Why this blog?

I’ve watched that first “By Brakhage” DVD set countless times over the years and recently paid extra for the Blu-ray of Volumes 1 and 2 to be delivered promptly on its day of release. During the eight days that have now passed since its arrival, I’ve devoured all 56 films plus bonus materials almost twice as well as watching some favorites three or four times.

I can now say with total conviction that Stan Brakhage is my all-time favorite filmmaker and I feel like an over-inflated balloon filled to near bursting with 28 years of thoughts about Brakhage’s films straining for release. This blog will be that release.

I intend to re-watch and “review” every film in chronological order (well, maybe share my very personal reactions and random musings is more accurate). And I’m sure I’ll also go off on plenty of tangents along the way, posting links to Brakhage related things, and circling back to make fresh comments on already visited films as the urge arises.

Hopefully, this project will eventually include volume 3 and beyond until all of Brakhage’s films have enjoyed the same much deserved treatment from Criterion.

Btw, my favorite Brakhage film is “The Cat of the Worm’s Green Realm” and thus the strange title of this blog. I think it’s the perfect mixture of the abstract beauty that captivated me so when I saw “Deus Ex” and Brakhage’s ideas of telling stories in a highly oblique manner. You have a cat, you have a worm, and you have a green realm. What more do you need for the Genesis of a story?