a tribute to anton chigurh

Read more...

10 most historically inaccurate movies

While I disagree with some of the selections on this list, it is worth pointing out that Mel Gibson has been involved in 30 percent of these films. Speaking of history on film, we've been watching Season 1 of The Tudors this weekend. It makes for a compelling drama - but as I'm not well versed in English history I'm not sure what is fact and what is fiction. For instance, did Thomas Boleyn really pimp out his daughter (yes, actual pimping - pay attention David Schuster) to persuade the king to axe Cardinal Wolsey as his adviser?

Read more...

it's all part of the cosmic consciousness

Miller explains the weirdness.

I think this says it all.

Read more...

hard bop is motherfuckin sublime

Election years are always a good time to watch or re-watch political flicks. Personally, I'm a fan of Bob Roberts and Wag the Dog. But The Great IOZ reminded me of a film I had forgotten - Bulworth. The fine senator played by Warren Beatty offered this gem, among other truisms:

"All we need is a voluntary, free-spirited, open-ended program of procreative racial deconstruction. Everybody just gotta keep fuckin' everybody 'til they're all the same color."

2008 is going to be a fascinating year. The Proggels are poised to have the nervous breakdown of all nervous breakdowns over their party's inability to successfully and democratically select a presidential candidate. All they need is the super delegates to super size the point spread and a-wop-bop-a-loo-lop a-lop-bam-boo there goes the neighborhood. Will it happen? We'll find out in Denver.

Part of me doesn't give a shit. The other part wants to see the DNC fuck this up so badly that we get stuck with President McCain. Maybe that will teach 'em a lesson. Make 'em call a spade a spade. The way I see it, Nero has already started the fire. Might as well let Strangelove steer us clear into hell.

To be continued...

*This post was brought to you by Anchor Steam Beer and John Coltrane's Blue Train.

Read more...

hearing that theme song makes me feel like a kid again

But dude, Harrison, umm, you're looking a little old.

Read more...

do you like huey lewis and the news?

Imagine Don Draper as a deranged serial killer.

Read more...

worst of the worst

I've watched 11 out of the 200 Worst-Reviewed Movies on Metacritic. Mind you, their list only goes back to the mid-1990s (Howard the Duck and Time Bandits are notably absent). The only one I take issue with is Half Baked. The fact that Bob Saget sucked dick for coke has got to redeem the film from its place on this infamous list.

How many of these stinkers have you wasted time on? Come on, admit it. The New Year is all about starting fresh and getting things out in the open...

Read more...

first as tragedy, then as farce

One of the severe side effects of imperialism in its advanced stages seems to be that it rots the brains of the imperialists. They start believing that they are the bearers of civilization, the bringers of light to "primitives" and "savages" (largely so identified because of their resistance to being "liberated" by us), the carriers of science and modernity to backward peoples, beacons and guides for citizens of the "underdeveloped world."...

My own view is that if Charlie Wilson's War is a comedy, it's the kind that goes over well with a roomful of louts in a college fraternity house. Simply put, it is imperialist propaganda and the tragedy is that four-and-a-half years after we invaded Iraq and destroyed it, such dangerously misleading nonsense is still being offered to a gullible public. The most accurate review so far is James Rocchi's summing-up for Cinematical: "Charlie Wilson's War isn't just bad history; it feels even more malign, like a conscious attempt to induce amnesia."

Chalmers Johnson, discussing Tom Hanks' latest crapfest.

Read more...

working for the church while your family dies

I have many ideas floating around in my head at the moment. I have yet to successfully reify these into a post or posts. My draft queue continues to expand. I've decided to let it loose this year. So expect more randomness in the near future.

Recent events have led me to reconsider the 1970s. Borrowed Neil Young's Live at Massey Hall 1971 from my uncle. Good stuff. Just Neil and his guitar, playing many of the Harvest tracks before they were released. Children of Men has an awesome soundtrack - you might recall the Lennon track above playing during the final credits. Juno - watched it last night and is highly recommended - also has a sweet soundtrack. It was nice seeing the Bluth boys back together, albeit in a different format. Prominently features the Moldy Peaches, who I saw open for Tenacious D and the Strokes in 2002. The crowd was not too fond of them.

Read more...

link dump

I was planning to do a year-end review like I did last year. Sorry, but I'm feeling too lazy, disillusioned and misanthropic at the moment.

So here are the links I was amassing.

Enjoy.

Read more...

everything i need to know i learned from repo man

Heh, reminds me of my introduction to the world of mortgage brokering right out of college. We funded thousands of loans to consumers who have now foreclosed on their homes. That sure was a soul-sucking occupation, not to say Acme Industries is any better.

So, what code do you live by?

Read more...

what's the most you've ever lost in a coin toss?

Go see this film.

Calling Javier Bardem the "ultimate bad-ass" is an understatement.

Read more...

the life of a repo man is always intense

Tags: otto, repo man

Read more...

thoughts on recent films

For whatever reason, springtime is when I catch up on movies from the past year. The drought is over and we’ve been watching several movies thanks to some local theaters and blockbuster.com

. . .

Marie Antoinette – Let’s dress up kids in fancy Rococo costumes and film them lounging around Versailles to the tune of indie rock music. Look, just because your Dad is a great director doesn’t mean you are. I fell asleep during the first ten minutes. Too bad the project wasn’t guillotined during pre-production.

Volver – My first Almodóvar film, and an enjoyable one to boot. Me gusta Penélope. I also liked the look of her prosthetically-enhanced rear. According to mi esposa, the English subtitles were a poor effort. Much of the colloquial humor and colorful vocabulary were lost in translation.

Letters from Iwo Jima – Excellent. Shows war for what it really is – insane.

Running with Scissors – Watched this last night. Mi esposa really enjoyed it. I found it utterly pointless. If you want a film about a dysfunctional family that’s actually interesting and funny, go with Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tennenbaums. Scissors left me wanting to stick my head in a microwave.

Stranger than Fiction – Running around naked is not Will Ferrell’s only strength. This Irvine native is in fact a decent actor. I liked the literary focus of the film...except the romance between IRS auditor Ferrel and Maggie Gyllenhaal's anarchist/cookie maker character was completely unbelieveable.

Ocean’s Twelve – The first one was entertaining. But Hollywood producers never know when to leave a good thing alone. They get pleasure from poking dead bodies with sticks, repeatedly. I made it through about forty minutes before the ennui set in strong and I killed it. My only dissapointment in not finishing the film was missing the scene in which Brad Pitt and George Clooney wear Arsenal FC track suits. What's worse than Ocean's Twelve? Ocean’s Thirteen!

A Scanner Darkly – I was excited last year about the promise of this film. My excitement didn't live up to the final product. After an hour the novelty of interpolated rotoscoping (the style of film in which live footage is overlaid with 2D animation similar to Waking Life) wore off. I did enjoy watching the characters drive past my house on the I-5 though - seeing Orange County landmarks through Phillip K. Dick's drug-addled haze was kinda funny.

The Departed – Not sure it deserved the Best Picture Oscar - I would have given that to Babel. But I can thoroughly say I respect Leo DiCaprio as an actor. His performance was bad-ass. He’s come a long way from that little poor boy on the Titanic.

Babel – Loved it - the cinematography, the acting, the style, the three separate stories which intersect at the end...it was beautiful. Crash has nothing on this film.

. . .

So far, my favorite films from 2006 have been Little Miss Sunshine, Iwo Jima, Babel and Children of Men. Borat and V for Vendetta deserve an honorable mention.

Read more...

the only verdict is vengeance

Go see V for Vendetta, and remember this: by supporting a work of art that embodies your political and philosophical values, you are helping to fight the cultural rot that the War Party feeds on. There is a scene in the movie when Natalie Portman is going about her job at the BTN and passes a security guard watching some ridiculous "reality" show. She asks, "How can you watch that trash?" The contempt in her voice is clearly that of the authors of this script, who are acutely aware of the political consequences of entertainment as cultural "soma."

This post gives away most of the film's plot, so if you don't like spoilers, don't read it.

But take my word, for what's it's worth, and go see the film. It is a hopeful statement that the dominant idea of freedom still lives on somewhere...

Read more...

The feeling comes and goes. It is a semi-intense feeling of dread that lasts about two minutes. Then it passes. It’s odd. The feeling is one of uncertainty. Then I am calm again. I remind myself that life is good despite its randomness and utter absurdity.

(It's just paranoia. It's perfectly natural)

It’s not an existential crisis. I stopped worrying about philosophical-ontological problems several years ago. I realized there was no point to my questioning. Who cares whether or not life has a purpose. Who cares if there is or is not a god. I have learned to live for the sake of living.

My goal is to learn, then unlearn, then learn again. Build it up, then break it down, then build it back up again.

. . .

This odd meditation into all things absurd is my way of reflecting on this film, which is highly enjoyable. I read the book in a high school science fiction class. Sam Rockwell plays a very Clintonesque president of the galaxy and Mos Def is great as the cool space traveler Ford Prefect.

Another good lesson learned from the film (besides the fact that the universe has no meaning and that the creation of the universe is widely held to be the worst decision ever made in history) is this: resistance is useless!

Read more...