Monday, June 23, 2008

George Carlin (1937-2008), R.I.P.

Seven dirty words...anybody?



Of course the beauty of grassroots production is that we're able to bypass TV, which still would bleep out all the naughty bits. Here on the blogosphere we at least get to hear the routine normally and share it amongst fellow travelers. Fucking FCC.

With Carlin's passing, I think back to the Vietnam era, and the TV war coverage then versus what we have now. Don't you think if networks had access to the horrors of war in Iraq or Afghanistan, and were allowed to (gasp!) show American flag-draped coffins coming home, that our activities abroad would have been, erm, curtailed? Maybe that's wishful thinking, but damn. Fuck the Bush Administration.

NPR is running a series on parents who've meet at "Section 60," the area in Arlington National Cemetery where soldiers from Iraq & Afghanistan are buried. It's moving stuff--part one was today (Monday), and not sure how many more days they'll do, but at least tomorrow. Fuck commercial radio.

If you've not seen this yet, spend a few minutes by clicking on this interactive from the NY Times. Then come back for a Monty Python palate cleaner, below.

Friday, June 13, 2008

4-3-2: a must-see

Just watched one of the best films I've seen in some time--also one of the hardest films to watch in some time. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (2007) was the last of the "big three" Romanian films of recent years to make it to DVD (after The Death of Mr. Lazarescu [2005] and 12:08, East of Bucharest [2006]).  4-3-2 won the Palm d'Or @ Cannes 2007, and deservedly so.  It's wrenching, it's heartbreaking.  It's the real deal.

Technically, the film is actually reminiscent of our Danish friends from Dogme95 (e.g., The Celebration [1998] and The Idiots [1998]): long takes, handheld, no music soundtrack, etc.  The DVD extras are quite nice, including extended interviews w/ the director and the cinematographer.  Also, there's a short documentary about taking the film on the road to show in provincial Romanian towns that no longer have a dedicated cinema in which to watch these films.

In light of my current research on Lithuania, I'm arguing that--at least from an audience perspective--Lithuanian "national cinema" was only viable while Lithuania was not a nation-state, but rather a republic of the USSR.  Conversely, after re-independence, Lithuanian national cinema has collapsed.  In the Romanian case, this collapse of the audience is also clearly happening... And yet we've seen some amazing, world-class films come from there in the past few years.  What lessons can Baltic filmmakers take from the Romanian case?

Below, I've posted the trailer for the film (now out on DVD).  Do yourself a favor and see 4 Months...  But be forewarned: it's a bitter pill.


Friday, June 6, 2008

Beatles! Beatles everywhere!

I note with a mix of amusement, bemusement, mock-horror, and mirth that at least 33% of current 396 blogs now host Beatles songs! Having just screened Across the Universe (2007) this morning, it is apparently my constitutional duty to post this Eddie Izzard outtake as Mr. Kite.....



I go back and forth on the film. Every generation can and should rediscover the Beatles, and if this film does the trick then I'm all for it. Lord knows when I was in college, there were any number of house versions of Fab Four tunes (check the 1991 Candy Flip cover of "Strawberry Fields," below...the song Shawn's blogged quiz says most fits my personality type--go figure), and that was a way to reconnect after playing (out) the catalogue in earlier years....

More than anything else I got frustrated with the 1:1 correlations thrown out there one after the other, demanding I think them clever. Yes, it's dear Prudence, and yes she came in through the bathroom window. JoJo is here, as is Sexy Sadie, Jude, Lucy, and even lovely Rita (albeit a contortionist, no longer a meter maid). Sadie = Janis, JoJo = Jimi, Jude = John. The Hair sequence is here, the Abbey Road roof gig is here, and on and on. And that's what makes the Izzard sequence a relative breath of fresh air for me--controlled chaos.

As far as Beatles updates / mashups / you-pick-'ems go, on the whole I'd still give the nod to the George Martin Love (2006) project's fusion of "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Within You, Without You" (neither of which appeared in Universe). Mind you, I have no stake in the video--but the audio mash-up is spot-on brilliant:



Now with the Beatles edging out Gary Numan in the blog charts (at an inexplicably close 3-2 margin) let's see if other folks chime in?

As a PS, here are the aforementioned Flippers, doing their best Happy Mondays vs Paul Oakenfold impression. THIS, kids, is the kind of stuff your professors were clubbing to in college. Scary, no?



See also: Danielle Dax, "Tomorrow Never Knows"; The Dream Academy, "Love." And for a different flavor, track down Sonic Youth's blistering cover of "Within You Without You"

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Madonna vs Gogol Bordello


Bloomie in full effect! Last night I dreamt of the Farmers' Market....




I'm sneaking in this Pokemon as well in a tribute to Vilnis, who was kind enough to introduce us to the wide world of Pokemon. According to a test I found on the web, this is the Pokemon that most closely resembles my personality. Make of it what you will.....