It’s been a bad week for directors.

Michelangelo Antonioni, director of Blowup and Zabriskie Point, died yesterday in his home in Italy. Antonioni was probably best known to most audiences for his 1966 film Blowup, which won the Golden palm at Cannes that year. American audiences became more acquainted with him through Zabriskie Point, his meditation on late ’60s American culture and counter-culture. While the film was by most accounts a flop, it was embraced by a core of fans. If nothing else, the soundtrack to Zabriskie Point is fantastic, including some great early Pink Floyd (Careful with that axe, Eugene) and Grateful Dead. Not one of my favorite directors by a long shot but someone who definitely added to the film lexicon. RIP.