bed in a hostel, dorm room, four beds $26-29
kebab and drink $10 lunch special
average entrees around, not esp. fancy $20-30
3 minute phone call to a local number $2
box of “goon” low ened blended wine 2L $11

My train plan has been scrapped. It was expensive and might have been do-able, but only runs once a week, and is full until the 15th anyway. And there is no reason at all to hang around tiny ass Darwin until then. So I got a cheap $191 flight down to Melbourne where I want to be anyway and leave tomorrow night. Then I’ll slowly make my way to Sydney from there, maybe seeing the Blue Mountains en route. I was drinking in the park with some German’s and Estonias when this one guy, Fritz, convinced me to rent a cart with him and see the Kakadu National Park area and I agreed. So Frtiz, who has been hitching, not eating much, and out of practice drinking proceeded to get completely blotto. So the next morning, the kid was a mess, and I did the leg work on the rental car prices. We finally found the deal we wanted, went to get it, and it turned out Fritz didn’t have a credit card, just debit, which wouldn’t cut it. So much for Fritz and his plan. But no harm done, I just won’t see any nature up here. I’m content to swap road tales with other backpackers. there are like 10 hostels in this tiny city, which supposedly has 100k poeple, but feels much smaller to me after crowded-ass Indonesia. but it’s comfy enough. And the Sydney traveling film fest is in town, so I might go check out a flick tonight…for $15.

I also met up with Pavel Friday night, who I reached out to via couchsurfing.com. His new wife is not down with a houseguest, which is fine, but we went to dinner at the Yahct Club, which we snuck into and swapped road stories. He is a Czech Muslim, works in IT, and has traveled all around Iran and the ‘Stans, so has diffent tales than your average. All always dig Czech’s, even non drinking ones. Plus it helps build my cred on couchsurfing and I might have some more luck in that area down the road.

So I am technicAlly “down and out down under” but so far so good. this country is completely zawash in European backpackers who have come down here on work permits, to make cash then set off around the continent and up into Asia. So the hostels will always be full of talkative strangers, and mobile Aussies working around and crashing cheap.

So let me begin my admiting my bias and sharing a story that has amused parts of my family for decades. I am solidly Gen X, and in 1982, when I as 11 years old, with my Dad and little sister, then 6, on one of the weekends he had custody by the divorce decree, killing time as we often did in a movie cineplex, we slipped into a screening of the original Conan. It had already started, the scene where Conan’s mom is decapitated. And we only made it as far as when, as a grown barbarian he meets the woman who is to turn into a lycanthrope during their intercourse, when my sister piped up, audible throughout the mostly empty theater, “Dad, we aren’t allowed to see full frontal nudity!”. Classic hilarity. Soon after of course I saw the entire thing, and would say over the years I have done so at least a dozen times. Friends and I at various times have described it as pehaps the the ultimate fantasy film. For those too young to remember, let me point out there were many in that era, some, like Beast Master, blantantly trying to cash in on Conan’s success, others from Krull, Dragonslayer, Excalibur, and LadyHawke taking things in other directions. So one must ask why one would want to fuck with a classic… But alas, we live
in an era of remakes. And after James Bond, Batman, Star Trek etc. I guess Conan the Barabrian was about due. And it doesn’t completely fail, but there are a few points I must harp on.

Schwarzenegger vs Jason Mamoa

At first look at least, the new guy measures up. I’m no huge Arnold fan, despite seeing him time and again in classic roles of my adolescence. But I would argue he was BORN to play Conan. His Austrian accent adds to the plausibility of his barbarism, as does the stoicism that might be the reult of inferior acting ability. It’s not completely Mamoa’s fault: the writers gyped him trying to add romantic dimensions to the character. After some inital cliche chauvanism, he has a tender “make love” scene with the heroine. Barbarians don’t make love: they fuck. True, old Conan had real emotion going for his thief woman, but only because she was so outlaw, 3/4 masculine and still hot. A barbarian knows when he wants something, and will definitly open case after case of vengence when it is taken from him. But he lacks a certain emotional vocabulary. If he is tender it is almost accidental because has has unintentionally crushed fragile things in his past. Hell, Momoa is a better barbarian in Game of Thrones, where all he does is glower, kill, eat and butt fuck! (Ok so it was most likely only “doggie style”, but I’m taking license for the sake of a comedic line.)

The soundtrack is complete shit, I assume Tyler Bates is a hack, though he did do Matt Dillion’s City of Ghosts which I think is underrated. One cliche “action movie” melody and musical attack after another. You can hear a sample from Basil Poledouris’ superior soundtrack here.

Stephen Lang is completey played out as a villian. The scenes of his scrawny frame fighting Conan without the use of magic or minons are absurd. That having been said – the mask of evil power as a device was superior to the James Earl Jones in a Betty Page mullet snake cult motif. And I liked the idea of the wanna be incestuous witch daughter character, and Rose McGowan seemed to be having fun, though by the end she came up short. The Freddy Cruger nails were just stupid.

What’s with Papa Smurf on the hookah lording over the Tai Chi madiens? He added nothing. Nor did Conan’s black pirate buddy. The character comes off as token pandering. And while I’m on that – there is nothing essentially wrong with Conan doing time on a pirate ship, but the way they did it just seemed like the writers going “Ok, we need a little Pirates of the Carribean vibe here”. As did the fight in the court yard feel “we need a little Prince of Persia/Scorpion King vibe here.”
Also, the only time magic is used. The theif buddy is also a throw away. A quasi-middle eastern guy with a ring of skeleton keys, nothing plausible about him as a theif.

AND WHERE IS CROM? You cannot have Elric without Arioch, and you cannot have Conan without his “God by default” Crom. Conan’s tribe is described as specifically atheistic. Perhaps he mutters “Crom” a few times in moments of surprise, but there is nothing of his shaky faith in the war god who mostly delivers for him.

The sets started out Ok, but eventually had to do the LOLR CG fest, the most absurd being the skull mountain, or I should say the crumbling of the skull mountain as they ride away, straight out of King Kong. Have some rocks fall maybe, not the entire thing crumble.

I don’t want to hate on Ron Pearlman, who does as best he can as Conan’s father, but since when does Conan have a father? I see him as the child of rape, or maybe an absent father off fighting with the horde and ghost writing half-assed lyrics for Robert Plant. Conan’s mother dying here, right at the beginning, and his ersatz cesarian birth are laughable. I’m not sure how Robert E. Howard laid out Conan’s father originally, but see now from IMDB, ’82 Conan did have a dad – but I didn’t find him memorable.

Evil Henchmen

And there are many here. “No nose” is fairly original, as is his demise. But none of the henchmen carry the heft of “Molly Hatchet” and the other dude from the original. The one guy, far too orchish for my tastes, with the face tattoos being sent back as a message on a giant boulder which lands perfectly in the middle of giant ship which is inexplicably being hauled everywhere is cartoonish. Thank Crom they didn’t get too “Burning Man” with the costuming which I could have seen happening. I didn’t appreciate the snarling snow Mohicans in the beginning either, though the concept of the race around the mountain with the eggs was a nice touch. I thought it would have been more bad ass if Conan had showed up with the three heads but had acted penitant because his egg had broken, truely feeling his father might think he didn’t measure up.

What else did this version get right? There was a respectible amount of breast footage (lots of eastern europeans if you look it up…), essential I feel for the genre, though somehow it could have been sexier. And despite my earlier complaints about the scene, I did appreciate seeing Rachel Nichols’, or her body double’s. It’s not that the film is a complete failure. They have to make everything so over the top for modern autistic audiences. But you should understand downtime when you’re trying to make something epic. The plot continues to move forward, but write in scenes where the characters have a chance to grow, or reveal themselves in subtle ways. Scenes for example of characters wandering around a foreign city unsure of the next step, until eventually a camel is punched in the mouth for comic relief. Or a crucifixion. In the new version, Conan rushes from “Slave Island” to “Theif City” to “Skull Mountain” and none of it is really cool, none of it has true ambience.

And more magic. When she started to turn into the dead wife they were trying to summmon, I thought “OK maybe now we’ll see something worth those absurd acrobatics on the wedged wheel we just had to endure”. But no, he falls into the lava and she’s back to normal with no ill effect. The word necromancy was absurdly overused here, with no serious extraction of essenses, animation or the canal violation of corpses I equate with a heavy term like necromany. Either only say it once, or go ahead and show, or at least infer, corpse fucking and fight it out with the censors.

There were no classic lines here. “Conan! What is best in life?” Followed by his O SO METAL answer. Here we actually have the head villian saying, “Conan, I don’t think I like you any more.”

And sadly, not knowing what the box office has taken in so far or ultimately will, I sense this film might go on record as solid for this generation. They will mock the bad Snake metamorphasis of the original and consider the battle won. But just maybe, some teenager will read these words, watch both versions again in his mature years and think “gee, that crotchity old glory days fucker was right.” Maybe not…

My parting complaint: whomever came up with that “omnipus” monster of whatever the fuck that tentecled mess was supposed to be should never be allowed to work in film again.

So I have a ticket to Darwin from Denpasar on Feb. 3, and despite some of the impressions afforded by the Bingtang sleeveless clad Aussie masses swarming around Kuta, I’m going. My general plan is to possibly take The Ghan down the middle of the country to Adelaide, then with gumtree.com/au rideshare make my way east, hitting Melbourne, and most likely fly back to the US from Sydney later that month.

Sometimes, with this blog, I don’t know… I’m proud I keep it up, and it’s rewarding in it’s own right, but I wish I got more meaningful response. From strangers I mean, the kind of strangers I’d like to meet. Of course I appreciate the old friends who follow along. That having been said, I have had two pleasant comment encounters in the last few months. Once from an old friend of Patrik Keim who found me via his small image archive here; and another, a reader who put me back in touch with an amazing woman I met in southern China in 2010. He claimed instantly to know who I was talking about and had no doubt from my description. Now, much of that is a testimony to the power of her personality, but it was also “good to blog” validation for me.

So as I try and build my itinerary for AU, I’ll go ahead and put this out there: where do you think I should go? Unfortunately the West is out on this trip. I will have a finite amount of time, and some financial resource, but as I’ve been earning RI Rupiah for the last year…not THAT much. And their economy is doing well compared to the rest of the world, in part because they seem intent on mining up all that China will buy. Beers are $10 each at the moment, ouch!

All I know are Grinderman dates don’t currently extend past Dec.; I’d like to have some bizarre, quasi-Star Wars via Tatooine experience in Cooper Pedy; I must go to Melbourne; and might try and swing Tasmania. So give me all other recommendations for the Central and SE areas, oh Darwin too, though I don’t plan to linger. Band dates, film festivals etc that might overlap the time I’m there – essentially February 2012.

I summon thee, o dark and mystical forces of the Interweb! Speak! Er, I mean… Comment!

Excellent use of Eno’s Apollo soundtrack (ed 12-14: I see now from Wikipedia it isn’t credited! Well it is under Apollo soundtrack, but not the Drive entry. It’s also unclear exactly what Angelo Badalamenti did on the film. His name is clearly seen in the opening film credits, and A.B. wikipedia has Drive listed with his name, but he’s not mentioned in Drive wikipedia.) Other music is techno and seems an odd choice, but it works. It’s an early 80′s techno sound.
It isn’t huge “blow you away” sort of film. More of a subtle classic.

I haven’t done one of these pervy posts for a while, but as this starlet was born in Indonesia, it’s fitting. I’ve been eyeing Cannibal Compilation #28 for a while now in a pile of films in the night market. The three of the seven that I hoped to see were Lugosi in ‘Bride of the Monster’, Fulci’s ‘Zombie’, and ‘Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals’. Unfortunately, the DVD had only the last, and only about three quarters of the film. But I still find it comment worthy, from the late 70′s when an Italian schlock-master might combine the themes of soft-core porn with extreme violence.

The film, or what I got of it, is thoroughly watchable, with great scenes of 70′s NYC, the absurd dialogue one hopes for in these sort of films and lots of T+A. Apparently there are many different versions of the film, some with hardcore moments of other actors spliced in to the footage, and varying degrees of gore, but this semi-copy I got (and for only $1.25 I can’t quite claim total disappointment…) doesn’t have anything too gory. Looking around online, there is plenty of choice footage I’m missing. At one point, Emanuelle and the Anthropologist watch a black and white film in his apartment of tribesmen decapitating and castrating an adulterous couple. The effects are absurd at best. But then there’s all of the footage of lovely Laura Gemser, still alive and living in retirement in Rome. And that’s definitely worth watching…

I really enjoyed the transformation, when the Nina character “nails” the Black Swan half of the dance, which the entire film her ability to do has been in question. But rather than a “dance film”, I would describe this as a very repressed and infantilized woman dealing poorly with personal and professional pressure.

Even though the film works and is very good, if I seem a little less than blown away, I must admit I wouldn’t have minded a little more “Aronofsky style”. It’s what I loved about the first three films: the zip edit montages and time lapse, the emphasis on color, and whatever other ephemeral but distinct elements where at work. Yes, even The Fountain, which I didn’t think was as bad as some others seemed to. Then with The Wrestler, he shed most of that, replacing with strip downed realism, not “Hollywood magic” at all. And it worked. But I’d like to see the former style come back! To be fair, there are hints of it, as the film progresses and Nina is getting lost in her psyche. But the only scenes that struck me as distinctively Aronofsky where when the camera followed, about two feet behind her, showing us the mundane city commute as she was seeing it. He did the same with Rourke walking behind the scenes in the grocery store and at various matches. In Requiem, he did it with the camera in front of the characters, we seeing their expressions and behind them, often in a fix cam that shook about all the background only keeping their heads in focus.
I miss all of the other highly stylized trickery Mr. A! Don’t be afraid to follow it into realms they might call pretentious crap…

One thing reviews I’ve seen so far haven’t mentioned is how psychedelisugarpop the opening credits are. Here is everyone involved, essentially unreadable, at least to the conscious mind…and into the film.

*rather spot on depiction of a DMT experience, not exactly like my own in the early 90′s, which strangely also involved a painter, but it definitely worked.

*combined factors make Tokyo seem like the most tripped out city on earth: the neon and futuristic vibe, tiny alley like streets, ex-pat vibe created therein, well done, but definitely not a place to front on the cops

*the first portion of the film completely works, and but I now feel a compulsion to go off about Paz De La Huerta for a bit…

An actress who clearly loves to get naked and carnal in front of the camera, I first saw her in Season 1 of Boardwalk Empire where her Apple accent works perfectly. But after this I have to question her acting ability overall. And it might not be entirely her fault. Noe’s script has her bogged down in quasi-incestuous inappropriate lounging with her brother and only companion in a cruel world. But I am still tempted to blame her acting, especially in her big “break down” scene, which rings hollow. I’m really conflicted about this actress, she is sexy without being exotic somehow. Something about her feels “Chloë Sevigny” if that makes any sense, and indeed, it would be interesting to see her work with Larry Clarke esp. before she gets too old for his tableaux. She has all of this sexuality frontally presented, as if there were little inside, and yet a hint of another deeper level where much is hidden. I’ll be curious to see more of her work (haven’t seen the Jarmusch thing yet)- my verdict is still out. But since I’ve gone this kooky obsessive about it, I’ll further mention my sister and I have a running bet if her breasts are real or not. I say real.

What else to say about this film? It’s as abstracted as you’ve heard, yet in ways that make sense. There is nothing David Lynch’s ‘Inland Empire’ about it (in other words: “what the fuck am I watching here?”). There is something about spirits interacting with electric energy. There is something about the nature of expressed love. Mommy issues and sister issues and the search for love.

But one quote I must include, from a wasted girl who burst into the men’s room afterward looking for a friend and delighted me with a quote as they followed me into the frozen night from the theater. Apparently she had no idea what to expect from Gaspar Noe (who I still credit, along with Ms. Monica Bellucci, as capturing the most hardcore depiction of rape ever filmed), nor what she was getting into.

She said, “I mean what the fuck was that? That was a porno, Joey. A reincarnation porno.”

It wasn’t, but the quote was appropriate and hilarious. I would have liked to see more about some of the minor Japanese characters in the story: the painters roommate who build the amazing model of Tokyo; the girl with the glasses, who got with the main guy, but apparently had a thing for Mario. I guess I would have liked more of a film, shot in the same style, about naughty gaijin in Tokyo, than a film about this guy’s death.
I guess you’ve done it again Mr. Noe. Got me thinking about and liking a film I can’t entirely get on board with. Contrasting the brutality and the bliss. I still give you points for grit and balls, even with all the experimentalism.
And I don’t agree with those who say it was too long. The subject matter, style, presented in this way…just right.

*Also want to note two additions to the film link here: Love Train of the Tenebrous Empire,which I’ve been following for a while; and the amazing UbuWeb, which I’m still exploring and will certainly be reposting from in the near future*

Also psyched for the new doc coming out, WSB:A man within…

PATHS OF HATE long trailer from Platige Image on Vimeo.

Over the weekend I went to part of the BuriedAlive filmfest at The Plaza, not so much because I wanted to see the films but support the theater and the idea of such a festival. And the films lived only up to that level, Terry Gilliam’s (who is always interesting but I can’t get on board with 100%) Legend of Hallowdega, which was amusing but sort of felt like a tax write off for Amp energy drink; and Satan Hates You, also OK but 5-10 minutes longer than it needed to be. Still I’m not sorry in the least I went: Fangoria and other film swag was given away in the lobby, and it as all about supporting the Indie film (and theater) scene, which is very much in need of such support.

It’s a difficult topic to write about. On the one hand you have Chinglish filled articles like this Xi Ya Ya expose. On the other, there is a lack of info from western sources. For example, passing a shop window in Beijing earlier this fall I saw some of the very cool Calabash Brothers mentioned here, but then can find no info on IMDB, and it’s only from ’87. Something tells me there are many holes from that source with international films – at least for now. I’ll stay with it though and report more when I can.

Caught this animated short on IFC late night a few weeks ago. Interesting animation, cool story and music. Starts out almost in a C. McCarthy zone but then goes much softer, still with it’s own important story to tell. Searching around on youtube (which I don’t recommend, as that title, as you can imagine is well used…) I did find this trailer for a DVD of which it was part. The voice over and black and white animated bits are what is relevant here, though I’d like to see the other work as well. I’ll be looking for more from German Andreas Hykade.

Living in China, I’ve had some encounters with other American’s over here to “teach English” who are in fact protestant Christians who feel they must convert, “save”, these lowly Chinese savages and inject bible-speak into every conversation they can. This despite the fact that Confucious, who is 500 years older than the “Christ child”, has had a more lasting effect upon the morality of China than the impact Holy J seems to have had upon the west. The wars, rape and murder keep on and on, but some just won’t shut about him. Unfortunately, many of these boring-ass myths are new to the Chinese students and they indulge the coersation, not to mention they’ll do most “anything to practice English”. I was hoping to vent some of this angst enjoying a film with this name, but the story has almost nothing to do with the title. A better title would have been Gynocide, which is seen written on a notebook at one point during the film. Note the feminist symbol for the T in the poster…

The prologue of this film is straight beautiful, even if a bit heavy handed. There are glimpses of the blunt carnality to come. But the film is more of a psychological thriller/ghost story than apocryphal. Charolette Gainsbourg steels the show from Defoe, but they both have rather solid performances. I wouldn’t have minded seeing her go off even more when it gets to that bit. I didn’t think the violence was as hardcore as some, or as realistic. A man would not carry on so after receiving such wounds. It’s got the fucking and genital mutilation you may have heard about, but not to such great effect. I’m not sure about Von Trier’s overall message in this film – is sort of wreaks of misogynistic paranoia. And you know it’s bad if I’m saying such a thing…. But it’s creepy like you want a scary movie to be creepy. I also give props for making a “small”, non-blockbuster film, and tasteful use of CG for a pleasant change.

The Animated Heavy Metal Parking Lot from Leslie Supnet on Vimeo.

Different than her clip they ran on Twitch a few weeks ago, this is an animated version of scenes from Heavy Metal Parking Lot.

I’ve been pulling for Michael Mann since the early days ala Manhunter, with the creepy Francis Dollarhyde and early “rock video” use of bad trip anthem “Ina gadda da vida”. What is it about his style that just doesn’t take off, esp. these days?
The cast is stellar, as is the soundtrack. The strongest kick is the period setting, recreating the 30′s world of polished hardwoods, marble, wool and steel of the tommy gun. And indeed there are many great shootouts, the tommy gun intensifying the violence. But Christian Bale’s southern accent is hokey and somehow all the elements brought together here just don’t get their Gestalt on. Worth seeing, but no need for the big screen.

I’m not a visual artist, but have gotten interested in graffiti in recent years. Watching this docInfamy just now, I realized there is something for the voyeur too. And I’m not talking about the thousands of lame pieces you’re gonna see day in day out, but something really weird in a cool place, (for me I guess seeing Botch in the abandoned prison in ATL), then seeing other works by the artist. Touching a bit of the obsession. But for all of the lame ego tricking that goes on with the game, there is genuine curiosity in the mix sometimes.

Like it wouldn’t really change anything to meet the people doing these things, but it would be cool anyway.

This film has gotten much hype and acclaim, all of it deserved. It stands now as a further memorial to the demolished towers, and a beautiful quixotic event in another bleak economic period. I also think it’s really interesting that there was another toll or cost from the event, in terms of the lost friendships and love, which are honestly discussed. A must see! I’ll probably read Philipe’s pick pocket book at some point as well.

When I was traveling around Northern Italy in the Spring of 2004, I kept seeing a book by this American con. Thus began my introduction to Edward Bunker. I read a few of his books soon after, including The Animal Factory. I knew Steve Buscemi made a film version in 2000, but I only recently got around to seeing it. Why this film, with Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong, wasn’t better received I can only count to the prison subject matter. But I thought it was really well done, including a soundtrack from the enigmatic John Lurie. One IMDB review I saw complained of the plot being “unbelievable”, but it’s completely true to the novel…I think the real complaint was Furlong was too good looking to not get punked, but whatever.

I guess they actually had quite a challenge, with all the franchise history, to go back and tell the pre-story, esp. against the backdrop of all of the technological changes that have come about since 1966. I would have gone with some serious high end set designers to get the perfect combination of 60′s technicolor style against the 21st century audience expectation, and kept the CG shit to a minimal. But that’s not what summer blockbusters are made of. The only time they get seriously wrong is during a gratuitous monster scene. Common with the absurd over the top CG monsters already! We can’t be scared by a large monster…it has to be a crazy large monster, with red reptilian skin in a snow environment no less? Not buying it! The casting was OK, other than Simon Peg being too heavy a pick for comic relief, and the Chekov guy a total miss. Also, negative points for absurd, anachronistic use of a Beastie Boys song.
But the script is OK, and wisely hides behind “alternate timelines” to clear up some would be slop. Not sure why the new and old version of a character have to meet one another, but I guess that’s throwing a bone to the trekkies. But since you went with the PG 13 rating would it not be OK to have some boobs in there? Yeah I know, there are kids in the audience, but if you consider most every film between 1978-1983 had at least a few seconds of boobs and we turned out OK, what’s the problem? After all, those rogue Romulan miners might be the deciding factor in some of the kiddies making unfortunate decisions to get facial tattoos. Boobs never hurt anybody, and I’d argue the real James T. Kirk would approve.
In the end, do they manage to bring the franchise into the 21st century like Batman and James Bond? Yeah I guess, but without the “darkness”, and I rather like the darkness.

She was found dead in her mobile home in California. I’m a fan of the early Cronenberg film Rabid in which she starred. I’ve never actually seen Behind the Green Door…well maybe it was on a middle school VHS comp I briefly had possession of with Debbie Does Dallas and other “hits” of the era, but I don’t remember any of it.

And here’s a VERY 1977 interview.

Great noir film director who left America after being blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He had a hit with the documentary style The Naked City, but last year I came across Thieves’ Highway which I highly recommend (trailer below), I can almost assure it to be the most cutthroat tale concerning fruit vendors you will ever encounter. There is also an French television interview where he describes working in the Hollywood system in the old days, and specifically with a “mommy dearest” style Joan Crawford. There was a recent film forum retrospective of several of his works in NYC. And the NYT obit. from last year.

pt.2

The following rules should be applied to all future films:

1. Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkeries” can never again be used during Vietnam attack footage. Coppola did it 30 years ago. It was great then, but is just lame now.
2. Midgets are no longer weird or scary, even prison midgets. Especially the guy who played Kramer’s lil buddy on Seinfeld.
3. So you love Bob Dylan, I do too. But three of his songs in an unrelated film, once by him, once by Hendrix and once by some power pop punk band during the ending credits is excessive.
4. Using that “Hallelujuah” song by Leonard Cohen or whoever the fuck is very likely to make a scene silly. This is definitely the case during a sex scene where a guy with ED discovers his costume is his mojo.
5. There is a major difference between idealized fake violence and stylized real violence. I’m sick of watching choreographed fights where people trade punches like a routine. Real fights often look spastic due to the adrenal factor.
6. Anyone whose had their head come in contact with stone tiles or porcelain after flying through the air is very likely to lose consciousness. At the very least they are going to be woozy.
7. That CG lynx/cat thing looked like shit

I don’t know if you’ve been following the hype with the release of this film, mostly concerning Rourke’s “comeback”, but part of the excitement for me was picturing Aronofsky’s trademark directorial style in the mix – stopmotion sped up, quick montage of micro clips in sequence to convey an abstracted mood. Sadly there is none of that. But it’s a good film anyway. Marisa Tomei looks amazing at 44, Rourke does indeed deliver. It’s really a “small” film, and would be a downer for most. All the locations are decidedly authentic Jersey and non-Hollywood. It was a stark contrast to all the trailers beforehand (and to be fair, they are gearing up for spring blockbuster season) which all centered around mutants, apocalyptic scenarios, and science fiction. This was very much a film about, and set in reality, despite dealing with the human truth behind the fantasy industries of wrestling and stripping. No glamor here.

No spoilers, but at first, the ending didn’t sit well with me. It seemed somehow cliche “Hollywood”, but then thinking about it a bit, I realized there were at least two other directions they could have gone which would have been more “Hollywood”, both tragic and romantic. So in the end, I would recommend you see this film, but there’s no need to rush to the big screen. After scoring a hit with this stripped down work, an almost too deliberate move after The Fountain, I’ll be curious to see what Aronofsky does next. And Rourke for that matter.

“Rock ‘n’ Roll specialists”

Well this is the second, and it’s pretty good – Slumdog Millionaire. I’m not sure the show actually started in the US. The first I refer to to is the 2006 French film Mon meilleur ami where the game-show wasn’t as central to the plot. Slumdog is a bit conventional at times, and ultimately sort of a date movie. But I’ll be looking for more Freida Pinto work…

There is no excuse for this sort of behavior, but I’ve been there. It’s another argument for the home theater experience, but I refuse to cower in one entirely. I’ll still try to catch films I want to see in mostly empty and cheaper matinees.

Floyd Webb is making a film about John Keene AKA Count Dante and you can follow the progress through his blog. Dojo wars, bleeding ulcers and comic book advertising: a very 70′s story.

1934 Fetiche Mascotte is one of Terry Gilliam’s fav’s from Ladislaw Starewicz.

This is an engrossing, but long, French psychological thriller adapted from the Harlan Coben novel. The many twists and turns keep the pacing taught, and though you may get lost once or twice, everything is essentially wound up at the end. The was one shot with a “shaky cam” that nearly made me nauseous, but it was quickly followed by one of the greatest multi-car pile ups I’ve seen in film. If that was CG, consider me completely fooled. I also loved the sympathetic gangster thug angle, a homely organ grabbing interrogator, and soundtrack with included 60′s soul, ambiance and Sigur Ros style instrumental drama ballads. A great foreign film to see!

Interview about the piece.

It’s an eyebrow thing, not so much her figure, though I just realized she was the schoolgirl in ‘Trainspotting’ so I’m not gonna complain about any part her – a fine actress.
Angelica Huston doesn’t really work for me, and I don’t get why she seems so loved by others. Not in the Wes Anderson stuff, can’t think of anything I’ve seen and liked her in. And maybe it was seeing her do such a similar “crazy but lovable mom” role in ‘Darjeeling Limited’ that made that schtick seem especially tired here. It was like they shot all of the childhood flashback scenes in a single day. Overall the film does seem quickly thrown together, the soundtrack is plain sad (the same lame tune is playing on two different days in the strip club, and if you can’t come up with stripper music in this day and age – either as it is or as it should be – you really are lost), but there are some laughs. My review in one word: meh…

The music seems sadly dated already, but if modern Eastern Europe is mysterious enough – Eastern Europe of the future is a shoe in. There is another trailer for Technotise: Edit and I at the Twitch site.

An homage to some of the hottest women I’ve photographed at the convention ’05-’08. Nerds gone wild!

I just can’t stop imagining riding around the lusher parts of the Forbidden Zone, mounted on the same black horse as she, The Association’s ‘Never my Love’ somehow always playing in the background, until we are eventually captured and dissected, perhaps used for target practice. OK, she can’t speak, but she looks great in dog tags, or munching pilfered fruit.

Yes, of course it’s pathetic – but that’s what aging fanboys do. Not to mention, I heard she only dates astronauts…
Also, silly ape pep rally set to Queen courtesy of Blancotron industries.

Did I go to this film just to see Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz make out? Well maybe…but I wasn’t disappointed on any other level. It’s like an older Woody Allen film in a lot of ways: a concise and simple story, perhaps lighter on the jokes (one liners) than you may be used to. And I think having someone else, in this case Christopher Evan Welch, do the narration voice was a wise choice.

It’s pretty much what the trailer appears to be, no surprises. But in keeping with his one or two films a year work ethic, it’s a goodie, when so many throw aways have crept into the rotation. It will make you want to travel in Spain, “hook up” European style, and maybe long for a day when film making was about telling a story and exploring passion rather than the variations of over the top spectacle.

Also, Woody’s hilarious fictional diary from the shoot from 8-24-08 NYT. Link may not last long…

Part Two

It couldn’t have been easy being that bald in the 70′s. But the chain jacket helps…
And Jesse Jackson definitely needs to go back to his old look!

I’ve got to hand it to ya China, I was impressed by the opening ceremony! Photos from Boston Globe. Never mind you used the mind of director Zhang Yimou, who The Party had earlier banned the work of for seeming critical. I’ve enjoyed at least six of his films myself, and we won’t call this egg on your face (no pun). My country loves to first persecute, then later revere, it’s artists as well.

Consider me “visually stunned”…

there will be 2 or 3 NYC episodes total.

special thanx to Laura for taking such good care of us!

It is great, but it’s not as dark as some are playing up. No sexual violence for example, no sex at all really. And there was one helicopter crash that was lame CG in my opinion, but it’s pretty great for a main stream film. Cool sound design. Ledger does a great Joker, but I predict he’s already won the Academy award due to his demise, and I’m not sure it’s THAT great.
And I’ll probably never go see at film at Atlantic Station again-

Somni 451 still lives!

“Ah…Lila….”(drool, dribble, drool)

Sundance channel is running this film and I caught it over the weekend. I can’t recall exactly where I first heard about Punishment Park (1971), but it was fairly recently, and considering the controversy, was surprised to get a chance to see it. Overall as a film, I must say, it’s not all that. But as I’m obsessed with that period in American history, it was something I had to see. Watkins was by chance ahead of the curve in terms of what reality TV has become, but the ideological back and forth between the radicals and tribunal comes off as overstated and cliche, the yelling between the camera crew and cops rather unrealistic (why wouldn’t fascists destroy the equipment and confiscate the footage?), and the “ironic hook” at the end can be seen from a mile off – or more accurately, 50 miles off.
But there is enough substance to keep this from being a “b movie”, despite it’s vague similarity to films of the era like Deathrace 2000, which came out 4 years later, and to be fair, is much more of a fantasy. In some ways, it falls into a dystopian genre with Children of Men, at least in terms of paranoia when viewing The State. Certainly a lot accomplished with a small budget. I’m always interested in films that for one reason or another are pushed off the radar, and now definitely curious to see more of Peter Watkins work.
As a time capsule, two things that are interesting are to look at how relatively naked “the pigs” are when compared with the modern day forces of control. And I couldn’t help but imagine a parody of this film, where various 19-27 year olds are lined to face “the tribunal” in the modern day – how timid they might seem in comparison…”you mean like, no Starbucks OR videogames?!? Dude…” But that’s unfair of course: more accurately the accused, if in fact youths from rejected bourgeoisie backgrounds, would be anti-G8 eco-terror types, and the virile minority man gagged and pinned to the floor would have a lighter skin tone and be talking a more religious jive. There would also be a lot more talk about The Patriot Act than the Constitution, and hopefully that realization sends a bit of a chill down your spine…

Wow! What a satisfying film. Great soundtrack; animation with occasional intricate layers, amazing use of negative/positive space constantly, at times simplistic, then lush and detailed at moments that point to a Persian pride. I was unfamiliar with the graphic novel but was completely drawn into the tale: Marjane Satrapi’s story, and a first hand account of the history of Iran over the end of the 20th century. A testimonial of The Individual against varying forces of ideology, repression, unsatisfying relationships, depression, and the rest. No bullshit Hollywood ending either. See a trailer at the main site which is a bit small, or a larger version on IMBD after sitting through an inane commercial – you know, American style… I urge everyone to see this film.

So you’ve heard about all of the snow related travel chaos in China, intensified because it is their New Year, or Spring Festival. I have friends now in Beijing, north of the main commotion and not directly effected. This video shows how they do up the fireworks over there, but unfortunately loads slowly. Out with the Pig and in with the Rat! If Beijing strikes you as huge, remember you are seeing only one part of one district. The blasts are little more powdery and raw. And where can I get some of those “flail sparklers”?

It’s the anniversary of when Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army and was thus able to live out the bad girl fantasy of bank robbery, only do 22 months for the crime and later receive a full pardon. Hurray for rich kids… why shouldn’t they have it all? Still, it’s more twisted and exciting than anything Paris ever did- This doc is good too.

I caught Conan the Barbarian last night on cable and was noticing how hot the character who plays his mom is, and with a little research, wasn’t too surprised to find Nadiuska was in fact an Italian porn star. Actually, most every actress in the film looks like she might have done a little “Blue” work – the Witch, Thulsa Doom’s daughter, Conan’s girlfriend, the various cult and orgy members… It was sort of an interesting era for film: lingering 70′s ethos, lots of “Penthouse soft lense”, a certain European feel to the entire production. Not to mention the general crossover appeal of Italian porn actors-

Take the example of Ilona Staller, AKA Cicciolina, who in ’79 ran for Italian parliament in their first incarnation of the Green Party, then switching to the Partito Radicale, was actually elected in ’87. Near the beginning of the first Gulf War she offered to fuck Saddam Hussein to help ease escalating tensions with that conflict. She later made the same offer to both he and Osama Bin Laden for the same reason, but let’s face it, Osama’s a longshot, and not just because of the dialyses…

America is clearly behind the times, though porn stars here do cross over into legit film and pro wrestling. Recently a candidate may have increased her results in a primary by “tearing up” during a press conference, apparently it made her more relatable to some voters… makes you wonder. This is only a jokey insight Mrs. Clinton – please don’t do anything drastic!

Here’s a link to his myspace page.

So I’m sort of caught up in McCarthy fandom and decided I definitely had to read this novel before I saw the film. I have also been a serious fan of Cohen bros. dramas, as opposed to the comedies. Nothing wrong with their comedic quirkyness, but I would argue if you ask the average viewer to name a one of their films, they’ll give you ‘Raising Arizona’ or ‘OBWT’ before ‘Miller’s Crossing’ or ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’, which I find disappointing. Anyway, from my first learning of this project, I had a strong inclination I was going to love it, and I essentially did.
Reading some sneak peak reviews, I quickly came across a complaint from blog reviewers who hadn’t read the book and are so weened on common suspense arcs that rely on over-the-top sensationalism to outdo one another: Tarrantino style, if you will. But this isn’t about that. Period. There is a very specific reason I have chosen the title of this post from the films tagline and a very specific reason I have chosen this image. Go watch a Tom Cruise, or Vin Diesel vehicle if you cant handle post modern tweaking of the thriller genre. This film comes from a pulp work from a literary mind. Yes, there is a “kick ass” psycho (and after being so compelled by ‘Before Night Falls’, I sensed Bardem was gonna nail this role – I think the fact that he is also the lead in the current Marquez classic speaks volumes about his power as an actor) and there are even over-the-top nifty devices you’ve never seen in a film before – straight from the mind of C McCarthy. So go see it. In a way it’s like getting to see another Peckinpah film, but much of that had to do with the period and location. Here are my two minor and one major beefs…

Because the locations and authenticity are so dead on, even while reading, I have to admit their authenticity stumped my imagination, despite the fact I can recall images of 1980 (OK, not central and west Texas…) I have to get finiky and picky. 1) I don’t remember the girlfriend mentioning she worked in a WalMart. It sort of struck me as a modern jab, and as a nomad, I don’t have my copy of the book here and now to reference, but a search reveals Walmart did hit Texas in ’75, so it is plausible. It may very well come straight from the text, as so much of the dialogue does. 2) Having ridden lots of Greyhound buses, I’m doubting that semi-southwestern style with the bold blue through the other colors that still adorns the apolstry of many of the seats now, did so then. Total nitpicking I know, but the authenticity is dead on in every other way – I think it bears mentioning.

And the major thing I didn’t like: the young hitchhiker character is reduced to a poolside beerswiller with only a few lines of dialogue. I think there was a lot of revelation about Lwelyn’s character in those passages with her in the novel, as well as more of McCarthy’s foundation about what overtly changed about (our) culture at that time, which isn’t exactly what I mean to say but – the big picture stuff about society and individual. As the film is a bit long as is, I fully understand why the reduction stood, but I’d argue it also built suspense for the story, even though, as stated, that’s not the point. I further admit, I didn’t picture Lwelyn’s wife to be as attractive as the actress they picked, during my reading. I guess I was strung out then on the sexual suspense as well as violent suspense – i.e. semi-loner guy with a bunch of money has beat the devil once or twice, THEN runs into some hot free ass on the road. What now? And there is no sexual suspense at all in the film.

Other than that, every bit of acting worked or excelled. The Cohen bros. excerted their style without being “cliche Cohen bros”. The bleak beauty of the desert was perfectly captured. The moments of gallows humor blended seemlessly between the styles of novelist and filmakers. Was there even a single bit of music in this film? I can’t even think of a song on a radio right now, much less soundtrack…wait, there is a major instance of music I’m recalling, and it’s comedy. But a sort of “slap in the audience face” comedy: the audience wants to go ‘oh irony, ha, and we could use a laugh’, but as the scene lingers there is sort of a feeling of ‘yeah, this is unusual, but what the fuck is funny about it?’. More defiance of easy expectations-

More on the history of the ol’ Gorilla-Whale.

I caught this great flick on IFC last night, and then was stunned to realize the main actor was the writer and director as well. Thus was my introduction to Larry Fessenden, and now I’m curious to learn more of his work. ‘Habit’, made over a decade ago, had some moments when the supporters acting sort of thinned and the script was a bit pedantic, surely there was more they would have loved to do with a larger effects budget – but overall, I think this is what Indie Film is supposed to be. I really liked the subtle approach to what the film turned out to be, a complexity of issues inferred by the title, and found the entire premise more plausible than some reviewers seemed to, but that might be more of a reflection on my lifestyle… Here’s and IFC interview where he’s discussing another project.

I finally got around to seeing the latest Cronenberg over the weekend. It’s OK, solid, much what you’d expect – perhaps a little more conventionally “human” than some of his other work. Here’s a great interview from Greencine. Viggo and David seem like interesting guys to hang out with-

I saw that book on Russian prison tattoos earlier this summer in Powell’s Pearl Room but didn’t pick it up for what would have been a serendipitous read. What’s next: Asia Argento and Monica Bellucci to act out bits from my favorite ‘Penthouse Letters’? Wait a minute, I’ll be right back…

The good news is: common sense did prevail enough to be sure another artistic landmark was preseved. Back in the late 40′s, Greek railroadman Tom E. Stefopoulos drew these great chalk drawing on the concrete columns that supported the viaduct during his spare moments working as a switchman. The columns were saved and now sit half a block north of NW Everett and 10th in front of some flash condo building. True, what you see are large photo reproductions encased in plexi of the actual drawing that lie beneath, but in the name of preservation, this was most likely the best route to go. You can see some more of my personal shots of the columns in their new home here. Also, for cultish fans of the film, an exploration of “hats on beds” that ties into a C. McCarthy novel.

I was sent the link to this site, it’s all in Japanese but I’m trying to figure out translation software, at least for the text bits. You can see many trailers linked here, again, no english subtitles, but it’s really cool stuff. My education continues…

Ganime is also the name of a kaiju mutant stone crab, controlled by Space Amoeba.

I often bitch about the ATL film scene (and Athens is even worse…) and people tend to not believe Portland’s to be superior when I try to explain this to them. That’s their problem: I definitely know better. Having seen some recently released powerful stuff before I left, I wasn’t surprised to find the same things playing here, plus various lingering gems now in Portland’s $3 theatre circut, but it’s really about the vast number of small but great films that also run here. TWO D+D documentaries have come out in recent months? WTF!
So I read about the Floating World Animation festival going on at the comic shop and headed down. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but imagine my surprise when I found the event not only free and connected to another gallery full of illustrative art, but also with a free liquor bar! Goddamn, I love this town*

The program broke down into a first set of jewels under 10 minutes, then a retrospective on the influencial Adam Beckett, Hooliganship played live in front of a pseudo-Mario Bros. animated set, then another group of shorts put together by e*rock, but by then I was mostly tanked and talking with Pam Turner, Beckett’s biographer.
I can’t recreate the entire experience for you obviously, but here’s some info I was able to get on several of the animators presented: Joanna Priestly, Christophe Blanc, Howie Shia, Mariola Brillowska, Aidan Koch, Graham Annable, the supercool Rob Chiu, Vivian Wong and that’s all for now. You fuckers can do more research if you’d like from the FWC info provided, I’m too hungover…

I am pleased to report I believe I was among the first general admin. audience to view this film in ATL. Thanks CL. It’s not Miyazaki, but on par with that stuff: amazing plot with elements of childishness, quirky creativity, and all the tentacles and sacrine technopop you’d expect from quality SF anime. It also strangely links to my previous post, eveidence that I am either losing my mind, onto something, or both… See it!

Wow, I just saw a really intense program on the documentary channel about James Nachtwey called War Photographer. You must see some of the images this guy has captured, understand the reason behind what he is doing.

I’m feeling really conflicted right now about the travel I’ve managed to do myself: some of it relatively ballsy perhaps, but all in the name of selfish kicks and “adventure”. I guess a more positive way to express this feeling is to say the man is an inspiration.

A longtime favorite I could still watch 1,000 times more. But don’t let people tell you Wonderwall is an equal, it’s more like Magical Mystery Tour, i.e. not ‘all that’.

A young video blogger ended up with some footage of an anti-G8 rally in SF that the Federal Govt. wanted to look at and he refused, claiming journalistic license, and went to jail. He has released the video now which you can see here. In it you can see Left Coast types getting a little riled up, and eventually, SFPD getting a little riled up, as one might expect. It is always interesting to witness the ‘no nonsense’ re-establishment of control. The footage seems to fall short of being a potential smoking gun though. Surely cases like this will become more prevelent in the future.

Wait, the ancient Persians didn’t actually have giant mutant monsters on chains they could send into battle? No legions of zombie warriors? Charging rhinos that went down with a single well placed spear? Ancient battlefields weren’t choreographed spectacles with ‘mud blood’ flying around, but not sticking to anything?

Well here’s a thought guys…make your own fictional films. Aren’t you actually just pissed because of the momentary attention and profits the film is getting? Hey, it’s the only way we can get our ADD teenagers to learn ANYTHING about ancient history. I’m telling ya, whip up a CGI epic about the assassins and you’ll have a blockbuster of your own, not to mention a recruitment vehicle-

The point I want to make here is how different young people today (and this is sort of a joke, as I am 5 years past ‘untrustworthy’ by the common 60′s wisdom) react to an unjust war. Youth will bitch and joke, Tivo and youtube choice bits of The Daily Show, but they aren’t about to start planting bombs and writing manifestos. True, the stakes are completely different – both in terms of govt. survellience and the new laws against dissent. Today we are more concerned with a terror war than a cold war, as manifested by the conflict in Vietnam that so effected them. But the main difference today I think is the abscence of a draft. The nuclear bomb is one thing to make young people think they are up against a wall with little to lose, but regularly learning of men in their lives – brothers, cousins, friends – dying as result of being forced to fight a resilent ‘enemy’ population on their own soil, that’ll get your back up against the wall really quick! And it’s interesting how hopelessness often lends itself to extremism: from south central LA to the Isamic world, which has one of the fastest growing under-educated, poor demographics on earth.

The global pedulum has swung back from leftist days as well. Nor are modern white American youth inspired by armed struggles of other members of the general population, such as Panthers, Natives, and prisoners. Selfishness has taken on new forms and distraction culture is ubiquitous. Lots of things were changing in those days with the social code. Lots of things are changing these days as well, but very little of it is anti-caplitalistic. Then again, the truely poor don’t have the luxury of blogging…yet.

True, there was the Battle of Seattle in ’99 just before ‘the change’, and I used to hear about eco-terrorist action all the time out west. Once again, the rules are much different now. They took advantage of the collective fear to paint some really broad strokes. I still think Kaczynski‘s manifesto will prove prophectic as we progress through the genetic revolution. I want to be clear about something: whenever you take violent action against a population in order to promote your ideals, you have gone beyond the realm of civilized human interaction and must face the music. Yes, I am also talking to you, Mr. Bush.

Speaking of which, do you know what the good ol’ US of A has in common with Burma/Myanmar and Liberia? Wow, does France have a problem with us, or did it start out the other way around? One minute it’s all Louisianna purchase, and Statue of Liberty, and then we’re pouring their wine down the gutter (and believe me, they got a huge laugh from that one, as we’d already paid for it) and are trying to teach our tongues to ‘freedom kiss’. BTW, assholes, that sliced fried potato style comes from Belgium, don’t forget the mayo-

Feel free to list what you think might have happened to other fictional characters in settings taken completely out of context – historically and geographically. For example, in modern times, Nabakov’s ‘Lolita’ surely could’ve found herself signing a big ol’ check (and another carefully worded false legal document) written by The Bang Brothers; Dostoevsky’s ‘Raskolnikov’ might have also copped to the Jon Bennet Ramsey murder; ‘Holden Caufield’ certainly would have considered Caligula a phony; hell, Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote’ might have been a great replacement for Rumsfeld…; I don’t think ‘Merlin’ would have sweated Oct 28, 1929 all that much, nor Lao Tzu-

*also props to Sam Dunn for general research and info*

Space Giants(Japanese title ‘Ambassador Magma’) came a few years later to the Americans, though the shows were created at the same time, and was after school afternoon programming during the week. The show itself was rather lame, but watch a few episodes linked to the intro in youtube to see how far your disbelief could be suspended with the lofi changeover of Gam from boy to rocket, not to mention Rodac’s ‘Fro. But I suppose it was the idea of having a whistle which could summon robo-saviors that could carry the show in a young boy’s mind. Love the jazz themesong and the way everyone is caught up with the story idea during the intro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56jr2RZej18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akHq3p5QlCk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UznxqvJJ80g

I’m scratching my head as much as you, but I’m not thinking CGI, or if so, the wrong people are working for Lucasfilm… Anyway, advertising is getting more intense, and while on the one hand I feel like a chump for ‘fueling the fire’, this sort of creativity and execution I feel is worth commenting on.
Also special shout out to Robot and her buddy who were recently visiting Iceland, but if they knew anything about this, I haven’t heard about it yet. I think it happened before they arrived and started enjoying the $8 beers-

The bar has been raised, people! Now for some fun trivia for the ‘RockyHorror style’ play along at home. When ‘Parker’ approaches the door in the kitchen and asks “What’s in here?”, yell “A cat!” and fill in your own cat humor as ‘Casey’ unguardedly watches Vader the cat run by off camera. Watch the ‘hung corpse’ smile slightly at the mention of spontaneous ejaculation. Yell “WTF?!?” as multiple endings are spliced together. “Don’t let him get away!” can also be yellled at most points near the end. “My officer, what a huge piece you have…”, at various points throughout. ‘Magic knife’ cuts without touching etc etc. Oh, how I bare my soul for you people!

I sort of thought Scanner would have been a bigger film, but don’t mind that it wasn’t. Spielberg and Cruise doing an adaptation of one of Dick’s stories was a bit too close for comfort. I don’t necessarily want to see one of my favorite SF writers become Hollywood fodder, and he has dozens and dozens of brilliant short stories, surely more films adaptations are to come. May they all be done as tastefully as Blade Runner. The biggest I’d say still to look for, and I could handle an animated version, is The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

• Rashomon ’50 Akira Kurosawa
• Seven Samuri ’54 Akira Kurosawa
• Yojimbo ’61 Akira Kurosawa
• The Insect Woman ’63 Shohemi Imamura
• Youth of the Beast ’63 Seijun Suzuki
• Woman in the Dunes ’64 Hiroshi Teshigahara
• Gate of Flesh ’64 Seijun Suzuki
• Tokyo Drifter ’66 Seijun Suzuki
• Double Suicide ’69 Masahiro Shinoda
• Blind Beast ’69 Yasuzo Masumura
• Lady Snowblood ’73 Toshiya Fujita
• Sexy and Furry ’73 Norifumi Suzuki
• In the Realm of the Senses ’76 Nagisa Oshima
• The Ballad of Narayama ’83 Shohemi Imamura
• Ran ’85 Akira Kurosawa
• Tampopo ’85 Juzo Itami
• Testsuo the Ironman ’89 Shinya Tsukamato
• Black Rain ’89 Shohemi Imamura
• Tokyo Decadence ’92 Ryu Murakami
• Angel Dust ’94 Sogo Ishii
• Audition ’99 Takashi Miike
• Battle Royale ’00 Kinji Fukasaku
• Ichi the Killer ’01 Takashi Miike
• Pulse ’01 Kiyoshi Kurosawa
• Suicide Club ’02 Sion Sono

I have listed only films I have personally seen and can vouch for, though clearly I’m on a quest to check out more from the catalogs of each director. Also, I have given English titles here, which should be OK for database searches – but many of these films had several English titles. Multiple genres are represented here: horror, suspense, sexploitation, classics, experimental (also for any who don’t realize – lots of ‘Adult Situations/nudity/blood and kooky fucking’ represented here), but it’s all ‘live action’ I have excluded anime – perhaps that’s another list for another time. The idea is: films I consider to be worth seeing – but to sit and watch this list over a long weekend, there would be a lack of continuity in ‘overall quality’. I’d like this list to grow so please post others you find noteworthy and I’ll check them out.

*Akira Kurosawa is considered a ‘master of world cinema’, most all of his films rule. I have only mentioned what I consider to be the MOST important/possibly overlooked*

Thanks Hashtoker for ‘unlocking the code’.

note complete lack of computer generated imagery…

Jeez, and just when I was trying to figure out how I felt about all the 9/11 films, continued ‘hero worship’ at the 5 year anniversary, and a vaguely defined reactionary war (in multiple theatres…no pun intended) that has no end in sight-

The entire thing is weird on several levels: imagine what the average Dylan fan looked like in ’69 and Bob himself appears relatively conservative. He was a few years past his ‘gone electric’ ‘sacrelidge’ against the folkies, recently having turned out a rather straight up country record – always mixing it up and refusing stasis for the sake of fandom. Johnny himself presenting more enigmas: a man with a history of dope and delinquency putting forward the face of ‘wholesome country host’. In all, an interesting era on many levels for a variety of reasons. They were actually friends behind the scenes, and according to the recent Scorsese doc, Bob was really touched when The Man in Black preserved a country music tradition by giving his guitar to the younger songwriter – a symbolic and literal ‘passing of the torch’.

You can see some pics through the Flickr badge below (column right), and in the future, a compilation of some of my ’05/’06 fav shots. One of these years I plan to go down there for the full ride, get a room, party righteously, investigate the ubiquitous rumors of ‘Klingon Orgies’ which seem to circulate yearly. But let us never forget the words of the great ComicBook Guy (M. Lisner?), “Cheeseburgers and loneliness are a dangerous mix.”

(ed. note- sorry that video above was yanked, but the following illustrates the same point 6/8/07)

Here’s a link to a clip from another great film of his called ‘Conspirators of Pleasure’, though the actual clip doesn’t have any animation so I went with the other. He’s also done versions of ‘Faust’ and ‘Alice and Wonderland’. His most popular film in North America may be ‘Little Otik’ so I mention it as well in case it might ring a bell with you, reader.

(ed. note-sorry the clip was yanked kids, somebody seems to think there is valuable intellectual property here that shouldn’t be shared with you for free… 6/8/07)

‘Grantchester Meadow’s’ above isn’t from either album, it’s from Ummagumma, around that general era. I believe these are alternate lyrics and a slightly different arrangement to what ended up on the album version.

Also, go out and read some more Bukowski!

Tura Satana

Asia Carrera

(…don’t miss the bit where Asia mentions all night fragfests with her LAN Unreal Tournament posse. And click the ‘why I do porn’ link at the bottom for more backstory than just stats.)

They came from different eras, certainly share some of the same fan base, and though it seems things were a bit rougher for Tura, they both remade themselves and carved out their own niche of Americana. If it’s dating Elvis and hanging with the brat pack, or marrying a ‘fitness guru studmuffin’ after your porn retirement, I guess on some level The American Dream is still out there for a girl with gumption.

(ed. note- not so surprisingly, this one was yanked too, sorry)

as it is in a sense, The Ultimate Western, and I’m told the first time women and children were ever shown being shot on film. In the real west, I ask you, did they worry about not hitting the women and children?
And the grit doesn’t stop there! Are you familar with the term ‘green trash’? To see just how scummy and scary rural Irish folk can get be sure to catch

and a personal favorite, showcase for his buddy the great character actor Warren Oates

Already a fan of Peckinpah and wanting to sound off on something not mentioned? By all means, post away and we’ll start a bloody little tea party right here!

then go check out

and come on back to me with what you think about your boy ‘T bag’. Sure, the genre samuri and chop sockey films rip each other shamlessly, just like westerns, detective ‘noir’ pulp and many other genres. But I’m on a mission to expose this rube’s ‘stunning originality’. I don’t see the point in remakes, and definitely not in theft. True originality is hard to attain, but if the viewing audience are going to allow themselves to become such gulible sheep, what’s the point in ever making another movie again?