Casting Couch

Over the years the gap between a film’s theatrical release and its’ appearance on video and TV has grown smaller and smaller. So small in fact that many consumers opt to just skip the theatrical run altogether.

Good news for DVD and cable sales, bad news for theater owners. That is unless you’re 2929 Entertainment®.

Owned and run by billionaire Mark Cuban and his business partner Todd Wagner, 2929 Entertainment® consists of:

- Magnolia Pictures
- Landmark Theatres
- Magnolia Home Entertainment
- HDNet
- HDNet Films

Yep. They own the means of production as well as the means of distribution.

It is with this in mind, that back in 2005, 2929 Entertainment signed a deal with Oscar® winning director Stephen Soderbergh, to produce six feature-length films for simultaneous release on pay cable, DVD and in theaters.

Within a year of the deal Soderbergh had produced “Bubble”, an excellent film about murder in a small town, starring non-actors who all work at a doll factory. Definitely worth a rental.

Now, nearly four years and four non-2929 films later, Soderbergh is ready for another go around. This one will be titled “The Girlfriend Experience” and will center on the world of high-class call girls.

When the project was first announced Soderbergh stated that his intention was to use a girl from the world of adult film as his star. Yesterday he announced his choice:


I don’t know exactly how to feel about Sasha Grey.

She’s pretty, insisted on being photographed by Terry Richardson for Penthouse, pals around with the likes of The Smashing Pumpkins and The Roots, she’s a feminist (though some might dispute her on that) and loves art cinema.

So what’s the problem right?

My problem is with this tough yet aloof exterior she presents. She’s confrontational yet blasé about EVERYTHING! She’ll talk about the taboo of interracial porn or about empowering herself by pushing her personal sexual boundaries and I'm sure she really means it all, but it all comes off feeling false.

Yeah I know she’s got an image to maintain but that image really prevents me from taking her seriously about anything she has to say. Regardless of the topic, it all sounds the same. Who finds that interesting let alone sexy? Perhaps I’m just too square.

Anyhow, I’m really interested to see how “The Girlfriend Experience” turns out. If anyone can get behind her façade, it’s Stephen Soderbergh. Who knows? She could end up surprising me.

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:

Happy Hunting

Hunting has grown far too easy. There is no fun in it anymore. What used to take a decent fifteen minutes can now be done in less than five. I’m not talking about hunting deer or something of the like. Who knows how long that takes? What I’m talking about is something decidedly less manly yet equally pointless. The prey I’m loaded for is information, in all of its various forms.

I have been an obsessive for as long as I can remember. As a child I’d hear some interesting tidbit about comics or animals or whatever and I’d instantly become a guided missile. My obsessive nature would suddenly activate some long dormant primordial hunting urges and I would seek out whatever I could find on the subject. Seeing as this was the late 80s/early 90s my resources were limited. My resources were peers, parents, teachers and the library. Sometimes it would take a month plus to satisfy an itch but eventually it would get scratched.

As I grew older things got much easier thanks to the holy trinity of internet, car and job. I could now seek anything out, get to it and purchase it. It didn’t matter that the British series "Spaced" was not given a Reigon 1 release until this summer. A quick Internet search, followed by a short drive to Amoeba and it was mine. My iPod overfloweth and my DVD collection sits at over 900.

Pretty much anything can be tracked down if you know where to go, and often it doesn’t cost anything. Everything finds its way out. Nude photos of a young Joan Crawford? Got ‘em. Video of director David O. Russell going berserk on the set of I ♥ Huckabees? Got that. Photos AND video of torture at Abu Ghraib prison? I know a guy who knows a guy...

Nothing is unattainable. Like it or not, the instant something exists in a reproducible form it becomes the property of the world. Human beings have an insatiable thirst for culture both high and low. If a film student wants to see "Battle Royale", they will find a way. The same goes for some horny guy wanting to see Vanessa Hudgens’ bush, he too will find a way. Probably the only thing the world at large will never see is Jerry Lewis' "The Day the Clown Cried".

Within five minutes of reading about UK label Fabric rejecting an album-length-mix by the hot French DJ duo Justice I had it (download time included). The same goes for photos of Jayne Mansfield with the dark lord himself Anton Lavey. A quick google search can find most anything. If that doesn’t work there are countless specialty sites you can cruise. Music blogs, gossip blogs, movie news sites, youtube, etc. all hold the potential of satisfying your fix.

Hell I even named my whole blog after an obscure live Velvet Underground song I was able to track down. You can find it here: http://sendmedeadflowers.com/music/youngman.mp3

It’s almost too easy. But will that stop me? Hell no. I love the hunt too much.

Get Some Culture

“The Dark Knight” has really got people talking. How can a movie with such dark and relevant themes also be a big popcorn movie that broke every moneymaking record?

Today’s LA Times Calendar section features a really awesome article by Scott Timberg titled either, “Highbrow. Lowbrow. No brow. Now what?” (in print) or “High culture meets low culture in a mass-media world” (online). The article examines the dissolution of the old high culture, masscult and midcult hierarchy has broken down and what this might mean for our society. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-shame27-2008jul27,0,5993805.story

Youth of the Beast

Recently I read Rob Schrab’s “Drywall Unzipped” in which two AWESOME Don Ho songs (“Happy Me” and “A Lover’s Prayer”) are referenced. When I was done with the comic I instantly sampled the songs on iTunes and bought them. They are pop perfection and I have been playing them incessantly since.

While listening to the songs on our way down to San Diego the other day, my lovely fiancé mentioned that Don Ho had appeared on an episode of her favorite TV show – “I Dream of Jeannie.” Tonight, having nothing to do, we found ourselves watching not only that episode but also two others featuring Phil Spector and Sammy Davis Jr. respectively. It is here that we encounter a, ‘chicken or the egg’ situation.

Watching these episodes I encountered so many period-specific things that I adore:

- Pathé Color©
- Mid-Century furnishings & fashion
- Lounge Music
- Space-Age obsession
- Animated title sequences
- Exotica
- Random musical numbers
- Self-deprecating celebrity cameos
- Crazy opticals & transitions
- Jabs at the youth culture of the time

I then began to wonder:

“Do I like these things because I watched “I Dream of Jeannie” as a child, or do I like “I Dream of Jeannie” because it has these things in it?”

I know that I watched a lot of “I Dream of Jeannie” when I was young, and I admit to looking back on my childhood with nostalgia, but is that enough to really build an obsession? Plenty of people my age watched this show and others like it growing up and they don’t give two fucks about the things that I find beautiful.

Where does obsession begin?

I guess it’s kind of like, “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll© center of a Tootsie Pop©?”

The world may never know.


Mahalo.

Do The Con

I’ve attended Comic-Con off and on for the past decade. Over those years it has grown exponentially. It has evolved to the point where there is absolutely no way to really, “Do the Con,” in one day. Take it from me – I’ve tried.

Last year was my first time going in four years. It was quite a culture shock and knocked me on my ass. Though I had been there before, I felt like a stranger in a strange land. I was overwhelmed.

When I first started going back in middle school, the convention floor was small enough that you could walk every aisle and still have time for a couple of panels. Now the floor is so large (and packed with so many people) you really need a whole day (or parts of multiple days) to dedicate solely to visiting booths.

Thanks to increased interest from Major Hollywood Studios© booths that were once simply booths now can tower two stories and feature lighting rigs that would blow your house’s circuit breaker. Also thanks to Them© the swag has taken a huge leap up in both awesomeness and quality but… you have to play their game in order to get it. The right two panels could literally eat up a whole day.

It’s like a dance: Wait in line an hour and a half for the panel. Sit through panel. Get ticket for item. Wait in line one hour to receive item. Rinse. Repeat.

This year I was able to take it more in stride. The boy who once had to see and do everything decided to settle for a few really special things. While it is true that you cannot, “Do the Con,” in one day, you can still have one heck of a time – as long as you’re selective.

See you in the funny papers.

Combination of the Two

When Malcolm X was little his father imparted to him some very important advice:

"Credit is the first step back into slavery."

I have really taken these words to heart. I have only one credit card and I don't let debt pile up. I pay the full balance each month. I know people who seem to have cards from every possible company. I'm pretty happy with my one card. But if I were to get a new card it would be

AMERICAN FUCKING EXPRESS!!!

This has absolutely nothing to do with rewards plans, fees or anything like that. I would go with American Express purely because they are endorsed by two of my favorite people

Martin Scorsese & Tina Fey

And now they've decided to put my pleasure center to the test by having them do a commercial together



It's cute. Not as funny as the Scorsese at the photomat one but it has cute moments. If I were to ever become a company I would want to be endorese by sheer awesomeness!

OK I'm done.

Something For The Yanks

Finally! After seven years, American fans of Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson (Hynes), Nick Frost and Edgar Wright can own the entire 14-episode run of “Spaced” without also needing to own a multi-region DVD player.

For those un-initiated, “Spaced” was an amazing British sit-com put together by the same people who eventually went on to do “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”. The show focuses on Tim and Daisy two complete strangers who pretend to be a married couple so they can get an apartment. Yeah I know it sounds like your standard sit-com circa 1977 but it is really so much more.

The thing that made “Spaced” really stand out for me was the references to pop culture. There are so many that the Region 2 DVD (and now the Reigon 1 DVD) comes with an “homage-o-meter.” Now I know what you’re probably thinking. You’re thinking, ‘I don’t need to see another dialogue heavy, Tarantino-lite, naval gazing festival of look how hip I am’. At least for the sake of this blog that’s what I hope you’re thinking.

I’m aware that there is a contingency out there that thinks popular culture has become that snake that eats its own tail (Ouroboros). And to some degree that is true. We do have films like “Snatch” that consist of nothing but style and witticisms with absolutely NO substance. But then there is a television show like “The Simpsons” which some people believe cultivates a more intelligent audience due to the fact that so much extraneous knowledge is required in order to simply get the jokes.

What makes “Spaced” so awesomely original is that it really gets to the heart of why characters make references. Pop-culture is the prism through which we view our lives. It is our frame of reference. When Daisy finds herself working at a Mexican restaurant ("Neo Nachos), we see it through her eyes and it looks a LOT like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. These characters all see themselves as stars of their own mental movies and at least for me that’s how life really is.
I highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone. If you have the ability to check it out please do. The DVD comes with all kinds of goodies including commentary tracks with guests like Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Diablo Cody, Patton Oswalt and Matt Stone.

Check out these two clips:





And now it's time for the part in my movie where I sleep.

Mahalo.