This Rabbit Tastes like a Tire!

What can I say about Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law? Well, I can say that it's one of my favorite films of all time, that Tom Waits is my god, Robby Muller's cinematography is gorgeous, and John Lurie's original music is tonally perfect.

I can also say, finally, that some amazing person has placed my favorite scene on YouTube.

Quote of the Day

Today's quote comes from Steve Erickson, an American novelist, essayist, and film critic, based out of LA. His narritives often take place in Los Angeles as well and his most recent novel, Zeroville, was one of my favorites of last year. It follows Jerome, a slightly autistic, 24 year old architecture student (with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor tattooed on his shaved head) through 1970's Hollywood. The book depicts an almost supernatural effect of film, and meditates on the changing of the Hollywood guard during the period. I wholly recommend it.

And on to the quote:


"Each scene is in all times, Vikar tells himself, and all times are in each scene… The scenes of a movie can be shot out of sequence not because it’s more convenient, but because all the scenes of a movie are really happening at the same time…. Scenes reflect what hasn’t yet happened, scenes anticipate what already has happened. Scenes that have not yet happened, have."

Bro-mancing the Stone

MTV, home of the most wretched TV on earth, has somehow managed to outdo itself in Brody Jenner and Ryan Seacrest’s (yes, that Ryan Seacrest) new vehicle entitled Bromance. And yes, that actually is the title of the show. He also managed to get one of his bros Frankie Delgado a producer credit, so some respect can at least be given to his representation. The respect is immediately rescinded when Frankie throws a jealous hissy fit over a birthday card from a gay contestant (can you even make this up?).

It’s not that I don’t understand what a bromance is – I do, and I even have them; that’s not the point. I get that Jenner had his bro-heart bro-oken by someone named Spencer (from the equally horrid The Hills, also thrust upon us by our wonderful friends at MTV) and that he’s looking to replace his fallen bro (actually I don’t). I get that this guy Jenner is a pretty cool guy (depending on your definition of cool), and probably gets a ton of vapid L.A. ass.

What I don’t understand is what exactly the contestants think they’re winning.

Do you think Brody is actually going to be friends with you? Do you want to be friends with him? Obviously the contestants do, because the obscene doting that comes out of their mouths is one of the better ways to lose your lunch. “Brody is like the sweetest dude on the planet. His life – that is like my DREAM life. He’s so good looking, and gets so many chicks. I want to be like Brody!” This is paraphrased, but you get my drift. It’s also said in front of two lax sticks which hang in the background of their bro mansion in Compton (again, not making this up).

Other than his show on MTV, I’m pretty sure Brody doesn’t have a job – he’s pretty much the male equivalent of Paris Hilton. So you go out to L.A., this guy Brody and his two other bro’s basically haze you like freshmen during pledge week, and somehow, someway, he decides to let you be his bro. So now you’re stuck out in L.A., with no job (except maybe a producer’s credit on Bromance 2: Electric Brogaloo), no home, and maybe a quick mojito with Brody Jenner every few weeks for pictures in US Weekly.

Congrats, bro.

Good Music at the Buy More

Ah, Josh Schwartz. Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit, he’s got pretty good taste in music. So when Chuck, the fluffy, somewhat vapid, NBC show (executive produced by – you got it- Josh Schwartz) came on the air late 2007, I was expecting some chuckles and a bunch semi-indie music to accompany the over-dramatic montages that dutifully would unspool by episode end. Well, it’s two years later, and I’ve gotten a whole lot more than just chuckles from my good old Nerd Herd super spy Chuck. I actually like the show. And while it’s not exactly Twin Peaks, and the status-quo never seems to change all that much, I keep coming back for more. While I’m not exactly looking forward to the whole 'Young X-men' movie Rothman has planned at Fox, and I’d much rather Schwartz tried to tackle an onscreen Runaways, I guess it could’ve been in worse hands.

Oh, and the music is pretty damn good too.

I’ve linked a few of my favorites below.

The always great Bon Iver:


Frightened Rabbit (whom they've used several times):





And the Elliot Smith-esq Blitzen Trapper:

An Open Letter to PIXAR: The Case for Pride of Baghdad

Dear Pixar,

Everyone loves you. Wall-E is on every critics ‘best of’ list. You’ve never had a movie come in at under 150 million dollars domestic. You delight kids and grown-ups alike, with superb directing, crisp writing, and every so often, topical storylines. I know you like writing your own material. I get it. You take pride in it – moving from the conception stage on up. But please, please, please, take a serious look at Brian K. Vaughn’s (Y: The Last Man, LOST) Pride of Baghdad (released in 2006 by DC Comics). Yes, I realize it’s a graphic novel. Just trust me, it’s a perfect fit.

The story follows a pride of captive lions, accidentally set free from the Baghdad Zoo during a 2003 American bombing run. In many ways they serve as a compelling allegory for the Iraqi people. They stumble, wide-eyed, across a scarred city, witnessing the horrors of war first hand. The graphic novel is powerful and moving, and the family dynamic within the pride is comparable to that in any highbrow survival movie or novel (think McCarthy's The Road). Vaughn writes compelling dialogue; it’s the curt, yet often brutal language honed during his runs on Y and Ex Machina. Never once does the story turn political. Each member of the pride views the events through different eyes, with widely varying perspectives. While the focus stays on the pride, it is a truly human struggle. As you can imagine, Pride does not have a happy “Disney” ending. Everything is not wrapped up in a tidy bow. The movie might earn a PG-13, or, if the MPAA decides to smack you in the face like they did to Danny Boyle on Slumdog, they’ll give you an R. But it will be worth it. It’s a story worth telling, and it’s a story that more people need to experience. I have no doubt that you would handle it beautifully.

You wouldn't say no to Wall-e, would you?

Quote of the Day

Today's comes from PKD's novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch:

"I mean, after all; you have to consider we're only made out of dust. That's admittedly not much to go on and we shouldn't forget that. But even considering, I mean it's a sort of bad beginning, we're not doing too bad. So I personally have faith that even in this lousy situation we're faced with we can make it. You get me?"

Like most of Mr. Dick's writing, it manages to put everything into perspective.

And the Damages Keep Rolling In

After a year long hiatus, Damages returned last night to FX. Academy Award winner Glenn Close, the fabulous Rose Byrne (huge crush in this corner), and a top-of-his-game Tate Donovan, are joined this season by William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant, and Marcia Gay Harden, among other notables. How can a TV cast get better than that? I have no idea.

The second season starts off in a similar fashion to the first. There’s a six-month flash forward in which we see Parsons (Rose Byrne) calmly threatening to kill someone with a glass of bourbon in one hand, and pistol in the other. Obviously, this isn’t going to be Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), because the brother writing team of Kessler and Kessler are just too damn smart for that. Damages thrives on its twist and turns, fantastic acting (Byrne and Close play off each other to perfection), and crisp, often film quality direction. My immediate guess would be Olyphant’s character, Ellen’s skeezy, anger counselling partner (remember her husband’s recent murder), but again, this is probably too obvious. As the first season showed us, there are always quite a few pieces still missing to the puzzle, often until the final act.

Last night also saw the welcome return of Zeljko Ivanek (who won an Emmy for his performance last year), if only for a brief moment. Who cares that he was last seen blowing his brains out all over Patty’s chic office? I sure don’t. Ted Danson’s loathsome Arthur Frobisher also puts in a quick appearance, drawing both sympathy and disgust. I’ve read that he doesn’t show up in the second episode, but I hope it’s not the last we hear of him. He’s a richly layered character, like most in the show, and it would be a shame to lose him. While Damages might not be the most intelligent of the legal shows (I’m looking at you The Wire) it’s certainly better than 90% of the crap out there. It’s also got a hell of a title sequence, which I link below.

Quote of the Day

From the ever-spectacular Ricky Gervais, on his worst movie of the year:

"1. Twilight -- Dear Fat Girls of America, I know times are tough. I know how it feels to be overweight, and unpopular, to feel that no one really understands you and to wallow away at night, lying in your big bed, snacking and wishing there was an effeminate vampire boy-child to come steal you away and show you how shiny he looks in the sunlight. (I don't). But this is not the answer. I say it again, ma'am: THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER. I know it's too late to stop this train, but let us all agree that the Twilight books make Harry Potter look like Proust. And even worse, the Twilight film makes Disaster Movie look like The Leopard."

Amen, Brother. Amen.

Sebastien Tellier, you complete me

First off, amazing song, amazing video. The original, non-remixed Tellier song is something like 8 minutes so I can understand why they didn't go for that one when it came time for the radio edit. The video is director by Ace Norton (Venice Beach, CA), who's directed similarly fantastic videos for Death Cab, Bloc Party, and the Mountain Goats. Enjoy.

This one isn't too shabby either:



Damn my penchant for French guys with beards.

A Curious Case Indeed

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a seminal American Film, and with a budget upwards of 150 million, it is one that I assumed studios no longer had the gall to make. A two hour and forty minute meditation on life and death, it in many ways lacks categorization. The story revolves around a central gimmick, pulled from a F. Scott Fitzgerald short story; what if a man (Button, played by Brad Pitt) were to age backwards, instead of forwards? On this question alone Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room) evokes the transitory and fleeting nature of one man’s life that is at once tragic, uplifting, and universal.

For such a soaring epic, Fincher might not have been an immediate choice as director. While his technical innovations have been staggering, human emotion has never been his forte. Perhaps, it still is not. But as I take in the full scope of the film, this might have been his greatest gift to Button (other than the superb motion capture employed throughout). And this takes me to my biggest issue with some of the reviews I have read of Button. First, that it is either forty minutes too long (it is not), or that the audience never fully connects to either Benjamin or Daisy (on this, I agree). The second critique has nothing to do with why this movie is so affecting, and entirely misses the point. The film, with its overly-polished actors and ornately intricate sets (note the over-the-top tug-boat which looks like something out of an expensive Broadway production), is not looking to parallel an odyssey like Forrest Gump (though they share the same screenwriter). While Benjamin is not a particularly relatable character, his experiences are innately human.

Take for example Benjamin’s visit to Daisy (a remarkable Cate Blanchette), his childhood love, who is now a successful dancer in Paris. By this point he has travelled to Russia, fought in a World War, and watched as dozens of his elderly friends pass away at his childhood home. His world-view is uniquely different then that of Daisy’s, and as a 23 year old dancer, exposed to none of the death which has surrounded Benjamin, she scorns his advances. As Daisy sits dying in a hospital room, she calls herself selfish. But is she really? Is each life not truly tinged by some regrets? Are mistakes not what make us human? Button, in all of its wisdom, shows life as a tapestry of failures, heartbreak, awe, and transition. The film employs a Marquez-like magical realism, meant to imbue a sense of loss, love, and the ever-present passing of time. It is a feeling. You have no particularly yearning to see more Benjamin, like you might have experienced with Mr. Gump. Instead it is your perception on time, and life’s beautiful imperfections that take the brunt of the film’s emotional jabs.

It is a sprawling, magical epic, and as Benjamin finally leaves us, it is as a man, and child, all at once.