Brent Hoff received an unmarked package in the mail from Istanbul. Inside was a tape. He popped it in, pressed play and watched his first episode of "Tatli Hayat," a.k.a. "The Sweet Life," a.k.a. the Turkish "Jeffersons."
It was fantastic television, even if Brent didn't understand a word -- so he asked a handful of writers to pen a few sets of subtitles for the show, creating a series of different plots and dialogue that turned it into a new experience with each viewing. It's this kind of "found" art that Wholphin is all about: the self-dubbed "DVD Magazine of Unseen Films" (which gets its name from a compound of whale and dolphin -- in Hoff's words, "a new species of hybrid cetacean that no-one ever thought existed") from the McSweeney's folks brings together films with no binding theme other than their unavailability up until now, and no agenda other than to make sure lost treasures reach the audience they deserve.
Now in its fourth issue, Wholphin has featured works by Steven Soderbergh, Alexander Payne, Dennis Hopper, David O. Russell, Spike Jonze, David Byrne, Miranda July and John C. Reilly, among others (including the abovementioned Turkish sitcom exercise). One year of Wholphin, published quarterly, costs $40; back issues are available for purchase.
written on Tuesday Jun 5, 2007
movies,
rediscovery,
magazine.
