MMM

Hey, check out my awesome Sis on a MyFox Los Angeles Webchat. I would NOT be able to manage to stay interesting for so long while just improvising. I don't know how she does it!

It's... al... most... here..........

Why exactly is Bush, and all of those wieners in Congress, against human cloning? I believe it must be one of, or a combination of, two things:

A. They want to pretend that only Jesus makes the babies, not scientists, even though this will obviously be possible soon.

B. They fear an impending human vs clones war during which superior clones of the members of Congress will secretly kill their original selves and enact pro-cloning legislature which will lead to Universal Health Care.

Is there another reason to be against human cloning? Well, aside from the inevitable mutant freak babies that will result during trials...

On Monday I had a veritable tour of Brooklyn. Having no car of my own and an MTA month-pass burning a hole in my pocket I decided to take care of some errands via the NYC bus lines. I began in Kensington (South Brooklyn), went up to Prospect Heights (a yuppie section southeast of downtown) and around to Carnarsie (a middle class, heavily black neighborhood). The whole trip took me about 5 hours (!) but it was a great opportunity to see some of the parts of Brooklyn I had only seen on maps (or on the 6 o'clock news).

One of the most interesting things: Obama posters all over the black neighborhoods. It is funny how often people expect minorities, from blacks to latinos to women, to mindlessly adhere to candidates of their specific minority, but this primary season has shown people of all types being conspicuously careful of this. This is especially true of the Obama campaign, where we have seen polls of black people steadily inching upwards. They are, in effect, making Obama earn their vote.

Most enlightening was the part of my trip from Prospect Heights to East New York (a heavily black, high-crime area). I traveled on foot from Vanderbilt, a typical gentrified neighborhood filled with coffee shops and fair trade bakeries, most with posters and stickers on their windows announcing the latest in greenwash, anti-globalization messages, and dull Bush-hating snark. I walked several blocks to the east for my transfer and, as is common in Brooklyn, found myself in a completely different neighborhood: diners, soul food restaurants, produce markets. And of course the populus went from snappily-dressed 20/30-somethings to normal, residential black people of all ages. I instantly felt more comfortable. Ha!

It was surprising and enlightening to find that on many store-fronts, there were posters of Obama. I am not just talking about the official big blue O poster/sticker. There were homemade posters, printed photos of Obama, and posters taken from events where he spoke. It was pretty cool. From there until Canarsie, traveling through what is likely the largest population of African-Americans in the country, I saw Obama's face over and over. Now, I'm not saying it was on every store-front, but seriously, on the window of almost every shop that had any sort of community aspect: barber shops, restaurants, nail salons, there was something to do with Obama.

There has been much speculation as to whether Obama might win NYC, even though he is expected to lost the state of New York on Super Tuesday. If Brooklyn has any say, he will.

Although, what was most surprising to me on my little East Brooklyn tour was that those "bad neighborhoods", the ones we hear about on the news, the ones we are told to stay away from, are actually not that bad. They are something like 95 percent black, but I didn't feel unsafe and I wasn't treated any differently than I would have been if I were on a bus in Park Slope or Manhattan. For about 3 hours of my travel I was the only white person around and it didn't really matter. I felt totally comfortable. Most of these neighborhoods are just full of working people doing their thing, I see way more thugs and gang members in Manhattan. The only time I was sketched out was when night fell and I was walking a mile, on foot, in Brownsville, carrying an 88 key MIDI controller on my shoulder. But whatever, I would have been worried in Midtown. Nobody fucks with my gear.

This is pretty interesting for anyone who travels a lot. Apparently, if your flight is delayed for a reason other than weather many airlines, especially the old ones, have it in their policy to book you on the next available flight, even if it is with another airline. All you have to do is ask.

-via mental_floss

So, it's that time again. The Oscars nominations came out last week and it's always a mad scramble to see, not what great movies were nominated, but what great movies were not. Most shocking of all is that Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was completely overlooked. Wtf. Juno made the Best Picture list, which doesn't exactly infuriate me, but if you watch the two side to side, there is no comparison. Juno was cute, Ellen Page was charismatic, but come on. Yeah, yeah, bla bla travesty and all that. I'm used to it.

Here are my predictions:

Best Actor - Johnny Depp

Possibly Daniel-Day Lewis, but I think Depp will get it for his duel task of singing and acting. Viggo Mortensen was pretty incredible in Eastern Promises but he won't get it because I think the Academy secretly hates David Cronenberg.

Supporting Actor - Tom Wilkinson

I think they will want to credit Michael Clayton in some way, but without giving it the Best Picture or Best Actor award. They won't want to appear to be beholden to George Clooney.

Actress - Laura Linney

She's done her time and apparently it is a good movie. They'll possibly give it to Ellen Page since they will most likely not give Juno the Best Picture award, and The Academy likes to appear hip to the "indie" scene by awarding safe Quirky Indie Movies (QIMs). Also, they love giving awards to children.

Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett

She is double nominated, which is usually a clincher, but the Academy really loves when actors play parts that are role-reversals. For example: when pretty girls make themselves ugly, thin men make themselves fat, or now, when they play other genders. They also love the biopics, which is why her leading role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age will serve to help her out in the supporting category.

Best Picture - Atonement

Atonement is the safe bet, which is usually how the Academy votes. It's a genuinely good movie that is non-threatening and has the whole Merchant-Ivory vibe without being Merchant-Ivory. They might give it to There Will Be Blood, if they are having a guilt trip about being such conservative hacks, but I doubt it. They almost always go with the safe choice.

I never really thought much about the inspirational comic strip Love is... until, while I was living in London a few years back, they utilized the characters to try and help enforce the rules of the Tube. I remember being really creeped out by the campaign. Here were a bunch of happy little cartoon love babies (or something), who seemed the archetype for trite romantic optimism, now being shown in various states of annoyance at other happy little cartoon love babies' ineptness at following the etiquette rules of the state.

Very strange.

In case you are unfamiliar, here are some typical Love is... cartoons/messages:






Harmless, vaguely uplifting or nauseating, depending on your level of cynicism.
Mine of course is rather high.

Now, here are some of the cartoons used in the Tube campaign, thanks to Flickr user Maurizio Pillitu, who posted many of these:


... standing to the right of the escalator.


... not dropping litter.


... not eating smelly food.


... letting people off first.


Doesn't that kinda creep you out a bit? I mean, I don't think I had ever seen these cartoon love babies ever unhappy, let alone pissed off. Are we to assume that the cartoon love babies are at peace with the world through their mediocre expressions of love, yet the one thing that can vault them from their vapid bliss is another cartoon love baby eating a sandwich?

I'm sorry, but if I'm hungry and I gotta get somewhere, I'm eating my Subway Club with extra black olives, and no bad-vibin' love baby is gonna peer-pressure me into waiting. Besides, that six-inch miracle is going to sustain me in ways that their dull expressions of love never could.


So this brings us to now. While doing some research into clichéd inspirationalism, which is often my wont, I came across the Love is... archive. I casually looked through the strips for some strange or odd expressions of what "Love is..." and I came across a surprising amount of environmental propaganda.

Now, while I generally agree with the environmental movement, the recent global warming scare is definitely a cause célébre. I don't refute global warming but it has become an article of faith, something that is not to be questioned. Whenever anything reaches this point, it must be scrutinized.

It would be one thing if it was Love is... caring for your environment; or Love is... planting a tree; but check some of this shit out:










Ick. I think it's tacky. Ok, so it's not ELF, but it gives me the same feeling as the Tube posters. It feels maternal, the Tube posters and these "eco-friendly" ones are both telling you how to live, as if it is a responsibility to shop at Fair Trade stores and drive wind buggies instead of 4x4s, matters that are debatable in their effectiveness.

While I agree that Fair Trade is, for the most part, a good thing, there are significant debates about whether much of it is doing more harm than good. As far as the SUV debate goes, it is pure bullshit. Sorry. SUVs aren't making the environment worse, vehicles are making the environment worse. People are making the environment worse. Getting a hybrid or a, what was it, wind buggy will never offset the millions of your neighbors who drive normal, gas-guzzling cars.

If one person is going to make a difference, it's going to be the badass scientist that figures out some way to get us out of this mess. I mean, we're getting super-vision!! They gotta be inventing a massive carbon dioxide vacuum or some shit.

To be honest though, I'm kind of a nihilist about the matter. Love is... propaganda bothers me more than the possibly impending apocalypse. Maybe we are fucked. But maybe we should spend our last remaining days on earth appreciating the good things in life, rather than judging our neighbors for not buying Fair Trade or for driving SUVs.

I try to live like that in life, like the world could explode at any moment, but goddamn my non-fair trade Subway Club, my jalapeno kettle-cooked Lays, and my medium cherry coke tastes like it was prepared by Jesus himself.

Then I don't care so much about how other people should live their life.

Ya know what? Maybe Love is... ain't actually so bad. I mean it's a bunch of narrow-minded hogcrap scrawling its soul-obliteratingly mundane message to people who need their daily dose of banality along with their fair trade hazel-nut coffee and kale-flavored soy eggs, but, ya know, maybe it ain't so bad.

I mean, it featured this surprisingly suggestive strip:

I just check out the new New Amsterdam Records website. I must say I am very impressed. The new label is pretty great and several of my friends have albums on it. What is very remarkable is the budding Community aspect. You can set up a profile, much like Myspace (except without the lame 6 song limit), and list your projects/bands/etc. It's actually pretty great. This is a remarkable time for new "indie classical" music in NYC and it is nice to see some creative people taking advantage of it.

I started profiles for myself and for my new project, The Little Death:

Matt Marks

The Little Death - A Christian Nihilist Pop Musical

Give it a look, you should see some familiar names.

Very sad news. One of my favorite writers, J.G. Ballard, has advanced prostate cancer. He has a autobiography coming soon, which I suppose is a bit of good news. His first memoir was Empire of the Sun, which was made into a movie by Spielberg. I am forever indebted to Ballard for my experiences reading Crash and The Atrocity Exhibition, two extremely shocking and beautiful books. He has always seemed a very intelligent and sensible person, who is nonetheless unafraid of writing extremely provocative and controversial works. I've been waiting to start another Ballard novel, maybe now is the time.

Here's a treat:


"If every member of the human race were to vanish overnight, I think it would be possible to reconstitute almost every element of human psychology from the design of a vehicle..."

Dayamn. This looks really good. Although, some might argue that the J.J. Abrams team specializes in creating anticipation. I'm optimistic though. I dig the gritty, under-the-hood perspective of the Enterprise. It's reminiscent of the new BSG, which has a lot of focus on the people who shift the gears, literally, the workers who are customarily behind the scenes.

I think the new realism trend in sci-fi can be traced to one moment in film history.

The Star Wars scene from Clerks:

Here is a rather silly ONDCP Press Release about a "dangerous new drug threat":

Extreme Ecstasy!!

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is warning public health and safety leaders across the country about a dangerous new drug threat coming from Canada. Ecstasy laced with methamphetamine (meth) has been entering the United States illegal drug markets, particularly in northern border states. Intelligence reports indicate that once smuggled into the U.S., the meth-laced Ecstasy is then being distributed throughout the country.

I took this "new drug". In 1998. This is like calling The Backstreet Boys a dangerous new threat. While I'll concede to the DEA that I feel Backstreet to be both dangerous and a threat, I hardly feel that they are what you would call "new". In fact they felt tired and old in '98, but I digress.

The folks at Reason report on the bewilderment of one of the Canadian heads of drug policy, Paul Nadeau, head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's national drug branch:

"According to our stats the presence of methamphetamines in ecstasy is dropping," he said, adding tests by the RCMP indicate that currently, about 35 per cent of ecstasy pills contain meth, down from 75 per cent several years ago.

"Why now do they feel the need to announce this to the world?" Nadeau said of the Office of National Drug Control Policy."

I would say that the answer is troubling, in either scenario I can imagine. In the less cynical one, the ONDCP is incredibly inept at viewing current drug trends and quite ill-informed. The other, more likely, scenario, is that this is the ONDCP version of an Orange Alert, something to keep parents scared and to justify increased funding.

I'll admit that I think Ecstasy 3000, or whatever you want to call it, is a bad drug. It is actually one of the reasons I stopped taking E. It was always very difficult to find pure MDMA, particularly if you happened to buy at the party/rave. MDMA by itself is actually not terribly harmful, it is the crap with which they cut it that makes it so: meth, cocaine, heroin, and (in one of my more disturbing trips) cough medicine.

This press release is actually a clear argument for the legalization of Ecstasy. With regulation, the danger of Tweak-E would be non-existent.

I dig Amy Winehouse. Part of me doesn't want her to clean up, like I have this irrational fear that if she kicks, then like many pop stars, her music will suffer. Also part of me wants to thumb my nose at all of the busy bodies who feel they know what's best for her. But the most awesome thing is that she had a hit single, Rehab, which did just that. And it rocks by the way. I think she has one of the best voices in the industry.

This is the shit.

Oh thank you sweet Jesus thank you!! Thank you, thank you... (breaking down into tears)...

That massive void left in my soul after the removal of TV Links has now been filled.

Here it is:

TV Links

And for ref, the new address is:

http://tv-links.cc/

The upshot to this writing strike is that these horribly useless, biased, and corrupt awards shows are being crippled. Looks like the Grammys are heading down the same path as the Golden Globes.
The AFM is jumping in the game, supporting a waiver to allow writers to write for the Grammys ceremony. The AFM acting in self-interest in spite of the writer's strike? Hardly surprising.

Hell fucking yes.

Ezra Levant of the Western Standard telling off the Canadian Human Rights commission. This is already becoming a classic in verbal pwnage.

A controversial conservative commentator was unrepentant going into a Human Rights and Citizenship Commission hearing yesterday (Sunday), using his Web site to republish the same cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that got him into trouble in the first place.

The fact that so many people in the western world were so über-sensitive about the Muhammed cartoon was so aggravating. 1. The cartoons were just kinda stupid, not really funny even (I guess cartooning in Denmark ain't all that) 2. The muslim world needs to learn to accept parody. Stat.

Ok. Every once in a while you stumble onto something on the internet that just... that just really makes you feel good that you are alive.

Elysha is that something for me today.

Ok, we all know and love the vast army of classical cross-over artists. I don't mean classical cross-over as in Kronos or Alarm Will Sound. I'm talking Charlotte Church, Andrea Bocelli, Bond... that sorta thing. Of course, in the vast arena of horrendous music, classical cross-over has a special place in my heart. This is most likely since I have a mysterious mixture of emotions involved with the genre. There is an odd combination of disgust, envy, resentment, wonder, awe, etc. But it takes a special sort of artist to blend those emotions into something great.

Enter Elysha.

I hadn't checked the AWS Myspace in a while, and I was performing the often tedious task of approving the hundreds of friend requests. Last on the list to be approved was an intriguing picture of a glammed-out brunette. I don't know why I clicked it. Maybe it's because I have a thing for brunettes. Maybe it's because it was the last one on the list. Or maybe I had a premonition of the wonders to come...

What would you have done?:



Here is Elysha's description of herself:

Hi! My name is Elysha. I am the result of long, exhausting hours of hard work. Day and night, night and day. No, I’m not the result of what you’re thinking of right now. I’m no more than a fantasy - I’m a drawing. (but between you and me I don’t think I’ve always been like this) See, my creators are basically my parents. I’ve never actually met them, but I can always tell when they’re around (or when they’re not around). Basically, they control most of what I do. It’s ok, it’s not like I have much of a personal life in 2D as it is anyway. However, when I’m playing the violin they can’t control me, ‘cuz you can’t control feelings, and that’s what music is all about. But whenever I play the violin, something strange happens to me. I turn into (gasp!) a human! Yes! I’m three-dimensional for a few minutes! (If you have any pity for me, press that “repeat” button, will you? Thank you.) There’s a catch though – in exchange for my so-called freedom, I can’t talk. (Not that I ever talk much, but whatever. A deal is a deal.) I love it – whenever I play the violin I feel like a different person, like I’m complete. It’s always weird being 2D again after having been 3D – no boobs! Oh well…. That’s my life in a nutshell! There’s more to come soon, so stay tuned! (literally!) And here you'll find my new album at

Ummm... Do you have any fucking idea what that was all about? I most certainly do not. For a while I was like, is she a real person?? I mean, I think she is real. I don't know what the hell tip this chick is on, but it is some next-level shit.

And now to the music. I recommend the BACH Remix. The experience is an exercise in endurance, somewhat akin to listening to Satie's Vexations. She takes the BACH signature theme (B-flat, A, C, B-natural) and basically riffs on it for what feels like 10 minutes but the song is only about 3 and change (perfect for a single!). Make sure you make it to about 2:15 for an awesome treat. The production alone is quite unbelievable. Check out the original BACH tune in the playlist for some amazingly awesome drum programming.

Elysha is where bad meets good, where irony folds in on itself.

Listen to it. It will make you a better person.

He Touched Me - Matt Marks

Ha-whu? That's right. Me. This is a cover of the Bill Gaither tune, adapted for the purposes of my upcoming musical, The Little Death. In the musical/album version this will be sung by the main female character, played/sung by Mellissa Hughes, but I wanted to release an pre-alternate version featuring myself because honestly, it was too much fun NOT to record. Enjoy.

Heartbeats Accelerating - by Kate and Anne McGarrigle

A classic from the Canadian princess of folk, the McGarrigles. I've sampled this tune for numerous live performances and it goes with everything. Give it a chance.

Ok, I actually still Like That Color. But I think it is finally time to retire the cute little nom de plum in favor of people actually knowing who I am. So I like that color is no more, well he is with us in spirit, and Matt Marks is reborn. Yeah, I know. Maybe it's kind of boring. But! Check this out! Read it as a sentence: Matt marks. Hmmmm. Makes ya think, huh? No? Well, whatever. That's how it goes.

I am releasing Part One of my musical The Little Death very soon. Keep an eye out for a couple new songs on my Myspace in the coming days.

My new Myspace URL is:

http://www.myspace.com/mattmarksmusic

Feel it. Love it.

The Age of Not Believing - from Bednobs and Broomsticks

That's right. Old School Disney in the house.

Hip Hop Drunkies - Tha Alkaholics feat. ODB

Listen to this. Try not to crave a 40oz. Try... but you will fail.

Poison Control Center

And for our Spanish-speaking friends:

Poison Control Center (Spanish)

You get a bonus mp3 today! Enjoy!

Libertarians are distancing themselves from Ron Paul, post the New Republic exposé on the unbelievably bigoted points of view in Paul's past newsletters. Paul claims ignorance, that he didn't write them, but it is hard to defend that he would be unaware of so many crazy-ass racist, homophobic, and xenophobic viewpoints in his own newsletters.

Here's a selection, written after the L.A. Riots:

"Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began. ... What if the checks had never arrived? No doubt the blacks would have fully privatized the welfare state through continued looting. But they were paid off and the violence subsided."

Yikes! Backpedal libertarians, backpedal! It is smart that many of them are admitting their shame at supporting Paul previously. I, for one, feel kind of stupid for getting seduced by some of Paul's supporter's enthusiasm. I never supported him for president, nor believed he had a shred of a chance, but it was nice to see issues like the futility of the drug war take center stage at the Republican (!) debates. Libertarians need to cut their losses and publicly withdraw support. The eminently reasonable folks at Reason are starting to do so, but the, sadly immense, nut job core of Ron Paul supporters will likely hold firm.

Yay! It's raining hard in Brooklyn: thunder, lightning, I love it! I've been praying for rain for days now. I'm inside recording all day, it's nice to pull of the headphones and hear the rain falling in the courtyard outside my window. Let's hope the thunder doesn't interfere with my recording!

Ground-breaking new study. Now get to work on Parkinson's!

I hate to say it but puns like this make me lose my shit.

Here is the trailer for the new Peter Greenaway movie, Nightwatching, about the painting of Rembrant's masterpiece:



It's a long trailer too! Looks dry, kinky, and gorgeous. Like all of Greenaway's films. No word yet on when it will come to the states. I'll keep an eye out.

Yeah, I mean, all the lost geeks are foaming at the mouth about Cloverfield. The main thing that troubles me, and no one seems to be talking about, is the corny-ass acting and dialogue in the trailer. It is nice that they are not using Standard Hollywood Cast X, but aside from the party scene, all of the dialogue feels really, really trite.

"Looks like you should have left town a little bit earlier..."

Dude, that sounds straight from Lethal Weapon or some shit.

Hey all, I've wanted to start featuring mp3s from my collection of obscure and often strange music library. The podcast was a way of sharing those tunes, but I've been slacking in that category recently (don't worry, one is on the way!)

I'll try to make this feature daily. Leave me a comment if you have a suggestion or a song/artist/genre/era request.

The first song featured is the sung by the magnificent Ronnie Dyson, it's a song from one of my favorite late 60's christian counter-culture musicals, Salvation.

Why can't I touch you?

Dark.

We all know her from her redonk cover of I Will Always Love You (otherwise known as the perfect cover song):


But check out her folk chops, damn girl!! (Did I mention I'm in love with her?)


I can think of nothing cooler than a mainstream pop star that would expose audiences in the west to the beauty of Bulgarian folk music.

Ok, one thing cooler...

Otter Pops bitches!!!

Whoa. Cool.

Weak.

Brain 'closes eyes' to hear music. This helps explain why often during a particularly intense listening session, I'll have no visual memory of the experience. People will tell me things that happened in front of my eyes that I will have no recollection of. Kind of scary while driving...

Math is hard.

The comments are hilarious.

-thanks Gurf

God, they are SO annoying. No matter how much shit I talk about the Dems, these guys always win in the douchebag category. Huckabee is the most "likable", but that is not saying much.

This is so much like my and Melly's arguments about Superbad it's scary:

Meh. He's no George Will, but at least he's no Pat Sajak.

Don't use up your sympathy strikers...

Membership in any movement must always be voluntary, never compulsory. Of course Leno is free to write his own jokes if he so wishes. And yes, the strikers are free to publicly criticize him.
But don't come up with some bullshit like this:

Asked what the guild would do if Mr. Leno performed a monologue anyway, Mr. Verrone said any violation of strike rules would be brought before a Strike Rules Compliance Committee.

Strike Rules Compliance Committee? That sounds like some shit he thought of on the spot.

Look guys, I'm already pissed you split up the new Lost episodes. I agree with your aim, you should totally get money for digital downloads. Just... just don't get all Teamsters on us, k?

This only goes to further prove my theorem:

X + Yakety Sax = Funnier version of X

Reminds of one of my favorite Bill Hicks routines:

I failed

I love his movies, but God, he is such a herb.

In an attempt to damage Obama, the Clintonoids cited Obama's opposition to federal mandatory minimums. This is the kinda no-tolerance shit where possession of 5 grams of crack will get you a minimum 5 year prison, while it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to get the same. In case you were wondering, it's because white people tend to use powder over rock. Mandatory minimums wreak havoc in almost every other "criminal" area, from sex laws to firearms. They are almost always wrought with good intentions, but tend to be reactionary attempts to stem tides of recent crimes or vice. This is how prescription drug,
consensual sex, and fraud cases will often receive harsher sentences than first-degree murder.
The U.S. prison population DOUBLED under Bill Clinton. It doesn't seem as if Hillary has any other plans.

My cynical side says that last night's victory for Obama is a fleeting moment, that maybe Obama is not what he seems, that he'll turn out like the rest, that he is all charisma and no substance. But still, a glimmer of hope lies behind the murky cynicism. Of course this hope is somewhat dulled by the fact that "Hope" is his message, his brand. Am I, and much of America, simply falling for Obama's marketing machine? Has Obama's visage become subliminally linked with the idea, and indeed the feeling, of "Hope"?

There are many reasons to oppose Obama. I disagree with him on several issues. One of the main reasons for me is Gay Marriage; Obama is against Gay Marriage and for Civil Unions. I believe that Gay Rights is the fundamental civil rights issue of our time and that history will prove this. In fifty years, a politician opposing Gay Rights will be as archaic as a politician nowadays opposing integration. But honestly, in this respect there are no major candidates who are on the right side of the issue, or at least publicly.

Obama is a moderate, in the true, mainstream sense of the word, and so his only real radicalism lies in honestly reaching out to Independents and Republicans. I consider myself to be a radical moderate, in that I lean left and right on many issues, but am extreme on several, mainly issues of personal freedom. Am I going to pan Obama because he is not for the unconditional legalization of all drugs? Probably not, since no one running but the relatively crackpot-ish Ron Paul is.

The biggest thing Obama has going for himself is the charisma, confidence, and striking image of a great leader. He is at once youthful and authoritative. He will be very appealing to people who have been embarrassed by having Bush as our world representative. Here would be a young, confidence, compassionate leader of the most powerful country of the world, such a contrast to Bush.

The most impressive aspect of last night's caucus was the youth vote. Obama used them to secure his win. The power of the youth was dismissed in the last election, mainly because of Howard Dean's collapse and Kerry loss. I don't believe that too many young people related to Dean, I sure didn't, but his ideas somewhat resonated with them. The problem was, he was not an inspiring speaker or leader. People did not really look up to him. And Kerry, well, we all know what happened there.
The young people of today have surprisingly good bullshit detectors and they saw through Kerry and they can see through Hillary. People voted for Kerry and support Hillary because they feel they should, people support Obama because they want to. Sure, Obama deals the bullshit, the Mother/Cancer story is getting old, but it is so much less than the other candidates.

The last two elections were about the lesser of two evils. Say what you will about Obama, I don't believe he is evil. And that is really what Obama is all about. He is a viable presidential candidate who is strong, commanding, and somehow not evil. It's an odd feeling.

Let's hope he doesn't get himself assassinated.

Dude.

-via Neatorama

I watched my first D.W. Griffith movie last night. No, it wasn't Intolerance or even Birth of a Nation, it was his follow-up to Intolerance, called Broken Blossoms. It is a much more low budget, intimate movie than his previous two blockbusters. It also featured some of the seediest characters and controversial themes of the silent movie era. It still surprises me how much more daring the movie from that era were than say, movies from the 50s, or even the 80s to some extent.

I had read about the infamous "closet scene" from Broken Blossoms and was eager to see it. Apparently upon first viewing, producers were shocked and one even left the room to vomit. Of course it is pretty tame by today's standards, but it is still pretty shocking in it's psychological violence. The most interesting thing to me was that it is apparent that Stanley Kubrick, a recipient of The D.W. Griffith Award, blatantly adapted the closet scene for the famous "Here's Johnny!" scene in The Shining. Kubrick's scene is naturally much more horrifying, but you can clearly see the similarities, mostly in the use of the hatchet/axe, in the grotesque facial contortions and screams of the actresses, and in the claustrophobic environments.

Let's compare the two (SPOILER ALERTS!!!)

Broken Blossoms (around 2:00 is where the main action begins)


The Shining


It's hard to enter the mind state of the typical movie-goer from 1919, but I'd imagine the closet scene would be pretty horrifying. And I'd imagine that the scene from the Shining would make their heads explode.

As an optimist, I'll say that I'm pleased with the results. Despite the misgivings I have with Obama and, especially, Huckabee, it is nice to see Clinton and Romney have heir asses handed to them. They represent the sad, current state of politics in America: empty ambition and idealogical stagnation. While the winners are really only slight deviations from the current mainstream politics, it is good that it is actually being rewarded for once. Also I can't help but like Obama. Let's hope he does something substantial with his energy and charisma.

Wow. This would be very nice.

Ok, I know I'm a little late, but I felt I had to add my faves to the plethora of 2007 lists. I'm afraid I missed many of the so-called "best" movies of 2007 such as No Country for Old Men, Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, etc. I watched a lot of older movies this year. But this is the best of what's new.

10. Zodiac -
To be honest, I didn't want to put Zodiac in the top ten, but I realized that Inland Empire was released in December of 2006. I like movies about serial killers so I went into this expecting a tense, creepy, suspense-fest. Of course, this wasn't really about that. I respect it as a view into the mundane reality of a failed manhunt, but I still think Fincher could have done much more with the tone of the film, to make it more tense and depressing, like what he did in Se7en. The acting was very good, but did anyone else notice that they put in hardly any work the make the actors appear older as the years progressed?

9. Knocked Up -
Yes, it was overrated. But it was still very funny. It seems Judd Apatow is bringing to comedy what Kevin Smith brought, or attempted to bring, in the 90s: witty, interesting, hilarious dialogue. Apatow manages to make it sound even less scripted than Smith. His dialogue is managing to both reflect and transform the state of lowbrow wit in this country. His is a unique blend, at once extrovertedly self-conscious and sympathetically antagonizing.

8. Grindhouse: Planet Terror
I believe it to be the lesser of the Grindhouse double-feature but it was once of the most fun movies to see in the theaters. The audience loved it - I am still perplexed by how poorly this movie performed at the box office, I saw it in a packed house. Rodriguez has a knack for creating legendary characters and you could easily imagine the back-story of many of these characters. I kind of hope he expands on the El Rey character, it was too much fun watching Freddy Rodriguez slice up zombies with his duel knives.

7. Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer
Technically this movie came out a few days before 2007, but I'll include it anyway. I loved the book by Patrick Suskind, and was pretty skeptical about the adaptation, but this was a decent one. I think having read the book I suffer from Not-as-good-as-the-bookitis, but visually the movie is a feast. Many, such as Kubrick, declared the novel to be unfilmable. Director Tykwer managed to capture much of the scent-based imagery using lush and grotesque visuals. Still, I was relatively unsatisfied, but as a purely visual film it was stunning. I would say that along with Satoshi Kon's Paprika it was the most visually intriguing film of the year.

6. Superbad
Popcorn movie of the year. The dialogue was great, the acting was silly and strikingly realistic, and the humor gross and offensive. It's a less idealistic Dazed and Confused for the 2000s. Best of all, it features anti-heroes that you actually can believe as anti-heroes. I'm so sick of Hollywood putting a pair of glasses on a Mandy Moore or a Zac Efron and expecting you to believe that they would have had the outsider experience. Some may have viewed it as misogynistic (I'm looking at you Mell), but what teen boy isn't somewhat misogynistic in his relentless pursuit of sexual gratification of any kind? I thought it was shockingly realistic.

5. Sweeney Todd
I recently half-watched the movie version of Rent, a show that I half-like. I was shocked at the level of post-production they employed to the vocals. Everything was auto-tuned and much of it was so glaringly obvious that it almost seemed they were using it as an effect, like Cher or Akon. I went into Sweeney Todd expecting the worst, reviews of the film were good, but film reviewers often don't catch this type of thing. I was pleasantly surprised. Even though the leads were all actors first and singers second, they did a very good job and there was very minimal use (at least noticable) of auto-tune and similar effects. The film as a whole was pretty dark, I was glad that Tim Burton didn't clean it up for mass audiences; there was a lot of blood, though they tinted it brighter to make it look less realistic. It is definitely the best movie musical in years, much better than Chicago. Much of that is the music, the Sondheim score is a modern masterpiece, more opera than musical.

4. Southland Tales
This and Death Proof were my most anticipated films for the year. Actually I was anticipating this film last year, I believe it was originally supposed to be released in November of 2006. A common phrase heard in reviews was "a beautiful mess". This is true. It was perhaps overly ambitious, but I would much rather see a ornate, challenging, unfocused work-of-art than a tight, quirky, and harmless picture such as Juno, which I watched last night. The latter was pleasant, inoffensive (by being adorably "offensive"), and perfectly content having no lasting effect on the art of film as a whole. Southland Tales destroyed my notion of a film comedy, by employing a distinct recursive irony to the dialogue and overall tone of the film, delving more deeply in this respect than Lynch in Blue Velvet and John Waters in Pink Flamingos. Watching this movie is like hanging out with that weird friend of yours, the one you are never quite sure if they are kidding or not, their whole persona being mired so deeply in sarcasm and irony. While it has plenty of flaws, this could end up being the most influential film of 2007 in the long run.

3. Grindhouse: Death Proof
This movie left me confounded. Perhaps it was the fact that it followed the raucous crowd-pleaser Planet Terror. Death Proof is a subtle, dialogue-driven "thriller", although it unfolds so much differently than the type of movie it was purporting to emulate. Unlike Kill Bill, Tarantino relied on dialogue to propel the plot, as in his earlier films. With Death Proof however, the movie was almost completely based on dialogue, with the exception of the action driving scenes, which of course were the polar opposite. Many critics panned or even hated the movie, much like Southland Tales, but again I think it is just the case of them not analyzing it deeply enough. The dialogue scenes, which were almost exclusively female, served to give depth to the characters in the first half (the first group of girls) and the second half (the second group of girls) and to show their differences, and perhaps why one group survives and one group doesn't. I'll admit that at times the dialogue was too long and mundane even for me, a perennial Tarantino defender, but as a commentary on the relationship between slasher films and feminism the film is ground-breaking.

2. Eastern Promises
I always look forward to new Cronenberg movies. He hasn't really made any bad movies. I like that his recent films have been branching into new territory, instead of horror and sci-fi, though not that I mind his work in those genres. This film featured impeccable acting and beautiful cinematography. It also has one of the best fight scenes in history. I felt it was over too soon, but in my experience that is often the mark of a great movie.

1. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Yes, apparently Sidney Lumet is back. This was a very tense movie. The title comes from an old saying, something like "You have 5 minutes in hell before the Devil know's you're dead". Phillip Seymore Hoffman, unsurprisingly, is incredible. It is actually becoming a bit tiresome for him to be so good in all of his movies. He was even good in Along Came Polly! This movie also features some of the best camera work I've seen in years. There is a brilliant long shot in the drug dealer's apartment, where Lumet slowly pans the camera and the suspense is so savory that each new inch of the scene uncovered is like a revelation. As it should be in a good suspense film, each revelation is a further complication though. The characters get so tangled into knots that you are hoping for any way out of the mess, as they are. The movie ends in desperation and the suspense isn't so much resolved as it is destroyed. This is my favorite kind of movie, one that is entertaining and challenging, each to a very high degree. It was not easy to watch this movie, I actually wanted it to be over while I was seeing it. But it was the type of movie that stayed in my head for weeks after I saw it.

This is one of the few times I wished I still lived in L.A.

Takashi Miike Retrospective at LA's Silent Movie Theatre.

Jan 6th - Audition (1999)

Jan 13th - One Missed Call (2003)

Jan 20th - Big Bang Love (2006)

Jan 27th - Gozu (2003)

Feb 3rd - The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) & Visitor Q (2001)

Feb 10th - Ichi the Killer (2001) & Fudoh: The New Generation (1996)

Feb 17th - Great Yokai War (2005) & Zebraman (2004)

God, I would kill to be there. Miike is without a doubt one of the best and most challenging directors active today. If you haven't seen any of his films I recommend attending the Sunday screening of Audition to get your feet wet. It is a pretty brutal horror movie, but one so beautifully crafted that you can appreciate it on many levels.

If you feel up to it, the February 3rd showing will be an awe-inspiring display of Miike's range. Two movies - released in the same year - one, The Happiness of the Katakuris, a cinematic horror musical with a broad appeal, and the other, Visitor Q, a low-budget DV exploitation shocker about the degeneration of a nuclear family, are about as different as they come. Do NOT watch Visitor Q if you are easily-offended, although past the shock is actually a beautiful story.

The February 17th showings have the broadest appeal, although I haven't seen either movie. The Great Yokai War is a children's fantasy film and Zebraman is a superhero parody.

Here are a bunch of the trailers:

Audition


One Missed Call (the original)


Big Bang Love
Trailer can be found HERE.

Gozu


The Happiness of the Katakuris


Visitor Q (I love this trailer)


Ichi the Killer (NSFW)


Fudoh: The New Generation
Trailer can be found HERE.

The Great Yokai War


Zebraman

A little girl in Maryland found a surprise in her Christmas present. Her box, supposedly containing an iPod, instead was empty, save for this philosophically illuminating note:

"Reclaim your mind from the media's shackles. Read a book and resurect [sic] yourself. To claim your capitalistic garbage go to your nearest Apple store."

Unsurprising was her reaction:
"Father, while I appreciate your meager attempts to buy my affection with electronic gadgetry, I now understand the folly of my parasitic consumerist ways. I have a deep gratitude toward this heroic, unnamed culture-jammer for knowing what is ultimately best and depriving me of my sinful aural indulgences. Please return me at once to the mall so I might supplement my knowledge-starved mind with the latest writings of Naomi Klein and Kalle Lasn."

-via BB

I'm back. Christmas is officially over and the Iowa caucus is tonight.
Here are two pleas for support:


and




There is something personally disconcerting about my respective reactions to these videos. To be honest I couldn't get to the end of the Hillary one. Despite being too long, there is just something creepy about it/her. Like that kid in school who tried much too hard to be liked and ended up making everyone around them more uncomfortable. That and, as countless bloggers have bitchily pointed out, she's wearing a lot of make-up.

While watching the Obama video I felt inspired, hopeful, and even a few warm fuzzies. That disconcerts me even more than the Clinton video.