Bad News & Bragging

People have been waiting around for a film adaptation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' The Watchmen since the mid 80s. The film is now shot, edited and ready to roll. But it seems we might have to wait a little bit longer.

Just before Christmas a judge ruled that Fox had some legal claim on the property. Today Fox officially asked to stop the film's March release. Man I fucking hate Fox almost as much as they seem to hate fan boys.

First they make shitty movies like The Day The Earth Stood Still and Dragonball Evolution that condescend to one of the most educated and literate audiences out there. Now they top it off by blocking the release of geekdom's most anticipated film. And all of it is done for the all mighty dollar. They just want to see how much they can wring out of Warner Brothers. What a bunch of pig anuses.

In other news....I got one of these bad boys for Christmas -

I am absolutely in love with the images I'm getting out of it. I feel like a big boy now. For anyone who is interested you can check out my portfolio over at:

www.myspace.com/pinkcowphotography

Feel free to comment and if you have any photographing needs you think I might be able to fill just let me know.

My other prized acquisition?

God I love Stanley Kubrick. I just spent the past year watching each of his films one at a time and each one is breathtaking in its' own way. This book is absolutely a must own for anyone who loves film. It is filled with high resolution photos from all the films, behind the scenes shots, script pages, costume designs, etc. It even has a section on his un-filmed projects (Napoleon, Aryan Papers and A.I.).

Some time soon I hope to post something on here about Kubrickian structure (as pretentious as that sounds). I've also got lots of other ideas for this here blog percolating. 2009 should be fun.

Mahalo.

"Are the girls in Phoenix that bad?"

Though I've only seen her in one film I would be remiss if I did not mark the passing of film noir legend Ann Savage at the age of 87. Her performance in Edgar G. Ulmer's Detour has to be seen to believed. She really lives up to that last name of hers. She recently appeared in Guy Maddin's latest film My Winnipeg which I still desperately need to see.

Ms. Savage, you will be missed.

Centenial Stocking

Well here we are at blog #100 and Christmas is just a few days away. I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone who has ever taken a few minutes out of their day to read my ramblings (especially if you read the real loopy pinko stuff). Hopefully you found whatever you read to be at least a little bit enjoyable. I try very hard to make this blog the best that it can possibly be and it's so fulfilling to know that there are actually people out there who read it. I wish each and every one of you a very happy holiday (whatever that holiday might be) and hope that the new year brings you nothing but awesomeness.

I now leave you with my favorite holiday odd couple of all time. Take it away Bing...

Get Off My Lawn!

With award season in full swing, everyone is making predictions. Will Brad finally get one? How about Anne? A second one for Sean Penn? Lots of great actors gave attention getting performances this year. So who am I putting my money on? This guy -

Now I know that at first blush this prediction appears to stink with the same stench that gave Al Pacino a golden boy for Scent of a Woman over Denzel Washington in Malcolm X. I'll admit that when I first started hearing Clint's name bandied about I had similar thoughts. Oh they're just gonna give it to him because he's never won one for acting and this might be his last performance. It'll be like when Paul Newman won for The Color of Money. All of that changed last night when I saw Gran Torino.

In the hands of a lesser man this could have been sub-par Archie Bunker. With Eastwood it becomes a tour de force. Walter Kowalski is the role Clint was born to play. While "The Man With No Name" and Harry Callahan are great iconic manifestations of cool and badassery, this role really and truly bleeds.

The performance walks a delicate line and could have easily descended into self parody. Oh it's Dirty Harry Callahan starring in Grumpy Old Men. Fortunately Clint stopped making that kind of shit with Space Cowboys and Blood Work. In one scene he will make you laugh in shock at the horrible things coming out of his mouth, and in the next you are moved by the rage and sadness behind those legendary squinted eyes.

Since Mystic River he has been driving hard like a man on a mission. Twice in the last five years he has released two films within months of each other. Momentum like that has to be building towards something. I feel that something is this role. After this Clint never needs to act again. There is nothing left to prove. This is the cinematic equivalent of going down in a blaze of glory and it's so beautiful to watch.

Lowest Common Denominator

For the most part I hate contemporary film posters. Gone are the days of awesome stuff like this Saul Bass masterpiece: And what do we get instead? Shitty "big head" posters. Yeah you know what I'm talking about. All of them look EXACTLY like this:

Oh wow Julia Roberts is in this movie? I could have never found that out by reading the poster. Good thing her face was on their big as life. I only go see movies based on who is starring in them. I have to go drink some paint thinner now. Bye.

Anyhow...Occasionally a good poster will come along. Something with a very nice graphic sensibility. Something you might actually hang on your wall. Something like:
The image also makes for great DVD art. Or so you might think. According to the fine folks at Touchstone, this monstrosity will make you want to rent Miracle at St Anna:
What the fuck is wrong with this world? Were they trying to make use of shitty reject art they had laying around? Is DVD art really that important these days? I understand needing an image that appeals to the lowest common denominator so as to grab their attention while they are roaming the video store. But most people these days get their films either by bootleg, Netflix or cable.

Can't we just keep the nice pretty original art? Please?

California Über Alles!

Former Governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown has reversed his stance on Prop Hate. Back in November when the measure first passed, Brown declared that he would defend it against legal challenges. His new opinion...

"...upon further reflection and a deeper probing into all the aspects of our Constitution it became evident that the Article 1 provision guaranteeing basic liberty, which includes the right to marry, took precedence over the initiative. Based on my duty to defend the law and the entire Constitution, I concluded the court should protect the right to marry even in the face of the 52 percent vote."

Some people think Jerry is gonna run for Governor again in 2010. If so, THIS has absolutely put me in his corner.

JERRY BROWN 2010!

It's Beautiful

Sam Bottoms, who made his screen debut as the innocent Billy in Peter Bogdanovich's classic The Last Picture Show, died today. He was only 53. Bottoms also appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now as surfing superstar Lance B. Johnson . Though he has left this world, those two performances will remain forever. Rest in peace sir.

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

It's everybody's favorite time of the year! The time when every magazine and blog in existence puts out their "best of" lists! Since I'm nobody special we'll just refer to my lists as "favorites". Here we go...

Top 5 Favorite Songs
-Paper Planes: M.I.A.
-A-Punk: Vampire Weekend
-Flashing Lights: Kanye West (feat. Dwele)
-Time To Pretend: MGMT
-Ready For The Floor: Hot Chip

Yes I'm aware that some of these songs are from albums that came out in 2007 but since they were not released as singles until 2008 they are fair game so bleh.

Top 5 Favorite Albums
-Feed The Animals: Girl Talk
-Dear Science: TV on the Radio
-Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
-Oracular Spectacular: MGMT
-Volume One: She & Him

Ta Da! All done. Fairly painless. Most of this stuff you can find on other people's lists but oh well. These are MINE! All mine! *evil laugh*

If for some insane reason you're waiting around for a list of favorite films you're gonna have to wait a whole lot longer. I still have lots to see before I can make THAT list. But seeing as I review every film I see, it's not really that hard to get a vibe for what might make the list. For now...

Mahalo

You Say You Want A Revolution?

If you put any two objects in close enough proximity to each other, they cease to be two objects. As legendary filmmaker and theorist Sergei Eisenstein put it, "each sequential element is perceived not next to the other, but on top of the other". It creates a cumulative effect. Your perception of one alters your perception of the other. You become acutely aware of the similarities and differences. This is precisely the dialectic at work in Stephen Soderbergh’s 4 ½ hour, 2-part epic on the life of Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

The first film, entitled The Argentine, focuses exclusively on Che’s involvement with the Cuban Revolution. Though the film is about revolution and takes many of its cues from legendary films on the subject (Soy Cuba, Z, The Battle of Algiers, etc) it comes off as much less dogmatic than other films of that sort. This is the result of the objective Brechtian style Soderbergh employs. This allows the audience to stand back from both action and ideas. They get to take everything in and evaluate it for themselves.

It is fascinating to see how something which began as small talks among expats in Mexico, lead directly to a new regime taking power in Havana. And over the course of that journey we get to watch Benicio Del Toro transform from an asthmatic Argentinian doctor into the quintessential symbol of rebellion. The performance is nothing short of spiritual possession. As exhilarating as the victory in Cuba is, it is underscored with a knowledge of all that will follow.

Though it starts out like The Argentine with a small band of idealistic and dedicated rebels coming together for a cause, Guerilla quickly devolves into an example of how badly things can go wrong. The film is a much more morbid affair than it's counterpart. It plays like a Sam Peckinpah western where death hangs in the air throughout. Like the band of outlaws in The Wild Bunch, they are doomed yet continue.

While Guerilla does have some drag late in the second act, it very quickly regains its footing for the very emotional and inevitable climax. Thanks to the Soderbergh's use of the Red One camera, Che's capture and execution become some of the most beautiful moments in an already exquisitely beautiful film.

Some have blasted the film for its' treatment of the politics. The lefties want it to be a recruitment film and conservatives want it to demonize Che, yet the film does neither. That is because this film is not about politics.

Take away all the guns and fatigues and this is could be the story of any maverick filmmaker's career. The great early success coupled with the disaster plagued dream production that never gets off the ground. But even that analogy isn't completely apt because in the end, this is simply a film about a man. A man who believed in something so completely he was willing to fight for it - to the death.

Hasta La Victoria Siempre!

Silly Things (Video-palooza)

From about 4th grade till freshman year I was a moderate Anime nerd. It never got to Cosplay levels but it was pretty intense. In addition to classics like Akira and Fist of the North Star I also found myself watching Sailor Moon for a fix.

Though I don't really follow that scene any more I still have an intense respect for the medium. The energy and imagination that goes into even a half-hour episode of a cartoon series is awe inspiring. The following trailer has absolutely NO respect for the art of Japanese anime:



I seriously thought they stopped making movies like this with Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. This is getting a theatrical release? I could have rounded up a bunch of Cosplay kids from Comic Con and made a better movie. And poor Chow Yun Fat. Apparently he passed on re-teaming with John Woo to be in this film. WHAT THE FUCK?!?

In other news...

While the rest of the world is starting to take comic book films seriously, Fox continues to excrete condescending shit like this:



It was very shrewd marketing to put this before The Day the Earth Stood Still. They probably figured that since the film looks like shit they should market it to people who like to go and see shit. If you're there to see Keanu "act" then you'll be totally fine with that bit at the end of the trailer with the helicopter.

It's so weird. The big daddy company (20th Century Fox) produces such shit, while their boutique branch (Fox Searchlight) has churned out a fairly steady stream of quality like Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, The Darjeeling Limited and this year's magic film Slumdog Millionaire.

Hopefully Hugh Jackman's next production will be of a little higher quality considering that it's -

THE MOTHER FUCKING OSCARS!?!?

OK kids. Not all hope is lost. At least Asian cell phone commercials still have a high standard of quality.

Here's a Japanese cell phone commercial directed by Wes Anderson and starring Brad Pitt:



and a pretty sweet Chinese one where they do their infinitely more awesome version of Fred Astaire dancing with a Dirt Devil:



To serve as a sort of French bookend to Wes Anderson's clip, we have this lovely Dior spot directed by Ms. Sofia Coppola:



OK. Let's end this with a lame duck who can apparently duck like the best of them:



Now let's see if he can duck a war crimes tribunal.

Mahalo

The Queen Is Dead

Bettie Page, queen of the pin-ups, died today at the age of 85. While I do not worship at her altar like many in other crowds do, I still find her to be absolutely stunning. A reminder of a time when real, live, women roamed the earth.

I am also eternally indebted to her. It was a film about her life which brought me together with the love of my life. May you will live on forever in the wet dreams of greasers everywhere.

It's A Hard Knock Life

Imperialism never ends in a clean break. Though 60 years have elapsed since India declared independence from Britain, both sides are still feeling the cultural impact of the other. Thus, Indians follow cricket and London is a great place to go for a curry. This symbiotic relationship is what allows a film like Slumdog Millionaire to work.

Set in the slums of Mumbai and directed by an immensely talented Scotsman; Slumdog tells the surprisingly moving (though somewhat improbable) story about how far love and street smarts can take you. This film is alive like nothing since City of God. The colors pop, the music pulses and it is all in the service of moving your heart.

This is the best type of escapism. It pulls no punches. It depicts a truly cruel world that needs to be escaped from. Murder, torture, prostitution, etc. Our hero Jamal never gives up hope. This film is most definitely going to be this year's "little movie that could" (a la Little Miss Sunshine and Juno) and I could not possibly be any happier.

Golden Thoughts

OK. So the Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning. There are things to cheer and things to boo. Since I am a benevolent dictator I will tell you which is which. Also - this entry will be edited over the next month plus as I see more of the nominated films.

Best Picture - Drama
-HUGE yay for Slumdog Millionaire (see review)
-Glad to see Benjamin Button make the list. Reviews have been mixed but I love me some David Fincher and plan on seeing it as soon as possible.
-The rest of the nominees are expected. They're your usual awards fodder. Important pictures and melodramas. None of them look bad but I'm also not salivating to see any of them.
-While it would have been nice/interesting/provocative to see Dark Knight on the list it's not exactly a surprise to see it excluded.
-WHERE THE FUCK IS MILK!!!!!!

Best Actress - Drama
-Yay Anne Hathaway. Some were afraid that Rachel Getting Married would end up being forgotten since it was released so long ago.
-From what I've heard about Changling and the clips I've seen I don't think Angelina is going to find a slot when it comes time for Oscars.
-I absolutely adore the rest of the actresses nominated and need to see their films.

Best Actor - Drama
-Sean Penn sooooooooo rocks the party in Milk.
-Glad to see Brad Pitt getting some love. Too many people dismiss him as a pretty face. He is an extremely gifted actor.
-I cannot wait to see Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.
-Leo will probably get an Oscar nod but will once again not win. How do he and Johnny Depp not have golden boys yet?
-No Benicio?

Best Picture - Comedy/Musical
-Burn After Reading was good psychotic fun.
-I have NEVER seen a Mike Leigh film (shame on me). Happy-Go-Lucky looks great.
-Whatever Mamma Mia!
-At least The Sex and the City Movie didn't get a nod.
-Fuck you In Bruges
-Happy-Go-Lucky will probably win but I really really really liked Vicky Cristina

Best Actress - Comedy/Musical
-I'm really happy Rebecca Hall is getting recognition for her great work in Vicky Cristina. I was worried the more showy roles would make you forget her.
-I love all the rest of those actresses. I even forgive Meryl for Mamma Mia!

Best Actor - Comedy/Musical
-What an odd assortment of actors
-Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are both great actors but In Bruges really left me cold. Their nominations will cancel each other out so no real need to worry.
-Javier was great as always. I smell win.
-I don't even remember hearing about that Dustin Hoffman movie.
-James Franco reminds us what a talented actor can do with a stoner.

Best Animated Feature
-Like this is even a competition. Wall-E has it in the bag.

Best Foreign Film
-I feel like suck a film fraud. I have seen none of these.
-I'm surprised they didn't nominate Che like they did Letters From Iwo Jima and Apocalypto a few years back. They must have really not liked it.

Best Supporting Actress
-Yet another list of awesome women! Girl Power!

Best Supporting Actor
-Tom Cruise? Really? Was it that shitty of a year for supporting roles that his stupid fat suit dancing made him eligible for an award?
-They said it was a long shot but the proof is in the pudding...Robert Downy Jr.
-Ralph Fiennes and Philip Seymour Hoffman are two master thespians but EVERYONE knows we will be honoring the late, great and worthy Heath Ledger for his AWESOME Joker.

Best Director
-Though the word got waaaaaaay over used this year, I really enjoy seeing mavericks on this list. Danny Boyle and David Fincher make movies like nobody else.
-Why isn't Gus Van Sant on this list? And Darren Aronofsky! We need more mavericks!
-The other nominees are very skilled at their craft.

Best Screenplay
-Slumdog was very well written. Great structure.
-Haven't seen any of the others but Frost/Nixon is "important" enough that it will likely win.

Best Score
-A.R. Rahman's Slumdog score was amazing! I found myself grooving in my seat.
-Other than Slumdog nothing really caught my ear this year. Hee hee it rhymes.

Best Song
-I don't really care about this category this year though Bruce Springsteen is the fucking man. He's probably got a statue headed his way. Hopefully the Oscars don't snub him like they did Mick a few years back.

Best Series - Drama
-WHERE THE FUCK IS THE WIRE!!!
-I love me some House
-Don't watch the rest of these shows. I need to start watching Mad Men. It will probably win.

Best TV Actress - Drama
-I follow none of these shows.
-Interesting to see a procedural like Law & Order: SVU making the list but go Mariska!

Best TV Actor - Drama
-Jon Hamm has it. He's a funny guy and I look forward to his acceptance speech.
-I would really like to see another Hugh Laurie speech.

Best Series - Comedy
-I am so torn between 30 Rock, The Office and Weeds. I love love love all three of these shows and don't like having to pick between them. But since this is the year of Tina Fey it's gonna be 30 Rock.
-Freddy says I should watch the other two nominees. I'll get around to it.

Best TV Actress - Comedy
-Torn between Tina and Mary-Louise. But as I said this is Tina's year.

Best TV Actor - Comedy
-Torn between Baldwin and Carell. Don't know if Tina has enough juice to get Alec to the podium. It'll be interesting to see who wins.

All Best Mini-Series Categories
-I have seen NONE of these. But I will go out on a limb and say that John Adams will sweep based purely on the fact that even Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols was excited about this mini-series.

Best TV Supporting Categories
-No real opinion.

12.08.80

Any music blogger worth his or her salt has posted about today being the anniversary of John Lennon's assassination. I wonder: how many of them actually shared this planet with Mr. Lennon? I did not. But that has not stopped his life and music from touching me in very intense and emotional ways.

I was the dreamweaver
But now I'm reborn
I was the walrus
But now I'm John

Those four lines get me like absolutely nothing else can. There will never be another John Lennon. He was even prescient enough to give us the perfect Christmas Carol for the new frontier that lies ahead of us with President Obama.

Tout Va Bien?

This morning when I first heard about the sit-in at Republic Windows & Doors, the first thing that came to mind was Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin's film Tout Va Bien about a strike at a sausage factory.

I did not think of Karl Marx

I did not think of the Industrial Revolution

I did not think of social justice & worker's rights

I thought about a movie

What is wrong with me?

Let's Have Relations!

"My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you!"

In early 2007, there were two Harvey Milk bio-pics in development. One was titled The Mayor of Castro Street with Bryan Singer attached to direct. The other was simply titled Milk, with Gus Van Sant at the helm. With the threat of a writers’ strike looming, both projects took a ‘now or never’ approach and were moving forward at full speed. When the strike hit in early November, only Milk had a completed screenplay. THANK GOD!

Now don’t get me wrong. Bryan Singer is a very talented filmmaker and I am really looking forward to Valkyrie. It’s just that I cannot possibly conceive of ANYONE making a better Harvey Milk film than the one currently in theaters.

On a narrative level Milk is your average bio-pic. Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay hits all the standard sign posts (framing device, heavy foreshadowing, touching ending, etc.) but on a stylistic level this film is far from standard. Techniques commonly used to generate either empty excitement (Guy Ritchie) or intellectual alienation (Jean-Luc Godard), are here employed to bring the audience further into the narrative.

This film allows you inside the moments that formed and defined Harvey Milk. The moments no documentary crew could ever conceive of capturing. You witness the passion and tenderness of his courtship with Scott. You feel his anguish over another lover's sudden departure. You even get to be there for Harvey’s most private moment - his last breath. The sense of intimacy is awesome.

Gus Van Sant and his team deserve every bit of praise coming their way. They did the impossible. They were able to make a film that is both conventional and experimental, educational yet entertaining. And most miraculously, they made a film about a tragedy that still gives you hope. And in times like these, we all need a little hope.

Please go see this film.

…just not at a Cinemark© theater ( http://nomilkforcinemark.com/ )

Don't Pust Me, Cause I'm Close To The Edge...

So I’m staring at the magazine rack when newest issue of Spin catches my eye.

Kind of hard for anyone to NOT give that cover a second glance right? Homegirl is fierce as shit. Well anyway, upon closer examination I see the words –

Special Report: Is Sampling Dead?

What? Sampling dead? I must know more.

Inside the magazine there is an article about how only the richest and most successful rappers are able to afford the exorbitant price one must pay to clear a sample. For me and hip-hop (never thought I’d ever start a sentence that way) this is terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news. As the RZA puts it, “Hip-Hop is becoming just another form of pop music.”

Sampling is the foundation of hip-hop. Everyone loves to recite the lyrics to “Rapper’s Delight” but what really gets you moving is that break-beat from “Good Times” by Chic. The same can be said for any old-school hip-hop track. It was RUN-DMC’s use of an Aerosmith sample that finally broke down the MTV color wall. At its’ core you need two things to make hip-hop: an MC and a DJ. It takes two to break dance.

So anyway…

In the article they also mention an album that I'm pretty late to the game on (as per usual). It's called Feed the Animals by a DJ called Girl Talk which features 300 un-cleared samples. Now that's the kind of chutzpah I like to see! Of course I had to hear this for myself.

Let me state right now that I am putting in my vote for Feed the Animals as album of the year. This thing is insanity. 14 songs which all work as one giant song! Totally groovable and filled with a diverse assortment of samples culled from the past 50+ years of music. It’s like someone made an album just for me. He even samples songs that sample other songs!

Not to toot my own horn but…people often remark about my diverse taste in music. They’re astounded to learn that my iPod holds rock, rap, country, punk, techno, etc. I don’t see it has particularly astounding. I like good music and don’t believe in limiting myself to one genre, nobody should. Good tunes is good tunes. And that is exactly what Feed the Animals is all about. You can put it on at a party and there is something for everyone.

The album is only available online and you get to pick your own price. There is no excuse not to own it. Turn it into a game. See how many samples you can spot.

http://74.124.198.47/illegal-art.net/__girl__talk___feed__the__anima.ls___/

Sampling is NOT dead!

Support your local DJ!

SUPPORT GOOD TUNES!

"Don't go out there! There's something in the mist!"

Sweet Jesus this fog is thick!

It got Becca and I talking about Frank Darabont's AMAZING adaptation of Stephen King's novella The Mist. If you have not seen it yet you NEED to. It is crazy good with one hell of an ending.

If/when you do see it, I recommend watching it at night and in black and white. The two disc DVD of the film comes with a black & white version. If your video store only has color just adjust your TV's settings. Totally worth it.