September 17, 2008
Brutal Barbie
After The Crusher pointed it out to me, I couldn’t resist buying this insane new “The Birds” Barbie for my new apartment. I’m not a “collector” so I expected to take it out and set it up somewhere on a shelf. The packaging is so perfectly-done, though, beautifully printed clear plastic, surrounding Melanie Daniels with swirling birds, that I left her in the box.
I’m listening to “Jocko Homo” from Greatest Hits by DEVO.
Technorati Tags: alfred hitchcock, barbie, mattel, the birds
Posted by HighStrungLoner in The High Strung Loner at 4:00 PM
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June 12, 2008
Modern Love
More from the Transformers 2 shoot on Locust Walk.
I’m listening to “Love Ain’t For Keeping (Outtake)” from Who’s Next [Deluxe Edition] by The Who.
Technorati Tags: art, film, philadelphia, transformers, transformers 2
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Philly at 10:01 PM
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Shia LeBlur
Sadly this is all I could snap of Shia LaBeouf before his handlers nicely asked me to stop. I’d be a terrible paparazzo.
I’m listening to “Tomorrow Today” from The Good Earth by The Feelies.
Technorati Tags: film, philadelphia, Shia LaBeouf, transformers, transformers 2
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Philly at 9:36 PM
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Man on the street
This guy was working on the set of Transformers 2 today on Locust Walk. Click on him for a larger pic.
I’m listening to “Consolation Prize” from The Glasgow School by Orange Juice.
Technorati Tags: film, men, philadelphia, puppy, transformers
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Men at 9:21 PM
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April 25, 2008
Cloverfield
Brilliant! Cloverfield is a huge middle finger to the new yuppies and hipsters who have ruined New York City in the wake of 9/11. The sight of all those disappointed twenty-somethings trudging across the Brooklyn Bridge after Lower Manhattan has been destroyed is priceless. The vapid, self-absorbed characters are just about perfect. I simply don’t understand why 99% of film critics just didn’t get this movie. Oh, it’s really scary, too.
I’m listening to “South Rampart Street Parade” from South Rampart Street Parade by Bob Crosby & His Orchestra.
Technorati Tags: cloverfield, film
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 3:54 PM
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April 2, 2008
Man of the week
La Haine director Mathieu Kassovitz. He also appeared as an actor in Steven Spielberg’s Munich.
I’m listening to “You Don’t Send Me” from Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle & Sebastian.
Technorati Tags: film
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Men at 6:43 PM
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January 4, 2008
Visionary
There’s a great article about Paul Thomas Anderson in today’s New York Times. It’s right on-the-money. He’s really cute, too. That’s him on the right with Daniel Day-Lewis.
I’m listening to “Staring At the Sun” from Joy: 1967-1990 by Ultra Vivid Scene.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 12:06 PM
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December 30, 2007
There Will Be Blood
Yes, yes, it’s really that good. There Will Be Blood might be the best American film I’ve seen since Boogie Nights which makes Paul Thomas Anderson the best young director alive in my book. It’s a meticulously crafted sweeping epic with huge, charged-up emotions that never once descends into sentimentality or panders to audience expectations. In fact, just about every turn of the plot was a surprise. The movie is physically direct, shockingly so sometimes, but left me feeling incredibly ambiguous.
There Will Be Blood is the latest in a trio (or more) of utterly pessimistic 2007 films that feature compelling, sociopathic protagonists. We’re invited to sympathize at least a little with these men and, in Sweeney Todd especially, take some joy in their perverse hatred of other people. (I know I could relate!) Even the killer in No Country For Old Men has moments in which his logic seems convincing. All three films seem like perfect products of their political time. Made in another era Sweeney would have been a jolly romp and Old Men would have had a happy ending. Not now. In happier timed this film probably wouldn't have been made at all It's keenly observed look at the beginning of an industry that now shapes our country’s foreign policy—and at Capitalism in general, really—is literally stunning.
Everyone’s great in it, though when the amazing Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview is onscreen—nearly always—who’s looking at anyone else? Paul Dano is wonderful again as the Sunday twins. Adorable Dillon Freasier is really affecting as young H.W. Plainview, definitely his father’s son…until the inevitable happens. Russell Harvard as the grown-up H.W. is really cute. There are some hot oil workers, too, but there is so much else to look at I barely noticed them.
The music is weird as hell and makes some scenes really unnerving. Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood composed it and it's great. Longtime P.T. Anderson collaborator Robert Elswit’s cinematography is fluid, beautiful and always appropriate but not always pretty. The incredible combination of music, sound, lighting, editing, cinematography and acting in the dialogue-free opening sequence had me gripping the arms of my seat. It even references the opening ape sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey and it means something without seeming at all contrived. Really. There’s some juicy Citizen Kane-type business later on, too. The dialogue, once it starts, is simply beautiful, again intelligence without pandering. There are no cheap laughs here.
I have to say I was lead to believe the ending would be more physically violent than it actually was. This was a surprise but not a disappointment. It’s plenty emotionally violent, quite baroque, acceptably over-the-top and certainly as satisfying as this particular story will allow. It's practically Bambi next to Sweeney’s Grand Guignol gushers. The only gushers in this film are black gold, Texas Tea.
Anderson’s obsessions are all here: family, especially father-son relationships; work and emotional sickness being passed through the generations. They are handled in much more subtle and refined ways now, somehow more direct and more complex at the same time. He credits his work with Robert Altman on A Prarie Home Companion with some of that change. I would say he’s gained some political insight, too, but Boogie Nights was, to me, a political film. Blood is obviously a P.T. Anderson picture and at the same time something different in almost every way. And it’s brilliant.
My favorite line: I’d like it better if you didn’t think of me as stupid.
I hate to care about such things but if this film doesn’t sweep every award possible, I’m giving up. It’s an American Classic and it’s Dedicated to Robert Altman. That choked me up some and I’m glad I sat through the credits to see it.
I’m listening to “In Bloom” from Nevermind by Nirvana.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 6:05 AM
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December 15, 2007
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
I haven’t been to the TLA since 1991 when I saw then newly-reformed Television there so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, especially since it’s now apparently part of a chain of Fillmores. (“The Fillmore at the TLA.” Gag me.) Well, not much has changed except for a couple of cheesy chandeliers and the addition of a bar. The tiny bathrooms are still in the lobby but the graffiti isn’t as interesting as it was when they showed movies. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t remember if the balcony is new or not. Also there were seats at the Television show and tonight there were no seats anywhere.
Before it was sold to Electric Factory Concerts, the TLA was a great repertory movie theater and there’s nothing like it in Philly anymore. I really miss it. Just about everything they showed is now available on DVD but it’s just not the same as seeing movies on a big screen with an audience. Nothing can replace that. Just as importantly, the TLA programmers were curators of sorts. Their film choices and program notes helped guide people and teach them about film history. It’s a lost art. Check out the wallpaper made out of old TLA programs just inside the Locust St. TLA Video store to see what I’m talking about. They still have the best video stores in the country, sponsor a film festival and distribute independent films and I completely understand why they’ve moved on. (Oh, thanks for all the porn, too!)
Anyway, I had a great time. The opening act was The Budos Band, another Daptone Records act. I was able to saunter all the way to the front during their first song and secure a good spot for the evening with no trouble at all. I’m really short, so people pretty much let me stand in front of them because they can see over me. I took lots of pictures which I’ll post of flickr sometime in the next day or so.
The Budos Band were terrific. They’re an eleven-piece who, like everyone on Daptone, sound like they just dropped in from 1968. Their specialty is instrumental Afro-Soul and if you don’t know what that sounds like you can find out here. I liked them a lot and realized by the second song that I was swaying in exactly the same way the band were. One of the great things about Daptone artists, in my opinion, is that they're not exaggerated or ironic. they just play great original music in styles from another era. These guys didn’t wear silly wigs or wear costumes. In fact, their visual ordinariness is remarkable.
As much as I liked them, I have to say they were a little lifeless. The compositions didn’t have enough to distinguish them from one another and the playing was kind of rote. They all had good moments but there was too much soloing for me. Despite that, they were still fun and I’d see them again.
At 10:30 The Dap-Kings took the stage. They were wearing suits. It would have been pretentious but they looked really cool. Even the bass player with the fu-manchu and shades looked great. They did a few songs on their own and they were fucking phenomenal. I swear these guys could have played with James Brown. Their love for what they do was really obvious. They were grinning through the entire show. So was I. The horn section had steps!
After two songs without a singer Sharon Jones came onstage. She was instantly compelling. She’s really tiny—like five feet…maybe—but what an incredibly commanding presence. I really wanted to pay more attention to the musicians but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She never stopped moving either. She had almost constant eye-contact with the audience, sometimes singing directly to a specific person. Sharon Jones, I’ll say again, is the real thing. There is no beehive hairdo or drug addiction needed. There’s nothing ironic or insincere about this woman. She’s simply great. The crowd loved her. As great as she is, she’s a completely friendly and welcoming presence. She brought audience members onstage to dance and sing with her and they were instantly at ease. The woman is amazing. And she sang wonderfully all night. I can’t imagine how this show could have been any better. I was sad to see the show end. I would still be there if I could and I’m sure most of the audience would be there with me.
This was their third time playing in Philly and the first time they’ve had more than 30 people in the audience. I’m sure the situation is no different in other places they’ve played. I don’t know what they did to finally get the word out but it worked. They must feel very gratified. If these guys are playing anywhere near you anytime soon, do not miss them.
I’m listening to “Kidney Bingos (Original Mix)” from Coatings by Wire.
Technorati Tags: dap-tone records, music, sharon jones, the dap-kings
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Music at 5:13 PM
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November 23, 2007
Backstage
I was in Atlanta most of last week staying with a friend. He was directing a porn film for Cruising For Sex on Saturday on which I was one of the cameramen.
A couple of weeks ago Keith asked me to meet with one of the guys he wanted to hire for the film because he hadn’t had the chance to see him in the flesh. Turns out he was exactly what Keith was looking for. He’s 21 and looks 15, certainly not someone I would have cast but it wasn’t up to me.
About a week before the shoot, Keith shipped to me the Canon HV20 HD camera I’d be using so I could test it out. It was fucking tiny! Every little hand movement was magnified visually and the on-board mic picked up the sound of any camera control I used. The image quality was amazing, though, and the 24P image was even better, so we decided to use it. The size of the camera would be a real advantage since we were shooting a gloryhole video and it would be a tight squeeze.
I arrived in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon. I really like visiting Atlanta and especially visiting Keith and it was really good to see how well he was doing with his chemo. It was nice that my visit, aside from the work involved, was “normal” and I didn’t have to worry about Keith’s health. I even went out alone one night but that’s another story.
We spent Thursday and Friday testing and setting up the lighting that he bought; doing a little carpentry work and preparing the space for the movie. (Keith should thank the good lord that unions aren’t involved in porn, if you get my drift.) We shot the movie using Keith’s own home gloryhole. It’s in his office which conveniently has it’s own street entrance from the rest of his apartment.
It was ambitious to shoot all four scenes in one day but we managed to do it—and on schedule, too! It was a really exhausting day, though. I was assigned to shoot the “guest” side of the gloryhole and the other cameraman Robbie shot the “home” side. My side of the partition was smaller so the tiny camera was an advantage. Robbie had a really sexy professional Sony HD camera which I coveted.
Robbie was also performing in one of the scenes, getting sucked and fucking the bottom through the gloryhole. According to him—and I have no reason to doubt him—he’s heterosexual and this was his very first time fucking a man. This guy could make a fortune in gay porn. He’s fucking adorable, really nice and not a narcissistic asshole, either. He’s not usually what I go for, only hairy below the waist (those muscular legs!) and he’s clean-shaven and not even gay but, hey, you can’t have everything.
Keith had an amazing amount of delicious food from My Girlfriend’s Kitchen available all day long for the cast and crew: corn spoon bread, sweet potatoes with brown sugar crust, Mexican lasagna, chicken satay and more but most of the actors brought their own protein bars and stuck to those. Crazy.
Things went really well most of the day. One guy couldn’t get hard (Yes, that’s like a bank teller with no cash.) and spent, I thought, an unusually long time in the bathroom but (but who am I to talk?) The scene was “re-written” and by the end of it he was hard anyway and pounding ass like a champ.
We had a long break before the last scene we shot which featured a guy who I’d seen in some other films and didn’t have a very good impression of. I thought he was hot enough and he certainly has a big dick but I figured he’d be a kind of pretentious overly macho-acting ass. I couldn’t have been more wrong. What a nice, friendly, naturally masculine guy! We had to wait a while for him to shoot his load but I didn’t mind sitting around watching him stoke. Not at all. The bottom brought down what looked like a Fisher-Price My First DVD Player for him to watch and he insisted on bareback videos, poo-pooing the musclebound Titan Men title that was already in the machine. When he was ready to shoot we all had to jump quickly back into our positions at the gloryhole. And we were done. Thank god he didn’t take much longer, too, because I was starting to doze off.
Everyone left, Keith and I went to sleep almost immediately. I made a half-hearted attempt to look for dick online but I knew my body wouldn’t do whatever I would be asking to do, so I gave up pretty quickly.
Sunday afternoon the cast and crew who hadn’t yet left town went out to breakfast in the Little Five Points section of Atlanta. It’s charming in a Haight-Ashbury kind of way with not a chain store in sight. It was really refreshing.
Earlier in the day the bottom referred to me as “elderly” and said University City was “the suburbs” in two incredibly condescending and lame attempts at humor. (FYI he lives in the “Art Museum Area,” the neighborhood that doesn’t even have a name, which is actually farther from the 2 blocks-square “gayborhood” than I am in UCity.) I don’t have an issue with my age but I do have a problem with cliched, catty gay humor. If I had been in my own home I would have reacted differently. Since my options were limited, I was a guest in someone else’s home and I am certainly more expendable as a crew member than he is as a cash cow, I went out onto the balcony and made a phone call, trying to remember that he is only 21 years-old. Maybe he was intimidated by the fact that the next youngest person was 15 years older than he was. Maybe.
My flight back to Philly consisted of a gate change, a half-hour delay after boarding, another half-hour delay when a passenger had a seizure before take-off and an hour wait for a gate after we arrived in Philly. The woman who had the seizure and was removed from the flight was at baggage claim before we were!! Thankfully, cast member Larry was on the same flight and gave me a ride home in his luxurious Jaguar. Nice!
I’m listening to “Mira Et Ten” from La Planete Sauvage by Alain Goraguer.
Technorati Tags: Atlanta, gay, gay sex, porn
Posted by HighStrungLoner in The High Strung Loner at 5:42 AM
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September 17, 2007
A History of Violence
A friend of mine told me that Viggo Mortensen and David Cronenberg have a sado-masochistic sexual relationship but I didn’t believe him. Then I saw this picture and article in today’s Inky. I should have listened because he’s always right about this kind of thing.
I’m listening to “Touch of Evil” by Henry Mancini from Music in the First Degree.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 2:27 AM
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July 18, 2007
Is that a gun in your pocket…
David Fincher’s Zodiac is a long, complex and gripping detective story. It deserves better treatment than it got at the box office or than I’m going to give it here. Just rent the DVD; you won’t regret it.
As much as I loved it—and I really did—I am compelled to reduce this great movie to a shot in which Elias Koteas’* dick is visible through his pants. There’s no need to write to tell me how pathetic this is, I already know. Believe me. I am unashamed.
*the poor man’s (Canadian) Christopher Meloni.
I’m listening to “Turn My Way” from Get Ready by New Order.
Technorati Tags: Cinema, Film, gay, murder, San Francisco
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 2:25 AM
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June 24, 2007
SHHHH!!!
Jillian Ashley Blair Ivey of Phillyist thinks it’s OK to talk during a movie. Read why here:
People talk in movies. It's annoying, sure, but it's a fact. And, unless people are having extended conversations at louder-than-a-whisper volumes, it's actually not rude. There's an expectation, in today's attention-deprived world, that nobody can sit still for that long and be perfectly silent.Oh, really? Her commenters think she’s dead wrong and so do I. Not only is it rude, it’s selfish. Tell her what you think.
I’m listening to “Contract With Depravity” by Kenyon Hopkins from Music in the First Degree.
Technorati Tags: Cinema, Philadelphia
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Philly at 10:13 PM
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June 10, 2007
It is finished.
And brilliantly, too. For me it was the only ending possible.
The entire episode, the first since the pilot written and directed by series creator David Chase, was visually and aurally complex, setting us up perfectly for the suspense and perversity of the final scene. (As if we hadn’t had enough perversity with the babies in the SUV!) Every single member of this family has consciously chosen a life in which they are complicit in evil and consequently everything is a threat. The Sopranos sit eating onion rings and the audience has it's collective heart in its collective throat waiting for something, anything to happen. What’s left for this family but blackness?
This amazing tease was so beautifully directed I hardly know where to begin. Everything: parking the car, looking at the menu, picking a song on the jukebox, a man walking to the bathroom, everything seemed overloaded with meaning. It was just an average night in an average diner given a nearly explosive intensity by David Chase’s shot choices and the absolutely perfect editing and sound. Like a DePalma film, the direction constantly called attention to itself and still worked emotionally, almost viscerally on the viewer. I clenched my fists, thinking something awful was going to happen at any second. It was almost unbearable.
The final cut to black was just right. That thousands of people, including myself, thought their cable went out was, I think, a wonderful bonus. Fucking hilarious. I loved it.
I’m listening to “Swan Lake” from Metal Box by Public Image, Ltd.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in TV at 11:03 PM
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March 27, 2007
Borat
I’m listening to “Hand Jive” by Hive from Requiem For A Dream (Remixed).
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Crap at 10:47 PM
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February 5, 2007
Squatters
Squatter Days is a terrific documentary about Philly squatters which lets them speak for themselves. While it’s sympathetic to the squatters, it allows viewers to think for themselves as well. It’s well worth a mere 26 minutes of your time.
Thanks to Kyle Cassidy on the UC listserv for pointing this out.
I’m listening to Waiting for the Moving Van from “American Gothic” by David Ackles.
Technorati Tags: Cinema, Film, Philadelphia, street art
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Philly at 5:27 PM
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January 18, 2007
Missing
I lost about six months worth of postings, the last ones before my hiatus and name change. Sorry about that but, hey, now I get to use them again if I can remember them!
XOXO
Posted by HighStrungLoner in The High Strung Loner at 2:11 AM
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August 20, 2005
In the Mood For Love
A masterpiece by Wong Kar-Wai. This is absolutely one of the best post-Pulp Fiction films. For me it’s right up there with Boogie Nights and Requiem for a Dream. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. In the Mood For Love is beautifully photographed by Christopher Doyle, who also worked on the stunning Hero, a surprise US hit. Listening to the lovely music, watching the actors move through the cramped spaces of 1960’s Hong Kong and the fluid, meaningful camerawork combine into a kind of hypnotic choreography. It’s incredibly delicate and at the same time boldly cinematic and stylish. (Some images in this film are almost…get ready…De Palma-esque!) There is incredible emotional truth in the lead performances by the adorable Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, one of the most beautiful women in the world. A gesture, a glance, a chance touch while passing on the stairs convey things they can never say out loud. This movie is just brilliant. I can’t wait for 2046, Kar-Wai’s new film, a kind of sequel(!) to this one. I beg you to see In the Mood For Love.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 2:35 AM
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August 19, 2005
MANOS The Hands of Fate
Absolutely, the worst film I’ve ever seen. Even Plan 9 From Outer Space pales in comparison. (Ed Wood’s artistic intentions, as insane and unfulfilled as they were, saved him somehow.) This one’s got nothing, zilch, zero. It is is utterly inept in every possible way. It’s hilarious and totally compelling. The guy on the left gets massaged to death for Christ’s sake!! I’ve seen porn films with better acting. The music is completely inappropriate. This film is required viewing. I got the DVD on Amazon for $5 including shipping. There is no reason to not own a copy.
It turns out MANOS is also the most popular episode of Mystery Science Theater. I’m not surprised; it almost begs the audience to talk through it.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 7:18 AM
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August 7, 2005
The Aristocrats
I went to New York to see The Aristocats on Thursday. It might be the funniest movie I’ve ever seen. It’s one hundred comedians telling and talking about the legendary most dirty joke of all time. There is no nudity or violence, just descriptions of the foulest behavior imaginable. I can’t remember laughing out loud as many times at any film I’ve seen before.
It’s not just funny, either. The Aristocrats is a very smart examination of the nature of stand-up. Every performer fills it with his personal brand of obscenity. As Michael McKean says, “This joke makes its own gravy.” I almost hate to admit it but I now have new respect for former major annoyances Andy Dick and Gilbert Gottfried (god forgive me). And Bob Saget…well, you just have to see it.
I took the Chinatown bus to New York to see it and it was worth the trip. It opens at The Ritz in Philly this Friday. DO NOT MISS IT.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 5:39 PM
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July 7, 2005
War of the Worlds
Really scary! It’s not as visually or thematically well-wrought as Speilberg’s Minority Report, the idea ultimately makes no sense and the last scene is completely stupid. Still, it’s compelling and brutal. There are no smart-ass one-liners, thank god. Just a lot of people frozen in silent terror when they’re not screaming and running away. In fact, one of the best things about it is that the “hero” spends the entire movie trying to avoid danger. At one point, he has to talk his son out of following the army who are aggressively fighting the invaders because he sees it as pointless. This movie has some terrifying, beautiful, nightmare-inducing images: a train completely engulfed in flames, speeding uncontrollably through a railroad crossing; a man clawing bare-handed through a car windshield; the clothing of people vaporized in mid-air fluttering to the ground. You can read into it whatever you like politically and current events-wise, it still boils down to a great visceral thrill ride by a master. Not a great Speilberg but, doubtless, the best blockbuster of the summer.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 2:04 AM
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July 2, 2005
Live 8
I’ve been watching this fucking thing for an hour and they haven’t shown a single complete song by anyone. The coverage is incredibly annoying. It’s all talk and no music. I suspect they’re worried about digital copies and CD/DVD sales. No matter what the reason, it’s stupid.
My only hope is that Patti Labelle doesn’t come out at the end and hog the mic like she did at Live Aid.
The Black Eyed Peas are great, of course. Can we see an entire song, please?
Paul McCartney singing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with U2 and a horn section in the shiny Sgt. Pepper suits was a total embarrassment. Hideous beyond belief.
I’m turning it OFF and going to Trader Joe’s.
I’m back. Just like last night, Center City is full of cute, shirtless straight guys heading to the Parkway with their…umm…rather plain girlfriends. Nice!
Before I go on criticizing, I have to say Live 8 is for a great cause and everyone should go HERE and add their name to the list. There.
Madonna seems to have lost every shred of the charisma she once had. Like a Prayer is pathetic, Ray of Light is a huge improvement, though. Why is she singing in that half-squat position? At least we got an entire song!
Alicia Keyes is beautiful. I don’t like her singing much.
Linkin Park are adorable. I want to like them but I don’t. They are running overtime.
Break time. Back later.
Mariah Carey is surprisingly good but she’s wearing Aunt Ida’s lace-up dress from Female Trouble. She just can’t not be a skank.
The London concert has great energy overall. Ours is sputtering at best. It’s the line-up, though, right?
Nap time.
Dragging out the old folks now. Pink Floyd are as flat-footed as ever. (They were so good before Dark Side of the Moon. So sad.) Paul McCartney appears to have no idea at all what made Beatle records great. It’s good to see everyone’s favorite t-room queen George Michael, though.
They are interrupting Stevie Wonder to show a goddam Destiny’s Child clip!! Stevie’s pretty good today. Still picking out his own clothes, I see. Cutie-pie Rob Thomas sounds good with him. The guy from Maroon 5 does not.
It’s over.
Technorati Tags: Philadelphia
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Philly at 3:04 PM
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June 22, 2005
Layer Cake
I love British mob films and Layer Cake is a great one. It’s beautiful to look at, consistently surprising and sometimes really funny. It’s got style to spare and had me scratching my head a few times, which is always good. Guy Ritchie injected new life into the genre but he seems to have been neutered by Madonna and/or Kablahblah. So it’s great to see talented new directors like Matthew Vaughn making this kind of stuff. I was hooked instantly by the gorgeous, hypnotic opening sequence. Go see it!!
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 12:57 AM
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June 17, 2005
I got the itch!
Fuck the critics! They must be neuters. A Dirty Shame is the funniest John Waters movie in years.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 1:30 AM
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June 16, 2005
He came from outer space…
Out on DVD today! A beautiful, entertaining and very moving documentary about Klaus Nomi. He was a bright light of the New York New-Wave-but-not-quite-punk scene. He was someone I would normally have found pretentious and silly, but Nomi’s utter sincerity and stunning talent made him shine through all the crap. He really must be seen to be believed. There is footage of his very first public performance at the otherwise unremarkable “New Wave Vaudeville” produced by Ann Magnusen, who, of course, became really famous later. He stunned the audience which included lucky, lucky ME! He went on to perform famously with David Bowie on Saturday Night Live and had a huge following in Europe. It ends quite sadly after a triumphant return to New York for a great performance at the Mudd Club. His death in the early days of the AIDS epidemic is especially sad for reasons that go beyond the disease. It’s a wonderful film. Please see it, even if only to gawk at the sexy Man Parrish, one of Klaus’s cohorts and the man responsible for the soundtrack to my favorite porn film, Joe Gage’s Heatstroke. He’s still hot and still working. He did a great remix of Klaus’ Total Eclipse, included on the DVD.
It was also really nice to see that people like Kristian Hoffman from The Marbles who wrote most of Klaus’ songs and artist Kenny Scharf are still around and, apparently, working. Look for some old black and white footage of some kind of party with every member of Television and Blondie in attendance. It’s fun!
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 7:14 AM
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April 27, 2005
In the Realms of the Unreal
I saw “In the Realms of the Unreal” with Margetty and Karen tonight. It’s a stunning film about artist Henry Darger. He was an emotionally damaged man who made incredibly beautiful paintings which no one even knew about until days before his death at the age of 82. Along with the paintings, his landlords found a hefty autobiography and a detailed 15,000 page account of a war against chidren in a world that existed only in his imagination. The paintings, all of which illustrated the war, were done on both sides of cheap newsprint and many were over 10 feet long! He spent his life collecting pictures from children’s books and clothing catalogs to use in his paintings. The work is beautiful.
Luckily for us, his landlords realized the importance of what they’d found and didn’t just trash the contents of his room. This is a fascinating, kind of sad story and is captured brilliantly in the film by director Jessica Yu. Go see it.
You can see Henry Darger’s work here. I went to an extensive exhibit devoted to him at the opening of the great American Museum of Folk Art in NY a few years ago.
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Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 11:40 PM
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April 10, 2005
Late Bloomer
Late Bloomer is a great Japanese film I saw tonight at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It was about a disabled man who goes on a murderous rampage because he’s jealous that his caregivers fall in love.
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Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 3:14 AM
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March 26, 2005
Hysterical Blindness
“Remember when we sould sit out here and every guy that would go by would honk at us? We were so hot.”
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Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 7:04 PM
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February 17, 2005
Donnie Darko
I love Donnie Darko. I missed seeing it first-run in New York by only a day, finally catching it at the Brattle in Cambridge MA, a repertory cinema, where it played for only one sold-out show.
I bought and watched the Director’s Cut DVD today. It’s not much different. The movie now has a sort of structure imposed and some added dialogue that make it a little less ambiguous and maybe a little better. If you didn’t like the original, this version ain’t gonna change your mind. If you liked it but found it confusing, this DVD might help. Then again, it might not. Some people just don’t like movies about paranoid-schizophrenic teenagers who might be able to time travel and who have really tall imaginary friends in bunny suits. God knows why. You can look at it this way: It’s teen angst made physical, like they did on Buffy, only better.
I think it’s one of the best films of the last few years and, with the Director’s Cut, I like it even more. Drew Barrymore should be praised for producing it in the first place and championing this re-release. Now, if only she could act.
I’ll let you know what I think of all the exra stuff and the Director’s commentary after I watch them.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 11:30 PM
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February 2, 2005
Bad Education
Great, great, great Almodóvar film!!! Gael García Bernal is sexy, amazing and completely seductive, even as a tranny!
The interlocking stories, multiple flashbacks and pieces of a film within the film are frustratingly impossible to describe but keep the film consistently intriguing. The insane plot(s) are complex but easy to follow, even if you sometimes don’t know exactly which of them you’re actually watching. The Production Design and Cinematography are, as usual, stunningly rich and entirely plot driven. As Stephen Holden said better than I could in his New York Times review, “This film is unrestrained by any need to appear realistic.” Almodovar mines classic Spanish and American thrillers and film noir for style but the substance of this film is absolutely his own. Despite frequent and obvious nods to Hitchcock and DePalma(!) this film is still pure Almodóvar. The beautiful, sometimes seemingly innapropriate score which owes a debt to the great Bernard Herrmann is wonderful on its own. (Imagine Herrmann with flamenco guitar!) These are simply landmarks to help us navigate the thriller territory. Oh, and for laughs, too.
I’ve read that Bad Education is about all the effects of Franco-era Catholic education on two young men. That’s not really true. Child sexual abuse by a priest and battering by another may be what binds these two men and drives at least a large part of the ’story’ but the film is really about passion, love and, espeically, art. It examines how love and memory drive us to create and how sometimes art is defined by the things we choose to leave a mystery. It’s about our identities, how we see ourselves, how we want to be remembered and how we are remembered, despite ourselves. It’s about how some people’s incomplete and clouded memories motivate the creation of art. It’s about a lot of things. And it’s hilarious,too, but played completely straight. Bad Education’s comic, tabloid roots are made completely clear in the very first scene, so it’s hard for me to understand why some folks don’t see them. It’s sensational in every sense of the word, conciously and proudly so.
Just go see it! If great gay filmmakers like Pedro Almodóvar don’t get our support, we’re gonna be left with nothing but hacks like Joel Schumacher and crap like Phantom of the Opera.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 11:49 PM
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January 13, 2005
The Aviator
I sure hope Martin Scorsese gets over his fascination with Leonardo Dicaprio soon. I mean, he’s good and all but I never seem to be able to forget that I’m watching Leo and not a character in the film. Maybe this is my fault but his baby face still gets between me and whatever I’m watching.
Anyways, The Aviator is a good movie but not as thrilling and exciting as I know it could have been. Hughes is a great character and neither his enthusiasm for flying nor his lunacy moved me as they should have. There are a couple of intense scenes about his phobias that work really well. One in which he’s in a public bathroom and afraid to touch the doorknob so he can exit is really unnerving. It’s not something most of us would ever even think about but it brings Hughes to a frightening stop and nothing else matters.
Kate Blanchett IS Katherine Hepburn. It’s fucking creepy, I swear. I was never a big fan of Hepburn’s and Blanchett perfectly encapsulates everything I hate about her. It’s a startling performance. I was aware that I was watching someone impersonate her but reacting emotionally to the character. The sequence in which Hughes goes to Connecticut to meet her family is pure gold. I wanted to stand up and cheer when it was over. Brilliant.
As Hughes deteriorates, his emotional connection with both Hepburn and Ava Gardner, who both care deeply about him, seem to be the only things that can break through his psychosis and move him. The door to the screening room in shich he lived for several months becomes a kind of confessional with those he loves and a barrier against people he loathes. (Unfortunately, the film gives the audience no idea how long Hughes stayed in this one room. If I remember correctly, it was over a year.)
Hughes is a perfect subject for a film and, it might seem, Scorsese. This story has everything, almost literally! I wish it was better. Scorsese is firing on all six cylinders here and his technique is thrilling and fun. The film is stuningly beautiful to look at. The CGI is great, seamless and never a distraction, which would be disastrous in a movie like this. Something is missing, though. Still, I’d see it again.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 1:38 AM
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January 9, 2005
Film Criticism
For those of you who care as much about film as I do’after all, I did go to NYU Tisch School of the Arts during the film-heady 70’s:
the film club, Slate’s essential annual e-mail discussion among critics from around the country. This year’s edition is particularly tendentious.
Take 6: 2004 Film Poll which is exactly what it says it is. No interaction but lots of interesting stuff about movies no one’s ever heard of.
They’re both long reads but well worth the trouble. These people LOVE movies.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 3:30 AM
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December 17, 2004
Mark Ruffalo’s penis
I watched the Director’s Cut DVD of Jane Campion’s In The Cut last night. I really liked the novel and the movie is not bad. The book did a better job of incorporating the heroine’s love of words with the sex and thriller aspects of the story. The movie doesn’t successfully visualize her inner life, although they do try and it’s certainly beautifully shot. The cinematography is more than just pretty, too, it’s appropriate. The film is worth renting for no other reason than to see Campion grappling with what is for the most part a genre picture and for Mark Ruffalo’s dick. Meg Ryan is terrific in it, even though she seems to be channeling Nicole Kidman. Kidman produced the movie, so I guess she was suppposed to be in it herself.
I didn’t see it in the movies, so I’m not sure if this shot of Mark Ruffalo’s meaty dick was in the theatrical release or not. There’s a glimpse of it earlier in the movie, before the sex scene, but this semi-close-up appears at the beginning of their post-cunnilingal chit-chat. Then there’s a bit of business in which he pulls the covers over it and then she covers it even more! Too bad.
Ruffalo is very sexy in this movie and, because of his seductive performance, the inevitable cop/victim hook-up is more believable than most. Besides, they get it out of the way early which adds tension to the later scenes instead of relieving it. Anyway, the movie’s not bad but the book is a better bet, especially now that I’ve shown you the good part.
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 2:24 PM
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December 9, 2004
Dogville
I went to Blockbuster today to look for used DVDs. I bought “Super Size Me” and “Dogville.” The cashier asked me if I really wanted to buy “Dogville.” I said I did and she replied that a couple of people have told her it was the worst film they’d ever seen! I saw it in June in Providence and loved it. I’m not sure I’ll ever watch it again because it’s really unpleasant, but I sure want to own it. It’s generally considered anti-American, and it may well be, but that doesn’t bother me much. It appears to have bothered a lot of otherwise sensible critics, though. More interesting to me, the director, Lars Von Trier, seems to really get off on humiliating famous actresses. If you want to see Nicole Kidman chained to a giant piece of concrete or Lauren Bacall mime hoeing potatoes, then this is the movie for you!
Posted by HighStrungLoner in Film at 10:08 PM
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