Billy Name Movies
- 2006
- Add Jack Smith & The Destruction of Atlantis to QueueAdd Jack Smith & The Destruction of Atlantis to top of Queue
The underground art of renegade performance artist, photographer, and filmmaker Jack Smith is explored through the images he created and the words of those who knew him best in filmmaker Mary Jordan's tribute to the man believed to have inspired some of Andy Warhol's most iconic works. A virulent utopian and anti-capitalist whose works spanned from the 1960s to the late-1980s, Smith gained notoriety early on in his career when he went battled the Supreme Court over the banning of his controversial work "Flaming Creatures." An enigmatic artist whose work remains on the fringes of the mainstream despite the praise of curators from the Whitney to the Louvre, the effects of Smith's powerful influence are explored in interviews with those who both loved and hated Smith. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Marie Menken was an artist and experimental filmmaker who was a contemporary and confidante to many noted auteurs of the '60s, including Kenneth Anger (he helped her shoot her film Arabesque for Kenneth Anger, while she appeared in Scorpio Rising), Stan Brakhage (he was an outspoken supporter of her work) and Andy Warhol (she appears in The Chelsea Girls and supposedly coached him on working with movie equipment). While Menken never received the same acclaim among cineastes as the above-mentioned filmmakers, today she's considered an important and pioneering artist, and filmmaker Martina Kudlacek pays homage to the woman and her work in this documentary. Notes on Marie Menken includes clips from several of Menken's films, as well as interviews with Kenneth Anger, Billy Name, Mary Woronov, Jonas Mekas, and others who knew her; filmmaker Kudlacek also examines how Menken's work has impacted her own creative vision. Notes on Marie Menken received its North American premier at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1995
This German documentary offers a tragic profile of the notorious "death angel," Nico. Long after her death in 1988, the German model and entertainer has remained a darkly mysterious cult figure. She was born Christa Paffgen in Cologne and took her professional name from photographer Nico Papatakis. She began modeling in the early '50s, and this led to a brief appearance in Fellini's classic La Dolce Vita. Though Nico was blessed with the rare combination of beauty and intelligence, she was depressive and utterly lacking in ambition; she spent much of her life simply drifting about through various film and commercial appearances until she met artist Andy Warhol. He introduced her to the band The Velvet Underground, which resulted in the tone-deaf beauty occasionally singing with them -- much to the discomfiture of the band members; she became addicted to heroin and eventually could no longer disguise its effects. Nico went on to become a solo act until her death as the result of a brain hemorrhage. Nico -- Icon includes film clips, commercial clips, archival photos, songs, and interviews with those who knew her, including members of the Velvet Underground, Paul Morrissey, ex-Factory members Viva and Billy Name, songwriter Jackson Browne, and avant-garde filmmaker Jonas Mekas. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christa Paffgen
