"If wisdom grew on trees, you would be a bush."

Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. The cat's meow...

2011-09-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

The hype is huge for what is essentially an art house film following a seemingly generic big budget crime thriller plot (this film was made for $13 million). This will lead to a whole shabang-a-bang of haters, but the rumors are true, Drive is damn awesome.

The film had me at its pink cursive 80s font. But it gives and gives and gives. Not for the squeamish, and not for those who think Jason Statham movies are so much fun. Ryan Gosling earns the comparisons to Steve McQueen's coolness, infused with his penchant for barely repressed volcanic proportioned disturbance. While it seems like he is everywhere because he will have three movies out by the end of the year, this still won't universally elevate him above "That guy from the Notebook" for many people, but for people like me he is officially a thespian god amongst a cadre of really uninteresting snoozefests (I'm looking at you, Ben Foster). Gosling's grace is fuelled by his ability to have shaped such an interesting career with nary a bloated movie in sight.

I'm a big fan of director Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher trilogy. The second and third film in particular defy crime film stereotypes in surprising ways, but contain the gut-punch stylized violence that is expertly used in Drive. Watching this film in a theater full of people who had no idea what they were in for in regard to Refn's deft use of hyper violence (no cartoon, all in your face) was a fantastic and almost uniting experience. 'Crowd pleaser' is not the term I'm looking for, but it was fun to hear the collective gasps, screams and laughter. Arguing the so-called merit of graphic violence in film never pans out, so I say only this: For me, director's like Refn who understand how to use violence in a shocking way (and violence should be perceived as shocking, don't you think?) perform the double duty of reminding me that I am terrified of violence in any form, and that violence in film strokes and satisfies alot of repressed aggression.

Drive should not be seen by everyone, but I'm confident in stating that this is a film that film fans will talk about forever. It's brilliant at what it does, and breathes life into what on paper sounds pretty typical.

Good interview about Drive with Gosling here.

All Owls Are Wizards

2011-09-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Crispin Glover at the IFC Center. Oh yes.

2011-09-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

I've posted a great deal on Crispin Glover in my sporadic updating, but today I have a physical event to reference, which is terribly exciting.

At first, I wasn't sure if I'd actually get to see Glover live as my school's loan processing is fucking with me, but I caved and busted out the Amex card I have no business using. I'm really glad I did. In town for three nights, I settled on Glover's presentation of It is Fine. Everything is Fine!, as he claims this to be his proudest cinematic achievement. I say right off, I love this man but is this one of my favorite films I've ever seen? No, not really. But this was one of the best cinematic experiences I have ever had. Glover's films are extremely important in a current cinematic climate that has zero reward for pushing people's buttons. And not just for the sake of pushing buttons, but to really have a purpose. It is very easy to take a surface approach to What Is It? or It is Fine. and be disgusted or disturbed to watch a film with "handicapped" individuals and claim that they're being exploited, but you're really feeling outrage that you have to look upon the socially designated undesirables. You want the capped tooth, smooth skinned people to always be before you, that's what you're used to.

I'm not equipped to soapbox here, and really Crispin Glover has his message locked down. In interviews and in videos (a la YouTube) he has explained his message eloquently and wordily, and the message has not changed. That is not to say that because it is a rehearsed speech of sorts that it is insincere. The beauty of the method of Glover's delivery of his message is that he figured out exactly what he wanted to communicate to people by making these films, and has been able to clearly communicate it from the beginning. What I loved so much about the whole experience is that it felt like a really great and relaxed educational forum. I've been saying to people that seeing Crispin Glover live was like going to a lecture by a really great cinema studies professor I never had. I'm a big fan of great professors. One doesn't need to take all of their words as the word of God, but when you can tell an educator truly understands and believes in the message they are communicating, but is also still open to input and discussion, you can't help but want to champion them.

Glover brought up (among other things) moral issues he had with Back to the Future, the perpetual onslaught of propaganda in our culture, particularly (and not surprisingly) in the entertainment industry, and his stance on pirating films (he's not a fan, but his detailed financial breakdown of funding and recouping on his own films shed more light on the issue from the creator's perspective). Some may have complained that he gave super long responses, but I loved it. What really struck me was the fact that he seriously just wanted to share so much with us, with everyone. It was a shame not to have the time (or the courage from my end) to really develop the discussion of piracy and propaganda. But this stuff would be so great in a classroom setting. I'm not sure how one would work it out. A professor's wages certainly wouldn't remedy his film funding needs.

My respect for Crispin Glover as an artist, craftsman and human being skyrocketed. So, don't expect me to stop blathering on about him anytime soon.

I highly recommend that if he heads your way with his films just GO.

Good article in Blackbook Magazine: Shopping with Crispin Glover

X-Men: First Class or whatever the hell

2011-08-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

The worst special effects I have quite possibly ever seen, indescribably magnified by a shit smear of a screen play, with a single shining bright light in Michael Fassbender, to whom I say:

Good Sir, you've now worked with Tarantino and Cronenberg, as well as proven your superior acting abilities in other roles. Don't do this shit again.

Scene? Or Fassbender willing me to forget...

Kevin Bacon, in awe of the sheer madness that such an effect was Ok'd OR wondering if January Jones is really gonna play the scene like that?

Jason Flemyng, wondering why in the Christ his years of acting haven't paid off creatively OR in genuine shock that Jones cannot act to save her goddamn life.

SERIOUSLY!?!?! SER-I-OUS-LY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!!!

It's like they forgot how to put the make-up on. Not that Rebecca Romijn looked like a da Vinci piece, but Jennifer Lawrence's awkwardness in the make-up really ramps up the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

Fassbender doing a scene OR offering the director a way out? TAKE IT!

The first step to recovery is realizing you have a problem.

This is the fifth X-men film so far, and there's no sign of them stopping. Each one is like having a childhood animal disemboweled and dragged half alive through the streets while some sicko jacks off to the trail of gore. Thanks, Hollywood.

River's Edge: Lane + Crispin Glover = Inimitable genius

2011-08-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome, Tom Hiddleston.

2011-08-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

He stole the show in a surprisingly entertaining comic book film extravaganza (Thor) and played one of my literary heroes (F. Scott Fitzgerald) in Woody Allen's wonderful Midnight in Paris. Can't believe it's the same guy. Love it.

8 Months.

2011-07-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hugh Grant owns shady reporter

2011-07-08T19:39:00.000-07:00

Some shit sack actually thought he could one-up Hugh Grant by pointing out that he was a celebrity whining about having their privacy invaded, not taking into account that Hugh Grant has experienced the absolute bottom of public humiliation and has come out of it cool as shit. Cool enough to destroy a shit sack "reporter" who completely dismisses the notion of invasion of privacy by hacking cell phones, namely those of not only celebrities and politicians, but murder victims. This dude is on the low end of the food chain of this epic shit storm, but nonetheless, it is awesome to watch Grant bitch slap him with eloquent verbiage. An epic gentleman's emo fight.

Watch it Here.

Crispin Glover, keepin' it real.

2011-07-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

"If I were the only person living on the planet I think I would not make art. I believe I would be busy figuring out how to get food."

~Crispin Glover

Ain't It Cool News Interview

Pam, those were great pumps.

2011-07-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

Pam is the devil I want sitting on my shoulder, getting me through this twisted life. She's an Amazon balls-out vampire who takes shit only from her maker Eric, which is due to a combination of intense connection and bureaucracy.

Having been chided for my own more-often-than-not monotone voice, I appreciate Pam's calm disaffected voice. She mostly does NOT give a fuck, but on the occasion that her timber alters, you know shit's serious. She's a predator akin to raptors a la Jurassic Park: stealth patient observation and criticism before mercilessly tearing your guts out when she's ready to kill your tricked ass.

I read recently that Pam will play a pivotal role this season. About damn time. The exchanges between Pam and Eric grew to such a perfect pitch last season that everyone else seems almost (ALMOST) dull in comparison (save for Lafayette). Her scene with Jessica in Episode 1 of Season 4 was awesome.

"The way you’re eye fucking fangbangers from across the room, that’s especially romantic."

To quote from fansite True Blood's Nest: "When in doubt, Mr. Ball and Co., the answer is ALWAYS more Pam."

Bring it.

Navel Scaping

2011-07-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

When not consumed with graduate studies and anxiety about every aspect of life, I debate whether or not to delete every trace of my online self. Then I figure, fuck it, I'll never be a politician.

As my last half-assed post was about Game of Thrones, I will conclude that the season was epically fantastic and satisfying, I've already bought all four existing books, and am a whore FO LYFE.

And just before the shakes were about to set in, True Blood swaggered in, balls swinging with no intent to tone it down in sight. Fantastic.

Managed to fit in an international familial reunion, and a cross country road trip from Michigan, through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, stop Arizona. Going back on a slightly altered route at the end of the summer. Currently tending to those graduate studies at an internship in the Arizona State Archive. Hit up Santa Monica and San Diego, which made me remember how much I miss the damn ocean.

Obsessed with Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.

Kind of like having a front row seat at Mount Olympus. Everything else seems so worthless in comparison. I think this will be the first summer I don't cave and indulge a bloated hero movie. Probably because none of them involve Christian Bale.

Kristin Wig needs to make more comedies.

More people need to experience the pleasure of alcohol infused ice cream. SEE Lee's Cream Liqueur

Why did no one ever tell me about Żubrówka vodka (with apple juice, oh my)?

Phoenix, AZ has happy hour menus locked DOWN!

Summer is hot, but is goood. Here's to the world not exploding just yet...

Game of Thrones- Pilot Episode. You had me at baby wolves...

2011-04-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

I'd been anticipating this since HBO announced the show, what? A year ago? Have never laid a single eye on the books (though I will have to remedy that now) but I do like me some fantasy films. Plus, when I heard Sean Bean was going to be one of the stars and NOT as a villain, I knew things were on a pretty good track. But still, people view the Lord of the Rings films as the standard for fantasy films now (Zzzzzz) and for all I knew these novels were similarly prudish...

But I failed to consider that this is HBO and they're not courting families. Thank hell. And it doesn't look like the fucking and "fucks" will be center stage, which I think adds an element of classy, no?

The pilot did a fantastic job of setting up the main conflict, and introducing characters without detracting from the natural flow of the story and the build up of tension. The unnatural blonds didn't come off as bad as I feared. No one is doing poorly British accents or staring forlornly into the distance constantly. I am liking all the characters, even the evil ones because all of the characters (the adult ones anyway) are motivated by the same force: Power. It will be interesting to see how schemes unravel.

I also have to say that I am relieved that Peter Dinklage finally has a real role. He's absolutely brilliant in the pilot and I can't wait to see what he gets to play with.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!!!

The Bliss of Ignorance: Death needs a better sniper rifle

2011-03-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

My heart is black because of these people. Because they exist in a free world and breed and because wishing their mass death is not in my power, and wouldn't be enough to keep this level of ignorance from reforming in perpetuity. HOW can a suburban white teenage girl possess hatred for Japan over World War II? What the hell is wrong with people? Do a bit of research so you don't become the poster child of America's failed education system. Westboro Baptist Church will never run out of congregants, that's for damn sure.

In brief:

Pearl Harbor Death Toll: 2,403 (mostly servicemen)

Hiroshima 150,000 (civilians)
Nagasaki 75,000 (civilians)
-the atomic bomb numbers are conservative estimates (meaning, these numbers are low, you twat.)

Earthquake/Tsunami - Current estimate is at over 10,000 (civilians)

I will refuse to seethe about this long enough to write an essay because lord knows that requires literate people. Instead, think of it as a handy little quick-stop for acquiring a fucking clue. Should we start a real discussion about payback? A real discussion about civilians taking on responsibility for the actions of their government, whether it be present actions or the actions from previous generations? Look at a world map, close your eyes and point. Chances are you will land on a country whom our government has fucked with horribly at one time or another. Shall we all burn to death in a bomb, lose entire towns in a natural disaster, all of us suffering by the tens of thousands? Something tells me there's a giant double standard at play. Just a guess.

Thanks for the memories, Internet. This is why I'm going to school to work with inanimate objects. Fucks.

Thom Yorke. Lotus Flower.

2011-02-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

The winds of Radiohead doth blow so sweetly...

2011-02-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

The event of a Radiohead album release is still not dulled after all these years. It amuses me greatly that thirteen years on there are STILL people whining that the music isn't like Ok Computer >insert whiny noise< OR >insert bitchy comment about worthlessness< More for me, bitches.

This new offering, King of Limbs, feels like it would have been better off as an EP, shaving off the last 2 tracks which feel a little less interesting than the first six (though even as I type that, they're growing on me). Otherwise, there are shades of Kid A going on here, and as I am of the school that worships Kid A and Amnesiac as the two hands of GOD, this is extremely pleasing and satisfactory. Now that Radiohead can literally do WHATEVER the fuck they want, I hope there are many releases coming up. I've heard tell that they have several songs ready to go, much more than eight. I also live in a state where they are known to tour, so I hope I can cross that performance off my list some day soon.

I have no words for those who loathe this new offering, but to those on the fence I say this, you'll be in full blown love by the third listen.

This video also made me ecstatic. Don't mind the player haters, they live without joy:

3 Months.

2011-02-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

RAAAADIIIOOOOOHEEEEAAAAD!!!!!!

2011-02-15T18:46:00.000-08:00

That's how it's done, announce the release of your new album six days before you make it available for download.

The King of Limbs - drops Saturday!

more info HERE.

Dear Megan Ellison,

2011-02-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know who you are and I know fuck all about computer software, but you have good taste in films and are utilizing the great deal of money available to you in exactly the same way I would. I love you. You are going to help save our shamefully boring and bloated American film industry. I love you.

Sincerely,
Marie

Witness:
Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology Movie and Inherent Vice Adaptation Close to Finding Financing

(in awe of his good fortune)

Wait wait wait, she not only helped bring a new Coen brothers film into my life, but she is fixing to bring me TWO new PT Anderson films AND a John Hillcoat film (which will be so much better than The Road, I am sure of it!) Second Coming, indeed!

2011 and Music.

2011-02-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

I've been really stressed out with school and general super life changes the last six months or so, and the small pleasures in life generate great pleasure. And I appear to have a font of pleasure headed my way in 2011.

1. Polly Jean Harvey - Let England Shake

Even though I'm totally mad at her right now for not sending out an email about her show in NYC (sold out, only been 2 days) I am still looking forward to Let England Shake.

2. Boris - a. Stephen O'Malley & Atsuo "Uroborus Circuit" LP, b. Boris with Merzbows "Klatter" LP, c. Boris "New Album" d. Another album called "Attention Please"??? (the generosity!!!)

You know you want it! (the "New Album" cover).

3. Carina Round - a. new solo album, b. Early Winters (new band), c. First Blood Mystery 10th anniversary special edition (again, YAY for activity!!)

She just posted this video of her brain melting in the studio, but one of her new songs is playing in the background and her vocals are so blissfully powerful. I cannot wait.

4. The Kills - Blood Pressures
New Single Satellite. Sounds like 'em. Hope the album's fun and has more guitar action.

5. Trent Reznor -
a. How to Destroy Angels (The EP has grown on me, and I am interested in hearing how and if they have progressed. The music wasn't the issue. The vocals, however...)
b. new NIN (will always kick myself for not scrounging together every cent I had in the bank and driving for ten hours to NYC to see that second to last NIN show ever ever. Stupid fucking money.)
c. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack (you can keep The Social Network, I will keep its soundtrack.)

6. Fiona Apple - new album in the Spring.
I love the way she's been progressing and can't wait to find out if she's keeping it up. Extraordinary Machine is great.

7. Garbage -

They're recording. No deadlines. Don't Care. Would also like Shirley Manson to release her shelved solo album, but it kind of seems like that's been killed. Bleed Like Me wasn't full on top notch, and the couple of singles they've released for their greatest hits album and charity stuff weren't so good. But I DON'T CARE. The 15 year-old me says GIMME! They sounded great on their last tour in 2005. They can do this.

8. Daniel Johnson - new solo album. Speaking of blissfully powerful voices...http://danielmusica.com/

There will be more, I'm sure. But by May I will have melted into a puddle after seeing The Tree of Life. Hurry Up!

Happy Birthday (January 30th), Christian Bale!

2011-01-31T12:58:00.000-08:00

Belated, but you're winning awards left and right and no doubt partying like a motherfucker. Enjoy!

And Happy Anniversary!

Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life, counting the days...

2011-01-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a few weeks since the trailer became available online for Terrence Malick's upcoming film The Tree of Life, starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt. I first saw it before Black Swan. Should've known that what followed couldn't hold a candle to that two minutes. I cannot wait. The shot's of the Sun and the Earth, the beginning of time...amazing. Not to mention the use of Czech composer Bedřich Smetana's Vltava is gorgeous and turned me on to a great artist.

Day at MoMA.

2011-01-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

Finally made it down to the MoMA with our fancy duel membership. Their "Drawing" exhibition [On Line: Drawing through the 20th century, until Feb. 7th] was disappointing as the perception of drawing in the art world seems to be very limited and one dimensional, but we did get to see a fantastic Andy Warhol exhibition called Motion Pictures [Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures, until March 21]. I'm not a particular Warhol fan, but the set up of this exhibition was fantastic. Taking his collection of films known as "Screen Tests" they essentially created a gallery of moving portraits. I absolutely loved the feel of it. Photos weren't allowed, but thankfully the Internet could give a shit. Witness:

Our next stop was MoMA's absolutely fantastic Abstract Expressionists New York, until April 25. This:

Claude Monet
Willem de Kooning
Jackson Pollock
Robert Motherwell
Amedeo Modigliani
Gustav Klimt
Egon Schiele
Vincent Van Gogh
Mark Rothko
Frida Kahlo
Pablo Picasso

is just a quick list of who we saw in there. It's strange and exciting to see so many famous pieces huddled in one place. Well, not huddled, definitely on full display and magnificent. Not all of them to my taste, but those I listed were of particular interest. My absolute gave-me-goosebumps favorites were Monet's Water Lilies (insanely gorgeous in person. I walked by the 3 panel set up multiple times.) I finally got to see a Klimt in person!

(Hope II, Gustav Klimt)

It's irritating knowing how many Klimt pieces MoMA actually has, and they chose ONE (Hope II). They had so many Pollock's and Picasso's up (all great, but there were WAY more), they could've thrown Klimt a bone. There were only two Egon Schiele pieces also (Girl Putting on Shoe & Girl Wrapped in Blanket), but it was still fantastic to finally see his stuff up close as well.

(Girl Putting on Shoe, Egon Schiele)

(Girl Wrapped in Blanket, Egon Schiele)

And the Van Gogh's were awesome, even The Starry Night which is exploited beyond reason, in person it's still magical. I love his thick paint and evident brushstrokes. Well played, MoMA.

There were more exhibits, but these were just so good. Yay, New York.

(Echo: Number 25, Jackson Pollock)

Misogyny and Lars von Trier's Antichrist. "Chaos reigns" because you're ignorant.

2011-01-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

I came back to an article from around the release of Antichrist in 2009, a superb film I've seen three times now. It is still shocking to me that people think Lars von Trier is a misogynist when he's so obvioulsy critiquing misogyny.

A Danish reporter he smartly hired to literally research misogyny for him explains obvious and rational things like how the film explores "...the strong, dangerous, evil side of woman as perceived by men. My research could supply inspiration for all the forms that men’s anxiety about women have taken through the ages."

HELLO. H-E-L-L-O.

"To regard man as rational and in that sense ‘complete’ and woman as not actually in control of herself and therefore ‘lacking’ is a very old idea...Antichrist actually subverts that idea and in the end reveals how both woman and man are tied up with forces that go far beyond what they can or should rationally control."

Worth the read: Misogyny Consultant

The comments below the article reveal that people are illiterate.

Two Months.

2011-01-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

PJ Harvey articulates my feelings. Thanks again, Madame.

2011-01-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

"It really touches upon these feelings I think we all have about our respective countries — love and hate, attraction and revulsion, terrible disappointment and also great hope."

~Polly Jean on her new album and the way my brain feels about America, finally articulated and not using one solitary f-bomb. A Christmas miracle.

Patti Smith's Just Kids.

2011-01-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

I normally don't review books because there is something about reviewing literature that has always scared the shit out of me. Maddening and inexplicable. But I recently read Patti Smith's 2010 National Book Award winning memoir Just Kids and I absolutely am in love with it, and am more in love with Patti Smith.

It is fantastic on many levels, but it's the first book in awhile that has enraptured me enough to keep me from wondering off and worrying about all the shit there is to worry about. I could not stop reading it. In the last year it has taken me weeks to read the simplest of novels, all of them good. So this is a big deal for me. And I found it worth sharing because it's rare that something NEW actually captivates me. I mean, I just read The Age of Innocence FINALLY and that also was mind blowingly wonderful, but that's been around awhile.

Just Kids moved me because I was already a Patti Smith fan. It interested me because she describes a very interesting time period in rock, art and history in general (the late 1960s counterculture and politics, 1970s art scene and birth of punk rock, Warhol's withering Factory, The Chelsea Hotel etc etc.) Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe were where it was AT. But it's not just some cool book about the 1970s, or a cool rock memoir, or some tell all book. It's a poetic and moving tale of the birth of artists through a deep and unbreakable bond with one another. The details focusing on the way Smith and Mapplethorpe influenced and supported each other, and evolved into the god-like beings they are now is fascinating because it completely humanizes them and makes them so much more wonderful. Smith mastered the art of writing long ago, and her skills are put to great work here as she lovingly reconstructs the events which led her on her path to freedom and artistic growth through the magnifying glass of nostalgia and the wisdom of age. Being in Brooklyn myself to pursue dreams and goals (though non like theirs, that's for sure!) the memoir is inspiring simply for its sentiments of perseverance and honesty towards one's goals, namely fuck what people think you should be doing, do what you want most.

Olivier Assayas' Carlos "You may have heard of me." I have now!

2011-01-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

It would be more intelligent (maybe) to dissect Carlos in relation to the current state of terrorism. Or had I any real knowledge of terrorism in the 1970s I could really comment on the impact or relevance of Carlos "The Jackal". I literally had never heard of this dude until Olivier Assayas' film. I think that makes me lucky because he seems like an asshole. The five hour film (or miniseries, depending on your citizenship) is pretty fantastic. From the view point of a biopic, it's fresh and entertaining, not getting bogged down in cliches and not even daring to cram a man's entire life into a ridiculously small amount of time. Given that five hours is more than your average biopic, Assayas is still blessedly aware that lives are complex and varied and lose these qualities when you try oh so hard to pare them down and win Oscars.

I haven't seen many of Assayas' films yet, but I loved Summer Hours. Carlos speaks more to this "post punk auteur" label I always see plastered next to his name. I'm not exactly sure what that means, really, but I like what I've seen so far so I'll go with it.

Carlos originally aired in France as a three-part miniseries. It made the art house rounds as a five hour piece, and a shortened version is also apparently being released. I think the full five hours does a great job of illustrating this spectacular shitstorm of a man who, like most revolutionaries I vaguely know about, had grand ideas about how the world should be and how to go about changing it, but crawled too far up his own ass to really get things done and in the process brutally killed people.

The tagline of the film is "The Man Who Hijacked the World" or some shit like that. Perhaps it is my naivete, but I got the impression that most of his operations fell through. Again, this is based on the film, not historical fact or effort to discern historical fact. I have no doubt that he was a pain in the ass to multiple governments, and I'm sure is efforts made him a star among fellow revolutionaries. I guess I just missed that in the film.

While one review I read states that Assayas' film neither condemns nor celebrates Carlos, my impression is that Assayas doesn't really need to be overtly negative to make a critique because Carlos the man is just ridiculous in himself and by simply having him exist on screen allows his ridiculousness to naturally unfold and do the critiquing for us.

Édgar Ramírez's portrayal of Carlos is pretty dazzling. In the first half of the film depicting the peak of Carlos' anti-bourgeois terrorizing life he comes across as particularly magnetic and cocksure, but I never got the impression that the camera was idolizing him. There's certainly no question that the man isn't being lionized when he devolves into a sad middle-aged has been with Ramírez sporting a glorious gut. The Jackal is finally nabbed in some shit hole hide out while he's all kinds of fucked up and immobile from enlarged veins in his testicle. Big one for JUSTICE!

But as I said, the ride is great. The anti-imperialist plots orchestrated in Europe are intense and baffling, the overall international connections surprising and interesting. The logic behind the various revolutionaries' actions are laughable, but the cast is so good and delivers every line with conviction. It's not all work as Carlos finds plenty of time for the ladies while he embarks on his noble quest to rid the world of imperialism and Zionism through hostage taking and demands of planes.

Assayas' directing melds seamlessly with Ramírez's performance. It is a great breakthrough role for Ramírez, who I'd only seen previously in a smaller role in Domino, and even smaller role (though noticeable) in The Bourne Ultimatum. His presence suggests not only that he has the balls to carry a film, but that he and Assayas collaborated beautifully. While I never found myself loving Carlos, I love the way Ramírez plays him. His Venezuelan accent lends this flowery quality to the dialogue that makes it sound pleasant even as he is being a complete asshole. This pleasant tone coupled with his strength and articulation adds a subtle sinister impact without making the character a cartoonish villain. I don't know what the real Carlos was like and is like, but he is portrayed as an asshole and a human being.

2010 was a particularly slow and crap year for film. Carlos is one of the best I've seen and would regard it highly even if there were a boom of great films. The five hours fly by, so check out the real thing.

Pete Postlethwaite. 1946 - 2011.

2011-01-03T09:26:00.000-08:00

Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. "Lose Yourself" yeah yeah...

2010-12-30T22:52:00.000-08:00

My expectations for Black Swan were so ridiculously high that it was just inevitable I'd come away feeling disappointed. Some aspects stood out as great to me, but I was left sitting in my chair during the credits feeling really let down.

Of course it seems to be an overall success, a critical darling and what not. Some people echoed my feelings of disappointment, but others championed it. Those who like it seem to have found an interesting dissection of femininity and sexuality or a great psychological thriller, maybe both. As a few weeks passed I felt that I had to give Black Swan a second chance. So upon second viewing I approached it openly and realistically. And I like it even less.

I'm honestly even more disappointed by my feelings. Half way in, I am less enthralled with Portman's performance, not because it isn't good but because her character is immediately a broken mess. Well, actually I should give Portman more credit, she is in fact projecting the emotion she is meant to. She has little to work with. There isn't much of a build up to "the creepy stuff." Nina is immediately presented to us as unstable and meek and borderline hallucinatory.

The script really gets to me, there isn't a single line uttered that doesn't ring false. The only natural moment I noticed occurred when Nina is rehearsing with a woman whom I assume is a teacher. The interaction between the two is interesting, and nothing like it ever happens again. When Nina pulls the skin off her finger, it's a fantastic cringe moment, and all that follows seem worthless compared to it. These body horror moments, and the times when she obviously sees phantoms of herself are so abrupt and immediately dispelled, leaving no impact. At least not on me. You've shown me right off that she is unstable and going crazy. If any of this were to really leave on impact, some of it should actually be happening! She should ACTUALLY be ripping her skin off, or cutting too deep into her nail. Why not? It makes even more sense considering it would appropriately build up to the end.

**SPOILER**:

If you're not going to have the balls to make her go so insane that she ACTUALLY kills someone, then at least have the decency to make her crazy enough to actually mutilate herself.

The interactions between Nina and Thomas (Vincent Cassel) are ridiculous. Their dialogue, particularly his, is so laughable and lame. If this is a realistic relationship in the professional ballet world, then holy fucking shit. I cannot suspend reality enough to believe that a ballet master could ask a student if he'd fuck another student in front of people. I totally get the fuck-your-way-to-the-top angle, I remember one such specimen that took that route to get cast as the sugar plum fairy when I was a wee dancer, but the way it is portrayed in the film is just silly.

Winona Ryder is good casting for the role of the "aging" dancer no one gives a shit about. I think the rivalry between her and Nina could have been played up more. Having both Beth, the more experienced and deranged dancer, and Lily, the young and more free dancer both antagonizing Nina consistently could have lent more urgency to Nina's plight. By the time she visits Beth in the hospital (though not really, ha ha) and then she comes home to have the ultimate freak out, shitty moving paintings and all, I am just over this fake out bullshit. Did no one give Aronofsky copies of Polanski's Repulsion or The Tenant? Maybe throw in a few Cronenberg films to really turn out the body horror?

I thought it was genius when I heard Aronofsky was making an identity thriller with Swan Lake as a back drop, as I am very familiar with the identity crisis in the ballet itself. But the fact of the dual swans is beaten to death through shitty dialogue and beaten further to death with obvious spurts of "OOooo Nina just saw her own face on another girl's face!!"

The film is at the height of beauty during the ballet sequences. The greatest is when Nina is dancing the black swan role at the production's premiere performance. It is the strongest and most interesting moment in the film, allowing Portman something else to do besides sniveling, and actually pushing the visuals to a level of strange that is exciting. Now I can believe you that it's about sexual tension because Nina is released. She's pretty much orgasming, but I think it's really Portman thrilled to be playing a sinister and more adult role. And when she unfurls her wings at the end of her pirouettes, it's magic. The film could end there. The campaign for the film focuses entirely on Portman as the black swan. Other people know what's up, even if it's subconscious. Even though I still think it's a cop out that Nina doesn't actually kill Lily, it is powerful when she realizes what she has done to herself. And she dances anyway. This is sicker than anything she imagines because IT ACTUALLY HAPPENS!!

In terms of Aronofsky's filmography, Black Swan doesn't push any stylistic limits like Requiem for a Dream or The Fountain, and it doesn't have the realism or heart of The Wrestler. It just feels like a step back. Lose yourself, indeed.

Guy Pearce: underappreciated chameleon extraordinaire

2010-12-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

A recent re-viewing of the fantastic L.A. Confidential had me marveling at Guy Pearce's unshakable ability to disappear into every role he as ever played, whether the film is good or bad. Having such a pretty face, and having gotten into the good graces of Hollywood with L.A. it's a wonder he didn't blow up the way Russell Crowe did. I don't believe it was for a lack of opportunity, just a difference in desire. He seems to be content being magnificent and yet stealthy, allowing his talent to boost those around him, not really drawing great attention to himself. You notice he's good, but you forget who the actor is because you forget you're watching a man act. Love him. He seems to definitely favor supporting roles now. I just hope he doesn't go away anytime soon.

Selection of disappearing acts:

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 1994, Felicia Jollygoodfellow

L.A. Confidential 1997, Edmund J. Exley

A Slipping Down Life 1999, Drumstrings Casey

Ravenous 1999, Captain John Boyd

Memento 2000, Leonard

The Count of Monte Cristo 2002, Fernand Mondego

The Hard Word 2002, Dale

The Proposition 2006, Charlie Burns

The Hurt Locker 2009, Staff Sergeant Matt Thompson

The Road 2009, Veteran

Animal Kingdom 2010, Leckie

The King's Speech 2010, King Edward VIII

Catherine Breillat's Barbe bleue (Bluebeard)

2010-12-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

I like the territory Breillat is exploring, which began with Une vieille maîtresse (The Old Mistress or The Last Mistress). À ma sœur! (To My Sister! or Fat Girl) is the only other film of hers I've seen so far, the general unpleasantness got the best of me and...I'm good, thanks. Barbe bleue didn't impact me as strongly as The Last Mistress, but I enjoyed it and can't help but get caught up in the beautiful imagery and symbolic exploration of marriage and sex. I am very excited to see her latest project, her take on Sleeping Beauty (La Belle Endormie) which has apparently been making the festival rounds. Bring on the fairytales!

Informative and brief NYTimes article: Fairytale Endings- Death by Husband

Televisioning: True Blood Season 2-3 Faeries and what not...

2010-12-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

I blew through Season 2 and 3 of True Blood like the meth-V that shit IS.

Enter the Northman. From the moment this bastard shows up with highlight foil in his hair, I knew he was my new favorite character. Alexander Skarsgard really gets to step up his skills in the second season. Unfortunately Tara and Lafayette are all broken. But my consolation gold is Northman and his progeny Pam, a delicious bitch.

There's plenty written about True Blood all over the place so I'll keep it short and sweet. The continual fun poked at the obsurdity of religion and conservatism is amped up with Jason's personal confusion and alignment with the Fellowhip of the Sun, a vampire hating religious cult. Hilarious.

Sam's true nature is finally revealed, and his past comes back to haunt him in a big disastruous way in the form of an ancient creature who goes simply by Maryann. The conclusion of this disaster is probably one of the coolest shots in the show's history, involving a pretty stunning and giant white bull.

Alot of people have complained about Evan Rachel Wood's portrayal of the vampire queen of Louisiana. While I can see what would annoy people, I took the character as a commentary on authoritative figures-- meaning they're shallow, power hungry assholes. Keeps in line with the show's commentary in general, which is straightforward, over the top, and uber liberal...and sexy!

As predicted, the cock fight between Eric and Bill rages on fantastically. Lafayette gets back some of his former glory in Season 3. Tara remains disappointingly insane and broken. Sookie tends to annoy. Sam becomes surprisingly hard ass. Bill's progeny Jessica engages in an adorable relationship with nice guy Hoyt, proving that it's nice when people just like each other (and have sex). Werewolves show up and aren't embarrassing 17 year-olds, but mostly white trash biker types.

A bunch of other crazy shit happened. I can't even handle trying to recount it right now...

(You can pretty much rotate any cast member's face above)

Can't wait for Season 4!

Televisioning: Lie to Me "Your eyebrows say different."

2010-12-27T12:57:00.000-08:00

Finding Tim Roth to be awesome in general, hearing good things, and needing to watch something while I attempted to be a good grad student, I found myself plowing through the first season of Lie to Me. My sense of Tim Roth's awesomeness is full intact, in fact he is the sole reason I kept watching, as it was some of the most condescending writing I have ever heard. It's pretty much the polar opposite evil second cousin of The Wire, a show that gave you nothing, assuming that you were a thinking individual who could retain information and piece this information together to conclude things for yourself. Lie to Me, if you haven't guessed it, assumes you are a dumb ass. A flaming, hide the sharp objects, hold them back three grades dumb ass. At least, that's how I felt watching the first season (so far the second has toned down the explanations, but turned up the crazy plot lines.)

It was the perfect thing to have on while writing twenty-page papers. Roth is a pro, and sells all his lines. Whenever the show would jump off the lecture train for a second it was good. These off train moments were always in regard to ongoing story lines involving Roth's mysterious past or his co-worker's crumbling marriage. These brief moments were great because nobody explained a damn thing, they hinted at possible turmoil and moved on. Wait, I think they SHOWED me something was going on. Amazing.

These are my favorite Lie to Me phrases I accumulated, in no particular order:

Deception leakage
Response latency
"Your eyebrows say different." (definitely my favorite quote)
Emotional trigger
Increased manipulators
Micro expressions of...(fear etc.)
Self hushing emblem
Intense disgust
Classic glare
"Disgust is the language of hatred"
Over claimers
"A swallow is a sign of strong emotion."
Manipulators
Depraved heart murder =2nd degree murder
Illustrators

Good times.

Spend Christmas with John Hillcoat's The Proposition!!!

2010-12-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

"For what we are about to receive, may the lord make us truly thankful."

Maren Ade's Alle Anderen (Everyone Else)

2010-12-25T10:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know if it's widespread, but for all the acclaim I've read for Sofia Coppola's Somewhere as some minimalist heartfelt wonder, I can't help but wonder if critics this year just stopped trying to look for better films and clung desperately to anything that wasn't too bloated. But I can't really back that up either, as technically The Social Network and Black Swan are pretty small next to something truly bloated like The Tourist (Golden Globe nominated, the DVD release will say).

But I digress. I'm really just wondering why I didn't read more about Everyone Else? It's a small movie with fantastic acting, and accomplishes the goal of portraying the unexplainable complexities of a relationship. It criticizes and defends the two main characters, making it difficult to firmly choose sides. It's silly, and sad but just really damn good. And it made me forget I just watched Buried.

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

2010-11-25T13:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to Me!

http://pjharvey.net/

Let England Shake - Album Tracklisting

1. Let England Shake
2. The Last Living Rose
3. The Glorious Land
4. The Words That Maketh Murder
5. All And Everyone
6. On Battleship Hill
7. England
8. In The Dark Places
9. Bitter Branches
10. Hanging In The Wire
11. Written On The Forehead
12. The Colour of The Earth

February 14, 2011!

Alan Berliner's Studio

2010-10-20T19:01:00.001-07:00

Last night I spent four hours in Alan Berliner's private studio in Tribeca. The privilege of my program, and especially my professor whom is old friends with Berliner. It was very relaxed, interesting and inspiring. Pretty much everyone in the class left wanting shelves organized the way Berliner's are. The artist's complex mind on display. Too much fun.

*An ji inspecting...something

*readying a private screening of his latest 6 part short film, soon to be expanded

Check him out: AlanBerliner.com

+all photos thanks to my classmates!

Sally Menke. 1953-2010.

2010-09-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's never been a TARANTINO film without "Edited by Sally Menke". A new chapter in film I've never looked forward to. So sorry for her family.

Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void

2010-09-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

There's something strange about reviewing this film so after recently viewing it. I can't say I'm as affected as I was by Irréversible. Noe has his own style and is unwavering in his efforts to challenge the audience. I respect that.

On a purely basic level, I don't feel this is as strong a film as Irréversible, though I think that is in large part due to the heaping canyon of difference in acting skill between casts. Paz de la Huerta in particular is an anomaly to me. No, I take that back, her ability to get cast in everything going on at the moment makes sense: young, no shame in not only getting naked but filming explicit sex scenes. I just watched her ass and titties during the Boardwalk Empire premier, and last year her naked ass and titties in Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control. All three very different cinematic offerings. All three containing her dead eye stare, whiny spaced-out voice, and ass and titties.

But I digress. I hyped up Enter the Void in my mind for a year, since its screening at last year's Cannes film festival. Any still I've seen has looked fantastic. And the clip posted online of the opening credit sequence had me at crazy flickering lights and techno music. But I assumed the film itself would achieve the frantic kinetic fist jab that these credits promised, and it never quite got there. BUT there are many things from the film that stick with me. In particular, the trauma that brother and sister Oscar and Linda experienced as children is horrific and moving. I am so unmoved by their adult selves, however, that their presence numbs me to it. It's not really about the story though, it's the cinematic techniques.

This is without a doubt a film that should be viewed on a large screen, otherwise, honestly, you might as well watch it on an ipod for all the good it will do. I love the color scheme, the crazy bright Tokyo neon lights, the roaming bird's eye view throughout most of the film, and even the Tibetan Book of the Dead fixation. I suppose the film is commenting on Sex, Drugs, Love and Death, but I didn't go away from the film feeling educated. Irréversible destroyed me, scared me, impressed me. Enter the Void is kind of cool.

Those were my initial thoughts. I haven't seen Noé's other films, but I rewatched Irréversible to get some context (I haven't been able to since 2003). Yes, the rape scene. You put in a nine minute, single shot, one take realistic rape scene, it's gonna stick with a girl pretty good, let me tell you. I don't give a fuck if it's not the point of the film. But it didn't make me hate the film, in terms of craft, though personally, it takes alot to sit through. I'm glad I watched the film again because I forgot about the great performances and improv conversations that happen after the horror show. I stand behind it.

*Albert Dupontel, Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel

These well seasoned actors really bring alot to the table, making the horror that much more awful because you don't want it to happen to them. You care. Not to mention Noé's camera work seemed much more effective, really setting the mood. Maybe it's the lack of funding, or again, good actors. There's more plot, more substance to the conversations. And most interestingly, Irréversible is anti-revenge. Not necessarily because Noé is a hippie peace lover type, but there is an acknowledgement of "what will it solve?" And indeed, in this case, it solves absolutely nothing. "Time Destroys Everything" is what the film leaves you with. Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart.

And in his own words:

Ben Affleck's The Town

2010-09-24T08:53:00.001-07:00

It's no surprise to me, really, that The Town is good. I thought Gone, Baby, Gone was surprisingly decent. And the things that I didn't like about Gone (weak characters, let down twist) are absent from The Town. It's not groundbreaking cinema, but Ben Affleck is undeniably a confident filmmaker, whether people want to accept that or not. He's got it. AND he can still act. This is a man whose ego exploded all over the place like a poorly timed money shot, and he had to pay for it pretty dearly. I say, the clean up job is impeccable.

The Town is essentially a Boston crime film, focusing on a group of bank robbers whose taste in masks make the gang in Point Break look like the lame hippie surfers they are. Affleck plays Doug MacRay, the essential criminal with a heart of gold. Yang to his Yin is sociopath Jem Coughlin, expertly portrayed by Jeremy Renner. Rounding out the mix is Rachel Hall as robbery victim Claire Keesey, a subtly creepy Pete Postlethwaite as Ferge Colm, hoodlum rounder upper, and Mad Men superstar Jon Hamm as Agent Adam Fawley, the man out to get the men.

As I mentioned above, there aren't any wasted characters this time around, and everyone plays their role perfectly. The action scenes are great, actually bothering to cultivate suspense, not to mention loud as hell gunfire. If Affleck plans on lingering in Boston crime film land for awhile, I support his efforts 100%. The Town is a good time with substance. I admire a man for using his connections well.

REPOST: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Review

2010-09-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

January 2009

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shocked me with disappointment. I couldn’t deny the high expectations I had for David Fincher’s new film. Zodiac is a masterpiece, despite being shamefully neglected during the awards season last year, and there was no reason to expect anything less with this effort. Failed.

Benjamin Button follows the trials and tribulations of an abandoned child who ages backwards and finds his true love in childhood playmate Daisy. It’s not an awful film (i.e. Seven Pounds), but there is a resounding dullness that baffles me, especially since the film is beautiful to look at. The subject matter is treated with such deadly seriousness, I have to wonder if Fincher or Eric Roth (screenwriter) actually read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, which is more of a hilarious fable than an epic scientific documentation.

Roth discarded nearly every detail, down to the setting and century, but most of all he discarded the humor. The first half of Fitzgerald’s story, in which Mr. Roger Button is insisting that his aged son play with children’s toys when all he wants to do is smoke cigars and read encyclopedias is a goldmine. There’s no magical backwards clock built in the throes of sorrow, Benjamin starts off big, his mother doesn’t die, his father doesn’t abandon him (because he’s a goddamn gentlemen), and there is no Daisy, there’s a Hildegarde. What was the point of adapting Fitzgerald if the material moves you to abandon it?

Last month I heard most of an interview with Fincher on NPR about Button, and how the subject of a love story was wholly uninteresting to him, but the idea of death and mortality made him change his mind about doing the film. First off, it never feels like the material ever truly inspired him. And of course, if he refers to it as a love story that seems to suggest Fincher doesn’t even have Fitzgerald’s tale in mind. The scenario of a man aging backwards can facilitate such a strange and humorous exploration of life and death, but Fincher’s film is so utterly conventional. I would kill to see Terry Gilliam’s take on it.

Every time I began to settle into a feeling of enjoyment in it’s lowest form, the narrative was brought to a screeching halt by it’s disjointed flashback story telling, courtesy of a dying Daisy’s annoyingly withered and shaky voice and her daughter (Julia Ormond) reading Benjamin’s diary. In the meantime, Hurricane Katrina is barreling into Louisiana. This is important…because they’re in Louisiana…and because…because.

The acting from Blanchett and Pitt is serviceable but a bit cold. This coldness is magnified by some of the more light-hearted characters they encounter. Benjamin is portrayed a bit slow, and Daisy becomes selfish and a little self-destructive. There’s just something so familiar about their relationship, all the missteps and unrequited love, all the letter writing…

And then the true culprit is revealed! Eric Roth wrote a little gem called Forrest Gump in 1994. He completely recycles his own ideas for this “screen story” but fails to recapture the magic a second time. It’s all there: The special slow boy can’t be with his childhood crush, he leaves home, sees the world, joins the army, they meet up again at some point, it’s awkward and she’s a bit of a whore, they part, do stuff, meet again, have there time together, they have sex, something comes up, they must part, eventually one of them dies and the other tells the story. How dare he! And worse, everyone is totally buying it!

Both Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are great actors. They’re never going to be awful in anything, so when they’re ok in a poor film it seems Oscar worthy to people too busy doing meth to actually go out and watch a majority of the films released in one year. Some critics have earnestly called this Brad Pitt’s career best performance. Those individuals have failed to see the following films:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Babel
Fight Club
Seven
12 Monkeys

I’m going to go ahead and throw in Inglourious Basterds, and then pretty much ANYTHING else he’s been in.

Tim Roth aged backwards much more expertly in Francis Ford Coppola’s unfortunately flawed, but infinitely more intriguing Youth Without Youth. The overwhelming critical and awards season success of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has to be chalked up to luck and a significant amount of black magic. F. Scott Fitzgerald might roll over in his grave, but there’s nothing in this film to truly be moved by.

More Upcoming Films

2010-09-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Unfortunate déjà vu in that ANOTHER (the first being The New World) Terrence Malick film (The Tree of Life) that I have been hotly anticipating since before production began is being pushed back yet again to 2011 despite principal photography and I'm pretty sure post production being done for quite some time. Losers.

The official trailer for David O Russell's The Fighter was finally unleashed. Uuuuhhhmmm, really? I pray that THIS is NOT the actual tone of the film. Christ.

BUT, in happier news, both Werner Herzog AND Errol Morris are chaperoning brand new documentaries on the festival circuit.

Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams was just picked up by IFC Films for distribution (score). I saw an interview with him a few months ago in which he described what he was filming, and it sounded fascinating, not to mention his enthusiasm for the subject made me extra excited. As of now, Errol Morris' Tabloid has not been picked up, but it sounds like a blast. Can't wait for the Fall/Winter film watching extravaganza!

True Blood 2.0

2010-09-16T07:03:00.001-07:00

Bandwagon, please...Three years ago, I barely got through 30 minutes of the pilot episode of True Blood before I exasperatedly turned it off. THIS was the new show from the man who brought me Six Feet Under? A show that I lived by for five years (well, we could haggle a little bit about the last 2 seasons, but I still love it). Ugh. Not to mention, as I've expressed many times before, most recently here, I take vampires seriously and never could have imagined that in a time where vampires are ALL OVER THE PLACE I would NOT be gleeful, but instead jaw droppingly bored by the accepted standards. Most of it isn't campy enough to be fun because it is family friendly horseshit.

Now, I understand that True Blood is primarily campy. But, I couldn't initially perceive it as such due to the turmoil in my brain. Again, maker of Six Feet Under ( a show with humor certainly, but still a serious melodrama) AND I want more Interview with the Vampire style shit, damn it!

Fast forward to the now. We've all been prison-style pounded by the Twilight franchise, and will be continuously until about a year after the last film comes out. I knew I would hate the fiber of that series, but I don't like talking shit about what I haven't at least sampled, so I read the first "novel" (glued together paper with English words in some kind of arrangement printed on it) and sat through the first flick. Sweet merciful Satan I didn't even KIND OF enjoy it. But now I know. I. Know.

And then, one drunken night, my cousin needed to catch up on her Season 3 True Blood. I said, why not? And immersed myself in an hour of batshit soap opera craziness that broke me down. Ok, Days of Our Lives with vampires and an inordinate amount of fucking? I'll take it.

Since then I have watched all of Season 1. I enjoyed every second. It is flawed all over the place, but the entertainment value is uncanny. Not to mention, at least with season 1, the episode ending cliff hangers were endless and hooked me hardcore. I do NOT like Anna Paquin's acting, but this show is perfect for her. Sometimes it veers into serious territory for a second, but for the most part the dialogue delivery by the actors is purposefully ridiculous. Everyone, male or female, is a plain and simple sexual object. There must be some insane group discount gym memberships going down. Freakin' Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) is cut like Tyler Durden, it's insane. And most importantly, the vampire-human girl romance actually has some sizzle. On paper and onscreen I get NOTHING from Bella and Edward. Sookie and Bill, I buy that.

And again, this show is way more honest than Twilight, and makes up for all that boorish prudishness with an outlandish and welcome fixation on sexual pleasure.

Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) are my favorite characters. Lafayette in particular is a bad ass motherfucker, case in point:

I am also liking Eric (though not because he's "SOOO HOOTT" as every magazine apparently insists). His dead pan delivery is actually some of the best humor on the show next to Lafayette's I-could-give-a-fuck-attitude. Bill (Stephen Moyer) is at his best around Eric (Alexander Skarsgård), and I am very excited to hear that their cock fight reaches epic heights in the coming seasons. Not to mention, there aren't any moronic vampires trying so hard to fit in with mortals that they repeatedly go to high school for eternity. For reals.

What I enjoy best about True Blood is scenes like the above, and writing like this:

Scene: Bill (Civil War era vampire) comes home, is suddenly alerted to fact that someone is upstairs. Vampire zooms up stairs, opens bathroom door. Eric (probably Viking era vampire) is immersed in bath water, surrounded by candles and listening to some Swedish music or something...

Eric: I texted you three times. Why didn't you reply?

Bill: [Doesn't miss a beat] I hate using the number keys to type.

[Just watch the first 45 sec]

There's nothing particularly clever in the way the show parallels bigotry toward vampirism with that toward homosexuality and immigrants, but seeing posters that say "God Hates Fangs" is pretty amusing. There's no life lessons or really deep emotional journeys like Six Feet Under. Well, maybe you learn things like: What do you do when your boyfriend thrusts up through the dirt in a graveyard stark naked and grabs you while you're running in fear? A: Let him fuck you senseless.

There's no hope for new ground broken in Vampire cinema or culture, but it makes me laugh. And it's nowhere near as lame as Twilight or Jersey Shore AND it takes no issue with alienating conservative viewers. So I'll take you, True Blood. We can be friends now.

Inspiration: The Quest of Crispin Hellion Glover

2010-09-06T16:41:00.001-07:00

In the week that I've been in Brooklyn I found out that I missed seeing Crispin Glover's presentation of his two films What Is It? and It's Fine. Everything Is Fine! by two months. This distressed me greatly, even though there was really no way for me to be in NYC and Romania at the SAME TIME (Am I right?).

In anticipation of the man hopefully coming around again in the next couple of years, I've been listening to bits of interviews, specifically on the topics of his two films named above, two films you can only see if C.H.G. comes around with them. I am in LOVE with his motivations behind making the films. The quote below made me particularly happy and made me feel genuinely inspired about the quest of preservation I will be embarking on, where preserving films such as these will be at the forefront of my mind, as they will need to be fought for every step of the way.

"...I need to be working outside of the corporate constraints, which is really what What Is It? is reacting to. It's a reaction to the corporate constraints that have happened in the last twenty-five, thirty years where anything that can possibly make an audience member uncomfortable is necessarily excised or that film will not be corporately funded or distributed. I think it's a damaging thing because it's when that audience member sits back in their chair, looks up at the screen, and thinks to themselves: is this right what I'm watching, is this wrong what I'm watching, should I be here, should the filmmaker have done this, what is it? And that's the title of the film. What is it that's taboo in the culture, what does it mean when the taboo is ubiquitously excised? And I think that's an incredibly damaging thing because when people are asking these questions they're having a truly educational experience. If you get rid of that it just stupefies the culture."

~Crispin Hellion Glover

from FILMINK video interview (2008?)

It's worth the watch:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Mouth wide open...NYC

2010-09-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

Two things became very real this last week, though not necessarily fully processed:

1. I live here now

2. I am a grad student here now

Holy. Shit.

Happy Birthday, Shirley Manson!

2010-08-26T09:47:00.001-07:00

Films: Anticipating Fall/Winter 2010

2010-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Black Swan
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
Release Date: December 1, 2010

The Social Network
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield
Release Date: October 1, 2010

True Grit
Director: Coen Brothers
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Halee Steinfeld
Release Date: December 25, 2010

"A tough U.S. Marshal helps a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer."

Enter the Void
Director: Gaspar Noe
Starring: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta
Release Date: September 24, 2010 (super limited, I'm sure)

The Tree of Life
Director Terrence Malick
Starring: Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain
Release Date: November, 2010 (for the love of hell, release this!!!)

"As Jack walks through the city, he sees a tree at the edge of the city. He makes his way to it and touches it. What follows is most likely going to be the most visually stunning and talked about film sequence of the year. This time, we flash back to the beginning of the universe. We watch as “the chaos of nothingness” gives way to the formation of galaxies, stars and new worlds. We witness the birth of the Earth, first as a bulb of hot gas, progressively cooling to “a mighty inferno of magma and pitch”.

“The sky fills with steam. Rains fall for millennia, cooling the surface by degrees. For ages, there is no clear day of sun, no night of stars; only thunder and lightning. But by and by the mists drift off, the cloud part and the first land appears, a low island of meteoritic rubble and stark volcanic stone”

Life on Earth begins tentatively from single-cell bacteria to multicellular organism, from worms and amphibians to the mighty dinosaurs and our modern mammals including, yes, humans."

*from anomalousmaterial.com

The Fighter
Director: David O'Russell
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo
Release Date: December 10, 2010

"A drama about boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime."

Blue Valentine
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling
Release Date: December 31, 2010

"Centers on a contempo married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods."

The Town
Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner
Release Date: September 17, 2010

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin, Frank Langella
Release Date: September 24, 2010

Tron:Legacy
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Michael Sheen, Jeff Bridges
Release Date: December 17, 2010

The Goon - trailer/teaser

2010-08-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

Please, please, please make this a film QUICK!

Dragging myself bloody to some middle ground

2010-08-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

So, I found a reason in my brain to accept Lady Gaga's existence: The INSANE completely unchecked and out in the open jealousy and fear she brings out of her contemporary pop whore divas. Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera in particular...
Oh my god, HELLO l-o-s-e-r-s. Love it.

Marilyn Ma...oh, right.

Katy Perry in particular sounds like an insufferable disaster with her religious prattling. “Yes, I said I kissed a girl, but I didn’t say I kissed a girl while f***ing a crucifix.” Tori Amos needs to crawl out of her crazy haze and bitch slap this girl. Kissing girls while fuckng a crucifix is so 1975. What a bore. Xtina is just plain sad because she technically had a career, but is not doing herself ANY favors with her new make over. Glowing vagina heart, anyone? L-AME.

Exhibit A: Mainstream S&M equals super edgy.

Xtina. Seriously took me a whole minute to be sure. Gaga definitely owns her sexuality more.

ZzzzzZzzz.....Katy P.

But still, I am not a convert. Miss Gaga's music bores me to tears. I heard Alejandro alot when I was in Romania, and hell yea the chorus is catchy, but um, where's the song? literally, it's "Don't call my name Alejandro" repeated over and over and over for like 5 minutes, with some mumbling a couple times.

Exhibit B: Bored with own fabulousness? Or confused?

Fascinating. Tell me more.

Is that where the teleprompter is?

Anyway, my insane hatred has given away to pleasure in watching all these other trollops trip over themselves, baffled by why they cannot conjure the same level of obsessive fixation. Like baby kittens dog paddling in a school of sharks.

Exhibit C: I suppose it's the natural evolution of the cone...

Just not as fabulous as guns, hun.

Xtina didn't get the memo.

I wish I could be fascinated by Gaga because the wealth of access to her image all over the place would tickle me pink. If I had been able to enjoy Shirley Manson's ass all up in everything at this level, I probably would have exploded from sheer ecstasy. But her alleged fabulousness is lost on me.

Exhibit D: For reals. She totally knows...

Xtina is more sold on herself than anyone.

Ah, pure moment of truth.

I find the following ladies more visually pleasing. At least it saves me paying for stadium shows.

A. Juliette Lewis

That pure rock and roll spirit comes out in the music AND the clothes. And she's got all the right moves to prove it. No back up dancers necessary. Juliette live is raw fabulous fun.

B. Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

While never as mainstream, British press in particular wet themselves sick over this woman's outfits. They are absolutely representative of the YYYs style of music, and would not exist without the aid of her partner in crime, fashion designer Christian Joy. O & Joy's outfits have a great art kid, hand made, last minute, rock and roll fabulosity that is way more fun to look at than a phone hat or bubbles.

C. Peaches

Peaches does the shazaam and gender-bending of glam like a hardcore pro. Her voice is amazing, her sexuality not for the prude. She backs it up where I find Gaga to be lacking. If the two worked together, it'd probably be wonderful. There, I said it.

D. Karen Dreijer Andersson (The Knife, Fever Ray)

As far as I'm concerned at this point, Karen is a Nordic God bestowing her magnificence upon us mere mortals. She's my blonde bombshell.

Mining Dreamscapes: Christopher Nolan's Inception and other dream world films

2010-08-16T08:17:00.001-07:00

For the record, I greatly enjoyed Inception. Hell, I saw it in theatres twice. I like the story, the visuals, I particularly LOVE the zero gravity fight scene and feel that it should have went on longer. People keep searching for an exponentially deeper meaning, or dismiss it because it didn’t do enough of this or that, but Christopher Nolan knows what he made and he’s been very open about it. Inception is an intelligent heist/action film. Some reviewer said it’s a masterpiece on par with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Whoa whoa whoa. That dude needs to CALM DOWN. Not unlike The Dark Knight before it, Inception has some flaws (though as time goes on TDK has many more flaws, in my opinion) but if all summer popcorn flicks aspired to this level (where intellect meets fun), then less people would passively refer to me as a film snob for merely abstaining from utter shit.

Leonardo DiCaprio continues to earn his keep, though this may be one too many broken men in a row. Joseph Gordon-Levitt also continues being awesome. Both actors have successfully parlayed child acting careers into very lucrative and interesting adult film careers, though they both still look SO YOUNG. Cillian Murphy is always an added bonus, Ellen Page reminds me that I like her just not Diablo Cody, and Tom Hardy continues to prove that he is a wonderful smarmy British man. Let us not forget shout outs to Ken Watanabe, Michael Cain, and the lovely Marion Cotillard, whom thankfully sounds better than she did in the awful Public Enemies (though it did leave us with a hilarious accent and terrible dialogue to make fun of- “WHEN MYJOHNNY FINDS OWT HOW YOU SLAHPT ARROUND HEES GIRRL, YOU NO WATTS GOINGTO HAP PEN TOYOU, FAHTBOY?").

I was annoyed, however, by a “making of” special on HBO in which someone, and I can't remember who, said something to the effect of Inception being completely original in its representation of the dream world. Nuh-uh.

Did I mention I LOVE this fight?

Resume:

What immediately springs to mind are The Matrix and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Now, technically The Matrix is a program, but it might as well be someone’s subconscious. And there are similar rules in Inception, such as conjuring what you look like, your own weapons, pain is real because it’s real to the mind etc.

The Matrix 1999
Eternal Sunshine is technically memories, but dreams are a cauldron of memories. As far as the strange nature of dreams goes, at least in comparison to some F-ed up dreams I can have, Eternal Sunshine does a really damn fine job in that department. It’s also worth giving a shout out to the subconscious territory barreled through in Being John Malkovich.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004
But on that note, hundreds of films have had dream sequences, or had “are they or aren’t they dreaming” moments. That’s beside the point. I’m trying to wrangle dream centered films that have been more creative than Inception. Again, if you don’t see The Matrix parallel, I don’t know what to tell you. Inception is certainly a classier, more real based interpretation, but The Matrix broke ground first.

Haha, in my quest to research this, I am confronted with the greatest truth of the Internet: Someone is already original before you. Read here, as this person has seen more films (and TV!) than I have, and names pretty much all the films I would have. I’ll list my favorite here anyway:

The Cell 2000
Tarsem’s The Cell, while not my favorite as a whole, definitely has amazing and creepy imagery, some of which unfortunately reminds me of dreams I have had.

The Fall 2006 (released 2008)
Tarsem’s second film, The Fall, which I absolutely adore, takes place in the imagination of a child while she is being told a story. What makes the film so wonderful is that it still has outlandish imagery, but minimal to no special effects. Tarsem shows that the world naturally has fantastical landscapes.

Mulholland Drive 2001

Inland Empire 2006
David Lynch should be a given, particularly the fantastic Mulholland Drive and the holy-crap nightmare Inland Empire.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984
Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, and everyone’s favorite (apparently) The Wizard of Oz should be givens. A Nightmare on Elm Street is classic, and as I have actually had Freddy Krueger traipse through my dreams on more than occasion (more like a Freddy/Pinhead fusion) I consider it essential. Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky (whatever, I couldn’t even watch 5 minutes of the original) is fantastic in its representation of the unconscious mind’s inability to get things just right. Total Recall? Yes, please. And how could I forget, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Vanilla Sky 2001

Total Recall 1990
Again, Inception is a smart and classy action film, but WAY more grounded than most dream world films. After going through that list, they could have made it a little weirder. But then, strange wasn’t the point of the story.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920

Boris. Magic Stick. Detroit, MI

2010-08-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

It was nice to see that more people showed up to see Boris this time. It was even great that Sid Vicious was able to resurrect himself and find a spiky vest to wear. I even remembered ear plugs this time, and was able to hear sound the next day. Having listened intensely to a majority of Boris' extensive discography in the last year and a half, it was even more exciting to hear certain songs than even the previous two occasions that I've seen them live. They are still quiet and polite, save for the bursts of howls, yelps and thrown metal from drummer Atsuo. They still make my rib cage shake and then calm me down with the soft soothing vocals by lead guitarist Wata. I wish more people could understand the love.

What I will never ever get used to, and this does not solely apply to Boris' show, is the still rabid plague of hipsters who apparently have SO much disposable income that they can still afford to spend $15 + on a show to TALK. Not listen or observe, but have full volume conversations while THE HEADLINING BAND is playing, the band YOU PAID for, the band ON the ticket, the REASON the Magic Stick is open. I don't UNDERSTAND. I won't miss you Magic Stick. Not that much, really.

Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer

2010-08-12T11:30:00.001-07:00

Polanski's latest effort, The Ghost Writer, turned out to be a well done mystery with great performances.

Ewan McGregor is a ghost writer hired to finish the memoirs of ex-British Prime Minister Adam Lang. You know he's in for a rough ride when moments after accepting the job, a manuscript unrelated to the job is stolen from him on his way home, complimented by a blow to the head. Not to mention, the original ghost writer hired by Lang washed up mysteriously on the beach. He’s entered shady shadeville, but what seems like the obvious answer to the mystery simply isn't. And that's what makes the film so much fun.

Pierce Brosnan is perfectly cast as Adam Lang, his looks and charm integral, and he is able to exude the sort of dominance and arrogance one would expect from a government official. Olivia Williams is also good as Lang's frustrated and much-smarter-than-one-may-initially-think wife Ruth. Plus Tom Wilkinson shows up (what more do you need), and Kim Cattrall plays Lang's assistant Amelia...because...they ran out of British women?

I enjoyed Ewan McGregor's performance particularly because of the subtle humor exhibited with well delivered dialogue, but even better well-timed mannerisms and facial expressions. My favorite in the film is early on in the meeting in which he is being recruited to work on Lang's manuscript. A rather shallow quip by, I believe, Lang's lawyer (Timothy Hutton) provokes equally shallow laughter from everyone else in the room, but McGregor is silent and has the best "are you fucking kidding me?" expression for the duration of the exchange. It made the character instantly relatable for me, and there are more gems throughout.

Polanski is still kicking, and still making good films. Deal with it.

Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies

2010-08-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Some kind of foolishness has kept me from seeing Mike Leigh's excellent Secrets & Lies. I can't remember the last time I've experienced such an emotional overload delivered with such bare bones humanity. It’s one of those rarities where each character is well written and perfectly cast.

Apparently much of the dialogue is improvised. Leigh had an outline of what he wanted, and only told each actor what their character would have known at the beginning of the film. This method, if in fact true, would explain the very honest interactions and highly charged reveals in the film.

Brenda Blethyn is amazing as Cynthia Rose Purley, a lower middle class hot mess with a shameful past. Marianne Jean-Baptiste compliments Blethyn’s role and matches her blow for blow as Hortense Cumberbatch, a woman searching for her birth mother. Equally impressive is Timothy Spall as Cynthia’s more successful, but equally emotionally crippled brother Maurice.

The Purley’s are a family of wound up, disappointed individuals who have never been honest with each other about anything. Hortense comes from a more together and honest place, and her calm and honesty breaks the Purley’s wide open.

This is an extremely satisfying film. Leigh expertly builds and builds emotional tension throughout the film until it collapses like a massive dam, just demolishing all desperately maintained facades. It’s not a neat and tidy ending, but all the baggage gets laid out in the open, which undoubtedly sets the stage for change and growth.

I absolutely loved this film, and highly recommend it.

Debra Granik's Winter's Bone

2010-08-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

What made me want to see Debra Granik's film Winter's Bone is the trailer.

I like dirty, gritty looking films and I don't need happy endings. Not to mention the setting of the film was in the unfamiliar territory of The Ozarks, a very particular geographical and cultural location in Missouri. The fact that this potentially great film stars a female AND is directed by a female definitely made me want it to succeed just a little more than necessary. I hope the day comes in my lifetime where such factors mean very little, but alas, such times don't feel so nigh.

Winter's Bone took the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film at Sundance, but I found the dramatic depth of the film to be over-hyped. Not because the film has no depth, the tragedy is that there is a whole lotta depth that remains un-mined. Again, the setting is fantastic, the law of the land very specific, every character worth following, but so little is delivered. The central character, Ree Dolly, is in fact an unwavering strong female, responsible for two young siblings and an invalid mother at the age of seventeen. Her father is a meth cooker, clearly has never been much of a presence, and has managed to piss off the big boss. Unfortunately he also used the family home to post bail, and unless he shows up for his court date, the family's out with the dogs. This is what jump starts Ree's journey.

But apart from the truth about her disappeared daddy's whereabouts, there's nothing for her to learn. She already knows he's a shit heel for being a part of the whole fucked up meth web (it made her mother insane), she knows it's all up to her to keep the family together, she knows she has to bust her ass to get things done, she knows she doesn't get to be a regular 17 year-old girl, she knows the people she has to talk to about her dad are fuckin' hardcore. There's most certainly some trauma experienced, but none of it makes her a different person (at least, I didn't see that) it just strengthens her already established resolve. Jennifer Lawrence gives an appropriate but unremarkable performance. I imagine she'll be rounding out my Top 5 at the end of the year because lord knows women ain't allowed to star in films. I digress...

The only character whom I felt had a clear character arc was Ree's uncle Teardrop. Played by the fantastic John Hawkes, Teardrop looks like the human equivalent of a stray dog, but make no mistake, he can beat your ass cold. It's clear from the start that he is not the fun uncle. Ree naturally asks her kin for help first, Teardrop responds with a near ass whooping. He tells her to stop poking around, like everyone else does, but after she gets her ass beat by some of the scariest looking bitches you'll ever see, Teardrop starts to show his true colors. And without too much a of a spoiler, he eventually does the right thing in taking some of the burden on himself, and seeking justice for his brother, Ozark style. But all of this growth happened in the background of Ree's journey.

If Winter's Bone had been made into a series or miniseries, it would have been a masterpiece. I can't speak for the novel and all of the detail that may lurk there, but I cannot shake the sense that had this story been stretched out, all that depth in the background would have been given the opportunity to shine. I'm talkin' The Wire and Treme style. Although I think everything should be like that, so maybe that's just unfair.

Juliette Lewis, Magic Stick, Detroit, MI

2010-08-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Juliette Lewis,

I was super excited that you were coming into town while I was still living in this hole. The last time I saw you was at Small's in Hamtramck almost three years ago (excitement capsuled here), and it was a bad ass show. I was excited to see you live again because you are one of the most fun live acts I've ever seen in the last 12 years I've been going to shows. I was also curious to see your new band and hear your new music as I had not yet familiarized myself with your new album, Terra Incognita. Love the blue hair you're currently rocking, the shiny gold leotard, the sparkly Sgt. Pepper coat, and the black feather bell bottoms as well. Love your energy and your generosity, and I hope to see you again soon. You're the best.

With love and respect,
Marie

What kept the night from outshining the previous gig had nothing to do with what Juliette and her band mates were doing. I had the misfortune of being near one of the creepiest male specimens I've ever encountered. I'm embarrassed as a Michiganderian that this woman had to put up with that flaming pile of mess the entire time. She handled it gracefully, but let's face it, no encore for a reason, right? I initially really wanted to stay and see if she'd come out. I know her derby girls were out there (Whip It, it's fun, watch it), so I'm sure she didn't full on high tail it, but I had to.

To the sweaty walrus-like man,

...whose arm and back were covered in tattooed 80s hair metal band autographs, who cradled his daughter (11? 12? 13?) a little too closely, who stood front and center, who held his daughter's hand out against her will to constantly touch Juliette, who for an entire song stood with his bare back to Juliette with a black sharpie in the air for her to sign it, who throughout the entire show continuously forced his daughter (whom looked miserable and on the verge of tears throughout) to "rock out", who grabbed a set list off the stage MID-SONG, who after the set practically head locked a stage hand to persuade him to get Juliette back out, who practically dragged his daughter's sorry ass around the Magic Stick probably trying to convince various employees to get him back stage, I fucking hate you. I hate you for tainting MY rock experience with your filthy, shady, distasteful behavior. And it wasn't just me, everyone in your vicinity noticed what was happening and was visibly disgusted. One girl in particular, though she may have already been slightly intoxicated, was nonetheless so upset by your treatment of your daughter and your actions toward Juliette that she at one point burst into tears, and later had to simply leave the area. And she had been SO excited earlier. I refused to leave because god damn it I paid to be there, but you tainted my memory of that night forever, and I HATE you for it. I hate that you exist, and that there are many of you. I hate that whatever fucked up shit is going on with you and your daughter, it's still going on with you and your daughter. I hate that fucking JULIETTE LEWIS has to deal with men like you on a regular basis. I hate that it would be considered illegal to run you over repeatedly with my car. Piles of hate, all for you.

Error of All Ways

2010-08-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

First off, Facebook makes it impossible to blog, as it compels you to expel all the info you want to share immediately and abbreviated, making it difficult to work up the motivation to churn out a more detailed version.

But I will not give up my efforts to be somewhat consistent here.

My, how much has happened since my last remotely personal, non-entertainment related post many moons ago. I can't even remember what I said, and in true modern fashion, am too lazy to take .2345 seconds to check. So I begin with where I am at right now:

Still at the beginning midpoint of ushering myself into genuine socially acceptable adulthood. By that I mean, trying to exist without having to tug on the sleeves of parents. Good luck, champ. Having lived a year in the South, not like, the SOUTH South, but still the South, I was able to learn very quickly that no, I won't actually be content working multiple barely above minimum wage jobs (yes, that's plural) part-time in order to live paycheck to paycheck and never have time to pursue an adventure here and there. The search commenced, the GRE and application process came and went, waiting and being waitlisted, and then at a truly rock bottom moment, coated in indecision and desire of revisions, NYU Tisch came a calling. This great relief was followed promptly by a whole new set of anxieties, but at least they are anxieties with purpose. That was April? Yes.

An entire year had passed since I had seen most of my family. Headed back to the Mich for the summer, rent free but on the verge of penniless. Spent a month in the motherland and in July commenced a full on hunt for a living space in the Big City. Ha fuckin ha. The last apartment we saw on our first day of appointments was the one, and assuming the agents don't decide to rip my heart out, eat it, and shit it out, we should be good to go in a couple of weeks. The level of stress in conjuring paperwork and money in the middle of a life limbo whirlwind (all of my belongings are split in two different locations, I have now moved 4 times in the last 4 years, and am soon to embark on the 5th) has been, needless to say, special. In less than one week, the agents have gotten a"fuckin kids" and "why can't you have sent everything yesterday" undertone, but I have to believe that it's all going to be worth it. Because otherwise I will join the ranks of Midwesterners who have braved the trek to the Big Apple, and then gone bat shit insane for lack of human understanding. There is a certain air of being looked down upon that puts me on edge. Don't look at me at all.

See? The paranoia is already starting. Next comes the sinister nightly whispers which eventually invade the daytime, then the people who aren't really there, etc. etc.

Kind of like blog readers...

David Fincher's The Social Network acquires Trent Reznor

2010-07-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

Always a good time when Trent Reznor scores or produces a film soundtrack. He hasn't done so since the great Lost Highway (the soundtrack, not the film :-( I had a similar what the hell reaction that it seems Reznor did to learning that Fincher was doing a film about the rise of Facebook, but my concerns have been transformed into red hot anticiPATION.

Not to mention Fincher's penchant for making a genius film and then a whatever film means he is on schedule to deliver another genius film after what I can only describe as an excercise in technology that is titled The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. But seriously, observe the pattern:

Se7en - aside from being amazing, freakin changed the look of detective thrillers permanently.
The Game - not terrible, but kind of alright.

Fight Club - If you like this film, you don't just like it, you attached it to your soul.
Panic Room - again, not awful, but an exercise in technology.

Zodiac - so epically genius that people couldn't handle it.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - All I can see is Fitz shaking his head wondering why everyone looks so god damn dour.

It's a pretty consistent pattern so far, so, good luck with that Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!

And here is my favorite new husband's spiel:

I was planning on taking some time off after the continual waves of touring that ended last fall and spend this year experimenting around with what would become How To Destroy Angels and some new NIN. Well, that plan didn't work out so well. David Fincher started inquiring about my interest in scoring his upcoming film, The Social Network. Yeah, the movie about the founding of Facebook. I've always loved David's work but quite honestly I wondered what would draw him to tell that story. When I actually read the script and realized what he was up to, I said goodbye to that free time I had planned. Atticus Ross and I have been on a creative roll so I asked him if he wanted to work on this with me and we signed on.

Months later, I'm happy to tell you we're nearing the completion of this and I couldn't be happier with how it's turned out. The level of excellence that David operates on is inspiring and the entire process has been challenging and truly enjoyable.

As Atticus and I near the end of the scoring process, we're looking forward to the next phase - distilling the large amount of music we've written for this down to a satisfying record (or two). The film opens Oct 1 in the US with the record likely available a couple of weeks ahead of that.

Speaking of the film... it's really fucking good. And dark!

Houellebecq VS. Levy : Real Writers Throwdown

2010-06-29T00:54:00.000-07:00

Who do I have to kill to make this book come out earlier than freakin' January 2011? I mean, COME ON. The book exists, it's been translated, why the super long wait? Stupid not knowing how to read French!"In one corner, Bernard-Henri Lévy, creator of the classic Barbarism with a Human Face, dismissed by the media as a wealthy, self-promoting, arrogant do-gooder. In the other, Michel Houellebecq, bestselling author of The Elementary Particles, widely derided as a sex-obsessed racist and misogynist. What began as a secret correspondence between bitter enemies evolved into a remarkable joint personal meditation by France’s premier literary and political live wires. An instant international bestseller, Public Enemies has now been translated into English for all lovers of superb insights, scandalous opinions, and iconoclastic ideas.

In wicked, wide-ranging, and freewheeling letters, the two self-described “whipping boys” debate whether they crave disgrace or secretly have an insane desire to please. Lévy extols heroism in the face of tyranny; Houellebecq sees himself as one who would “fight little and badly.” Lévy says “life does not ‘live’” unless he can write; Houellebecq bemoans work as leaving him in such “a state of nervous exhaustion that it takes several bottles of alcohol to get out.” There are also touching and intimate exchanges on the existence of God and about their own families.

Dazzling, delightful, and provocative, Public Enemies is a death match between literary lions, remarkable men who find common ground, confident that, in the end (as Lévy puts it), “it is we who will come out on top.”

Congrats, Shirley Manson

2010-06-21T23:50:00.000-07:00

Near the end of May 2010 Ms. Shirley Ann Manson wed a lucky American. In true classy fashion, apart from revealing the fact of the marriage and that it was a simple court house affair, she has revealed nothing else. Congratulations.

Christian Bale + John Hillcoat x Western = YES

2010-06-09T03:41:00.000-07:00

+
x
=
"The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge. Based on the true story of frontiersman Hugh Glass, The Revenant is a bloody and amazing story of survival and vengeance. Glass, an experienced trapper, adventurer and soldier, is leading a group of trappers along the Missouri River when he is horribly mauled by a grizzly bear. There's not much the men can do for Glass; a small group is left to wait with him until he dies and then bury him. But when hostile Indians are sighted, the men bug off, leaving Glass broken and bleeding with just a rifle to protect himself. Glass improbably survives and hunts down the men who left him behind, intent on getting his vengeance." Fingers crossed!

Dennis Hopper. 1936-2010.

2010-05-31T07:08:00.000-07:00

Mads Mikkelsen Owns Your Soul

2010-05-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

This man could destroy all remnants of Sam Worthington with a sniffle. Why isn't HE starring in everything?

**Photoshoot by Patrizio Di Renzo in Tush magazine

Timothy Olyphant, Your Time Has Come

2010-05-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

The summer after the release of Scream 2, I visited my cousins in New Jersey. We were in New York City for the day, strolling about when this couple walked by. My cousin Barbara immediately squeezed my arm and spun us around, practically screaming “Oh my God, it’s Mickey from Scream!!!” We noisily, but at a respectful distance, followed said couple to a gym. We remained at a distance as they entered. It was a two-story building, a great pane of glass exhibiting a staircase. We watched the couple ascend. And then he turned to look at us, and waved, smiling. And we squealed with delight. Since that moment, I’ve had a soft spot for Timothy Olyphant.

He is a beautiful man, and as far as I can tell, not a fame hungry whore. As a result, he has been relegated to supporting roles that he always aces, but clearly demonstrates that the industry is at a loss as to what to do with him. I don’t know who his agent is (assuming he has one) but it is regrettable that he has not done more interesting independent work. The Safety of Objects was a step in the right direction, but I guess that wouldn’t feed a family of five? I don’t know what his motivations are as an actor, but I do know that in his 41st year on this planet, things are looking pretty awesome for the Olyphant.

In 2010, Timothy Olyphant was finally able to star in a film that I felt was almost as awesome as he is, The Crazies. Not to mention that before that, his major role in all 3 Seasons of Deadwood cemented his place in history as not only an epic bad ass, but a fantastic actor. I know that the acting range he displayed in Deadwood surprised many people. Not me, I was just thrilled that he finally got to show it. I’m sure the theater work he’s done in the past showcased his abilities prominently, but Deadwood was a much larger venue. Though apparently not large enough.

I expected a much greater increase in offers for him, something much more than starring in fucking Hitman or being the villain in a fake Die Hard movie. I suppose, being a huge Deadwood fan, it's easy to overlook the fact that many people do find it a difficult pill to swallow. Point in case, the shit heel fucks who canceled it. It’s been revealed, bit by bit in the last few years, that the cancellation was unexpected, so I can only imagine one had to grab at whatever work one could find (again **cough cough** Hitman).

Thankfully Justified has come along. Not only does Olyphant not have to embarrass himself, but he stars, and the show is accessible without being too watered down (nothing will ever compare to Deadwood). Sure, it’s his 3rd sheriff, but the only thing his sheriff roles have in common are: his pretty face and those fantastic facial expressions, his wonderfully unique arm-at-his-sides infinite torso sashay, and of course the fact that he is better than everyone.

I present to you now, a Timothy Olyphant mid-career retrospective more or less in order of my viewing:

Scream 2 (1997)

The quality of Scream 2 compared to Scream is undeniably inferior, but it contains my first introduction to Olyphant. The impact of his presence at the time was second only to the death of Randy (totally uncalled for!), but to this day Olyphant’s shady wisecracking college buddy Mickey remains in my memory. I hesitate to revisit the film, but suggest that all Olyphant beginners start with it, as his roles get so much better.

The First Wives Club (1996)

I actually saw this film in theaters, and distinctly remember being amused by the young director who unwittingly makes Goldie Hawn’s character feel like an aging troll, but it wasn’t until I rented it again that I realized who that hilarious douche of a director was. Olyphant literally has less than a minute of screen time, but he expertly showcases his comedic abilities.

Go (1999)

When Go came out, I was in high school, and it was HUGE amongst my age group. Sure, it tries to imitate Tarantino and isn’t nearly as impressive in every way, but it certainly has its entertainment value. The greatest value being, it goes without saying, Timothy Olyphant playing a sleazy hot drug dealer who does Sarah Polley a favor, despite the fact that he normally gives head before favors, and he doesn’t even give his good friends head. Due to circumstances beyond her control, she fucks him over, and the good times roll.

The Safety of Objects (2001)

It’s been some time since I saw this film, and can’t say for certain if my impression has held up as my opinion has been changing a lot in the last few years, but I remember the film as a quirky and more or less interesting indie drama about the emotional detachment and overall breakdown of communication in suburban America. The quirk factor has potential to veer out of control, but the most memorable aspect of the film is Olyphant and a young Kristen Stewart. Olyphant plays Randy, a young man racked with guilt at the death of his younger brother. Without giving too much away, his character becomes, shall we say, slightly mistaken with the identity of a young tomboyish girl.

Rock Star (2001)
Rock Star is a film I will inexplicably sit down and watch if it is on TV. I cannot help myself, it’s like Sara Lee cake. I don’t understand it, it’s not real, but it’s delicious! At the time, anyway. There’s something about Mark Wahlberg’s earnestness that I don’t hate, and I enjoy Dominic West’s rock star dickishness. My favorite aspect of the film, aside from Olyphant, whom I’ll get to, is a small role played by awesome character actor Jason Flemyng (Layer Cake, Snatch etc.) as lead singer and closeted homosexual Bobby Beers. I could give two shits about 80s frat glam rock, so I’m still baffled by my enjoyment of this film. What was I trying to say? Olyphant plays band mate and best friend to Wahlberg. It’s amusing to see them as 80s cover band musicians, but after Olyphant and the band hoe Wahlberg out, we don’t get to see him for a while. I honestly failed at recommending this film. Onward.

The Girl Next Door (2004)
As far as teen sex comedies go, The Girl Next Door is surprisingly well done. Emile Hirsch does not annoy me, Elisha Cuthbert is cute (how I miss the days of Elisha Cuthbert. Fuck Megan Fox), and of course Olyphant steals every damn scene as Cuthbert’s sleazy charismatic domineering ex-boyfriend and porn producer. He expertly slides back and forth from charming hilarity to surprisingly sinister in the blink of an eye. Comedy gold.

Deadwood (2004 - 2007) I am absolutely ill equipped to properly express how much this show means to me. I have watched all three season three times now. I began watching the show in the Second Season. Before that, I distinctly remember stumbling upon an episode in the first season when we’d just switched to HBO, and I sat and watched the whole thing, utterly clueless as to what the plot was, hopelessly mesmerized by the characterizations and delivery. I have no affinity toward old Westerns, and I cuss like a sailor when I don’t keep myself in check, so all the cocksuckers in the world couldn’t have put me off this show.

David Milch is a genius, and what he produced with Deadwood is hands down magnificent and extraordinarily satisfying for me. The cancellation of this in the midst of such an epic build up is the most criminal act in the history of television. Every single individual who acted on this show is amazing, what else can I say?

I came into the show knowing who Timothy Olyphant was, feeling elated that he was not only in something of exceptional quality, but he was a primary character! I just knew that he was capable of exhibiting the level of depth that he did for three seasons as borderline sociopath reluctant sheriff with a heart of gold Seth Bullock. If he did nothing else ever again, Olyphant would still have Deadwood, and that is infinitely more than most people have in decades long careers. That’s not to say that I don’t want or expect more greatness to follow.

One day I will organize hearings to hang the people responsible for canceling Deadwood. The cancellation in itself is awful, but in Olyphant’s case, it lead to the following acts of desperation:

Catch and Release (2007)

Shitty guilty pleasure. Olyphant is hot. That is all.

Very recently, Olyphant revealed in an interview that he signed on to play a villain in Live Free or Die Hard, and the lead role in the god awful Hitman, for “purely financial reasons.” (Read here). THANK FUCK. I made myself rent and watch Hitman because Olyphant stars in it. It took three sittings to drudge through this catastrophic shit hole. My Christ, I never believed I would see him in something that I thought he was bad in. But what the director, whom I refuse to even name, accomplished in this atrocity was not just overall shit, but he 100% stripped his leading man of any shred of his natural charisma. I can’t even talk about this crap anymore.

As for Live Free or Die Hard: Look guys, this was not a real Die Hard film. Bruce Willis looks AMAZING. There is no WAY John McClane would be in such good shape, not to mention still a cop, not to mention a very active and action seeking cop. John McClane would be an alcoholic retired cop turned barely mobile private detective. Would a hacker mastermind kidnap his daughter? Probably. But would he be all gung-ho and proactive right off the bat? Hell to the no. He wouldn’t even know about the kidnapping until a week later when the police department finally found his comatose ass on a park bench. That being said, Olyphant takes the throwaway script and spins gold. He may have needed to feed his family, but his talents are not buried by the mediocrity of this particular effort. His swagger, and expertly timed wry facial expressions are intact.

A Perfect Getaway (2009)
This may have been another means to an end, but Olyphant at least gets to display his abilities as a potential action hero dynamo. The film’s greatest mistake, amongst several, is that Olyphant isn’t the main character. He delivers a mountain of potential bad assery, but the inept filmmakers never let him fully unleash it. Instead I have to give a crap about serial murderers who at best produce a yawn. Regardless, the entertainment value is high enough that it’s worth checking out that one time when you’re drinking. Plus Olyphant was nominated for a Toronto Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor. Some people know what up.

The Crazies (2010)I am always weary of remakes, but this film is awesome. My review here. So far this is the only film Timothy Olyphant gets top billing in that I thoroughly enjoy, but thankfully it did well enough that I think there's hope for the future.

The High Life (2009)
This film had decent buzz, but ultimately this indie effort about a bunch of morphine addicts trying to rob an ATM and then an armored truck is just as meh as other films I’ve seen Olyphant in. As usual, his performance is spot on and what keeps the film going, though in this case he is at least bolstered by a good supporting cast, the material is just not doing them any favors.

Justified (2010 - ?)
And then comes the TV series once again. I have yet to check out Damages, though I’ve heard good things. But FX has its shit together, and displayed their brilliance in building a show around the Olyphant. The absolute golden moments of the series so far are when Olyphant’s Raylan Givens interacts with old pal and current born again white supremacist jailbird Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins). Like Batman and the Joker, Givens and Crowder are two sides of the same batshit coin, and when they meet it’s pure magic.

The format of the show currently prefers self contained stories with ongoing narratives tucked respectfully in the background, but the real meat is between the Givens and the Crowder family, and if the people behind Justified have the balls, they can turn this series into not only an awesome show about a bad ass gun slinging cop in the wrong time period, but a family feud drama capable of Shakespearean take-downs. Fingers crossed.

Joanna Newsom Hits the Nail on the Head

2010-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

I despise Lady Gaga (observe) and feel joyfully validated when a supremely talented and gorgeous individual within the entertainment industry agrees. Joanna Newsom, fantastic harpist singer-songwriter puts the words together right, as she always does:

"She's also a big fan of Jay-Z and Kanye West – though not Lady Gaga. "I'm mystified by the laziness of people looking at how she presents herself, and somehow assuming that implies there's a high level of intelligence in the songwriting. Her approach to image is really interesting, but you listen to the music, and you just hear glow sticks. Smart outlets for musical journalism give her all this credit, like she's the new Madonna…" She breaks off and laughs. "Although I'm coming from a perspective of also thinking Madonna is not great at all. I'm like, fair enough: she is the new Madonna, but Madonna's a dumb-ass!"

Later, she emails to clarify what she describes as her "late-afternoon dopiness" on this subject: "I may have contradicted myself. My problem isn't actually with Lady Gaga. But there's not much in her music to distinguish it from other glossy, formulaic pop. She just happens to wear slightly weirder outfits than Britney Spears. But they're not that weird – they're mostly just skimpy. She's fully marketing her body/sexuality; she's just doing it while wearing, like, a 'fierce' telephone hair-hat. Her sexuality has no scuzziness, no frank raunchiness, in the way that, say, Peaches, or even Grace Jones, have – she's Arty Spice! And, meanwhile, she seems to take herself so oddly seriously, the way she talks about her music in the third person, like she's Brecht or something. She just makes me miss Cyndi Lauper." And on the subject of Madonna: "I shouldn't have called Madonna a dumb-ass. Her music and she have just gotten so boring to me, this last decade. I think maybe she doesn't hold her money very gracefully, the way some people can't hold their drink. But one thing she is surely not is dumb." She signs off warmly and sweetly, but it's not exactly a retraction."

Read the full interview here

Watch: Benjamin Christensen's Häxan

2010-05-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Häxan aka The Witches aka Witchcraft Through the Ages
Directed by: Benjamin Christensen (1922) - Sweden/Denmark

Silent film essay on the misperceptions of witchcraft through the ages, particularly the dark ages, full of the best reenactments of your life.

Mike Patton's Mondo Cane

2010-05-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

Mike Patton of I can do anything in the entire world fame, brings the world some much needed sunshine with this wonderful compilation of 1950s and 60s Italian pop hits as interpreted and loved by the man. This decade long in the making idea is known as Mondo Cane.

Deep Deep Down

Love it.

Eva Green Confirms My Suspicions

2010-04-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Eva Green, a french actress whom I'm a little bit in love with, made me love her even more when she confirmed what I already thought to be true about the Hollywood film industry:

Friday, 2 April 2010

"I was in LA last week for a meeting and I don't like it. I get knots in my stomach and have to walk around a museum to make myself feel better. It's a cruel place, very hierarchical. If you're in the middle, you're shit, and if you're at the bottom, you're nothing. The people have no idea about anything that doesn't come from Hollywood. Most of them have never heard of The White Ribbon or A Prophet, and the only film of mine they know is Bond, because it made lots of money. I'm the Bond girl. It's as though it's written on my forehead."

Particularly the line: "The people have no idea about anything that doesn't come from Hollywood." Pretty much explains The Blind Side.

Green has a beautiful and interesting face, and she projects a sort of graceful unusualness that makes her seem far more special than most young pretty actresses. I can't say she's done anything yet that's bowled me over, but she was great in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, is in fact my favorite Bond girl ever in Casino Royale, and made me pay close attention during Ridley Scott's The Kingdom of Heaven. My instincts tell me she is going to be GREAT. Assuming she continues acting.

Read the full article (it's OK) here.

Brian de Palma's The Fury

2010-04-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Where has this film been all my life? Brian de Palma's The Fury, a government-conspiracy-supernatural-horror masterpiece, showcases the director's best and worst qualities- stylization and awkwardness. But make no mistake, this film should be seen by millions. Why this isn't a midnight movie staple is beyond me.

Basically, there's a secret government agency no one's ever heard of who wants to collect psychics to test them for their weaponry potential. A man named Peter Sandza, who gives off a government spook vibe, has a son who is psychic. He is betrayed by his good friend Childress, who turns out to be a sinister operative for the aforementioned agency. He tries to kill Peter, and hijacks his son Robin. At first the psychic angle is unclear, the film starts off as a conspiracy thriller. But the film cuts to Gillian Bellaver, a teenager who immediately exhibits her gift, and aids in unraveling the mystery behind Robin's capture. I'll let you dig the rest of the gold out yourself.

Amy Irving plays Gillian, and when the film heads into supernatural horror thriller territory, she throws out some looks that almost rival Sissy Spacek in Carrie. John Cassavetes turns it out as Childress, utilizing each scene he has to peel back the layers of diabolical. Douglas maneuvers through the film with expert grace, always bad ass but never taking himself too seriously. I have not seen many Kirk Douglas films yet, but he his awesome as he tears through the film all barrel-chested and scowling with purpose. This man will get shit done. Not to mention he utters, hands down, one of the most bad ass lines in cinematic history:

Douglas: Next time you see Childress, ask him if it was worth his arm.

Cop: What happened to his arm, Peter?

Douglas: I killed it. With a machine gun.

That's the spirit! The moments of humor in the film save it from climbing too far up its own ass.

The Fury has one of the best endings in film history. I refuse to add to the countless in depth spoilers all over the internet, but say only this: the genius of the ending is all thanks to Cassavetes' willingness to go for it, Amy Irving's face, well timed multiple camera angles, and perfectly timed epic music. Outrageous is where it's at.

Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass

2010-04-20T13:44:00.001-07:00

With as much moaning as I've read regarding extreme violence and an 11 year-old saying cunt, it caught me off guard that the real problems with Kick-Ass were pretty basic: utter lack of characterization, bad awkward dialogue, purposeless voice over, and uninspiring action sequences (except for the last one in the penthouse, they finally started to kick it up a notch there, but then, you know, the movie ended).

Apparently the film is being touted as a satire. No, not really. The dialogue could have used some kind of Shane Black-Seth Rogen infusion, something to make it snap and give weight to all the feather light superhero references.The casting seemed fine, Nic Cage and Mark Strong are excellent as usual, not losing their charisma in the sludge of mediocrity. Newcomer Chloë Grace Moretz handles the sarcasm and ass kickery like a pro, and could easily milk that persona for all it's worth by the time she hits high school. I take no issue with an eleven year-old cussing like Blackbeard of the Seas, I got sent to detention in 5th grade for telling a 3rd grader to "go down the fucking slide." I may not have had as much of a propensity for f-bombs and c-words as Hit Girl, but it isn't THAT big of a deal. I only squirmed a tiny little bit when she was getting punched in the face by Mark Strong, but at this point in the film I'd already been thinking about what I was going to eat for dinner for the last forty minutes or so.

I haven't read the comic, but I plan to, and am told the film does very little justice to the outlandish and fun world creators Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. successfully produced in print. I greatly enjoy Layer Cake, and think it's a good thing Matthew Vaughn actually attempted to take on something beyond Guy Ritchie-esque British crime films, unfortunately he bit off more than he can chew. But Kick-Ass isn't The Lovely Bones bad, or The Blind Side worthless, so, Mr. Vaughn, better luck next time.

PJ is Coming

2010-04-20T13:05:00.001-07:00

Interview

Performance

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

2010-04-17T05:13:00.001-07:00

I put off seeing Alice in Wonderland for weeks. When I heard Tim Burton would be making his own version of the classic, I had stirrings of discontent, but it wasn't until I saw the photos of each character, which were revealed last summer, that I knew I would hate the film. I've never read Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, and I never had deep feelings for Disney's animated film (though man, do I really appreciate it now), so my offense doesn't come from a place of being annoyed that source material was shit on (that hatred is solely reserved for the makers of Queen of the Damned). My offense comes from the laziness that I see displayed over and over and over again. I know that Burton is not an über serious filmmaker, and by serious I mean, like, Terrence Malick serious, but this shit has gotten out of control.

From the moment Alice sets foot into Wonderland (or Underland or Middle Earth, whatever works) the initial scenery is all too familiar. I tolerated the slap-dash real world prologue, which is briefly buoyed by Marton Csokas' hotness. But when Alice walks out of the Eat Me Drink Me room into a garden of fantastical giant flowers and strange topiaries and such, it is too much. Because it's Edward Scissorhands' garden, now twenty years on, and not a stitch of it is made by human hands. Save the actress playing Alice, every single goddamn thing is computer generated. Now, now when millions are funneled into Burton's damn films, nothing can be made by hand? No one can be full-on creative? Not to mention there is one too many camera sweeps around the castle Peter Jackson-LOTR style. Actually, Lord of the Rings is all OVER this shit, and why that is makes no worldly sense to me, other than marketing. As if Lewis Carroll's vision contained so little. Why even bother if you don't even find the source material adequate?

The costumes are well made, very nice fabrics are used (Alice gets a few hot numbers), but what-ever. Everyone's make-up is applied well, but it's also just ridiculous. Does Helena Bonham Carter steal scenes, yes, but she's still sidelined in another silly movie. Crispin Glover co-starring in a studio film is a fantastic occurrence, but ultimately he’s just buried in a bunch of crap. I have to spend most of the film with this girl who has very little personality, and a bunch a CG creatures who never even touch the outer rim of reality. Not to mention Johnny Depp does a great Scottish accent FOR NO REASON. And the dance he does...I can't even talk about it. That atrocity is the absolute moment of creative rock bottom. It broke me. As far as I'm concerned, it's Tim Burton telling me to go fuck myself. Message received.

To ad insult to injury, Burton is allegedly fixing to ravage my absolute most favorite Disney villain of all damn time, and I find that unforgivable. While I agree with a friend who recently told me that there simply isn't a need to fuck with any of these stories to show some "new perspective", I know that if even ten years ago you told me Tim Burton was going to make a Maleficent film, I would have been a little excited. But after Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and now this goddamn crayola Goth Lord of the Rings CGI blown-load all up in my face crap, not to mention the apparent "screenwriter" for Alice is working on Maleficent, I just want to throw up in my mouth.

I give up.

Sigourney Weaver, What the Fuck?

2010-04-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

At a press conference in Brazil, promoting Avatar, Sigourney Weaver stated that she felt James Cameron didn't take home the best director Oscar because the Academy simply desired to make history with its first ever winning female director, "Jim didn't have breasts, and I think that was the reason...He should have taken home that Oscar." She further explained "In the past, 'Avatar' would have won because they [Oscar voters] loved to hand out awards to big productions, like 'Ben-Hur.' Today it's fashionable to give the Oscar to a small movie that nobody saw.""

Ok, where do I begin.

I think Sigourney is accurate in assuming The Hurt Locker won to make history (sad pathetic way over due, handicap points history). It's a good movie, not even close to great. I love the new path Kathryn Bigelow is taking and I look forward to what she does next. I even agree with Weaver that picking The Hurt Locker was indeed a fashionable choice. That's the key word "fashionable." There's not a mention about artistic merit in her comments because she knows whats up. She specifically mentions that Oscar voters "loved" to give awards to "big productions." Yes, indeed. Can't argue that half of her logic.

What pains me, however, is that there's something vehemently anti-woman about what Weaver said. Why did she need to approach the subject in this way? Not to mention the added awkward factor of Bigelow being the ex-wife of the man Weaver is so hardcore defending. Again, Bigelow's film is not without merit. It is well made, well acted, and relevant. It's the first narrative film on the current Iraq war that hasn't embarrassed itself. The fact that it is topical I think is more of a reason for it's win than it simply being directed by someone "with breasts." Having breasts gets you starring roles in mediocre films in Hollywood, jump starting a worthless career. Breasts have never gotten anyone deserved recognition. I know Sigourney Weaver knows better than that. I'm just baffled by her comment.

Also, fuck Avatar. Was I entertained by Avatar? Of course I was. It's a James Cameron movie! At his worst (Avatar) he is infinitely more entertaining than most other bloated action adventure directors. But this fantastical notion that Avatar is this great film of our time makes me want to kill several people, perhaps an entire country's worth. There isn't a shred of original or interesting thought going on. The live actors are boring. The Na'vi don't look real AT ALL. It would have been an excellent idea to make the whole film CG because the real people are so utterly pointless. I have no understanding about the tantric Avatar orgasms some people have over this film. I could go the rest of my life and never see it again. I resent that James Cameron is trying to shove 3D up my ass. I saw Avatar in 3D. I HATE 3D. I hate the stupid ass glasses with their glare. I hate being told what to focus on. In a film this expensive it makes NO sense to me that you would make me focus on one object when so much time was spent on creating the whole world. I often found myself removing my glasses and looking at the screen. I wish I'd seen it in 2D, I might have liked it so much more.

In my opinion, both The Hurt Locker and Avatar leave me wanting more. I think it's a sad state of affairs that two OK films were being battled over when FAR better films came out in 2009. Bigelow has the benefit of EXCELLENT cameos by Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes, not to mention Jeremy Renner eats Sam Worthington for breakfast. But overlooking most great films is part of Academy tradition, nothing new here.

I don't see what's wrong with giving awards to films most of the population hasn't seen if they are genuinely better. Occasionally the popularity overlaps with genuine talent, but rewarding great talent isn't the goal. Because if it was, then Inglourious Basterds and Quentin Tarantino would have swept EVERYTHING! I get it, Weaver is playing for the team. I can't expect her to go on a tirade about true talent while promoting the film she's in. I won't even chastise her for not having the sense to keep that shit to herself because she and Cameron also protested rain forest destruction at the same time these comments were made. That makes them alright in my book. But as a film fan, I must suggest, let's be honest here, if you really cared about which film is honored, you'd realize the crap level of not only the film that won, but of yours as well. In terms of craft and entertainment value Tarantino unquestionably delivered the goods far beyond the level of anyone else nominated. Those who disagree live in a place that I care not tread. I saw nothing of great value in films like Avatar, Precious, The Blind Side and whatever else was nominated, I already forgot who cares.

Moving on.

Mel Gibson Brings The Viking

2010-04-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

On the list of celebrities everyone is supposed to hate, Mel Gibson is up there, pretty close to Tom Cruise. While I've come to the point where I'm comfortable with my love of both (career vs. personal life blunders, career wins), Mel Gibson is the harder one to sell. I'm perfectly comfortable watching a Gibson movie alone, however, but his next directorial project has me so damn excited, it is important that people know about it. Because it will be fucking super fantastic. Because if Apocalypto is any indication, not to mention a more obvious enthusiasm on his part for the subject, this film is going to crush everyone.

I was not able to sit through Passion of the Christ, so I won't argue for or against it. I respect certain aspects of the concept, particularly the independent financing, which made Apocalypto and this next film possible, and shooting the film in Latin and Aramaic. It's that time people, that time when British accents can no longer stand in for every language in the history of man. That time when, if you want to make a film about, say, German history, cast some fucking German actors, or at the very least, German accents? I enjoyed the HBO show Rome, but really? There weren't any Italians around Italy for that one? Yes, Tom Cruise looks very much like Claus von Stauffenberg, but seriously folks, seriously. Tarantino understands this, and look what it added to Inglourious Basterds? Fantastic.

I digress, the point I was making; I like Mel Gibson's thinking. He makes a movie about Mayans, he casts people of Native American or Hispanic decent at the very least, and their asses speak Mayan. Enough with catering to people who don't want to keep up on their literacy skills. A line of subtitle is not the equivalent of a page of dialogue, you should be able to read that shit at a glance. Quit your whining and get up to speed, or keep your mouth shut because anyone who openly argues against subtitles by saying "Gggg I don't like to read during a film" is a dumb shit, and probably also follows the insanely dim witted school of thought that if you watch a film in black and white instead of color you're missing something, or that widescreen is less than fullscreen. I hate you.

Coming back to this: Mel Gibson is going to make a Viking film. Let me repeat, a V-I-K-I-N-G film. A REAL Viking film, in old English dialect, no goblins, all terrifying madness and destruction that will undoubtedly make the violence in Braveheart, Passion and Apocalypto look like your mom knitting on a Sunday afternoon. William Monahan (The Departed) is writing the screenplay, Leonardo DiCaprio will star.

What the story will be is anybody's guess, what the hell DiCaprio will be doing, I don't even care, JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

Read the full article here.

David Mills. 1961 - 2010.

2010-04-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

Shocked to hear this morning that one of the masterminds behind one of the greatest television series in history has suddenly left us.

Read Here.

HBO's Treme

2010-03-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to actually watch The Wire until 2008, and I watched all 5 seasons. Talk about finally understanding the definition of "god smacked." My tiny intellect doesn't have the strength to give that masterful creation the proper praise it deserves. I am, however, more than a little excited that the creators of said wonderfulness have bestowed another undoubted crown jewel upon the Earth, Treme.

Wendell Pierce aka Detective Bunk Morland. I love you.

* Clarke Peters aka Detective Lester Freamon. Did I mention, I love you? I love you.

Someone needed to do this, no doubt. A dramatic exploration of the impact of Hurricane Katrina, no gloss or propaganda, just the facts of life. Spike Lee's four part documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, is an excellent and informative overview. Now someone needs to for real break that shit down for us.

Premieres April 11, 2010.

Witness:

*As an aside, I can't imagine anyone not liking New Orleans food, much less actually saying it OUT LOUD. I'm pretty sure, at that point where Southern food doesn't do it for you, you should kill yourself.

HBO's Boardwalk Empire

2010-03-28T14:51:00.000-07:00

A year ago I read about Martin Scorsese producing a series for HBO, as well as directing the pilot episode. Said series would be about the rise of Atlantic City during the prohibition era, starring Steve Buscemi. All I could think was, holy shit sign me up!!

*Michael Pitt and Stephen Graham

* Michael K. Williams (Omar lives!!!)

*Kelly MacDonald (Yay for real actresses! Thank fuck it's not Amy Adams!!!)

A few weeks ago a trailer was released. So far, not a shred of disappointment. Do yourself a favor, check this out and join the ranks of high anticipation.

Oh yes:

Dave Chappelle - The Secret

2010-03-20T15:17:00.001-07:00

FOR REALS!!!

Breck Eisner's The Crazies

2010-03-15T12:05:00.001-07:00

Only a staggering drooling moron could screw up a zombie movie. Even Zach “visionary director” Snyder exhibited, shall we say, vision, in his enjoyable Dawn of the Dead remake. What elevates a zombie flick into film consciousness is its ability to actually make you care about the seriously insane situation the motley crew of characters have to deal with. It’s also a major bonus if you care about individual characters making it (i.e. 28 Days Later) and are genuinely devastated when they don’t.

The Crazies tells the tale of a small town in for a fucked up two days. Timothy Olyphant plays Sheriff David Dutton, and is undoubtedly the unyielding hero of the film. He also encounters the first crazy on a baseball diamond during a game, at which is gathered much of the town. First sign of trouble? A dude rolling up with a shotgun, heading ever so steadily toward the adolescent baseball players. Good times ensue.

I have not seen George Romero's original The Crazies (1973), but the fact that he has a producing credit certainly puts my mind at ease. I would, however, have gone to see the film without his blessing as the cult of Timothy Olyphant (for future discussion) holds a much higher place in my brain than that of Romero and his zombie kingdom. It’s nice to see that man finally get some starring roles (Hitman? I have no idea what you’re talking about), even if in the ongoing not-sure-what-to-do-with-you-Olyphant extravaganza, the sheriff role seems to have stuck pretty hard (see also the fantastic Deadwood, new series Justified). At least it’s not his former pigeonhole as hot other guy or drug related sleaze ball. I wish he’d do more independent roles, but again, I will save that for later.

I went into the theater expecting the usual A+ Olyphant performance and some fun. Thankfully I got a really, really good time. Director Breck Eisner doesn’t waste a moment, unraveling the town’s sense of peace quickly but not without suspense. More than once I found myself pressing back into my seat, hand inching over my face. I may be familiar with Olyphant and Rhada Mitchell, but by Hollywood standards they're still expendable, and the film maintained that sense of "anything goes" throughout, which is essential to the success of any worthwhile horror flick. People enjoyed Zombieland a great deal, much to my bafflement, but The Crazies is the real deal. Besides, these "zombies" are more or less self aware, which is terrifying to consider.