We're Ready To Believe You!

OK so this is somewhat old news and I don't know why I didn't blog it before but...

"GHOSTBUSTERS III" IS IN THE WORKS!!!!!

I have a very special relationship with anything and everything "Ghostbusters". It was my first, favorite movie. My grandpa made me my own version where all the parts that scared me shitless were edited out. When I went to kindergarten they wrongly thought I was a prodigy because I could write the word: Ghostbusters. The first time I ever got in trouble for cursing it was for saying, "We came, we saw, we kicked it's ASS!"

I don't care what you say this film is one of the the ten greatest comedies EVER. Let's just hope this new one doesn't suck. Remember the build up to "Phantom Menace"? That was no bueno.

But there is reason to have faith in this one. The script is currently being written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (staff writers on "The Office"!!!!) and according to a recent appearance at Fantastic Fest Bill Murray would consider coming back!

I need to track down my old proton-pack so I can look like a loony wearing it to the premiere or something. Don't even TRY to tell me you're not thinking the same thing!

and...THE FLOWERS ARE STILL STANDING!

Source: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2008/09/harold-ramis-co.html

by Anger

"Lucifer is the patron saint of the visual arts. Color, form--all these are the work of Lucifer."

About a week ago I found myself yammering on to a co-worker about Kenneth Anger's "Scorpio Rising". To illustrate a point I did a Google image search and came across the following photo:

I think it's safe to say that Kenneth Anger is my favorite really old gay man. (I have so many favorite people that I've had to resort to rather niche categories). I mean just look at that picture.

-This is the man who pioneered the ironic use of pop music in cinema

-This is the man who gathered together every Tinseltown scandal he'd ever heard and published them

-This is the man who hired Manson family member Bobby Beausoleil to pen the soundtrack for "Lucifer Rising" from jail after rejecting Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page's original score

Though I do not share many of his opinions (especially those on Satan) I really do admire him. He has always remained true to himself regardless of what others might say. And on top of it all, his camera has captured some of the most arresting images in the history of cinema.

When a film is preceded by the words "by Anger" you know you're in for a unique experience

Who wants to eat the girl? & Other Stuff

With October rapidly approaching I thought I'd recommend a recent horror film I watched the other day.

"Mother of Tears" (released in it's native Italy as "La Terza Madre") is the third film in a trilogy that director Dario Argento began back in the late 70s & early 80s with "Susperia" and "Inferno" respectively. Now please don't be scared off by the fact that it's an Italian film and a sequel to two films you likely have not seen. The film is dubbed into English (as Italian films often are) and no prior knowledge is required in order to "get" the story. All that you as a viewer will need is a strong stomach and the ability to appreciate genre filmmaking of a high order.

Though some of the effects appear to be rather lo-fi they make up for it in brutality. Argento's camera never turns away and always goes in for a closer look. Some of the images in this film cannot be unseen - and that's a good thing. While many films depict a hero fighting against "unspeakable evil" the menace that villain is often not made palpable. By showing all the gory details of what these bad people do, the stakes are raised. We know what is at risk if the hero fails. There is no doubt that it will be bad. But there are also great moments of levity.

Don't feel guilty if you find yourself laughing at parts. This movie is not a one trick pony. Argento is a skilled filmmaker, capable of pushing all your right buttons. This movie features an evil monkey for fuck's sake. Have fun with it. This is by no means the real world. It's a movie and takes place very much in a movie world.

Fuck the "Saw" films. There's nothing fun in those films. And more importantly, you don't give a fuck who dies. Nothing hurts. I want a film that hurts. It let's me know I'm still human.

In other news...

As you've likely already heard, Paul Newman died today at the age of 83. Over his long career he brought so many memorable characters to life. I have yet to see a film where I didn't like him in it and I doubt I ever will. We have lost one of the greats.

With all respect to Mr. Newman and his loved ones, let's end this blog on a lighter note.

Here is a picture of Sacha Baron Cohen crashing a runway show during Milan Fashion Week as his flamboyantly gay Austrian fashionista character Brüno!

Too bad he didn't do this at New York Fashion Week. Oh to see him interacting with Tim Gunn and the Project Runway Gang! One can only dream.

Aww fuck it. Let's end this on a somber note. Paul's worth it.

Comics and Film: A Dialogue

Here’s a link to the new trailer for Frank Miller’s adaptation of Will Eisner’s “The Spirit”. When you're done come back and enjoy a lively discussion on comics and film.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-spirit/26912/trailer?trailerId=2254867

Well hopefully this will be a more successful film than “Sin City”

Oh my God! Did he just rag on “Sin City”?

Yes I did. A little.

But Craig, you own “Sin City” on DVD. The special edition no less!

Guilty as charged.

Then what is this heresy thou speakest?

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy “Sin City” but not as a film. I marvel at what was achieved visually by all those involved. Marv walking through the rain, white silhouettes on black screen, racing cars, etc.

OK. So where’s the problem?

The problem is that I hardly ever feel the urge to re-watch it as a whole film. I’ll watch a scene or even a particular shot, but not the whole film.

Why do you think that is?

I think it’s the result of those involved being too reverent to the source material.

Too reverent? Don’t you geeks get all in a twitter about film adaptations that stray too much from the source material?

Yes we do. We want the film’s creators to be respectful of source material.

Then what’s the problem?

The problem is that if you hold something too tightly you can kill it.

Like a bunny rabbit?

Yes. Like a cute little bunny rabbit. “Sin City” is so fetishistically obsessed with depicting each and every panel of the comic that it loses it’s energy. “Sin City” does not feel alive for me. It feels like an exercise in replication. I came down to the theatre to have a cinematic experience. If I wanted the comic I would read the comic. A film needs to be allowed to be a film.

So then are you entirely against the idea of adapting comics into films?

No. Not at all. Take “Ghost World” for example. That was a very respectful adaptation while at the same time being drastically different from the book. Terry Zwigoff’s visual style complimented Daniel Clowes’ illustrations but is not slavish to them. Also it remained true to the emotional story. The same goes from “American Splendor”.

So then are you going to see “The Spirit” when it comes out?

Probably.

But what if it's missing energy or whatever you accused "Sin City" of doing?

That's absolutely possible but I don't think it will happen.

Why not?

Because this film isn't a slavish recreation of anything. Aside from character names and basic set-up, this film looks to have little in common with the old Will Eisner books. Frank Miller having some fun with Will Eisner's toys. I cannot wait to see what comes of it. Good pulpy fun.

You baffle me.

I baffle myself all the time. See you in the funny papers and at the movies.

PS - Speaking of movies...

Here are two other cool trailers you might like:

First up the Tom Cruise tries to kill Hitler pic "Valkyrie"



And finally the new trailer for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". You'll have to go to the actual site and watch the quicktime trailer cause it's just too beautiful to experience in muddy ol' youtube

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thecuriouscaseofbenjaminbutton/

And lastly

When I first became politically active and able to vote I registered Green. The first ballot I ever cast was for Peter Miguel Camejo for Governor of California. Sadly Peter died on September 13th at the age of 68. I did not find out about this until yesterday. This brings me much sadness. Camejo was a great man who stood up for what he believed.

Read more about him over at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Camejo

RIP

Just Like Starting Over

Greetings and welcome to today's edition of "Money Talk".

Today we bring you two differing opinions on the current economic crisis. Hopefully they can help you to better understand the situation and come to some sort of conclusion.

First up noted Wall St. shark Gordon Gekko. Mr. Gekko, what are your thoughts on our current economic situation?

http://coleary.com/locust/greed.mp3

Next up we have British Belter Shirley Bassey. What've you got to say Shirley?



Two extremely convincing arguments. I hope that was helpful.

This program has been brought to you by:

Top Ramen - feeding families on a budget since 1958!

Special thanks to:

http://inkhornterm.blogspot.com/2008/09/all-moneys-gone-nowhere-to-go-michael.html

and

http://www.youtube.com/

for granting us access to our expert panel.

That's all for now.

Good night, and good luck.

'til Death Do Us Part: An Appreciation

I love John Waters. If I were ever to expand my favorite directors list from 3 to 4 Mr. Waters would claim that spot without a fight. Everything he touches turns to gold. I love his films. I love his books. I love his photographs. I love his immense knowledge of the perverse. I even love the little seen true crime show he hosted.

Back in 2007 courtTV decided to try something new by greenlighting a weekly which depicted dramatizations of cases where one spouse murdered the other. Now I know what you're thinking:

That sounds depressing. Why would i want to watch that?

Normally you'd be right. Usually spousal murder is serious business. But thanks to John Waters as the GROOM REAPER along with some seriously warped writers, it becomes downright HILARIOUS.

The show is much more "Tales From The Crypt" than it is "Law & Order". The set-ups are condescendingly obvious, the dialogue and acting are ludicrous and the resolutions are always spectacularly random.

One episode featured a detective who was absolutely convinced that a mortician had murdered his wife. The only problem was there was no body. Finally while enjoying a hot dog from a street vendor he has an epiphany. TWO FOR ONE! The woman's body was stuffed into the lining of another coffin!

Not your cup of tea?

OK.

Maybe this show isn't for everybody. Maybe my friends and I are just a little bit too warped. But if anything I've written about above sounds the least bit interesting to you, please check out the show. It's available on DVD and I highly recommend "The Clown Case" and "Time Capsule Murder" episodes.

Now the perfect ending to this blog would be a nice clip of the Groom Reaper telling us he has to hurry off to another wedding. Hope it's not yours. Sadly youtube has no such clips. I guess I'll leave you with this -

Greed Is Glam & Other Stuff

Question: How does a filmmaker like Stephen Soderbergh follow up an epic bio-pic about one of the more polarizing figures of the past century?

Answer: With a Liberace bio-pic of course!

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117992314.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

The script is by Richard LaGravanese and early word is that Michael Douglas will star with Matt Damon as the pianist's longtime partner Scott Thorson. Some people might be scratching their heads about this choice of project but I think it is brilliant.

After the cultural phenomenon that was "Brokeback Mountain" many predicted a slew of gay themed films aimed at the mainstream would follow. Sadly this has not been the case. Outside of this fall's "Milk" no other big gay films (heh) have materialized.

While "Milk" will be an important film (in that it will let us know if audiences really are ready to handle gay issues in a mature fashion) this Liberace film will be the real test. "Milk" has it somewhat easy. Harvey Milk was a serious man with serious ideas. Liberace on the other hand, was NEVER taken seriously. Can Soderbergh et al get an audience to care about a man who so many saw as a joke? I say if anyone can, they can.

In other news...

A few nights ago I finally realized that the soon to be released "Lakeview Terrace" was directed (but not written) by Neil LaBute. I guess this is his way of trying to show that he can make a commercial film and hopefully get out of the director jail he put himself in when he perpetrated the cinematic travesty that was -




While I have no plans to see "Lakeview Terrace" I wish Mr. LaBute all the best. I really liked "In The Company Of Men" and "Your Friends & Neighbors" and "Nurse Betty" was pretty good too.

Lastly...

I MET HENRY ROLLINS!!!!

Mahalo

“Appearances can be... deceptive.”

Until 1871 The City of Washington and the District of Columbia were tow separate entities. One was your average city and the other served as the seat of the government of the United States. As a result of this merger, Washington D.C. became one of the most bi-polar places in America. It also became the perfect setting for the Coen Brothers’ bi-polar new film “Burn After Reading”.

Many reviews of this film discuss how the Coen Brothers make two types of films. There are the serious ones like “Blood Simple”, “Fargo” and “No Country For Old Men” and then there are the wild and crazy ones like “Raising Arizona”, “The Hudsucker Proxy” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Across the board they all seem to place this film in the latter category. I think it’s a bit more complex than that. “Burn After Reading” is the awesome collision of the Coens’ two distinct sensibilities.

While the two types of Coen Films share a lot in common, there is always one element that distinguishes one from the other and that element is menace. In “The Big Lebowski” nobody is afraid of the nihilists. “No Donny, these men are nihilists, there’s nothing to be afraid of.” On the flip side we have “Miller’s Crossing” where John Turturro’s character Bernie Bernbaum pleads for his life in the woods. “Look in your heart!”

As a result of the merger that is “Burn After Reading” all bets are off and nobody is safe. Characters once thought of as buffoonish can suddenly become driven killing machines and cartoonish characters can die grisly deaths.

Are the Coens' making a statement about the increasingly violent and chaotic world we inhabit? Perhaps. Will this movie leave a fair amount of people angry? Could. Is it funny as hell? You bet your ass!

PS: Bravo to Dermot Mulroney!

White Dog Rides Again

Sam Fuller's controversial 1982 film "White Dog" is finally going to be released in America!

Samuel Fuller’s throat-grabbing exposé on American racism was misunderstood and withheld from release when it was made in the early eighties; today, the notorious film is lauded for its daring metaphor and gripping pulp filmmaking. Kristy McNichol stars as a young actress who adopts a lost German shepherd, only to discover through a series of horrifying incidents that the dog has been trained to attack black people, and Paul Winfield plays the animal trainer who tries to cure him. A snarling, uncompromising vision, White Dog is a tragic portrait of the evil done by that most corruptible of animals: the human being.

Source: http://www.criterion.com/

Last month they released Passolini's controversial classic "Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom" and this is a perfect follow-up. Now they just need to get their hands on a copy of "The Day The Clown Cried".

Please support the Criterion Collection - they're doing the Lord's work!

PAYING Homage & Other Stuff

I don't know if you guys are aware of this or not but we are currently in the middle of a big Alfred Hitchcock revival. And guess who's leading the charge? Shia LeBeouf and director D.J. Caruso!

Though I have not seen "Disturbia", everyone tells me that it IS "Rear Window". Apparently it is SO "Rear Window" that the estate of the man who owns bought the rights to the original story is suing:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/09/is-disturbia-a.html

CUT-TO PRESENT DAY:

I am watching a commercial for Caruso and Shia's new collaboration "Eagle Eye" when it occurs to me:

This is TOTALLY a riff on Hitch's favorite set-up of an innocent man on the run!

Could this just be a coincidence or was it intentional? I guess stranger things have happened. Maybe just to be safe I should start writing a script for them in which LeBeouf plays a character who is afraid of heights and is hired to...

In other news...

A sort-of teaser trailer for Terry Gilliam's new film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" debuted this weekend over at:

http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2008/09/13/quick-stop-exclusive-teaser-trailer-from-terry-gilliams-the-imaginarium-of-doctor-parnassus/

Yep it's THAT movie. The one Heath Ledger died before finishing. Many people (myself included) are curious to see how this all turns out. Even the worst Terry Gilliam films are awesome to look at and that trailer seems to promise this will be no different. Also Terry is known for making great art from great chaos so...

*Fingers Crossed*

Oh and to end on a nice happy note...

I read over at http://www.aintitcool.com/ that Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp (the three actors completing Ledger's scenes) will give all the money they are being paid for this film to Heath's daughter Matilda. Apparently Mr. Ledger's will was drafted prior to her birth leaving her with no inheritance. This a super sweet and classy move. Good on ya fellas.

I used a lot of ellipses in this. Maybe I should invest in some Larry King suspenders.

Whaddya Got?

The other night I finally watched the teenage leather and angst classic "The Wild One" starring Marlon Brando as the head of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club (yeah that's where the band got their name). The film is fairly standard and filled with everything you would expect from a 1950s teen rebellion film (angsty youth, square adults trying to understand, rebellion and the death of a symbolic character)but thanks to casting it is somewhat able to rise above.

As we all know, Brando was the performer who signaled a new direction for screen acting (ie: internal rather than external) yet in this film he is surrounded by old fashioned character actors who've been around since the advent of sound or sooner. Marlon is out of place as an actor in this film and I think that helps the audience to see his character as out of place in this world. BDSM leather helps too.

The same thing applies to James Dean in the superior "In Rebel Without A Cause". God I sound like the elitist the Right tries to portray Barack Obama as when I say that. This film is by no means horrible. Even without Brando I would have found this movie fun. It has a great energy to it. And let us also not forget the man who is for me the real star of this film....

LEE MARVIN!!!!

So strap on your best pair of ass-less chaps and take "The Wild One" out for a spin because Chino says so!

Anouk Aimée

I'm not really sure why I have Anouk Aimée on the brain at this hour of the night but I do. Isn't this a beautiful picture?

That is all. Time to sleep.

The Goddamn Batman!

Since last month I have been looking forward to the new issue of "All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder". Issue 10 was originally due to hit stands in August but got pushed to September.

This is understandable seeing as the book is written by two insanely popular and busy creators (Frank Miller and Jim Lee respectively) but when I got to my local shop on Wednesday and found the issue still not on the racks I was very miffed.

Now thanks to this blog from the LA Times I know exactly why it wasn't there:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/09/batman-and-robi.html

Man I wish I had been able to get ahold of one of those books. These babies will be sought after like the Star Wars Holiday Special. But really, what's the problem? Is there a difference between reading a curse word and seeing one blacked out especially when you can ABSOLUTELY tell what word is supposed to be there? I mean this book is CLEARLY not for kids.


Oh well.

I guess DC has to do what DC has to do to cover their ass.

Now I have only one question - WHEN THE FUCK DO I GET TO GET MY MOTHERFUCKING COMIC?!?!?

update: according to the DC Comics website I am going to have to wait till the 24th. Damn printers!

Banned In The USA & Other Stuff

Recently I posted the hilarious trailer to Kevin Smith's new film "Zack and Miri Make a Porno". So far the only poster out there has been the Canadian poster which was declared inappropriate for American audiences:

Over the past few weeks Smith has been submitting other poster designs, all of which have been rejected. In frustration he submitted the following poster - which was immediately approved:

While I'm glad to see a one-sheet that isn't just "big heads" like oh so many posters out there, I cannot see this poster hanging on my wall.

Now I will grant you that it's a great gag and will definitely drive up box office rev due to the "scandal" element but as a piece of advertising it's just not pretty. Solid white? Really? Judging by the trailer and the footage I saw at Comic-Con the film has a very nice color palette which is reflected in the Canadian poster. Couldn't they have at least incorporated that into this new one?

Sorry. I'm nitpicking. I love Kevin Smith. And apparently so do a lot of other people. The movie showed at the Toronto International Film Festival this week and has been receiving great notices from places like Daily Variety, Time Magazine and Roger Ebert.

Speaking of Roger...

The other day he wrote one of his most scathing reviews ever and it wasn't about a film. Ebert wrote a review of Sarah Palin.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/1156080,091008ebertpalin.article

I heart Roger Ebert so much. Pulitzer Prize winning critic, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" screenwriter, cancer survivor and political pundit extraordinaire.

I guess I'll finish this up with a trailer.

This is the just released trailer for the new Clint Eastwood directed, J. Michael Straczynski written, Angelina Jolie starring "Changeling".

It seems that Clint can do no wrong. I am a HUGE geek for films about the dark side of old Los Angeles like "LA Confidential" and "Chinatown" and this film looks very promising. Hopefully it will not turn into another "Black Dahlia".

Mahalo.

Way Down In The Hole

Last night I had nothing better to do so I decided to finally watch “American Gangster”. Though by no means a horrible film, I could not help but compare it to a far superior piece of filmed drama -

Like many people out there, I discovered “The Wire” on DVD. Though I’m sure the show was just as great when broadcast, I feel DVD is the ideal way to experience this epic. When compressed into a few weeks of multi-hour chunks the show ceases to be amazing television and starts becoming Cinema with a capital C.

Though each season is a complete unit in itself, the true beauty lies in watching the overall story develop. While the human drama is absolutely riveting the real star of the show is Baltimore Maryland as herself. Other characters come and go but she remains.

Though some might mock me for this statement I would like to go on record having said:

I think “The Wire” is a work that will endure the test of time.

Movies like “American Gangster” attempt to compress way too much information into an "acceptable" runtime. They're like a frantic marathon runner who kills himself trying to make it to the finish line. "The Wire" on the other hand, is in no hurry. It has all the time it needs and until movie theaters start showing 60 hour films, it will be always be able to defeat any and all comers. This is the pure shit. Uncut.

Now update your Netflix® cue and start watching!

Che Follow-Up & Other Stuff

A week or so ago I blogged about the ambiguous status of Stephen Soderbergh's Che Guevara film. At the time of that writing there was no US distributor and it seemed as though the only US screening would be at the New York Film Festival.

I am now proud to announce that the film has been picked up by IFC Films (not Magnolia Films as originally rumored). The film will be shown in full (both parts with an intermission) in both LA and New York so as to qualify it for the Academy then in 2009 we will get it as two separate films in select theaters.

Source: http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2008/09/toronto-watch-c.html?referrer=sharethis

In somewhat related news...

Another highly anticipated film has been picked up by an American distributor. "The Wrestler" staring Mickey Rourke and directed by Darren Aronofsky was picked up by Fox Searchlight after winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and garnering strong word of mouth at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Source: http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1117991826&cs=1

Both "Che" and "The Wrestler" could really shake up this year's award season. Many magazines and Newspapers have already done their "Fall Sneaks" editions and hypothesized on possible contenders. Both of these films seem to have strong Best Actor vibes.

"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"

I Hate John McCain

Throughout this current presidential campaign, my only thought on John McCain has been:

"Look at this poor man who once might have been able to call himself a maverick having to play super-conservative so that he can get elected"

So what is it that has changed my pity to downright loathing?

Two recent campaign ads which lie in extremely big ways.

First there is the "lipstick" ad which I can no longer link you to because it has been pulled from Youtube for a very valid reason. The ad is very simple. It starts with Sarah Palin and her infamous quote about pit bulls, hockey moms and lipstick. Then it shows footage of Obama where he says something to the effect of, 'if you put lipstick on a pig it's still a pig'.

OK now that alone would have been a fairly standard ad. Sure it takes Obama's statement which was in reference to McCain's policies out of context and makes it seem as thought it was a straight shot at Mrs. Palin but oh well that's par for the Republican course. The real problem is the third clip they show. In this clip CBS anchor Katie Couric says:

"One of the continued lessons of that campaign is the continued and accepted role of sexism in American life."

The ad makes it seem as though she is speaking about Obama's campaign. It makes you think that Couric thinks that sexism is a major part about the Obama campaign. Sadly that is not the case. Here's where the quote actually comes from:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/couric-on-the-media-and-clinton/

Yep that's right, she was talking about Hillary Clinton's campaign and how it was continually attacked on sexist grounds.

Where does the Republican Party get off? They were responsible for SO many of the sexist attacks against Hillary Clinton and now all of a sudden THEY are crying foul because this time it's about THEIR candidate? Fuck you Republican Party!

And now onto the second odious ad.

This ad implies that Obama is in favor of "comprehensive sex education" for Kindergartners then follows up with, "Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family."

A bald face lie.

"But the legislation allowed local school boards to teach "age-appropriate" sex education, not comprehensive lessons to kindergartners, and it gave schools the ability to warn young children about inappropriate touching and sexual predators.

"Republican Alan Keyes tried to use Obama's vote against him in the 2004 U.S. Senate race. At the time, Obama spoke about wanting to protect young children from abuse. He made clear then that he was not supporting teaching kindergartners about explicit details of sex.

"Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Tuesday of McCain's ad: "It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls.""

Source: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/margaret_talev/story/52169.html

Please, please, please vote for Barack Obama this November. We cannot allow such Bush/Rove scum to continue to pollute the White House for another four years. If you cannot bring yourself to vote for Obama that is fine, vote for Ron Paul or Bob Barr.

Anyone is better than John McCain.

I'm Craig Duffy and I approve this message.

Half Decent

In the past week I’ve watched two classic films thanks to TCM and my old DVR pal MOXI.

First I watched the film noir classic “Detour”


For years I have heard this film spoken about in hushed tones. For noir fanatics this is one of the greats. The first half of the film left me wondering what all those noir aficionados were smoking. The dialogue is clunky and I repeatedly felt like I was watching a film noir parody. The only thing that kept me hanging in there were the beautiful camera moves that director Edgar G. Ulmer was able to orchestrate on such a small budget. Finally at about the half way mark I discovered why people love this film – Ann “motherfucking” Savage!

Noir is a very specific genre and you need to be in the proper mood for it. Ann’s performance is soooooooooooo over the top that it MAKES you forgive everything and get in the mood. She plays a bitch like no other and brings out great things in fellow lead Tom Neal. If only they could have worked her into more of the film.

The second film I watched was the Peter Sellers/Blake Edwards collaboration “The Party”

Like “Detour” I was not very fond of the first half of the film. The difference here is that while “Detour” is 75 min long, “The Party” is 120 min long – which makes for a much longer journey to the half way mark. “The Party” centers around Sellers as Hrundi V. Bakshi a bumbling Indian actor (yes there is brown face) who is accidentally invited to a classy Hollywood party and hilarity ensues.

There isn’t very much for you to hang on to in that first half. Now mind you, Sellers is brilliant as always in his odd physical comedy but why should we care? Where is this going? If it weren’t for the beautiful beautiful mid-century décor of the house I would have quit the movie after about a half-hour. I cannot for the life of me understand how a major Hollywood studio let this go out as is. Fortunately I stayed in the game.

The second half of the film is wonderful. There are elephants and bubbles and most importantly a love story that, while brief, has real feeling. As the film ended I found myself wondering how it had arrived at this point and I’m still not very sure, but I liked what I saw. You just have to learn to stop worrying and dig “The Party”.

Funny Shit

The other night my special lady friend and I were bored and cruising the internet. We came across some guy who had compiled a list of his favorite comedians. There were some pretty good people on there but there was also - Dane Cook (among others) she and I then began compiling our own lists. You can check her's out over at http://perfectlyswell.blogspot.com/

These are not really in any sort of order and I couldn't limit myself to 10 so mine goes up to 11 (hee hee me so funny)

George Carlin RIP


Patton Oswalt


Eddie Izzard


Woody Allen


Maria Bamford


Richard Pryor RIP


Zach Galifianakis


Sarah Silverman


Mitch Hedberg RIP


Eugene Mirman


Jim Gaffigan

Check THIS Out

Does anyone else remember the California Raisins?

To this day I cannot have someone tell me to check something out without this little ditty popping into my head:

Weapon of Choice

Sarah Palin scares the shit out of me and it has nothing to do with the gun she’s wielding in the above photo. I fear Mrs. Palin because she wields a far more dangerous than any gun. The heat she’s packin’ is the religious right.

The Evangelical Christian movement is the bluntest blunt instrument any politician can possess. If they favor you they will sing your praises to the heavens each and every Sunday at their mega-churches. Lord help you if you are on their bad side.

In the past, John McCain's relationship with Bible-thumpers has been rather rocky. During his 2000 Presidential Run, McCain referred to people like the late Rev. Jerry Falwell as, “agents of intolerance”. But now that the oval office is within reach, the once “maverick” Senator has tacked hard, hard right and picked a conservative’s wet dream as his running mate.

The silver lining here is that perhaps her hard-line religious views will frighten off some of the less religiously inclined conservatives. While I doubt they'd vote for Obama, they might vote for a Libertarian. Either way - less votes for McCain. Hope hope, pray pray. Yeah. You heard that right. Pray. I believe in God. Deal with it.

In somewhat related news…

The trailer for Gus Van Sants film “Milk” about the life of Harvey Milk (the first openly gay elected official) hit the internet today. Though by no means related to our current election, the trailer alone illustrates precisely why we cannot let the White House fall into the hands of such “agents of intolerance”.



VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN 08!

In news somewhat related “Milk” but in no way related to the whole Sarah Palin thing…

The trailer for Kevin Smith’s new film “Zack & Miri Make A Porno” was unveiled the other day and it is really awesome. Beware! There are some pretty dirty words.



And lastly…

The trailer for “The Brothers Bloom” Rian Johnson’s follow-up to “Brick” looks AMAZING. It was already on my “to see list” but this trailer rocketed it to near the top.



OK. That’s enough from me.

Mahalo.