Good Rep

Be social

  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Stumbleupon

Bruce Weber Gets Lost Again With Chet Baker

A trumpet legend's funny valentine

By Ernest Hardy
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - 5:56 pm
Chet Baker
The spanking-new 35 mm print of Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber’s 1988 cult documentary, underscores the otherworldly beauty of the film — a lush, black-and-white valentine to jazz legend Chet Baker. The film itself, while centered on Baker, also unearths the Rosetta stone of Weber’s own aesthetic and careerlong obsessions: the iconic photographs of Baker taken by photographer William Claxton at the start of the musician’s career, which are generously peppered throughout the film. And the young Baker, all high cheekbones and sullen beauty, is the prototype of the slightly androgynous but undeniably masculine, pretty-boy hooligans that Weber has long favored as his homoerotic subjects. Let’s Get Lost is filled with performance clips from old TV shows, concerts and films; interviews with girlfriends, family members and acolytes (including Chris Isaak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea); and original footage of the elderly Baker, his face a ruin of drugs and myriad fuckups. Detractors once quipped that the young Baker sang as if he had no idea what the lyrics meant; here, his voice brims with hard-earned life lessons. Shot in the last year of Baker’s life (he died under mysterious circumstances in Amsterdam in 1988), Weber’s film doesn’t pretend to be a critical measure of Baker or his art. It’s a visually hypnotic, engrossing musing by a fan who traffics in and perpetuates his hero’s mythology. (Nuart)
 

Zen and the Art of Cougar Hunting

By GENDY ALIMURUNG

Zen Kern's cougar class: life-coaching an evolving dating paradigm

Lust in L.A.: Hot, Sticky & Bothered

By Dani Katz

Wondering why guys don't make the first move anymore, and notes on the pains and pleasures of threesomes

Stick Figures: Cumin-Dusted Xinjiang Barbecue, at San Gabriel's 818

By Jonathan Gold

Northern China's favorite snack food

Dim Sum When the Sun Goes Down

By Jonathan Gold

In the night kitchen

Confessions of an Aspiring Kept Man: Is That a Cucumber in Your Shopping Cart?

By MATTHEW FLEISCHER

It's not easy trying to be cougar bait

Addiction: Buying the Cure at Passages Malibu (62)

By MARK GROUBERT
Wed, Jun 25, 6:00 pm

At upscale "rehab," all you need is faith. And $67,000 a month

Going Undercover at Impact House (46)

By MARK GROUBERT
Wed, Jun 25, 5:59 pm

Hardcore recovery

Death of Raven, a Hollywood Beauty (40)

By CHRISTINE PELISEK
Wed, Jun 18, 6:00 pm

The city's noir streets made her the star of her own tragedy, then took it all away.

Lust in L.A.: Hot, Sticky & Bothered (22)

By Dani Katz
Wed, Jul 2, 5:00 pm

Wondering why guys don't make the first move anymore, and notes on the pains and pleasures of threesomes

Mr. Brainwash Bombs L.A. (19)

By SHELLEY LEOPOLD
Wed, Jun 11, 4:45 pm

A DIY art spectacle only money and moxie could buy

Hancock, America's Low-rent Superhero, Just in Time for the Recession

By ELLA TAYLOR
Wed, Jul 2, 7:12 pm

It's a bird... It's a plane... It's Superbum?

Movie Reviews: Gonzo, Tell No One, The Wackness

By L.A. Weekly Film Critics
Wed, Jul 2, 7:08 pm

Also, Diminished Capacity and Holding Trevor

John Waters: The Trash Auteur Speaks Out — Way Out

By STEVEN MIKULAN
Wed, Jul 2, 12:00 pm

On gay marriage, the presidential race, the corrupting influence of irony and the release of his new 'Til Death Do Us Part DVD

Don Bachardy on Christopher Isherwood, the Man He Loved

By DAVID EHRENSTEIN
Wed, Jul 2, 7:14 pm

L.A. portrait artist remembers the author, 30 years his senior, with whom he shared a life

Chris & Don: Opposites Attract

By ERNEST HARDY
Wed, Jul 2, 7:16 pm

New documentary paints a portrait of the artist as a young man (and his lover as an old one)

• Advertisement •

Blogs

Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily

'Hancock': $17.1M Thurs, $41.3M So Far
Fri, Jul 4, 9:32 am

LA Daily

The Gay Marriage Wars: Wrong Ahmanson, Again!
Fri, Jul 4, 4:07 am

Catch of the Day

Happy Birthday America!
Thu, Jul 3, 8:55 pm

Play

4th of July Dance Club Picks
Thu, Jul 3, 2:46 pm

Style Council

Moth StorySLAM, Tangier, 7/1/08
Wed, Jul 2, 10:04 am

Slideshows

Nightranger at Club Hell and Sunset Strip Music Festival

Hot Hot Heat, Juliette Lewis, Digital Betty and creepy puppets

Magic Lantern, Sasqrotch and Warm Climate, Echo Curio, 7/2/08

The low-key Echo Park gallery and performance space is also currently showing a collection of stencil art

We Are Scientists, Morning Benders and Blood Arm, El Rey, 7/1/08

It's a new wave revival as the band kicks off their US tour with a strong set from their new album

Wackily Ever After in The Palm Beach Story

By Tim Grierson
Wed, Jun 25, 6:40 pm

Preston Sturges leavens the silly with the bittersweet

Cinefamily Screens Lucien Pintilie's Reenactment

By SCOTT FOUNDAS
Wed, Jun 25, 6:40 pm

Riding Romania's first wave at the Silent Movie Theatre

Eastwood Retrospective: A Life in Film, a Week at the Aero

By Scott Foundas
Wed, Jun 4, 2:56 pm

The beguiler

Visualizing the Sacred: Islam on Film

By Ernest Hardy
Wed, May 7, 4:52 pm

Monthlong UCLA series looks at the lives of Muslims worldwide

Chris & Don: Opposites Attract

Wed, Jul 2, 7:16 pm

New documentary paints a portrait of the artist as a young man (and his lover as an old one)

One From the Heart: Outfest Achievement Award Winner Donna Deitch

Wed, Jul 2, 7:10 pm

Director shoots from the hip about the Hollywood gender gap and the soon-to-be sequel to her most famous film

The Wrecking Crew: Behind the Music

Wed, Jun 25, 6:40 pm

Movie retrieves rock history from the cutout bin

Mujeres Rule at Recent Spanish Cinema 2008

Wed, Jun 11, 6:11 pm

This is a woman's world

LA Weekly Promotions

Summer Concert Guide

Find the hottest concerts and festivals this summer in the LA Weekly's Summer Concert Guide.

Opportunity Rocks Career Fair

Be the first to hear about the latest career opportunities. Click here to find your dream job!

Little Sexy Black Book

Bring sexy back with LA Weekly's guide to the sexiest spots in Los Angeles.

Living Quarters

Get the real story on LA real estate. Whether you're a renter, a buyer or a seller, Living Quarters is your guide to LA living.

Education Guide

From online learning to 4-year colleges, LA Weekly's Education Guide '08 has answers to all your education questions.

Blank Blankly

Speak Freely at LA Weekly with your own Blank Blankly slogan. Consider Thoroughly, then Create Adverbially only at LA Weekly.

Career Guide

Jumpstart your career with the LA Weekly Career Guide. All the info you need to take the next step in life.

Digital Jukebox

Be. Hear. Now. Listen to the hottest bands and stay on the leading edge of LA's music scene with free streaming music from LA Weekly.

Hook Me Up

Want FREE stuff? Sign up for this week's contests and get the hook-up from LA Weekly.

Insiders

Get Inside with LA Weekly. LA Weekly Insiders has the what to do and where to go in LA. Sign up and we'll deliver Insiders right to your inbox!

LA to Vegas

What happens there starts here. LA to Vegas is your guide to living it up in Sin City.

Jonathan Gold Text Alerts

Get Jonathan Gold's restaurant picks sent right to your phone and never miss another great meal!

Restaurant Gallery

Hungry? Check out LA Weekly's Restaurant Gallery advertorial for the best grub in LA.
Backpage.com