#The Painted Bird

[derangedrhythms]

I knew that the ghost might never leave me, that it might follow me, haunt me at night, seep sickness into my veins and madness into my brain.

Jerzy Kosinski, from 'The Painted Bird'

[vampiresplunderedourcats]

Small gothic artist with good clear flow and stands with Palestine? Never been an easier add

[cattype]

Julian Sands- the original voice of Valmont in Jackie Chan Adventures- has been missing in the San Gabriel Mountains in California since January 13, 2023. The search has been hindered by bad weather but he’s a skilled mountaineer so there’s still a chance he’s hanging in there... alone… in the freezing cold… for a month… 

The above tweet is my reaction when I got the news. I didn’t have the space to fit it in but that interest I mentioned started about a year back. Since then I’ve been entertaining myself by learning about him by listening to interviews and convention panels. And of course watching some of his movies and TV appearances.

Something I’ve observed from his filmography is career trajectory. He started his acting career thinking he would only be a stage actor but ended up stumbling into Hollywood with two Oscar movies, The Killing Fields and A Room with a View. After that he did the movie he’s best known for amongst horror fans, Warlock because he was tired of- to slightly paraphrase what he called them in one podcast- ‘insipid romantic leads that felt more and more like chocolate box commercials’ that he had been offered after the success of A Room with a View. After that he did Warlock 2: The Armageddon out of contractual obligation but turned down Warlock 3 because the script didn’t interest him.

And that line of thinking has colored much of his career choices. He didn’t chose movies based on what paid more or what would gain him more fame, he did whatever interested him. He chose characters that were fun to play, people he wanted to work with and places he wanted to go. Because of that he’s played a wide range of characters in a wide range of movies. From general crowd pleasers, to niche genre flicks, to experimental and avant-garde weirdness. He’s worked with directors like David Cronenberg, Ken Russell, Dario Argento, and Mike Figgis. 

But those choices are probably why his star has faded so much over time. If you look at his IMDB you might notice that he’s gone from being one of the biggest faces on the poster to not even having his name on it. Most insultingly, one of the posters for A Crooked House has the whole ensemble except him. I haven’t seen it since it’s not on Netflix anymore but he seems like he should be a major character. His name’s in the trailer but apparently they didn’t see his face worth squeezing onto the poster.

Even the two movies he’s best known for have fallen into obscurity. Despite being nominated for various oscars that year including best picture, I’ve only talked to one person who knew what A Room With a View was. And Warlock seems to be a B-movie amongst B-movies.

If he died of some illness and didn’t get a ton of coverage aside from a few websites, I wouldn’t have liked it but it wouldn’t have surprised me. But the fact that he went missing complicates things. I first found out about his disappearance on MSNBC and I’ve since wondered if he got that level of coverage not so much because he was a famous actor who went missing as much as he was a missing hiker who happened to be a famous actor. And I find myself wondering not only if he’s alive or dead but how he’ll be reported on when he’s found. If he’s dead and it doesn’t get at least the same amount of coverage as his disappearance I’ll be pissed. If he’s alive and it doesn’t get the same amount of coverage I’ll be even more pissed and also extremely baffled because “65 year old actor survives for a month on a snowy mountain” is great headline!

Some people say the ultimate death is when someone says your name for the last time. Whether Julian is alive or dead or found or not he deserves to be remembered. Go to his wiki or his IMDB and look up the stuff he was in. Watch A Room With a View. Watch Warlock. Watch Jackie Chan Adventures. Watch Stephen King’s Rose Red. Watch The Room (the one with Donald Pleasence, not Tommy Wiseau). Watch Hotel. Watch Naked Lunch. Watch The Medallion. Watch The Painted Bird. Watch Borley Rectory. Watch The Ghosts of Borley Rectory. Watch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Watch Boxing Helena. Watch Timecode. Watch The Tomorrow Man. Watch Vibes. Watch A Tale of a Vampire. Watch Seneca - On the Creation of Earthquakes. Watch Arachnophobia. Watch Gothic. Watch Witch Hunt. Watch The Escape. Watch his public readings of the poetry of Percy Shelly, John Keats, and Harold Pinter. Watch anything you see that catches your fancy. There’s sure to be something there for you or maybe you’ll discover something new to you that you wouldn’t watch otherwise. 

Living people need to be remembered as much as the dead.

This stuff’s been floating in my head for the past month and I just wanted to say it. Maybe I could said it better. Maybe there’s more I could say. But this will have to do.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

[diaryoftruequotes]

There's a place beyond words where experience first occurs to which I always want to return. I suspect that whenever I articulate my thoughts or translate my impulses into words, I am betraying the real thoughts and impulses which remain hidden.

Jerzy Kosinski, The Painted Bird

[himbohopkins]

Stellan Skarsgård behind the scenes of The Painted Bird (2019)

[gokaiju]

The Painted bird (Václav Marhoul, 2019)  Cover for Spectrum Films by Gokaiju

[inn-witch]

People don't talk about Inner Emigration enough. Honestly one of Daniel Khan's best songs and it really resonates with me in terms of being a closeted aroace to most of my family.

Compare yourself, what does all this have to do with you? How does your experience ring true?

You're where, yourself, you aren't suffering anyone's regime You're free to follow every little dream

Be fair to yourself, you needn't be oppressed to feel alone You don't have to be driven from your home

To spare yourself, from feeling like a part of the control With an internal diplomatic role

SO MAKE A KIND OF INNER EMIGRATION | IT'S A KIND OF SHIFT ACCOMPLISHED EASILY

WE ALL HAVE MADE OUR DISASSOCIATIONS | WHETHER ON THE JOB OR IN OUR FAMILY

AND WHAT COULD BE MORE IRRELEVANT THAN NATIONS | WHEN EVERYWHERE YOU GO, IT'S BUY OR SELL

BUT IF WE ALL MAKE INNER EMIGRATIONS...

THEN EVERYTHING WILL ONLY GO TO HELL.

[mcromwell]

"Nihilist Heron" 12"x16" acrylic, conté crayon, wax pastel on reclaimed support

Herons have captured my attention lately. I love their feathers and shapes.

[mushbeast]

dark eyed junco + black capped chickadee ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ two of my favourite backyard visitors

[rainymovies]

The Painted Bird (2019)

[emmbrr]

✷ blue jay ✷

[derangedrhythms]

I looked around for death, for I felt its breath in the air.

Jerzy Kosinski, from 'The Painted Bird'

[piratedllama-art]

Quarters only, please [x <- prints here]

(done in procreate)

[ex0skeletal-undead]

Untitled 8x10 acrylic on canvas painting by Protoguy

[thecollectibles]

Color studies by MZ

[kateammann]

Happy International Asexuality Day!!! 💜🤍🖤