically. This enabled more exposures per foot of film at less resolution. But as cinema grew in popularity, the desire for cleaner images and higher resolutions also grew. Larger exposure area was necessary to achieve this.
Cinerama was a cumbersome, yet impressive, short-lived solution. This standard required three synchronized 35mm cinema cameras to record the movie and three synchronized 35mm projectors to display the three separate film reels as one large-format ultra-wide image. Insane and beautiful.
VistaVision was a simpler solution. It simply rotated the 35mm film 90 degrees and ran it horizontally behind the lens like still cameras. This significantly increased the exposure area and thus the resolution. VistaVison was only relevant for about 10 years but laid the groundwork for future innovation. The format was famously used by ILM for its renowned special effects, starting with Star Wars. And was resurrected last year to film The Brutalist.
70mm was the straight forward answer to increasing exposure area—just make the film bigger. This standard was run vertically past the lens like standard 35mm and offered nearly double the resolution. 65mm film is actually used for shooting and the finished movie is transferred to 70mm film for projecting. The terms are used interchangeably because they both contribute the finished product. Lawrence of Arabia is a notable film shot using 70mm to accommodate its ultra-wide vistas.
IMAX 70mm took inspiration from VistaVision. It rotates 70mm film 90 degrees and runs it horizontally behind the lens further increasing the exposure area and putting it within spitting distance of medium format photography. These are big-ass exposures. It's dramatically more expensive to shoot and project movies in this format. But it produces a gorgeous high-resolution image. And gives Christopher Nolan a huge hardon.
Acquisition formats vary for movies. But when it comes to projection, there are predominantly only two film formats today. You're most likely to find a standard 35mm projector at your local independent theater. IMAX 70mm is the other and it's even rarer. Standard 70mm projection rarer still.
Feb 11, 2025
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I have many Ideas. I ponder over them like an obsessive collector; organizing, re-organizing, packing them into words so the meaning is captured, transferable. Most of my transformative experiences are unexplainable - how does one capture the depth of a still, silent night? The whispering of leaves in warm summer breezes. Vague feelings of wholism while sitting in the grass, photosynthesizing like plant ancestors - a fish swims without direction. Many call it god but the church is alienating; the word massacred and butchered beyond the recognition of what it once meant.
One idea I have kept unmolested by the opinions of others, is that these holistic experiences in nature, with friends, live music shows, where the pulse of life beats strongly, are everything. An anchor point for a life well lived. It’s not enough to just be in nature, alchemizing the circumstance missing the key ingredient. A couple of friends and I went on a trip to where the ocean went on forever, unbroken horizon. We were down by the water, sunset and glistening, warmth of the sun and sand beneath my feet. But it was nothing more than looking. I did not have access to this other way of being - locked out, truthfully, by being eaten alive by the stress of exams and stewing in the feelings of being unlovable. It is somehow within you; the trees and ocean reflect it back to me. A quality of self brought out by sincerity and solitude. It’s everything, reflected in everything worthwhile.
Apr 17, 2024
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These are a few that stick out to me; a good place to start, no particular order
- be here now, Ram Dass. Very dear to my heart, there is nothing else like it. there are also many hours of his lectures recorded for ur listening pleasure
- letters to a young poet, Rainer Rilke. letters he’s written; he discusses solitude, relationships, art, always with the undercurrent of spirituality
- book of hours, Rilke. love poems to god, I like the Barrows and Macy translation. I’m currently reading it
- new seeds to contemplation, Thomas Merton. Merton is a good one to read, he’s got lots of work; go pick through
- lord of the rings, Tolkien. i feel that it is a deeply spiritual text. the prose makes me cry, the reverence of Nature speaks to my heart
I like to listen to James Finley’s podcast turning to the mystics because my current interest is contemplative christianity.
Pete Holmes sometimes has interesting guests, as does Duncan trussel, who talk about spirituality from varying traditions.
I never felt a great affinity for Alan Watts but u could give him a listen
Apr 18, 2024