Monday, February 09, 2009
Dancey Fist Jab
It's nice to know my favorite remix in a hot minute won a Grammy.
This is, to say the least, a damn lot better than wasting it on Oakenfold's latest tits-up FAIL of a cocaine jingle.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Ain't No Lie
I make no apologies for being inspired by Roger Ebert. I've been a reader of his for over a decade. When people tell me they have this or that problem with him (or with critics in general), I don't get defensive anymore, because what they're saying is usually over-determined either by reading his review of Cop and a Half and bitching that he gave it three stars, or by a willful ignoring of the fact that what he's doing is the difficult act of interpretation, not mere recommendation.
If you think you've got Synecdoche, NY or Children of Men or Babel all figured out by your pretty self, then why are you talking to me about Roger Ebert? What's it to you?
Earlier today:
However, there are certain areas in which I consider myself an authority, like the movies. I have devoted years to learning about the Theory of Evolution. I think Creationism is superstitious poppycock. I believe the problem with the literal interpretation of the Bible is that anyone can easily discover its support for the opinions they already hold. I believe Conservatism has proven itself disastrous every time it has been implemented in this country. I believe George W. Bush was not only the worst president we have ever had, but the first, as far as I know, guilty of being an accessory to murder and suborning the Constitution.
Ebert's currently also writing the best blog in the world. Check it.
If you think you've got Synecdoche, NY or Children of Men or Babel all figured out by your pretty self, then why are you talking to me about Roger Ebert? What's it to you?
Earlier today:
However, there are certain areas in which I consider myself an authority, like the movies. I have devoted years to learning about the Theory of Evolution. I think Creationism is superstitious poppycock. I believe the problem with the literal interpretation of the Bible is that anyone can easily discover its support for the opinions they already hold. I believe Conservatism has proven itself disastrous every time it has been implemented in this country. I believe George W. Bush was not only the worst president we have ever had, but the first, as far as I know, guilty of being an accessory to murder and suborning the Constitution.
Ebert's currently also writing the best blog in the world. Check it.
How Do We Live?
The new year brought with it a renewal of the need to write, and write and write. I need a beat to cover, and had been knocked into an emotional molasses-uphill battle last year, leaving little energy left in me to follow much but the political outrages of '08. That's not my territory. I don't have a lifetime of emotional or intellectual understanding of politics, save what's sieved through the celluloid colander.
I know I'm a film critic the way a wrestler knows he's a wrestler. Which leads me to my new year's resolution with Holly. I'm sticking to it, and we've both taken a pass with one movie. That's it, so I'll start my first column along those lines, dealing with two films that won't clean up at Oscar season, and covering mostly Oscar Nominees until near the end of the month.
American Duty
Sam Mendes may miss Conrad L. Hall more even than the rest of us. Every shot Roger Deakins composes in Revolutionary Road seems to invoke our memory of that great filmmaker. The desolation of fifties American life isn't buried underneath, it's overexposed. This is a cold, uninviting movie. Mendes, Deakins and crew want it that way, perhaps driven by a script that rages its id out front and center just as its characters seem to.
I haven't read the novel, but I have no trouble believing an author could be this self-aware, this unhappy, this alone. What I have trouble imagining is that people in 1950s America would be this aware of the real spiritual predicament they're in. If we're to take DiCaprio and Winslet's couple as representative of a normal couple, we're swallowing a hard enough pill. The total destruction of their dreams and their love for one another is the set-up for the movie, not the end. This makes what proceeds all the more unreal and unpleasant, which is not to leave out ruthless, and for that it has my respect.
Revolutionary Road is a curious, drawn out chick-tract with no God in sight. There's no mention of church, no crosses in any rooms, no symbols of devotion. In a depiction of 1950s America, this is a deliberate choice of omission. Its didacticism is still, however, thoroughly secular. Which brings us to Michael Shannon, most certainly an Oscar winner if not for Heath Ledger's nomination, playing this godless world's angel of death.
He flies in under the guise of Kathy Bates's character's "mentally-unwell" son, and proceeds to methodically dismantle every single move the film's central couple makes to save themselves. He sees their desperation, in fact sees in desperation, and drives them completely into the ground, using words and words alone. He frees them from the need to try and be free. Shannon's performance is the stand-alone reason to see the movie; it's terrifying in his deconstruction of their hopes. He's an actor to watch, but wear a helmet while doing so.
Bielski Justice
Films this year have noticeably fallen into a more positive mode, looking to uplift us with stories of characters' search for meaning and dignity. Defiance falls into a category with Revolutionary Road precisely because both are about struggles for survival against long odds. Those questions of survival are intertwined with meditative examinations of a corollary question, namely, "how do we live?"
I'm puzzled, a little, by critics' responses to this film. No, it's not groundbreaking, yes, it's a conventional narrative (you have seen other Edward Zwick films, yes?), and yes, the pacing is off at a few points.
Still, I think the story of the Bielski Trio is amazing enough to transcend those petty quibbles. The movie isn't bad. It tells their story, if not exploring it beyond the surface, and gives us a compelling character in Liev Schrieber's Zus Bielski. Schrieber keeps getting better, and I think his work here is being ignored. Daniel Craig's character (as well as Jamie Bell's) is a little less compelling, but it's a structural bearing and it props the rest of it up. It's a good movie, folks.
I know I'm a film critic the way a wrestler knows he's a wrestler. Which leads me to my new year's resolution with Holly. I'm sticking to it, and we've both taken a pass with one movie. That's it, so I'll start my first column along those lines, dealing with two films that won't clean up at Oscar season, and covering mostly Oscar Nominees until near the end of the month.
American Duty
Sam Mendes may miss Conrad L. Hall more even than the rest of us. Every shot Roger Deakins composes in Revolutionary Road seems to invoke our memory of that great filmmaker. The desolation of fifties American life isn't buried underneath, it's overexposed. This is a cold, uninviting movie. Mendes, Deakins and crew want it that way, perhaps driven by a script that rages its id out front and center just as its characters seem to.
I haven't read the novel, but I have no trouble believing an author could be this self-aware, this unhappy, this alone. What I have trouble imagining is that people in 1950s America would be this aware of the real spiritual predicament they're in. If we're to take DiCaprio and Winslet's couple as representative of a normal couple, we're swallowing a hard enough pill. The total destruction of their dreams and their love for one another is the set-up for the movie, not the end. This makes what proceeds all the more unreal and unpleasant, which is not to leave out ruthless, and for that it has my respect.
Revolutionary Road is a curious, drawn out chick-tract with no God in sight. There's no mention of church, no crosses in any rooms, no symbols of devotion. In a depiction of 1950s America, this is a deliberate choice of omission. Its didacticism is still, however, thoroughly secular. Which brings us to Michael Shannon, most certainly an Oscar winner if not for Heath Ledger's nomination, playing this godless world's angel of death.
He flies in under the guise of Kathy Bates's character's "mentally-unwell" son, and proceeds to methodically dismantle every single move the film's central couple makes to save themselves. He sees their desperation, in fact sees in desperation, and drives them completely into the ground, using words and words alone. He frees them from the need to try and be free. Shannon's performance is the stand-alone reason to see the movie; it's terrifying in his deconstruction of their hopes. He's an actor to watch, but wear a helmet while doing so.
Bielski Justice
Films this year have noticeably fallen into a more positive mode, looking to uplift us with stories of characters' search for meaning and dignity. Defiance falls into a category with Revolutionary Road precisely because both are about struggles for survival against long odds. Those questions of survival are intertwined with meditative examinations of a corollary question, namely, "how do we live?"
I'm puzzled, a little, by critics' responses to this film. No, it's not groundbreaking, yes, it's a conventional narrative (you have seen other Edward Zwick films, yes?), and yes, the pacing is off at a few points.
Still, I think the story of the Bielski Trio is amazing enough to transcend those petty quibbles. The movie isn't bad. It tells their story, if not exploring it beyond the surface, and gives us a compelling character in Liev Schrieber's Zus Bielski. Schrieber keeps getting better, and I think his work here is being ignored. Daniel Craig's character (as well as Jamie Bell's) is a little less compelling, but it's a structural bearing and it props the rest of it up. It's a good movie, folks.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Let the Right One (Edit)
I really want to see this:
I'm pumped by Diplo's review, fresh off of having seen it while touring in Europe.
I'm pumped by Diplo's review, fresh off of having seen it while touring in Europe.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
This Ain't a Politics Blog
For now, it's perfectly fine for Republicans to scream and yell about tax cuts being the answer (even when credit is a thing of the past?). It really doesn't bother me. You lost, people. We'll try your ideas next time, maybe. Another team won. They get to make the law for awhile (unless they bend over backwards to give concessions to a rancid, powerless, leaderless party).
Last political post for awhile, because I'd like this blog to take a direction and not simply be an angry dumping ground. Every time I see the looks of seething anger in my house, accompanied by the transcription of rancid words belched into golden microphones and sent out over the waves to corrode and constrain the functions of otherwise generous hearts, I come here to put it somewhere else.
That has fueled my anger in my own time of crisis more so even than the rancidity of the ideas. Republicans have treated their party as royalty, with subjects divided into attitude duchies presided over by feudal lords Rush and Hannity and O'Reilly. I hope not to fall victim to that here on this side.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Huh...
Well...
But -- the base is happy, or at least reasonably so. Rush Limbaugh will be singing John Boehner's praises tomorrow. I'm just not sure what message this sends to the other 78 percent of the country..
It's the same message they've been sending for the past eight years, which is "you're either with us or you're against us."
What does the electoral map indicate, fellas?
But -- the base is happy, or at least reasonably so. Rush Limbaugh will be singing John Boehner's praises tomorrow. I'm just not sure what message this sends to the other 78 percent of the country..
It's the same message they've been sending for the past eight years, which is "you're either with us or you're against us."
What does the electoral map indicate, fellas?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Daguerrotwit
Bush, Morrised, tagged, and released to never darken our lenses more.
His was doggedly an image they couldn't quite design.
His was doggedly an image they couldn't quite design.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Inauguration For ADULTS 35 and Up Only.
I've imagined a whole rant to write against W. since this day started approaching. I was going to say he should resign on Nov. 5th, after first ordering Dick Cheney to resign and then having him arrested. I was going to tell him that the best way for us to heal would be for him to stand accountable for his crimes. Blah blah blah. Holder'll either pursue it or he won't. I hope these medieval thugs get what's coming to them, but for now, their exit will suffice, and I'm a little beat.
So, a word or two to bitter Republicans: Thank you. Thank you for your generous support in '04 of all this nifty socialism we're about to get. If you hadn't voted for Obama in '08 by voting for Bush in '04, I probably wouldn't be a little bit closer to socialized medicine paying my medical bills if something happens to me from here on out. Thank you for supporting an obvious straw man, thank you for your support of mean bastard policies, thank you for looking out for number one first.
And please, please, please put Sarah Palin on the ticket, but before you do, you should probably read this. Or don't. You'll just despair, but then you might not heed my advice and you'll put your support behind a halfway decent Republican the likes of which wouldn't send me vituperating ass-over-kerchief for four to eight years about the need for a litmus test for voting. Here's a clue: If they can't make it through Katie Couric, they're not qualified.
Just getting this out of my system, as per usual, vis. living in a red house.
As for Obama, I have few words that could match tomorrow's speech, I'm sure, so I'll let my favorite DJ do the work:
So, a word or two to bitter Republicans: Thank you. Thank you for your generous support in '04 of all this nifty socialism we're about to get. If you hadn't voted for Obama in '08 by voting for Bush in '04, I probably wouldn't be a little bit closer to socialized medicine paying my medical bills if something happens to me from here on out. Thank you for supporting an obvious straw man, thank you for your support of mean bastard policies, thank you for looking out for number one first.
And please, please, please put Sarah Palin on the ticket, but before you do, you should probably read this. Or don't. You'll just despair, but then you might not heed my advice and you'll put your support behind a halfway decent Republican the likes of which wouldn't send me vituperating ass-over-kerchief for four to eight years about the need for a litmus test for voting. Here's a clue: If they can't make it through Katie Couric, they're not qualified.
Just getting this out of my system, as per usual, vis. living in a red house.
As for Obama, I have few words that could match tomorrow's speech, I'm sure, so I'll let my favorite DJ do the work:
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Things Pass Before You
I left for Kansas on Sunday to visit sister and see her Wichita home for the first time. Her house also has this barely year old creature in it:
She's Gwendolyn Jade, and she laughs at everything.
Prior to the trip, we had received word that our Grandmother (on my Dad's side) had had a stroke and was ready to leave us. Grandmom never got over my Dad's death (and frankly, the decade's worth of disasters that preceded it).
She passed on around noon on Tuesday. She was 85. I hope she's at peace. She was unhappy. I don't know what's appropriate to write about here. She loved us to pieces and we loved her right back, and I hope she knows that.
The funeral is in Dyersburg on Saturday, and I'm doing ok. Love you all.
She's Gwendolyn Jade, and she laughs at everything.
Prior to the trip, we had received word that our Grandmother (on my Dad's side) had had a stroke and was ready to leave us. Grandmom never got over my Dad's death (and frankly, the decade's worth of disasters that preceded it).
She passed on around noon on Tuesday. She was 85. I hope she's at peace. She was unhappy. I don't know what's appropriate to write about here. She loved us to pieces and we loved her right back, and I hope she knows that.
The funeral is in Dyersburg on Saturday, and I'm doing ok. Love you all.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Kill Tha Wabbit, Kill Tha Wabbit
Sorry, People Magazine, sorry, TMZ, sorry, Gawker, Defamer and all the rest. Tom Cruise will continue to make movies. In fact, whatever insights this article has to offer, I think we're all selling Cruise short, both as a capable actor and a consistently malleable persona.
Valkyrie is neither great nor terrible. It's competent, that's about it. The rhythm seems missing from the movie, at least the rhythm we'd expect from Bryan Singer. It comes down to accent-less performances that are nonetheless in the appropriate range.
Our attention is eventually focused on how far the fetishism of the actors in these ss uniforms will be amplified (I was on Eddie Izzard watch, believe me). Palpable fear looms over this production, as if they knew that any false move would make for them a certified howler. If Tom Cruise had done less couch-jumping and pill-bashing over the past few years, we might have had a freer movie, but then again, we probably wouldn't have had Valkyrie at all.
Sad, really. Cruise is at home with mutilation. He shows this in Vanilla Sky or Minority Report, or with his emotional castration in Eyes Wide Shut (where he spends a significant section of the movie hiding his face). A director working to wring dissonance out of his boyish American face can do so indelibly, partly because Cruise is (usually) willing to be completely naked in those scenes.
The moment where Cruise's Von Stauffenberg is forced to salute the portrait of Hitler, and defiantly uses his stubby arm, is almost an example of this. It might have had more impact, as the scene suggests the possibilities for Kubrickian image making, rather for camp or creep-outs. Cruise's image stays safely on the side of "please take me back, America".
America will. In the annals of celebrity meltdowns, Cruise's freakouts are minor. Angelina Jolie is next, anyway.
Valkyrie is neither great nor terrible. It's competent, that's about it. The rhythm seems missing from the movie, at least the rhythm we'd expect from Bryan Singer. It comes down to accent-less performances that are nonetheless in the appropriate range.
Our attention is eventually focused on how far the fetishism of the actors in these ss uniforms will be amplified (I was on Eddie Izzard watch, believe me). Palpable fear looms over this production, as if they knew that any false move would make for them a certified howler. If Tom Cruise had done less couch-jumping and pill-bashing over the past few years, we might have had a freer movie, but then again, we probably wouldn't have had Valkyrie at all.
Sad, really. Cruise is at home with mutilation. He shows this in Vanilla Sky or Minority Report, or with his emotional castration in Eyes Wide Shut (where he spends a significant section of the movie hiding his face). A director working to wring dissonance out of his boyish American face can do so indelibly, partly because Cruise is (usually) willing to be completely naked in those scenes.
The moment where Cruise's Von Stauffenberg is forced to salute the portrait of Hitler, and defiantly uses his stubby arm, is almost an example of this. It might have had more impact, as the scene suggests the possibilities for Kubrickian image making, rather for camp or creep-outs. Cruise's image stays safely on the side of "please take me back, America".
America will. In the annals of celebrity meltdowns, Cruise's freakouts are minor. Angelina Jolie is next, anyway.
Monday, January 05, 2009
What's That in Your Cassette Deck?
The Great Barstoolio is hanging up the regular Music-Tist gig over at her site, so, naturally, I mixed up a mess of breaks, 8-bit, cumbia, electro, chill-out and metal thrashing into one set, which you can listen to with your sound holes right here, at Janie's. We'll miss the daily badass music, Janie!
It's hosted at the Droid-Rock Show.
Check either of the links above, or just right click and save as.
Featured Fiends include A-Trak, Adam Freeland, Stanton Warriors, Burial, Crookers and M83. You need them in your lives. Trust me.
It's hosted at the Droid-Rock Show.
Check either of the links above, or just right click and save as.
Featured Fiends include A-Trak, Adam Freeland, Stanton Warriors, Burial, Crookers and M83. You need them in your lives. Trust me.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Friday, January 02, 2009
2008: The Year in Harvey Dent
Mid-2008, Lights up on Joan and Jesse (the J-Wil Pig Dogs), second or third consecutive Dark Knight viewing
Scene:
J: We've really put a Harvey Dent in this popcorn!
J: .....really?
One Month Later:
J: Oh no you Harvey Dent'innt!!!!
J: A ha a ho a ha ha ho hah ho. And I thought MY jokes were bad.
J: Your post was so sweet I think I need to see a Harvey Dentist.
J:Now now, that was a little Harvey tenDentious, don't you think?
J: That little remark just earned you a Harvey Dentention. See me after class.
J: ooooh, that just makes me froth around my Harvey Dentata!
J: It seems we have come to a Harvey Dentente. [ We had not - Ed]
J: You're such a Harvey TranscenDENTalist.
J: I love you Harvey ArDENTly
Next Day:
J: 'm so sorry I missed you, I was watching the current Olympiad away from my computer, Harvey Evidently.
J:It's my own fault for becoming so Harvey codepenDent.
Before Dinner:
J: Hey, you won't want me near you after I eat at Olive Garden (which I love), unless I chew some Harvey Trident.
J: Oh, we are so not even CLOSE to being done with this Harvey Dent thing. They make me Harvey resplenDent with joy.
J: We tag-team with jokes that bring us joy through a Divine Harvey Providence.
The Next Day:
J: I want us to see Dark Knight again, but I'm not sure it would be Harvey pruDent.
J: I've seen the Dark Knight five times, and at this point it's invaded the Harvey SuDententland of my mind.
J: Yeah, I've officially gotten my Dark Knight Superfan Harvey creDentials.
J: I can only imagine how annoying it must be for our mutual friends when our never-ceasing Harvey Dent jokes show up in their news feeds. They must be Harvey desponDent.
J: All reactions to our banter that don't indicate rapturous joy are Harvey Incidental to me.
J: If they're feeling Harvey dissiDent, they were never really our friends to begin with.
J: I hold that truth to be self Harvey Evident.
J: That sets a good Harvey preceDent.
J: Our Harvey descenDents will speak of us with awe.
Ed Norton Pops in, Angrily:
J: Ed can be such a jealous little Harvey roDent.
J: You think he'd feel better if we sent him some Harvey RodoDentrens?
J: I think he's too Harvey Dents to understand the symbolism.
That Night:
J: I WATCHED THE FIFTH ELEMENT WHEN IT WAS ON LAST NIGHT. What is wrong with us? In the immortal words of Micah Corngod, we are one. It's like you've taken up Harvey resiDents in my brain.
J: Maybe we're Harvey Identical twins.
Election Cycle:
J: I seriously want to punch McCain in the face. He's not going to be my Harvey President.
Finish Line:
J: Here's hoping that the Dark Knight continues playing theaters throughout our lives, right up to the point when we're wearing Harvey Dentures.
Scene:
J: We've really put a Harvey Dent in this popcorn!
J: .....really?
One Month Later:
J: Oh no you Harvey Dent'innt!!!!
J: A ha a ho a ha ha ho hah ho. And I thought MY jokes were bad.
J: Your post was so sweet I think I need to see a Harvey Dentist.
J:Now now, that was a little Harvey tenDentious, don't you think?
J: That little remark just earned you a Harvey Dentention. See me after class.
J: ooooh, that just makes me froth around my Harvey Dentata!
J: It seems we have come to a Harvey Dentente. [ We had not - Ed]
J: You're such a Harvey TranscenDENTalist.
J: I love you Harvey ArDENTly
Next Day:
J: 'm so sorry I missed you, I was watching the current Olympiad away from my computer, Harvey Evidently.
J:It's my own fault for becoming so Harvey codepenDent.
Before Dinner:
J: Hey, you won't want me near you after I eat at Olive Garden (which I love), unless I chew some Harvey Trident.
J: Oh, we are so not even CLOSE to being done with this Harvey Dent thing. They make me Harvey resplenDent with joy.
J: We tag-team with jokes that bring us joy through a Divine Harvey Providence.
The Next Day:
J: I want us to see Dark Knight again, but I'm not sure it would be Harvey pruDent.
J: I've seen the Dark Knight five times, and at this point it's invaded the Harvey SuDententland of my mind.
J: Yeah, I've officially gotten my Dark Knight Superfan Harvey creDentials.
J: I can only imagine how annoying it must be for our mutual friends when our never-ceasing Harvey Dent jokes show up in their news feeds. They must be Harvey desponDent.
J: All reactions to our banter that don't indicate rapturous joy are Harvey Incidental to me.
J: If they're feeling Harvey dissiDent, they were never really our friends to begin with.
J: I hold that truth to be self Harvey Evident.
J: That sets a good Harvey preceDent.
J: Our Harvey descenDents will speak of us with awe.
Ed Norton Pops in, Angrily:
J: Ed can be such a jealous little Harvey roDent.
J: You think he'd feel better if we sent him some Harvey RodoDentrens?
J: I think he's too Harvey Dents to understand the symbolism.
That Night:
J: I WATCHED THE FIFTH ELEMENT WHEN IT WAS ON LAST NIGHT. What is wrong with us? In the immortal words of Micah Corngod, we are one. It's like you've taken up Harvey resiDents in my brain.
J: Maybe we're Harvey Identical twins.
Election Cycle:
J: I seriously want to punch McCain in the face. He's not going to be my Harvey President.
Finish Line:
J: Here's hoping that the Dark Knight continues playing theaters throughout our lives, right up to the point when we're wearing Harvey Dentures.
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