Let me get this straight, The Muppets are doing op-ed pieces for the New York Times, Lil' Wayne is blogging for ESPN, and Rolling Stone still cares about whether Chinese Democracy is going to be released. Even I have had a version of that album for a couple of years. Note to Axl and the FBI: It was given to me. I didn't ask for it nor do I think the rest of the world needs to hear it.
The most enjoyable article I have come across lately is Tom Perrotta's love-hate relationship with The Breakfast Club. I agree that The Breakfast Club and Dazed and Confused should not be mentioned in the same sentence. Oops. I also agree that Freaks and Geeks took the ball and went way further than John Hughes would be capable of doing.
That said, John Hughes leads me into my top 5 films around the city this week:
1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (John Hughes) Galaxy. Wed.
2. Night of the Living Dead (George Romero) B Movie Celebration. This weekend.
3. The Last Mistress (Catherine Breillat)
4. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock) B Movie Celebration. This Weekend.
5. Enter the Dragon (Robert Clouse). Circle Center. Wed.
Troy: Here is some of that shitty (your word, not mine) Human League you were railing against over at Beer Cannes.
It seems like the only Human League anyone ever cares about is the Don't You Want Me single and the corresponding album Dare, which I do love. I wanted to give props to the underrated Louise. The label didn't want to release another single (from The Lebanon) or spend money on a video. The video only happened because Phil Oakley's song with Giorgio Moroder from Electric Dreams was a hit in the UK.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
top 5 9/19-9/25
This is a little late. We can go with a) i'm lazy or b) i was out of town on friday or a little bit of both.
1. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarentino) Wed. Circle Center
2. Once (John Carney) Thurs. Mass Ave's 2nd attempt to show Once.
3. The Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green)
4. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
5. Frozen River (Courtney Hunt)
1. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarentino) Wed. Circle Center
2. Once (John Carney) Thurs. Mass Ave's 2nd attempt to show Once.
3. The Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green)
4. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
5. Frozen River (Courtney Hunt)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sex and Politics
An adult themed video production company based out of Atlanta is looking for a Sarah Palin lookalike to make a porno. Videogum (and the comments section) have supplied some suggestions on the title, here are my favorites:
Don't Tell Mom The Republican Nominee For Vice President Gives Head.
Impalin' Palin
Impalin Palin 2: Not Without My Daughter
Sarah Bare A Cooter
White Cocks Palin Comparison to Moose Cocks
All That Jizz...Is Palin My Skin
Change You Can Bust A Nut In
If You Think I'm A Whore, Wait Til You Meet My Daughter
Nail My Daughter Bareback, I'll Keep The Baby
A Handjob Away From The Presidency
Downs-Palin-Drome: How Special Needs Babies Are Made
Fun With #2
Cunt For Red November
Pretend I'm Tina Fey
Don't Tell Mom The Republican Nominee For Vice President Gives Head.
Impalin' Palin
Impalin Palin 2: Not Without My Daughter
Sarah Bare A Cooter
White Cocks Palin Comparison to Moose Cocks
All That Jizz...Is Palin My Skin
Change You Can Bust A Nut In
If You Think I'm A Whore, Wait Til You Meet My Daughter
Nail My Daughter Bareback, I'll Keep The Baby
A Handjob Away From The Presidency
Downs-Palin-Drome: How Special Needs Babies Are Made
Fun With #2
Cunt For Red November
Pretend I'm Tina Fey
Mister Lonely and other dvd releases this week
In his recent review of Frozen River, John Peddie wrote "the trick is not to condescend to the material." Aptly said. My problem with many films about the lower class is "the spectacle of white trash". Frozen River does avoid this and shows its subjects as characters. Harmony Korine's movie, Gummo would be an example of one that does not avoid the white trash spectacle. Korine slightly improved with Julien-Donkey Boy in that he showed a sense of lyricism in the ice skating scenes, but suffered from the freak show that surrounded it and the overwhelming feeling Korine was too busy being weird for the sake of being weird.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with film as spectacle. I love the films of Paul Thomas Anderson. With Mister Lonely, Korine seems to have learned how to somewhat manage this. There's a touching scene borrowing from the PTA handbook involving the title track to Iris DeMent's "My Life". On paper, a Michael Jackson impersonator who befriends a Marilyn Monroe impersonator and they go live on an impersonator commune could turn into a freak show. But this time around, Korine has shown warmth, or any human emotion which between his own films and the ones he's written for Larry Clark, I didn't know this was even a possibility. There is a lot of visual beauty and there are visual gags that work well. One example would be Buckwheat giving the pope a bath and another scene involving Werner Herzog and flying nuns. The film gets bogged down in a woe is me attitude from time to time, but a flawed Harmony Korine movie is a vast improvement over past Harmony Korine movies.
Besides for Mister Lonely my other video pick for the week is Snow Angels (David Gordon Green). The teen story is vastly superior to the increasingly annoying one involving Sam Rockwell's turmoiled breakup with Kate Beckinsale. Although that part of the film has a great performance by an under-used Nicky Katt.
Other releases I'm looking forward to this week would be Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains and box sets of Max Ophuls and Busby Berkeley.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with film as spectacle. I love the films of Paul Thomas Anderson. With Mister Lonely, Korine seems to have learned how to somewhat manage this. There's a touching scene borrowing from the PTA handbook involving the title track to Iris DeMent's "My Life". On paper, a Michael Jackson impersonator who befriends a Marilyn Monroe impersonator and they go live on an impersonator commune could turn into a freak show. But this time around, Korine has shown warmth, or any human emotion which between his own films and the ones he's written for Larry Clark, I didn't know this was even a possibility. There is a lot of visual beauty and there are visual gags that work well. One example would be Buckwheat giving the pope a bath and another scene involving Werner Herzog and flying nuns. The film gets bogged down in a woe is me attitude from time to time, but a flawed Harmony Korine movie is a vast improvement over past Harmony Korine movies.
Besides for Mister Lonely my other video pick for the week is Snow Angels (David Gordon Green). The teen story is vastly superior to the increasingly annoying one involving Sam Rockwell's turmoiled breakup with Kate Beckinsale. Although that part of the film has a great performance by an under-used Nicky Katt.
Other releases I'm looking forward to this week would be Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains and box sets of Max Ophuls and Busby Berkeley.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Shoddy journalism and the top 5
The Indianapolis Star today reported that the Heartland Film Festival was opening with a major film, The Boy With the Striped Pajamas. From the tone, it sounded like this was a new thing.
1.) The Boy With The Striped Pajamas is not a major film. It looks like it should go straight to video. The director's last movie Hope Springs did go straight to video and Purely Belter (his film prior to Hope Springs) has never been released in this country. You have to go back to 1998's Little Voice since a Mark Herman movie played theatrically.
2.) The Queen and Finding Neverland which either opened or closed past Heartland festivals were both nominated for Best Picture. I will be shocked if The Boy With... follows suit.
This article was embarrassing. However, not we're going to write 3 separate articles on the new Benji movie embarrassing.
Top 5 for 9/12-9/18
1. The Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green)
2. My Favorite Wife (Garson Kanin) Friday at Indiana Historical Society.
3. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
4. Frozen River (Courtney Hunt)
5. Iron Man (John Favreau)- Made it for the first time probably close to its last week in release. If it weren't for different summer festivals I'm sure it would have made it already (or if I were doing this closer to its release).
3,4,5, and Burn After Reading are pretty interchangeable. But that's the order I'll stick with.
1.) The Boy With The Striped Pajamas is not a major film. It looks like it should go straight to video. The director's last movie Hope Springs did go straight to video and Purely Belter (his film prior to Hope Springs) has never been released in this country. You have to go back to 1998's Little Voice since a Mark Herman movie played theatrically.
2.) The Queen and Finding Neverland which either opened or closed past Heartland festivals were both nominated for Best Picture. I will be shocked if The Boy With... follows suit.
This article was embarrassing. However, not we're going to write 3 separate articles on the new Benji movie embarrassing.
Top 5 for 9/12-9/18
1. The Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green)
2. My Favorite Wife (Garson Kanin) Friday at Indiana Historical Society.
3. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
4. Frozen River (Courtney Hunt)
5. Iron Man (John Favreau)- Made it for the first time probably close to its last week in release. If it weren't for different summer festivals I'm sure it would have made it already (or if I were doing this closer to its release).
3,4,5, and Burn After Reading are pretty interchangeable. But that's the order I'll stick with.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
top 5 films 9/5-9/11
1. Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green)
2. Dead Alive (Peter Jackson) Key. Fri and Sun.
3. Baghead (Duplass Brothers)- This was kind of a surprise. I didn't really care for The Puffy Chair and the trailer was only so-so.
4. American Teen (Nanette Burstein)
5. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
2. Dead Alive (Peter Jackson) Key. Fri and Sun.
3. Baghead (Duplass Brothers)- This was kind of a surprise. I didn't really care for The Puffy Chair and the trailer was only so-so.
4. American Teen (Nanette Burstein)
5. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
dvd's 9/02/08
dvd pick- Reprise (Joachim Trier). Itsy Bitty Titty Committee (Jamie Babbit) is also of interest.
I'm really looking forward to Water Lilies (Celene Sciamma).
I will probably at some point get around to:
Before I Forgot (Jacques Nolot)
Ballet Shoes (Sandra Goldbacher)- I wouldn't want to disappoint anybody regarding my reputation of having the taste of a 15 year old girl.
Moontide (Archie Mayo) I have no idea who Archie Mayo is, but starring everyone's favorite hero, Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino makes me interested.
Derek (Isaac Julien) I liked Julien's documentary on blaxploitation. I would probably like to see some of Jarman's films before seeing a documentary on him.
I'm really looking forward to Water Lilies (Celene Sciamma).
I will probably at some point get around to:
Before I Forgot (Jacques Nolot)
Ballet Shoes (Sandra Goldbacher)- I wouldn't want to disappoint anybody regarding my reputation of having the taste of a 15 year old girl.
Moontide (Archie Mayo) I have no idea who Archie Mayo is, but starring everyone's favorite hero, Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino makes me interested.
Derek (Isaac Julien) I liked Julien's documentary on blaxploitation. I would probably like to see some of Jarman's films before seeing a documentary on him.
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