Feels Like The First Time

For much of my young life the music I listened to was my parents music. Meat Loaf and Queen were two early obsessions of mine. It wasn't until middle school that I really truly found a band that I could call my own and that band was Squirrel Nut Zippers.

While other kids were discovering punk, I was discovering dixieland. Man you should have seen me in middle school with creepers, khakis, a pocket watch with a chain and buttoned up paneled shirts. I even took swing dancing lessons with my aunt at the local community college.

Eventually I grew out of the style (much to the dismay of my intended) but the music never left. It's so fucking good! And the band still ranks in my top 5 where they stand out next to names like Radiohead and The Velvet Underground.

So it is with great pomp & circumstance that I announce:



I've seen them twice before and it is always a great show. Especially when they bust out the projector and start rocking this little ditty:

So grease up that pomp, put on your dancing shoes and grab your best gal and bring her on down cause this is gonna be one hell of a party!

"It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what I feel. The dead are still dead."

Most people already had an opinion about The Reader before a single frame of film had been screened. Whispers about behind the scenes politicking have been filling the blogosphere since early fall. Add to that the fact that many feel this film "stole" The Dark Knight's best picture nom and you have a pretty stacked deck. But in the end what is truly important is one simple question:

Is it best picture material?

My answer quite bluntly is NO. Now this is not to say that the film is completely devoid of admirable qualities. The cinematography is beautiful, the direction is assured and the performances (especially that of Kate Winslet) are astounding. So what is it then that trips such a potent blend of positives? One word - structure.

The latter half of the film is far superior to the first half. The first half is 100% exposition - a screenwriter's nightmare. Sure they have hot naked flesh to keep asses in seats, but other than that it is a rather hollow experience.

You can tell they knew this was a bit of a problem. The film's opening scene sets up a mystery in order to make the audience want to sit through the next hour, they even employ occasional flash forwards, but in the end it all results in making that first hour all the more agonizing. You just want it to be over so that you can find out what is going on at the start.

Once the film gets down to the brass tacks of dealing with the Holocaust and morality it becomes a whole new ball game. There are deep philosophical questions being addressed and I feel the film does an able job of grappling with them. There are no easy answers and that is what makes for great drama.

So why not just cut out that whole first part and make the film focus on the latter half? Because it's necessary. As dull as that first half is, it provides us with essential information towards understanding what occurs in the latter half. So what then could have been done? Should this film not even have been attempted?

No. I think there's a great film laying in there somewhere. It just needed some more time in the editing room to figure out all those structuring problems. Too bad someone rushed it through post. Oops! There I go bickering about studio politics.

Mahalo

Baadasssss!

A few weeks back at the New York Comic Con MTV hosted a panel to determine the Top Ten Movie Badasses. Since then a lot of hip celebrities have been posting their lists on their blogs. Since I like to consider myself a celebrity (in my mind) I will now bestow upon you all my personal list of Cinematic Badassery:

Walker (Point Blank)
John McClane (Die Hard)
Ellen Ripley (Aliens)
The Bride (Kill Bill Vol 1)
Lee (Enter The Dragon)
Pike Bishop (The Wild Bunch)
Doc Holiday (Tombstone)
John Shaft (Shaft)
Blondie (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)
Gny. Sgt. Hartman (Full Metal Jacket)

You are now free to return to your regularly scheduled lives.

King of the Jews

Though he didn't make my list of living filmmakers (cause he only has two under his belt) I do love me some Judd Apatow. I absolutely agree with all of those people out there who list him as the heir apparent to Woody Allen.

And today we have the premiere of the trailer to Judd's newest film Funny People.

In my opinion it looks pretty good.  Great laughs while at the same time letting a little more drama creep in.  I'm interested to see how people react to this.  It is definately not The 40-Year-Old Virgin but it is absolutely the next logical step in his evolution as a filmmaker.  This and Inglorious Basterds are definately my most anticipated films of the year.

Mahalo

Ciao Middleman!

Yet another brilliant and funny TV show has bitten the dust. According to The New York Post's Pop Culture Blog, ABC Family has decided to pull the plug on Javier Grillo-Marxuach's pop savy series.

This show was brilliant in so many ways. It was funny, filled with great pop culture gags and had an ass-kicking latina for a lead. I still need to pick up the comics on which it was based. Le sigh. I hope all of the talented people behind this show are able to find work that makes use of their awesome talents.

Let us at least take comfort in the fact that the season will soon be coming to DVD as well as a comic book realization of the unfilmed season finale.

Farewell Middleman - we hardly knew ye.

25 Storytellers

Entertainment Weekly recently made a list of the 25 greatest working directors. Lots of talented people on there and lots of “what the fuck?” James Cameron? Fella's only now making his first film in over a decade!

I’m gonna take this opportunity to come up with my own list of 25. EW limits their list to working directors. In my opinion this means their current films have to be of a consistent quality. No skating by on past glory. Sorry Woody, sorry Godard. Here (in no particular order) are the names that can get my ass in a seat:

Martin Scorsese

Steven Spielberg

Pedro Almodovar

Paul Thomas Anderson

Allison Anders

Clint Eastwood

Darren Aronofsky

David Fincher

Guillermo Del Toro

Alfonso Cuaron

Joel & Ethan Coen

Quentin Tarantino

Stephen Soderbergh

Wes Anderson

Jim Jarmusch

Lloyd Kaufman

Spike Jonze

Werner Herzog

David Cronenberg

Gus Van Sant

Spike Lee

Wong Kar-Wai

John Waters

David Lynch

Kevin Smith

Photobooth Beauty Queen

I am a huge Andy Warhol fan. Though he could be rather aloof to many and a dick to some I still appreciate the works he created with both film and paint. I even named my photo "company" Pink Cow Photography after my second favorite Warhol creation. So what is my first favorite?

By and large I am not a fan of Warhol's portraits. Yet if I were a billionaire I would buy this painting. I love everything about it. The vibrant colors, the goofy poses, the patchiness of the silk-screen. In spite of the mechanical apparatus(es) used to create it (ie: a photo booth and silk-screening) it contains more life than many/most expressionist works.

So why am I writing about this painting? Because it's subject, arts patrol Ethel Scull, died today at the age of 79. As sad as that news made me - looking at this painting makes me happy.

You can read more about Ethel here.

You came, you saw, you conquered

The music industry has lost 1/3 of a legend. Estelle Bennett, one of the three Ronettes, died on Wednesday at 67.

Before I'd ever heard the term "wall of sound" I knew I loved the Ronettes. Those voices. And now one of them is forever silent.

My personal favorite track is an easy and predictable one. Sure it's been used over and again in crap like Dirty Dancing, but it's also been used for one of the greatest openings in film history. Rest In Peace.

100 Nazi Scalps!

I am so excited for this movie! Love the Leone style intertitles. Majorly bummed that Morricone isn't going to be doing the score but oh well. There's still a whole lot to love here. I'm drooling with anticipation for the black & white sequences. Robert Richardson is a cinematography GOD! AND HE'S WORKING WITH DAVID & SANDY WASCO AGAIN!!!

The trailer's gonna be showing before Friday the 13th. Could this be the film that reunites Tarantino with mainstream audiances? You be the judge:

Comrade Queen

For the second day in a row fate has seen fit to present me with an absolutely insane left of field story about a public figure. This one might out-do yesterdays.

Putin denies mystery ABBA concert!!!

Come on Vlady. Don't be shy. I know you like to maintain this macho image (what with all the shirtless fishing shots and such) but come on. Everyone loves ABBA. Maybe you're just ashamed that you could only get the cover band Bjorn Again and not the real deal. It's cool.

My only fear is that the band members who blabbed to the press are gonna turn up dead from radiation poisoning.

Go here for the full details.

Billionaire Gone Wild!

OK. This story is simply to weird/funny to not pass on. While addressing a crowd at a technology confrence about the dangers of Malaria -

BILL GATES UNLEASHED A SWARM OF MOSQUITOS!!!

Of course the bugs in question didn't have the deadly virus. SHUCKS! Anyhow, this still totally wins Bill Gates a special place in my heart and absolutely made my day. Even thought it's only 8:30 AM I don't see how anything short of The Smiths reuniting for a private concert in my house will be able to top this.

You can read MORE!

Prescious Little Life

Scott Pilgrim makes me happy. Sure the character is wickedly immature and insensitive but the comic book he stars in is one of the most vital titles of the aughts.

AND IT'S GOING TO BECOME A MOVIE!!!

Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz) is exactly the right person to be doing this adaptation. Scott Pilgrim is the sequential art extension of what Spaced did on television. Characters who view themselves through a pop culture prism. They don't just talk about films and old video games - they live them.

Wright has also lined up one hell of a cast consisting of young Hollywood's finest and according to one of said cast members: THERE ARE GOING TO BE ANIMATED SEQUENCES!

Though I am extremely eager to see The Watchmen, I think this is the comics to film project I am most anticipating. It's the perfect melding of artist and subject. Should be plenty reverent but also not slavish.

SCOTT PILGRIM Vs. THE WORLD

coming soon

In the mean time you can pick up the just released Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe. Book 5 of 6. At the moment it's available only in comic shops (I know you're scared). Soon it'll be everywhere.

Time to catch up.

Behold!

Look what the Academy has deprived themselves of by denying The Boss another nomination. This all could have been yours...



Sure his snubbed song "The Wrestler" isn't really conducive to power sliding. But that's beside the point. Let's just hope M.I.A. has recovered enough from having her kid to at least show up and liven the place up.