Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Here’s an old interview from 1998 about Sunsets. These are excerpts… read the whole thing at the link below. SunsetsBy Jeremy Richards Eric Nakamura is one of the founders of Asian-American (and all around cool) magazine GIANT ROBOT, a journal of West coast youth culture that’s found a dedicated audience from coast to coast. Teaming up with his cousin, Michael Idemoto, Nakamura has recently made the leap from editor to film maker, but the leap from print to film has done nothing to diminish the impact of his work. Eric and Mike spent almost four years working on their first film, “Sunsets”. The directors follow the last summer a group of young friends spend together before they each go their seperate way. The film plays on the dynamics in a group of young men, looking for something to do during a sleepy, hot summer. Although the summer is one in which nothing seems to happen, all of the characters are aware of the impending end to their relationship. Thankfully, there is no spoon-fed, generic focus on the characters various racial and social backgrounds as they pass the summer hanging out on the beach, breaking into cars and spending time together. Instead, Eric and Mike decide to let their characters become entities for themselves, not paper-cut representations of different aspects of society. Flak caught up to the two of them and discussed the arduous process of making an independent film, along with the motivations that lay behind making a movie in the first place. Interview with Eric Nakamura Flak: So what are you guys doing to get your film seen? Eric Nakamura: Well, we were showing it any time we could show it, anytime we could get a screening in some city, we would take it. We just did San Francisco again, a little while ago, and so we just keep pushing it. And we have this distribution with a company called Phaedra. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Takeshi’s Gonin, but he distributed Gonin and some other Japanese movies. It’s still fringe kind of stuff, but it’s a lot bigger. He’s going to start it off for midnight shows in December in LA. Flak: What kind of responses were you getting from people who saw the movie? EN: Oh man…everytime it shows, we get a few people who walk out. They’re expecting, like, “Apocalypse Now,” or something really huge, and then they look it at, and it’s black and white and kind of gritty and there’s some language in it…so they’re like “fuck, we gotta get out of here, forget this” and they just know within the first five minutes that it’s not their kind of film. So there’s that, but then that’s a small minority, and on the whole people really like it. I really get very little criticism on it. Flak: As far as the cars in movie, where did you get them, and how did you get to break them up like that? EN: There were...
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The trexlosangeles.com Twentieth Century BoyA Celebration of T.Rex, the Original Glam Rockerthrough the art work of Masakatsu SashieSeptember 30, 7–11pm1637 Vine Street, Hollywood WHAT:In Hollywood on September 30, Japanese artist Masakatsu Sashie pays tribute to one of Britian’s legendary pop stars and the original glam rocker T.Rex (Marc Bolan). A life-long fan, up and coming artist Sashie is presenting an exhibition of original paintings using endorsed images of the rock star’s likeness. The works feature Sashie’s signature hovering orbs that blend autobiographical details with culture references, past and present, ranging from video games to Japan’s quintessential vending machines, in an intricate painting-style that is grounded in a pop aesthetic. Teaming up with Darren Romanelli (Dr. Romanelli), Eric Nakamura (Giant Robot), and Rolan Bolan (T.Rex’s only son), this one night event will feature new paintings, video projections and a special musical tribute to the first in glam rock, T.Rex. A percentage of the proceeds from Twentieth Century Boy will be donated to the Light of Love Foundation, an organization established by Rolan Bolan and his mother Gloria Jones that raises funds for the Marc Bolan School of Music and Film soon to be built in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Twentieth Century Boy is generously supported by ForYourArt and Hysteric Glamour. WHEN:September 30, 20097-11pm WHERE:1637 Vine StreetHollywood, California 90028 WHO:Masakatsu SashieJapanese painter and professor of art, Masakatsu Sashie resides in Kanazawa, Japan, on the coast of the Eastern Japan Sea. Distanced from extreme popular culture of Tokyo, Sashie paints a unique blend of nostalgia for his hometown and the innocence of pop culture elements such as crumbling architecture, fading shop signs, 80s and 90s videogames, and Japan’s quintesscential vending machines. He often places them in an orb-like arrangement, which packages his memories neatly. Since studying oil painting at the Kanazawa College of Art, Sashie began his career exhibiting at Takashi Murakami’s GEISAI and has had exhibitions in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Miami. T.Rex (aka Marc Bolan)Iconic singer, songwriter, guitarist and original glam rocker Marc Bolan (a.k.a. T. Rex) inspired a generation of British musicians to adorn glitter and makeup as a progressive message of social change in the 1960s and 70s. Bolan believed he was destined to be a rock star. He teamed up with Mickey Finn, changed his name to T.Rex, and his fans soon watched singles claim the top of the British pop charts. T.Rex’s style began to influence rock giants such as David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Rod Steward, and David Gilmour. Though his untimely death at the age of 29 shocked fans worldwide, his creation of glam rock touched a generation and his legacy continues to live on as a cornerstone of British rock history. Light of Love FoundationLight Of Love Foundation raises funds for the building of the Marc Bolan School Of Music & Film. This academy of music will be built in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Our goal is to replace the automatic weapons with musical instruments, these are children of the civil war who...
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Yosi Sargent reassigned from the NEA after being barraged by Glenn Beck. We mentioned Yosi in issue 57. He helped set up Shepard Fairey, art, and more. Is it exciting news? I’m not sure, but it’s relevant to us youth. I think. Washington Post
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This is a statement regarding Nirvana, Guitar Hero and the likeness of the late Kurt Cobain. We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game.
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That’s me in 97. Or was in 96. I don’t remember anymore. The camera with a 9mm lens. I’m sitting in the back of the Mercury Marauder. I think it was a 64. We bought the car to use in the film and drove it all summer. It’s almost like a modern Dickens tale or something. Making a film, buying a vintage car, and cruising around Watsonville. A fun summer for sure. I wish I knew where this was at. It’s obviously a movie theater, but it’s empty. That’s Betty Hallock from the LA Times – an old friend of mine from UCLA. That’s Mike Idemoto in the center (co director, actor, etc) and his best friend from way back, Craig Wong (who was also in the film).
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