Tom, Tom, The Piper’s Son (1969, Ken Jacobs)

Ken shows us a ridiculous silent comedy, then re-shows it, this time splitting the image, or zoomed in on a different section, or showing an entirely different scene with a color flower and a person in silhouette for some reason. We have Peter Tscherkassky at home. Highlights from my soundtrack include Neu 2, the usual Zorn and Warp stuff, and Metallic Life Review. Alex Fields: The length feels like a product of how long it inevitably would be once the decision was made to rework all the footage chronologically, and not of how long the ideas and tricks could sustain interest. More importantly than the length, the rhythm of the film suffers as a result, and the longer it goes on the more it feels like some sequences are just going through motions we’ve already seen in order to get us to the next interesting part (and the interesting parts become fewer and further between after the first 30-40 minutes). – A Tom Tom Chaser (2002) That’s more like it – stretching the time and image of the…