December 25, 2021: Karner Blue (1980-2021): A Genius Deferred
Those of you who check the online Entertainment News section of Los Angeles' flagship newspaper, the Los Angeles Tribune, will find the following article on Christmas morning:
… KARNER BLUE (1980-2021) has been sadly confirmed as deceased. The world-famous talent acquisition group, William Morris Colossal, has released a press statement lamenting that the renowned, avant-garde director passed away peacefully in his sleep late last week, after his beautiful Hollywood home (the infamous party mansion known as Der Blaue Engel), caught on fire, burning him alive.
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After making a name for himself and his bizarre, chilling, yet strangely sensuous works in the naughty Oughties, Karner Blue burst into the limelight with his first feature, ‘(A)VOID’ (loosely inspired by Georges Perec’s novel) back in 2017. The two films that followed — ‘Juliet, Cried Juliet’ (2019), and ‘The Color of Moonlight Inside of a Dream’ (2020) — cemented his position as a rising star and fixture in Hollywood. Both films dealt with intense explorations of love, madness, and obsession.
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A man of contradictions and no small amount of mystery, Blue was known for his wild mood swings and wilder ideas. He made waves when a few years ago, he moved into a mansion in the Sunset Hills that became known as Der Blaue Engel. For the past two years, he has been engaged in an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera that he was reported to have vowed to make the most expensive feature film ever produced, as well as a science fiction blockbuster (whose connection to a well known ‘cinematic universe’ franchise let to accusations of Karner Blue ‘selling out’) that was slated to come to theaters in the Summer of 2024.
The film department at Los Angeles City College (Go Cubs!) has already committed to produce a retrospective of Karner Blue’s work. It will begin with his earliest short films and culminate with his award-winning, soi-disant masterpiece, ‘The Color of Moonlight.’ Film critics, actors, and other contributors to Karner Blue’s oeuvre will be available for comment.
It is unknown at this time if Mr. Blue’s tragic death was the result of tragic accident, deliberate malevolence, or merely his rumored life-crippling drug addiction, which often lead to long periods of seclusion. Der Blaue Engel has been targeted before in a bizarre home invasion staged by obsessed fans of the late director. In fact, Mr. Blue is said to have recently finished an extensive renovation, costing millions of dollars, which included a world-class fire-suppression system and special flame-retardant paints. It would appear that this system was able to save the structure itself – yet the interior has largely been rendered uninhabitable, absent yet another multi-million dollar renovation.
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Further complicating the future fate of Der Blaue Engel, is the fact that Mr. Blue was apparently deeply in debt.
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Indeed, his hard partying lifestyle and deranged creativity might have been a secret plea for help, or else designed to distract him from his own impending bankruptcy. This writer can report that William Morris Colossal-
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is already initiating litigation with a surprising range of panicked creditors who intend to battle it out over Karner Blue’s creative properties and his controversial cinematic legacy.