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.