Hello, hello blogees!

Fear not, “Scene Unseen” still has a heartbeat, albeit faint.  We appreciate your loyalty (and passionate bitterness), but truth be told, we probably won’t be blogging much (as I’m sure you’ve gathered).

After 3 1/2 years of podcasting, we felt the show certainly ran its course…and when it comes to blogging, well, those cats over at Slash Film seem to have the recipe down pat.

However, from time to time, Jimbo and I will post items of curiosity (a.k.a., “Random Acts of Interest”) that tickle our fancy, such as the clip below that has been circling the interwebs.  It’s quite a collection of cliche, and if we still yammered into mics, we’d probably riff on this for minutes on end.

Enjoy…

In case you didn’t know, Jeff Bridges is the coolest cat around.  The Dude, Jack Lucas, Kevin Flynn, Duane Jackson, Jack Baker…need I go on?

Beyond that, the man is also an accomplished photographer, artist, and musician. The reason for this blog is to direct you toward his personal website – jeffbridges.com – full of free-form creativity, set pictures, hand-drawn sketches, music links, and fragments from his endless creative stream.

Here’s a Widelux picture he took of his head shaving experience to play Obadiah Stane in Iron Man. Jon Favreau sits nearby, offering follicle support.

By the way, just saw the man himself last night at a screening of Crazy Heart…a fine film, and another extraordinary performance.

Believe it or not, this is Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, distilled into a single image.

Created in 2004, this piece is part of a larger collection called, “Cinema Redux.” Artist/innovator Brendan Dawes used a Java program to sample a movie every second, generating 8×6 pixel images, each row representing one minute of film.

As Brendan explains the process, “The end result is a kind of unique fingerprint for that film. A sort of movie DNA showing the colour hues as well as the rhythm of the editing process. Compare Serpico to The Conversation. You can see there’s far more edits in Lumet’s classic compared to the more gentle slower pace of Coppola’s Conversation. This is also down to the editing style of Walter Murch who prefers to only make cuts when absolutely necessary. Have a look through the eight movies and make your own mind up.”

To explore his world, go here.

For all you Banksy fans out there, allow me to introduce you to Mark Jenkins.

Substituting mannequins for spray paint, his street installations are at once hilarious, creative, disarming, inventive, and spooky.  I love him.

You can see more at his website…or follow the jump for two more samples…

(more…)

Last month, the Anne Frank House released the only existing film footage of the remarkable little girl.

Even though the footage is brief and silent, there is something striking about seeing her actually live and breathe…leaning out the window to watch a neighborhood couple exchange vows.  The film was produced on July 22, 1941, a year before the family was forced into hiding.

Even after the diary entries, and the extensive collection of pictures, somehow these fleeting seconds make her more human…an ephemeral memory of a girl who will live on forever as a key witness and journalist of the Holocaust.

For more information, go here.

Super fan Deirdre Synan from New York bakes a mean batch of chocolate chip cookies (trust us)…but she doesn’t stop there.  Deirdre recently sent us a picture of her latest “Wild” creation in honor of Spike’s film adaptation (which she adored).

Even if you have mixed emotions about the film, it’s hard to argue with this killer sugar concoction.

For those who said nothing good ever came from a movie novelization (me), prepare to swallow your words.

My good friend Andy Waz just pointed out to me page 90 of The Goonies novelization by James Kahn, where the eliminated “Goonie Code” is printed in its entirety. Apparently, this was part of a cut scene where Kerri Green’s character, Andy Carmichael, took the sacred oath (you can also see the cast performing an excerpt on “The Making Of” DVD special feature).

So, here ya go children of the ’80’s…get ready to be initiated…

“I will never betray my Goon Dock friends…We will stick together until the whole world ends…Through heaven and hell and nuclear war…Good pals like us will stick like tar…In the city, or the country, or the forest, or the boonies…I am proudly declared a fellow…GOONIE!”

And that concludes your dose of nostalgia for Thursday.  Gulp.

Morning, folks.

This will wake you up better than any strong French Roast you’re brewing.

The group is Make The Girl Dance…the song is “Baby, Baby, Baby”…and, according to my pal Avi, this is “The Best Steadicam Shot Ever.”

Sticking to the topic of books, I politely implore you to check out the brilliant fake book jacket series, “I Can Read Movies”, by the graphic artist, Spacesick.

In addition to the above, Mr. Sick gives the worn, 1960’s high school science treatment to Highlander, Teen Wolf, Ernest Goes to Camp, and many others.