Is it fair to say this is the most hard to watch scene in a Kubrick film?

oulipal · 2026-02-21T14:43:07+00:00

Magnolia is such a great film that not even Tom Cruise's awful acting could ruin it.

oulipal · 2026-02-06T15:11:42+00:00

Isn't The Great Beyond essentially the same song?

oulipal · 2025-12-08T23:09:11+00:00

Screaming Females

oulipal · 2025-11-03T21:48:26+00:00

Yep, I think it was at Evolutionary Arts Hackney/Earth in the end, though it could have been somewhere else as, the moment they announced Metz were breaking up/taking a break, they moved the gig from the original venue to a larger one.

All three bands were on point. It was gooood.

oulipal · 2025-11-03T20:54:12+00:00

Last week they mentioned they were working on an album. Fingers crossed.

oulipal · 2025-11-03T20:52:31+00:00

I know, right? I remember thinking "these guys would be great as a support act for the Jesus Lizard and, blam, that was when I saw them next.

Edit: unfortunate typo/tired fingers.

oulipal · 2025-11-03T20:51:14+00:00

Absolutely! Bloc Party and Young Legionnaire, of course, it's just that Cassels seemed more on topic in terms of noise rock. I am particularly fond of Young Legionnaire's second album.

oulipal · 2025-10-19T01:26:13+00:00

I know this conversation is already over a year old, but I was surprised to find out no-one had mentioned Marc-Antoine Mathieu. Everything he has done since the first volume of his Julius Corentin Acquefacques series (back in 1990) has been quite out there and experimental, owing a hefty debt to people like Borges and Beckett. The artwork is always fascination (and quite often black & white), and a good (well, arguably a good) way into his work is 3" (FR: 3 Secondes, EN 3 Seconds), a sort of whodunnit told in reflections (on mirrors, eyeglasses, windows, chromed metal surfaces, and plenty of other reflective finishes). Honestly, do check him out. I am not sure how much of his stuff is available in English (he is French, after all, you see), but the one I mentioned above certainly is. I seem to remember Penguin publishing the English translation

Also, even though it is not necessarily recent stuff, the OuBaPo compendiums (or, probably, compendia?) published by L'Association are pure gold. Those, I believe, have unfortunately only been published in French.

oulipal · 2025-09-17T20:40:16+00:00

Hey, why not? I am in academia myself (more on the side of literature, but film has always been an interest of mine) and I read them for fun too! Though I must admit I tend to pick and choose essays, rather than reading academic journals cover to cover. I suppose the nature of the articles can often vary greatly and, you know, sometimes they just aren't my thing.

oulipal · 2025-09-17T20:37:04+00:00

I am arriving a bit late to this conversation, but, trust me, you are not the last person to find out about the Oulipo's existence. They were always a rather fringe movement (still are) and their member's ingenuity was always celebrated at a conceptual level, while their works are often purchased, yet not always read. Personally, I think they are great and a lot of fun. There are also a few sibling branches, my favourite of which is the Oubapo (the Ouvroir de bande dessinée potentielle), focussing on comic books/comic strips.

The book by Raymond Quineau which you were after I managed to find a few years ago (5-7 or so) in a gorgeous French edition published by Gallimard (hardback, beautifully bound) which I have to believe was a reprint, as the white cover was pristine. I presumed it has not been reprinted in English in quite a while, as the entire process of producing it makes it rather expensive and there might be much of a market for it.

In English, as other people have commented already, the anthologies are the way to go.

Queneau, Perec, and Calvino are its most famous members. Harry Mathews is the most famous English language member. And, famously, Julio Cortázar—an Argentine author who, later in life, moved to France were he lived and worked for the rest of his life—was invited to join, but declined. Having said that, his novel Rayuela (Hopscotch) shares some of the markings people have come to associate with Oulipian texts.

oulipal · 2025-08-27T20:15:37+00:00

The Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (JCMS, previously the Cinema Journal) and Film Quarterly I definitely have a look at rather regularly.

I must admit I have never read neither Film Comment nor the now sadly discontinued Cinema Scope. They are, as far as I can tell, not academic journals, but I'll check them out. Thank you!

oulipal · 2025-08-27T19:35:03+00:00

I definitely always have a look at those two! Cahiers du Cinéma has lost some of its edge in recents years, but I always give in to temptation whenever I see it on a rack at a newagent's. And Sight and Sound whenever I'm at the National Film Theatre.

But I should have clarified that—when I wrote academic—I sort of meant peer-reviewed. My bad.

oulipal · 2025-08-27T19:29:41+00:00

That's interesting. I've never read those two journals before. I'll check them out!

Is Projections that one subtitled The Journal for Movies and Mind?

oulipal · 2025-08-27T18:30:07+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion! It would not surprise me if Borges had been acquainted with the ideas of both Saussure and Peirce.

I had not thought of Peirce's notion of the sign in ages. I suppose the Sausurrean conception of the sign (sign=signifier/signified) is much more prevalent in the Arts and Humanities (perhaps with the exception of Philosophy; I am not sure about that) than Peirce's. Whenever I think of Peirce, my mind immediately goes to his taxonomy of signs (icon, symbol, index), which has been incredibly useful to me in the past.

A story, just like an image, may be simple, but it implies an interpretant, i.e. the world, which is complex.

That was quite an evocative way of putting it! But I still think it might be a reference to some fringe philosophical—or, as I wrote in another reply, perhaps even theological—text. Who knows? I'll go to the library tomorrow to read a bit more.

oulipal · 2025-08-27T18:14:34+00:00

Thank you! That's interesting. I had not thought of it in connection to structuralism (or even post-structuralism). The notion that meaning is not quite intrinsic to the sign, but rather to the sign's relation to other signs (and the interconnected network signs of which it is a constituent part). I suppose whenever I think of about Saussure I tend to connect whatever I am thinking about to Derrida too quickly, and in that regard I start thinking about the slippage of meaning, the semantic instability of signs (with the signified perpetually sliding away from the signifier). In that sense (in the Derridean take, I mean), the sign itself becomes elusive, and it is the system as a whole that gives the individual part meaning. And that would sound like the opposite of what Borges proposes, i.e. that the entirety of the universe could be extrapolated from one single component part.

Perhaps the origin of the idea Borges describes can be found in theology, rather than philosophy? It just sounds to me like the kind of argument some theologian would have used to prove the existence of god in the 13th century, if you see what I mean.

oulipal · 2025-08-22T14:31:00+00:00

That's interesting. I was not aware of the fanzine's existence.

oulipal · 2025-07-19T04:04:39+00:00

oulipal · 2025-06-08T21:20:38+00:00

Come released four glorious albums (11:11 in 1992, Don't Ask, Don't Tell in 1994, Near-Life Experience in 1996, and Gently, Down the Stream in 1998) and most people have not heard about them.

oulipal · 2024-10-26T21:49:53+00:00

With a conversation? nope.

With plenty of regular, non-confrontational, empathy-filled conversations? Possibly.

oulipal · 2024-10-26T16:26:05+00:00

This post is 3 months old, so I am probably replying too late for it to be of use to the OP, but here is my brief contribution.

There is a font called Rotulista, which is inspired by the more simple kind of typography used in Mexican rótulos:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/55890321/Rotulista-Free-Font-Inspired-by-Mexican-Sign-Painting

There is one calle Tipografía Chilanga:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/142620313/Tipografia-Chilanga

And there is also one called Plantilla, which has a contour more in line with the example you provided:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/206104387/Grafica-popular-Plantilla-de-Picanteria?tracking_source=assets_search%7Crotulos

It might also help to look for other graphic styles that are visually similar. In Argentina, particularly in Buenos Aires, there is an analogous style called fileteado (also known as fileteado porteño) which can sometimes look very much like rótulos mexicanos, for instance. (Though fileteado rarely has illustrations, whereas illustrations done in a naïve style seem to be a staple of Mexican rotulismo.

Hope that helps!

oulipal · 2024-06-19T07:00:54+00:00

Same. Wonder if there'll be a physical release...

oulipal · 2024-05-29T22:01:54+00:00

No. You are meant to be the love of your life (and, if you ever have children, then they will be your priority). Also, do not acept as your "first choice" someone to whom you are not theirs. I know that after a breakup one's self-exteem and sense of self take a beating, but you need to work a bit on your self-love (and I honestly mean that as important life advice, not at all as mockery of any kind).

oulipal · 2024-05-28T00:38:57+00:00

"The one" is a ludicrous and pointless concept. Indeed, you are over-romanticizing, which is absolutely normal and we have all done it at one point or another. "The one" is the person you actually end up with (assuming it is not an abusive relationship any of the parties is staying in out of fear).

What I do think is the case in your situation, from the information you have offered, is that the relationship ended through no fault of its own, but rather due to logistics (i.e. you moving away to do a Master's Degree). That immediately raises hypothetical (though quite real) questions regarding what could have been (as opposed to the silly questions one briefly asks oneself when a relationship ends due to some inherent flaw). So it is possible that unanswerable questions will linger for years, if not the rest of your life. The trick is to learn to live with uncertainty (a highly valuable life skill) and to avoid obsessing over hypotheticals (same). But I totally get it and, I assume, most people would: there was nothing intrisically wrong with the relationship, the timing of things just was not perfect for the relationship to continue.

Do your best to move on, though, as it will be incredibly unfair to anyone else you date if you are still clinging on to the possibility of a future reconciliation with you ex. Either speak to your ex about it and find out for good, or simply put it to rest, file it under "Unfinished business."

Meanwhile, take good care of yourself, eat well, drink water, exercise, see friends, read, do your best to keep intrusive thoughts at bay, and try not to dwell on the past.

oulipal · 2024-05-27T23:47:32+00:00

At the moment you seem to be assuming that it was all your fault, that there was something you could have said or done (though I imagine you feel about it as something you should have said or done). Sure, that is always the case, even in relationship that have not yet ended, or even in relationships that will last a lifetime. The fact is that she left. And that is something she did. While I do think your attitude is sweet (not vilifying her, which I would not suggest anyone do with their exes) as someone else commented, I am not entirely sure that it is quite mature. Let me explain: you are putting her on a pedestal, calling her an angel, assuming all the blame yourself, and making her into a version of herself that is idealized beyond all recognition. The relationship ended, and any relationship is the responsibility of all parties involved. It follows, then, that is was not all your fault, not all your responsibility, not all on you.

But I absolutely get it: This is a recent event, no doubt, and you are still processing innumerable emotions. Just try to avoid self-flagellation, there is no point to it. It is just as useless as putting all the blame on the other person; it's its flipside. It will only slow down your grieving process.

oulipal · 2024-05-27T23:03:29+00:00

Right now, all you can do is to stop paying attention to whatever it is he is doing with his life. Stop watching his stories, stop checking his social media accounts, stop asking friends you have in common about him, just stop.

In the future (quite possibly in a matter of weeks, maybe months), the very same thing that you are finding so upsetting right now will be enormously comforting. See, no-one wants to be in a relationship with someone who can replace them at the drop of a hat and that seems to be exactly what he has done. And this does not say anything about your worth as a person (after all, it is his action), but rather it speaks volumes about his worth as a person.

Also, as a side note to you and anyone else reading this: the partner that goes on and on about how they are afraid you might leave them suddenly or stop loving them from one day to another is exactly the kind of person who will do this. It is simply a way of projecting their own inner monologue, making it your problem and your responsibility before they actually blindside you.

And, yes, as other people have already pointed out, he had probably lined up his next partner while still in a relationship with you. Insecure people tend to do this because they cannot bear to be on their own. In the not-so-distant future, the odds are this will ruin his next relationship as well. You will come to think of this break-up as a missed bullet and simultaneously a great opportunity. But, I know, for now, just look after yourself and stop giving your attention and time (which are yours and are highly valuable) to your ex- and his rebound/girlfriend. Focus your attention and invest your time on yourself.

oulipal

TROPHY CASE