Popular Media

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The Weirdest Movie In The World

[ 4 Comments ]Posted on November 1, 2008 by admin in Popular Media

Saturday, November 1st, 2008

It’s at first strange to think, and then on reflection not all that surprising, that the screenplay for The Saddest Music in the World was written by Kazuo Ishiguro, author of The Remains of the Day. Ishiguro seems to have a gift for capturing a distant or past reality that doesn’t actually exist. If you’re [...]

It’s at first strange to think, and then on reflection not all that surprising, that the screenplay for The Saddest Music in the World was written by Kazuo Ishiguro, author of The Remains of the Day. Ishiguro seems to have a gift for capturing a distant or past reality that doesn’t actually exist. If you’re a film lover, director Guy Maddin’s treatment of the story is a joy. Shot in a variety of styles that range from 20′s/30′s American silent film to German expressionism to a sort of Lynchian absurdism, the film somehow remains cohesive and ends up capturing the feeling of a mid-twentieth century absurdist play. If you’re not a film lover, I almost wouldn’t recommend watching the film; a lot of what gives the movie its charm relies on its quirky nods to established older styles of filmmaking. Isabella Rossellini (who still doesn’t know she is my secret wife) is cast cleverly in one of the stranger roles of her career. As a director, it’s hard to lay claim to this sort of thing when your lead has been in David Lynch films like Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, but I think Maddin managed to take her almost as far as she takes herself. And she takes herself pretty far, as you know if you saw her Green Porno (NSFW if you’re a bug) shorts of a few years ago.

Short Sites Worth A Long Look

[ 2 Comments ]Posted on October 26, 2008 by admin in Popular Media, Technology

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

Another reason to cancel your cable service

I’ve mentioned before why my goldfish-like attention span is a perfect fit for the YouTube era of short media. That’s why I was especially excited recently to discover two new HD-quality sites that focus specifically on short films and music videos. The clip at left is the first episode of Emily Time, a weekly show delivered only via the web at historyandtheuniverse.com, along with another show called Big Book of Lies. Both programs were created by David Lampson, a 29-year-old television writer from Boston who produces the shows in Buenos Aires. Both shows are quirky, cinematically slick, and intelligent. Big Book of Lies, for instance, features a dryly absurd, on-going subplot about Noam Chomsky’s sons Buck (a struggling beatbox artist) and John (a cop). On a grander scale, Australia-based PortableFilmFestival.com has a broad selection of seriously high-quality shorts that are “curated” by independent film professionals, guaranteeing a certain level of quality of content. After a painless (takes about 10 seconds and they don’t make you jump through any hoops) account signup, you’re able to view AND download some of the best indy film out there.

Dystropia

[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 25, 2008 by admin in Popular Media

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

Dystropia

–noun
a common or overused theme or plot device based on predictions of future human misery, squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.

I started this post in a dystopian future, but SkyNet firewalled my connection. I’ll be back.

When Men Were Men, Women Were Chained, And Everyone Chain Smoked

[ 2 Comments ]Posted on October 19, 2008 by admin in Popular Media

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

…and your doctor could still recommend a good brand of cigarettes

I smoke and drink at the office, flirt with my secretary every chance I get, and my wife has dinner on the table every night when I get home from work. That is, if I get home from work. Maybe I stopped at my secret lover’s house on the way home, pretending I worked late and fell asleep at the desk. The world is full of bullet bras and men’s mags, but being divorced is considered scandalous. I smack my friends’ kids on the face when they misbehave, and no-one objects. Who Am I? I am a Mad Man. Or rather one of the Mad Men. I can’t stop watching this show, not because I’m a chauvinistic, chain-smoking, child-abusing alcoholic (although I may be one or two of those things) but because the creator of the show (primarily Matthew Weiner) has done such a brilliant job of capturing that weird sixties vibe of sexual/moral repression mixed with the new-found freedoms of the “modern life”. And done so with exceptional attention to style and detail (except for the typefaces, apparently). It’s like peeling away the simulacrum that was “Bewitched”. Instead of magic and a bumbling Darrin Stevens, we get reality and Don Draper. I think I’ll be obligated to buy the Zippo DVD/Lighter combo, but for now I’m torrenting the first few episodes.

Tea Leoni Divorcing David Duchovny?

[ 4 Comments ]Posted on October 17, 2008 by admin in Popular Media

Friday, October 17th, 2008

Bree Sharp’s “David Duchovny, Why Don’t You Love Me” Plays Moodily In Background

Sadly, the question everyone’s asking is not “will he relapse?” but “OMFG, for Billy Bob Thornton?”

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