Give Love A Chance

Even if you're not familiar with the band Love you have probably seen this album cover somewhere -
Whenever there is a list of the greatest albums of all time you will likely find Forever Changes on there. It's a really great album. "Alone Again or" is one of the greatest album openers ever and the following 10 tracks live up to that promise.

I didn't hear this album till about a year ago when I found it among the CDs of my long deceased uncle Gary. When he died he was living with my grandparents and his CDs are still there. It's weird - I've kind of grown up with that collection. Every few years I look through the various discs and find something new. When I was in 4th grade it was Elvis & Meatloaf, when I got to high school it was Frank Zappa and last year it was Love.

As great as the album is, I for some reason never attempted to look into any of their other albums until this past Tuesday.

On Tuesday (with change I had been amassing on my desk) I bought the Criterion edition of Bottle Rocket. Though I had seen the film at least three times before, I had never really paid attention to the music in the first burglary scene. Maybe it's due to the shitty mix on the standard edition DVD. Who knows? But anyway - this time the music stood out. I found myself wondering -

Who the fuck is this awesome band?

It sounded like if The Who were inventing punk. Quick IMDB search and I discover that the song is called "7 and 7 is" by Love. It's off their album Da Capo which came right before Forever Changes and is pretty awesome as well.

Take a listen



Most of you hip cats out there are likely already on the Love bandwagon. But those of you who are not better get jumpin' cause this is great great music.

Dig?

Warhol 2.0

"You know, the Strokes have a certain sound, and when their first album came out, it felt, to an older generation that had been around for New Wave, No Wave and all that, that their music was referencing several different bands we remembered from another time. But I've heard that Julian [Casablancas] didn't know those bands. He had a vague idea of what that sound was, but he's not a student of it. So many references, older references, are lost on young people. They're part of their subconscious, but they don't really know where they come from, because everything has been so recycled and remixed and remastered."

-Marc Jacobs

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Fuck the auteur theory. No single man or woman makes a film. A film is the product of intense collaboration between a team of talented individuals, all bringing their unique skills, in hopes of elevating the whole. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the contrast between Bottle Rocket the short film and Bottle Rocket the feature.

During the two years that elapsed between the short and the feature, Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson were subjected to an intense film bootcamp administered by the legendary James L. Brooks. Over the course of those two years, Wilson and Anderson developed a much stronger sense of narrative and structure. It was also during this time that Wes met cinematographer Rober Yeoman as well as the design duo of David and Sandy Wasco.

Now I'm not saying that Wes and Owen were a couple of country rubes who were whipped into shape by the Hollywood machine. In their short you can see protian forms of everything that would eventually come to bear in the features. Especially that tone. That tone is all them. What I am saying is that with the right collaborators, good artists can become great.

Variations On A Theme (Due)

Set-up:
A group of wealthy Italians go for a cruise and decide to visit a deserted island. While exploring the island, a girl goes missing. Her boyfriend and best gal pal take it upon themselves to find her.
Sounds like a fairly decent first act to a what could be a great thriller.

Upon its premiere at the 1960 Cannes International Film Festival, Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpiece L’avventura was met with audible “Boo”-s.

What they were reacting to was the film’s apparent contempt for narrative. The mystery of the missing Anna is never resolved. What we as an audience are left with is the romance(?) of the two people searching for her.

While watching this film, one cannot help but think of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Serial killers aside, the films are strikingly similar. A female protagonist goes missing, her boyfriend and best friend (or sister) go looking for her, they fall in love.

It’s almost like Hitch was attempting to show that in the proper hands, this set-up could be quite the crowd pleaser. The catch is that both films were released in 1960. Neither filmmaker was aware of what the other was doing.

How do you say collective unconscious in Italian?

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Though it has been rumored since forever...

It looks like the Bluths are one step closer to the big screen.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, series creator Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard have signed deals with Fox Searchlight to write and direct an Arrested Deveolopment movie! Time to bust out the DVDs and brush up on all the quotable goodness.

Also, I never thought I would find myself having to say this but...

Thanks Sex and the City movie! Your box office returns made studios more willing to give feature film versions of TV shows a try!

Yes I'm aware that most TV to film transfers amount to little more than an extra long episode and that it will likely be a box office dud. But I don't give a fuck. Wanna know why?

WE'RE GETTING AN ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT MOVIE!!!!



source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i3727898fb2739b043733d6fbf0b66e7a

CHURCH v. STATE

I know that it seems like this is turning into a blog entirely dedicated to the issue of gay rights; but with the passage of Prop Hate and my upcoming nuptials to the greatest woman on earth, I cannot help but have marriage on the brain.

Personally I am going to try and stop using the term “gay marriage”. I believe that referring to it as “gay marriage” continues to perpetuate the idea that it is something “other”. It makes a distinction between “marriage” and “gay marriage”. It’s just a watered down version of the segregation we currently have in place with “marriage” and “civil unions”.

OK. That was all just prologue to what I really want to write about which is the separation of Church and State. Let me also make a disclaimer that the following is just an idea, just food for thought. I myself am not entirely behind it either but it is a very interesting idea and something that I would like to get some response to.

What if Government just got out of the marriage game entirely?

Now I know some of you are probably thinking that this sounds insane but bear with me. It seems to me that the big roadblock for homosexuals being allowed to marry is religion. This is best exemplified by the amount of money the Church of Latter Day Saints and other religious organizations pumped into the various gay marriage amendments across the country.

In their arguments and literature they make all sorts of claims about how allowing homosexual couples to marry would somehow hurt or devalue their marriages. I personally feel this is bullshit.

What it really breaks down to is that they see homosexuality as a sin and feel that were we to allow homosexuals to marry, we as a Nation would be condoning a sinful lifestyle and we all would be headed for hell. This idea of collective damnation is the same mentality that lead to the Salem Witch Trials. But I digress. Back to the key point…

If marriage is such an important and sacred word, let's get it out of all these legal documents floating around our Nation. Religion has no place in politics and vice versa. Here's an idea: If you want to get married you can go to a church (mosque, temple, etc), if you want a civil union (and to be recognized by the Government) you go to a courthouse.

This way religion is not allowing 'Godless sodomites' to 'besmirch' a 'sacred institution', and government can be free to grant all of our citizenry the equal protection they are entitled to under the law.

"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” - Matthew 22:21

Once again this is just a theory. But I’d like to get your thoughts on it.

the EMPIRE strikes late

Last month, anyone and everyone with a love of cinema was talking about Empire Magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time". Once the issue made it's way to the US (Empire is a British mag) it sold rather rapidly and thus it was rather difficult for one such as myself to get ahold of a copy. Fortunately today I was able to track one down (with "A Clockwork Orange" on the cover no less). I shall now regale you with my thoughts on the list.

Aside from the fact that it's a little geek-centric, and the inclusion of some head scratchers ("Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" and "Lords of Dogtown" to name a few) it's a pretty decent and diverse list. Check out the top 10:

10. Fight Club
9. Pulp Fiction
8. Singin' In The Rain
7. Apocalypse Now
6. GoodFellas
5. Jaws
4. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
2. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
1. The Godfather

Another cool feature is that peppered throughout the issue are handwritten ballots submitted by cool filmmakers like Roger Deakins and John Sayles as well as less cool filmmakers like Uwe Boll. Ever wonder what Quentin Tarantino's top 11 (apparently 10 is for lesser men) favorite films are? Wonder no more:

1. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
2. Rio Bravo
3. Blow Out
4. Taxi Driver
5. His Girl Friday
6. 5 Fingers of Death/King Boxer
7. Pandora's Box
8. Carrie
9. Unfaithfully Yours
10. 5 Graves to Cairo
11. Jaws

Somehow I did not receive a ballot in the mail from Empire. This is odd seeing as I am such a powerful figure in the film industry. Perhaps there was some sort of trouble with the international mail service. Oh well. I shant let this deprive you from my Top 11 list (screw you Tarantino I can count that high too):

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Ed Wood
3. Dr. Strangelove
4. Taxi Driver
5. L.A. Confidential
6. Annie Hall
7. The Godfather Part II
8. Chasing Amy
9. Buffalo '66
10. Boogie Nights
11. Y Tu Mama Tambien

Hopefully Empire'll get that whole mail thing worked out before it's time to compile another list. Until then...

See you at the movies.

Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt

Today is Veterans' Day. Today is my birthday. But this isn't really about me. Today is also the late Kurt Vonnegut Jr's Birthday. Here are his thoughts on Veterans' Day as found in the awesome awesome book known as...
I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.

Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.

So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.

And all music is.

___________________________________________

Man I miss having my birthday buddy Kurt around. This is the second one without him. Here's the obituary I wrote for him:

"We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane."

- Kilgore Trout's epitaph

For much of my early life I hated writing. This was primarily due to grammar. To this day I still hate grammar with a fury often reserved for genocidal madmen. Anyway…Near the end of freshman year I saw an article in the LA Times about how Bruce Willis wanted to make a film adaptation of this novel called "Breakfast of Champions." The article featured a photo of the book jacket: bright orange with superhero font. I didn't even read the article, but on a purely graphic level I was intrigued.

A few weeks later I found myself in the school's library with time on my hands. While roaming the aisles I decided to look for that book from the article. Once I found a copy I began reading it immediately. When it was time to go I checked the book out and continued to read as I walked about campus. I could not put it down.

Within 24 hours I was finished. I couldn't believe what I had just read. It was fun, it was satiric, it was violent, it was dirty - IT WAS A COMPLETE EXPERIENCE. As many know, "Breakfast of Champions" was Vonnegut's answer to mid-life crisis. He was reacting to getting older by writing the most juvenile book of his career, complete with a drawing of his asshole. He was consciously trying to have fun and thankfully that feeling was able to leap beyond the page and infect me.

From that point on, grammar was no longer my master. In the past I would write something to appease the rules of grammar, now I was writing to appease myself. I had finally found my voice as a writer. This became very useful throughout the rest of my educational career. Though my writing was/is not the best thing out there, professors appreciate the fact that my stuff isn't 'paint by numbers' and have continually rewarded me to the tune of As and Bs.

Had I never read "Breakfast of Champions" high school would have been a far more stressful experience. With writing no longer being a chore, I had lots of free time to do as I pleased. It freed me up so that I was able to tech shows, see great films, go to weird places and meet new people. Without such experiences I would not be the man that I am today.

I think it is fitting that Mr. Vonnegut and I share the same birthday because though he and I have never and will never meet, he gave me the greatest gift ever – the written word. For this I am eternally grateful.

So it goes.

due maestri di bad-ass!

So apparently Ennio Morricone is going to do be scoring Quentin Tarantino's World War II epic Inglorious Basterds (sic). This is AWESOME news. Aside from Martin Scorsese, Tarantino is my favorite filmmaker when it comes to use of music. Every single film of his has been accompanied by an excellent soundtrack album and now it seems the same will be true of Basterds.

For Kill Bill & Death Proof Tarantino was only able to use pieces of pre-existing Morricone, now he'll be able to get the real shit live and uncut. Hopefully Morricone will deliver some epic and experimental stuff for Quentin. I'm tired of the respectable Ennio. I want the return of THIS Ennio:

Perhaps he could win an Oscar® for reals this time. This could be the movie that shows the Academy® that he didn’t need their pity.

Viva il maestro!

Gay Messiah

Disclaimer
The recent passage of Proposition 8 has put gay rights front and center in my brain. Though some might find this weird or even offensive seeing as I am a breeder, I have always felt like a friend of the family. Though I am not one of the chosen, I take the struggle for gay rights very seriously and it is with that in mind that I write this blog.


Why is gay marriage still an issue? This coming June will mark the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. If you use the Civil Rights Movement as a model, we should have had gay marriage in this country over a quarter century ago.

Many people consider the 1955 murder of 14 year old Emmet Till as the primary catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. By 1964 racial segregation was struck down and in 1967 anti-miscegenation laws were struck down. This is not to say that racism is over (I mean look how long it took us to get a black President) but on a purely legal level, shit got done.

So why hasn’t the Gay Rights Movement been able to follow suit? My theory is that this is because the movement has lacked a charismatic leader. While groups like GLAAD and PFLAG do great work, a highly visible public face for the movement could do even more. A leader helps to keep your eye on the prize. When Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X spoke, people listened.

Now I’m aware that it is much easier to say all of this than to do it. Great leaders are not born every day and you can’t really hold auditions for something like that. Also the diversity of the LGBT(I) community is an issue. Would gay men want a lesbian representing them and vice versa? Some yes and some no probably.

So what’s the point of this blog? I don’t really know. It’s not like someone reading this will all of a sudden change the world. I mean the suggestion it makes isn’t even something you can just go out and do. So why did I write this?

I wrote this because it hurts me deep down in my soul to see people who love each other unable to be joined in MARRIAGE. Don’t even start on, "domestic partnership". How is that any different than separate but equal? God I have so many different swirling emotions and it frustrates me that there is nothing to do about it.

Sure there are marches going on almost daily throughout the southland. But I can’t fight the feeling of, “What good will it do?” 52% of California’s population doesn’t seem to see this as a matter of Civil Rights. How can we make them see? I wish I had an answer. Maybe someone out there does.

I guess I’m holding out for a hero.

Dream Job

When you're a child it seems like you are constantly being asked:

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

It's a rather clever trick used by adults so they know whether to enroll you in art classes or football. Gonna have to remember that one for when my intended and I eventually have little ones. Oh God I hope they don't like sports. Anyhow...

When people ask me what I want to do with my life, I often reply that I want to be a filmmaker. This is a lie. Want to know my real dream job? Promise you won't tell? OK...

I want to name jazz songs.

Don't understand why? Go to the Jazz section at any record shop and check out the names on the back of those albums.

-"Please Don't Come Back From The Moon" by Charles Mingus
-"The Tattooed Bride" by Duke Ellington
-"Stratusphunk" by Gil Evans
-"Miles Runs The Voodoo Down" by Miles Davis

Imagine how awesome that would be. Jazz musicians travel from all over the globe to your office where they set up and perform their newest composition. You then sit in silence for a moment before bestowing upon them the precisely perfect title.

If you are a jazz musician in need of titles or know any jazz musicians in need of titles please send them my way. You/They will not be disappointed.

The Road

As excited as I am about the Obama victory, there is still great sorrow in my heart today. It comes from the fact that though we as a country chose by and large to break away from eight years of failed policy, we were unable to stop ANY of the bans on gay marriage.

All over the news, people have been talking about what an Obama presidency symbolizes to our Nation and to the world. They talk about how we are now a show rather than tell country. They talk about how now it is truly possible for anyone to become President if they so desire. Well apparently that does not apply to our friends in the LGBTI community.

But there is hope.

From 1924 until 1967, Virginia had a “Racial Integrity Act” which made it a felony for a white person to marry a non-white. This act was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Loving v. Virginia. What was the deciding factor in that case?

The 14th Amendment states: “No state shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

As depressed as I am today, that statement is what gives me hope. It demonstrates our system’s amazing ability to correct itself when things are inherently wrong. As unjust as these bans are, they will lead the way for lawsuits which will in turn lead to Supreme Court cases like Loving v. Virginia. Sure it’s a long road ahead, but I am prepared for the journey.

Also...

Remember, remember the fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot
I know of no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot

Tonight is Guy Fawkes Night. I recommend watching V for Vendetta. It's relevant to the gay marriage issue as well.

Hasta la victoria, siempre.

VICTORY!

'Nuff Said

Legend of the Sun Virgin & More

Peruvian Goddess Yma Sumac, has died at the age of 86.

While definitely an acquired taste, I think anyone can at least appreciate her stunning vocal range. At her peak it is said that she could cover five octaves. That is INSANE. You will be very greatly missed ma'am and I know for a fact that there shall never be another like her. RIP Yma



In other news...

We have an election going on tomorrow.
The following is your soundtrack for the revolution.

-"Revolution" by The Beatles
-"Kick Out the Jams" by MC5
-"Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan
-"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
-"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron
-"New Kicks" by Le Tigre
-"When Ya Get Drafted" by Dead Kennedys
-"B.Y.O.B." by System Of A Down
-"The Message" by Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five
-"Gimme Some Truth" by John Lennon
-"Wake Up" by Rage Against The Machine
-"White Riot" by The Clash
-"Rise Above" by Black Flag
-"Won't Bleed Me" by Melvin Van Peebles
-"Guerilla Radio" by Rage Against The Machine
-"Fight The Power" by Public Enemy
-"Road To Joy" by Bright Eyes
-"Power To The People" by John Lennon
-"Intervention" by The Arcade Fire
-"Street Fighting Man" by The Rolling Stones
-"Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple) by John Lennon

And last but most certainly not least...