MMM

So I finally watched a David Cronenberg film that didn't blow me away. Actually, let me rephrase that. It blew my mind - like all Cronenberg movies - but I just don't think it really worked.

A little background: ever since watching Crash a few years ago I've been steadily working through his catalog. He is one of those rare directors that makes intelligent, bizarre films that seem to work on all levels: writing, dialogue, performances, cinematography, awesome Howard Shore scores (if you only know Shore from the LOTR scores, check out music from Crash and Videodrome). On my recent trip to Portland I came upon a wonderful little store called Strange Maine, where I found a bevy of cheaply-priced VHS tapes, which I ravaged, walking away with a sackful ranging from Don't Torture a Duckling to Sunday in the Park with George. I also picked up eXistenZ, which was at the top of my list. It had a killer cast, promised old-school Cronenberg mind-bendingness, how could it go wrong?

Well, here's how. From the beginning, the acting and the dialog across the board is as stunted and cartoony as anything from Scanners (which I tend to forgive because it was early in its career). The opening scene features a cheering crowd of extras that look and sound like they're from a badly dubbed anime. In fact the performances are so silly that some have questioned if it were intentional, reflecting the dubious-nature-of-reality-theme in the film, but I think that's a bit too convenient of an excuse. This weighs heavily against the typical Cronenbergian imagery in the film; the pulsing fleshy game controllers, technologically-constructed bodily orifices, and horrific mutant animals become more ridiculous than intriguing when framed and elucidated by awkwardly-delivered lines. It becomes camp and, even if it were intentional - which I doubt, it is not good camp.

Edelstein notes that eXistenz came after a series of "calamitous receptions" to such films as Naked Lunch, M. Butterfly, and Crash, which is why the film seems to be some sort of Videodrome-lite. I don't know if I'd characterize those films as "calamitous", since Naked Lunch and Crash quickly developed cult-status, but I understand his search for a reason for this film. The film is still adventurous, it is still complex and provocative, but it quite simply doesn't hold together, even with the added touch of there being fourth wall commentary on the feebleness of the plot, and its lack of cohesiveness, which acts as a lazy deus ex machina.

eXistenZ an oddity in an otherwise near-perfect oeuvre, made even the more odd by its normally-stellar cast. You just get the sense throughout the movie that they don't know what in the hell they are supposed to be acting about, and one can hardly expect the audience to be sold on it if the actors are not.

Mafoo's one-line sum-up review:

eXistenZ is a good movie to get baked, watch with a group of friends, and then compare to the Matrix afterwards.

Jim Webb is doing the Lord's work.
Torture is not torture when we are the torturers torturing. Get it?
Watch Mos Def slowly unravel with a few delicate jabs by Christopher Hitchens.
Tiny synth, MIDI controller, sequencer, sampler, onboard fx, built-in mic, motion sensor, and a freakin' FM radio? I can't wait for the price so I can cry myself to sleep...
I wanna be a baconographer.
Bushy eyebrows are back, finally...

(via RB)

For the record, I don't smoke pot, but I have - like our last three presidents - in the past. I do, though, see it squarely as a civil rights issue. Obama's glib dismissal of the will of the people really pissed me off. There is no reason for the law to be on the books, and there is a wonderful opportunity here to help ease the massive strain of the recession. Wake up man!

What's going on America??

I just returned last night from Mell and my post-Little Death vacation to Portland, Maine. I'll include some pics here from both the show and our trip, as well a link to the full album. Enjoy!

The Show:
(thanks for the action shots Marbot!!)

"Something... happened..."











"You're like... God!!!"


"to... me..."


"And you know Jesus is my best friend!"


"Pe-ne-traaaa-tion!!"


The Hang:


After-show glow










Dinner at Sammy's with the Folks:


Mystified by the seltzer


Mell in her Linda Richman shirt.


Steak it up Wil!!


We found ourselves in the midst of an impromptu bat mitzvah!


Trip to Maine:


You know you're out of NYC when the truck stops have NASCAR romance fiction...


Lobster cages in Portland


At J's, drinking an Amber


I look like I'm trapped in an ad for either beer, eyeglasses, or eyebrow tweezers...


Delicious oysters on the half-shell


More drinkin'. Yummy Bloody Marys!!





Melly, unsure of her first escargot endeavor


I'ma gonn eat you Pinchy!


This is how you pull the head off of a steamed clam.


Our adorable hotel.


Here's the link to the full album or you could just view the slideshow:

Just a reminder to come check out my opera, The Little Death Vol.1 this Friday and Saturday night, 9:30 each night.

Here's that info again:

The Little Death Vol.1
March 20th and 21st, 9:30PM
@ The *NEW* Tank - 354 West 45th Street (in between 8th and 9th Ave.)
Tix are $10

Check out songs from the show here

This is fucking messed up:



and it really, really reminds me of this:

Thank you Lord Google:

Google today finally announced its plans for GrandCentral, the telephony service it acquired in July 2007. GrandCentral will be reborn as Google Voice, a comprehensive suite of telephony services, including all of GrandCentral's features. In addition, Google Voice will also include an automated voicemail transcription service, the ability to send and receive text messages, and integration with your Gmail contacts. Users can now also call any number in the the U.S. for free.

Great news. I used to have a voice-mail transcription service, but it sucked and cost money. This one sounds much, much better:

The automated voicemail transcription feature looks like it will be one of the most useful functions of Google Voice. Transcriptions are fully automated and Google will mark passages in the text where the algorithm was not very confident about the transcription. Transcriptions will automatically appear in your inbox, but Google Voice can also email them to you, or even send you an SMS with the text.

Huge.

Let's hope that the phone companies are running scared like the swindling bastards they are. Exorbitant international calling rates? Paying for SMS and minutes? Hopefully that will all be a thing of the past.

Hey all, if you're looking for something rockin to see this weekend, go check out loadbang at The Tank on Sunday. loadbang ensemble is a great new group consisting of musicians from the Manhattan School of Music's new contemporary music program. It's a kickass program and the cats from there really seem to be filling in the new crop on the New York new music scene. We've invited loadbang to play on The 1st Annual New Music Bake Sale, a show Ensemble de Sade is putting on with Newspeak (more on that soon!), so you can trust me that these guys can rock a concert.

Instrumentally they're a rather unlikely quartet, but I think it works to their favor:

Jeffrey Gavett - Baritone Voice
Andy Kozar - Trumpet
Philip Everall - Bass Clarinet
William Lang - Trombone

How many new music ensembles have brass players in the majority? Awesome. Check them out, here's the deets:

loadbang

Sun, 03/15/2009 - 9:30pm

$10

New York based loadbang will be playing music of American experimentalist John Cage; premiering brand new arrangements of music by the Velvet Underground, written for loadbang by Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang; and playing new pieces by young composers Christopher Jette and Daniel Highman.

For the record, this is the same Tank that my Little Death show is at next weekend. Plug plug!

So I saw The Watchmen last night. I was a big fan of the comic, so I had been eagerly anticipating this film for a while. I haven't seen 300 or the Dawn of the Dead remake, so I didn't really know what to expect from Zack Snyder. Overall verdict: a success. Visually it totally works. The actors were for the most part pretty effective, although comic book dialog and film dialog are very different and it shows. They didn't fuck with the story too much (except the ending, WTF?) and most of the thematic material was present and clear.

Ok, so now to the achilles-fucking-heel of the movie: the soundtrack.

Holy crap.

The movie starts as the comic starts, with the dramatic murder of the character known as The Comedian (not really a spoiler, the film is based on this event). Shot very well, very stylish. Soundtrack: Unforgettable by Nat King Cole. Hmm... The ironic use of a touching old-timey ballad to contrast with the disturbing on-screen content. It worked when Terry Gilliam used What a Wonderful World at the end of Twelve Monkeys, but the dramatic effect of this technique has lessened ever since. But, fuck it, it's the beginning of the movie, I'll give it a shot, fine.

Next, opening credits. Song choice: The Times They Are A'Changing by Bob Dylan. In its entirety... Ok now. This is getting kinda Gumpy. Please tell me this isn't going to be one of those Time Life soundtracks where they use blatantly iconic songs from the 20th century in a lazy attempt to give weight to the scenes...

That's exactly what the entire movie was.

Every time I would be digging the film's many awesome qualities, they'd plug in these tired movie music clichés.

Here's a sampling:

Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkle: during a wistful ponderous scene

All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix: during an intense suspenseful scene

Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner: During a war scene

Mozart Requiem: After a main character dies...


Guh... and the rest. 99 Luftballoons, Me and Bobby McGee, KC and the Sunshine Band...

The absolute worst though: Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah during a graphic sex scene. No, not one of the many awesome, sexy covers of this song. The Leonard Cohen version. Now, I love this version, but it's anything but sexy. It made the entire audience view the sex scene as a joke. It was almost grotesque.

It was possibly the worst music I've ever heard for a film. It made Forrest Gump's soundtrack seem subtle and obscure. Some of the more scorey music was ok. Music from Koyaanisqatsi was used somewhat effectively, but you kinda got the idea that Zack Snyder was like, 'Who's a famous living composer? Philip Glass? Let's use something by him!'.

In all seriousness, during the moments when these songs were used (usually in their entirety!) it brought this highly polished professional film down to the level of a high school class project. They were an awkward blight that pulled a well-crafted film into the depths of banality. I found myself basking in the moments of the film that didn't have an iconic song forced over it, but I knew that the following scene would be ruined by another Time Life hits-of-the-20th century-ass tune.

Maybe it's because I'm a musician, but the selection of a song to complement a scene is part of the craft. Don't take it lightly or, as Gurf suggested, let Warner execs pick your songs for you.

Here's a few examples of the masters of song choice at work:

Jackie Brown opening credits - Music by Bobby Womack


A great example of a song choice that is lively but doesn't compete with the visuals and vice versa.

Barry Lyndon - Franz Schubert


Not only is this simply one of the most beautiful scenes in film history, it's also an example of perfect pacing between film and music. He lets the piece breathe and patiently edits the film to meet it.

Punch Drunk Love - He Needs Me from the Popeye Soundtrack


Totally unlikely but it completely works, gives the great vibe of that silly ignorant exuberance that accompanies new love.

Badlands - Blossom Fell by Nat King Cole


This is how you use Nat in a film. It's not quite ironic, not quite serious, yet emotionally totally honest. Hell yeah Terrence Malick.

I really wish I could post something from The Watchmen, but it's still too early. Go see it. It's a good movie based on a great comic. You'll absolutely see what I'm talking about though.

UPDATE:

I found the infamous (and quite NSFW) clip of the sex scene with Cohen's Hallelujah. Watch and cringe.

I am very pleased to announce that my new erotic Post-Christian pop opera, The Little Death Vol. 1, will be performed at The Tank on March 20th and 21st, each night at 9:30PM. The Little Death Vol. 1 is the largest project I've ever worked on and it has pretty much consumed my life for the last year or so. It would make me incredibly happy to see as many of you there as possible! :)

It features soprano Mellissa Hughes (of Newspeak, Signal, Ensemble de Sade) and I in the two singing roles, and one hell of a band:

Caleb Burhans - Vocals
Wil Smith - Organ, Keys
Nathan Koci - Accordion
James Moore - Guitar
Peter Wise - Drums

Here's the description as The Tank has it:

"Someone walking with someone, going somewhere, feeling something." -
We meet two characters, Boy and Girl. Boy then shoots Girl, and she sings an erotic Christian pop anthem through her pain.

Welcome to The Little Death Vol. 1, a new opera by Matt Marks that blends New Music, Christian pop, and breakbeats into a show that will leave you singing his twisted pop creations in your head for days. Using decidedly limited, hypnotic lyrics, The Little Death Vol.1 tells the story of two clichéd, yet bizarre, teenagers, their journey through the world of Fundamentalist Evangelism, and their attempts to keep their relationship pure in the eyes of the LORD. How does one repress their sexual energy in such a chaste life, and where might that energy inevitably manifest itself? In Marks' referencing of classic gospel songs (He Touched Me, When God Dips His Love in My Heart) along with original songs (God is My Hero, Come Boy) we soon find out where that repressed sexuality finds its new home. What else might this fervent repression unearth?

Please come join us for one (or both!) of the two nights we'll be rocking it. Tickets are a mere 10 dollars!

If you're still not convinced, listen to this track and tell me you wouldn't like to hear it live!



Here's that info again:

March 20th and 21st, 9:30PM
@ The *NEW* Tank - 354 West 45th Street (in between 8th and 9th Ave.)
Tix are $10

Hope to see you there!

Assuming you've been following the recent Rush Limbaugh news, here's a collection of comments on the phenomenon, and spectacle, of Rush Limbaugh taking the helm of the Republican Party. I'm mainly including responses from the right, for whom it's obviously much more of an issue. For the rest of us, it's just rather fun:

David Frum:

And for the leader of the Republicans? A man who is aggressive and bombastic, cutting and sarcastic, who dismisses the concerned citizens in network news focus groups as “losers.” With his private plane and his cigars, his history of drug dependency and his personal bulk, not to mention his tangled marital history, Rush is a walking stereotype of self-indulgence – exactly the image that Barack Obama most wants to affix to our philosophy and our party. And we’re cooperating! Those images of crowds of CPACers cheering Rush’s every rancorous word – we’ll be seeing them rebroadcast for a long time.

Rush knows what he is doing. The worse conservatives do, the more important Rush becomes as leader of the ardent remnant. The better conservatives succeed, the more we become a broad national governing coalition, the more Rush will be sidelined.

Daniel Larison on the Battlestar tip:

To use a pop culture analogy, Limbaugh and most conservatives believe he is something like the conservative movement’s Laura Roslin, but he is, in fact, their Baltar. As the plot of that story suggests, however, even if he were Roslin the destination to which he is leading conservatives may be a barren wasteland rather than the far green country they expect to find.

Andrew Sullivan:

There was a difference with Reagan and it is one, critical aspect of Reagan that is sorely missing today in the GOP: civility. The man was tough and ideological at times - though pragmatic enough to raise taxes, withdraw from Lebanon, do a deal with Communists, and invade Grenada rather than Iraq. But he was always civil. He would never have spent half his speech lambasting, ridiculing, demonizing, hating and riling half the country he knew he needed to persuade. He was interested in promoting ideas to address the problems of his time - not regularly naming and smearing anyone who disagreed with him. He had class.

Jonathan Chait:

I think it's pretty clear that the Democratic comeback since then has had next-to-nothing to with developing "new ideas" and almost everything to do with Republican failure, the state of the economy, and a really effective presidential nominee. yes, Democratic ideas proved more popular, but they really were the same basic ideas the party had advocated for years.

Limbaugh, then, is narrowly right. The GOP's fortunes are essentially an inverse function of the Obama administration's fortunes, which is turn depends almost entirely on the state of the world economy.

Where Limbaugh is wrong is that he thinks Americans inherently approve of the conservative agenda, and that Republican defeats can only be explained by deviation from the true faith.

Bobby Jindal:

I'm glad [Michael Steele] apologized. I think the chairman is a breath of fresh air for the party. As I said before, I think Rush is a leader for many conservatives and says things that people are concerned about.

(White House Press Secretary) Robert Gibbs:

I think maybe the best question, though, is for you to ask individual Republicans whether they agree with what Rush Limbaugh said this weekend. Do they want to see the President’s economic agenda fail? You know, I bet there are a number of guests on television throughout the day and maybe into tomorrow who could let America know whether they agree with what Rush Limbaugh said this weekend.

Yours Truly:

These propagandists are not going away just yet. They have yet to complete their destruction, which is why I still fear them, and why it is difficult to marginalize them. Limbaugh is still a source of horror, despite attempts over the last two decades to caricature him (including one on The Simpsons!), because he will still be doing damage in the years to come. The real acute pain and shame I felt over these last eight years was primarily watching my fellow countrymen and women, and in some cases friends and family of mine, fall prey to the propaganda of these evil people

As much as it may make me sound like a typical alarmist liberal ("I'm not a liberal!", I shout.), I do think that Limbaugh is pretty evil, if you define evil as one who chooses to further ones own interest with little or no interest in the well-being of others. I tend to agree with David Frum in this, a deep-red Republican I actually enjoy reading, it is in Rush's interest for the right to stay weak. His success lies in his ideals - if indeed they could be called ideals, and not merely theater - remaining peripheral and purely oppositional.

Andrew Sullivan posted a letter from a reader who works in in the arts, complaining that Obama's tax increase on the rich will negatively impact donations:

I work for a small, 5-year old non-profit arts organization in Illinois. A couple of our usual big donors have indicated we should be prepared for smaller donations this year, and possibly none in the next couple of years. The are mentioning Obama's tax plans and their need to save money now in anticipation of that. A lot of my colleagues in the not-for-profit world are really scared right now, and we are not happy with Obama.

Look, it is very convenient for rich donors to claim that Obama's tax increase on their income is the reason they are scaling back this year, especially in light of the economy crashing. Wouldn't you think it would have more to do with the recession/depression than Obama's modest tax increase? I'm anticipating this becoming a common excuse. If I'm correct - and I'm far from an economist - Obama is rolling back tax cuts that Bush gave the upper class. Donations weren't down before the cut, and they certainly didn't skyrocket as a result of those cuts, so it seems like a pretty invalid excuse.

One of the nice surprises I look forward to is seeing what new films have been added to Netflix's Watch Instantly list overnight. I get them as an RSS feed, so it's easy to stay updated. Every once in a while there'll be a day where there'll be a feast of new additions.

Here's a few of the fifty or so they added overnight:

Twilight Zone: The Movie

A Farewell to Arms

American Movie

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege

Anna Karenina

UHF

The Animatrix

Before Sunset

How Green Was My Valley

The Magnificent Seven


I thought about linking them all, but I'm lazy. Happy viewing!