There may be no other South Park statement I disagree with more than when Kyle says (Season 8, Ep. 3: “The Passion of the Jew“) — very much sounding like the words are coming straight from Matt Stone’s mouth: “we watch movies to be entertained”. He’s referring to Mel Gibson’s slaughter fest about Christ, but it really does feel like that’s what Trey and him believe about all movies. That movies are entertainment, pure and simple. And once you cross over that line your movie turns to garbage. It’s this type of thinking that led to Orgazmo and Baseketball. That’s what happens when you reach no higher than entertainment alone.
I bring this up because last night I saw Lincoln, a film that somehow is caught in the middle of such a debate. A film about the political mechanizations of a two party system, and the struggle to get things done within that system. It should be boring. “Boring”. And it’s funny cause I’m reading a number of reviews that think it is boring, from “critics” and general public alike. They’re wrong, it isn’t boring. In fact, it tries really really hard not to be boring. That’s part of the problem. Why even include that opening Civil War scene? Looking back it seems grossly out of place. The film opens with an incredibly violent war scene between a “colored” regiment of The Union and a Confederate regiment in an all out brawl scene reminiscent of Gangs of New York. Bayonets are stabbed into bellies and before you can blink it’s over. This is probably included to further pad a scene late in the film when Lincoln is strolling through the remains of a battlefield before War’s end. But for the audience, it’s actually less of a shock because we’ve already seen the carnage, even if Abe hasn’t.
It may have been clever (well, I guess not that clever… more like serviceable) to bookend the movie with another horrific scene of violence in Lincoln getting assassinated. Two horrible and terrifying scenes to start and end the film, one with faceless soldiers dying in the muck, the other with the main character dying at a play in the nicest box-seats in the theater. Contrasting bookends. But that didn’t happen either, the film ends in another theater, where the Lincolns’ son Tad is watching another play, sitting in another box. And as the camera panned to the left, my wife and I both thought: “well this isn’t very historically accurate”. But it was all a red herring, and you’re left leaving the theater a little befuddled. It kinda feels like Spielberg is trying to fuck with as many different types of movie-goers as he can, and it turns into a meal someone kinda screwed up but it tastes okay so no one is too pissed but the food is really simple to begin with.
Structurally, it’s just sort of a mess. The “horror of the War” stuff is in there to make the “passage of the 13th” stuff feel secondary, and to make Lincoln seem all the more so wholly dedicated to the freedom of the slaves even to the detriment of thousands more lives. Scenes of Gordon-Levitt as Abe’s older son Robert outside a military hospital feel forced and crammed in, as do domestic scenes between Day-Lewis and Sally Field. Okay… holy crap Sally Field is really bad in this movie. Like, really really bad. And I know that Mary Todd Lincoln was probably bi-polar and suffered from migraines and had mental problems, but she doesn’t really play it that way. You don’t get the sense that those things exist really in that, 1) she doesn’t really play the character that sympathetically, and 2) you can just see it in her face that she’s of a level mind. This may have been the way she was written too, but she certainly does nothing to pull the character off the page and present a real, living, breathing tortured First Lady.
Day-Lewis is, of course, amazing as Lincoln. Everything from the way he walks, sits, writes, speaks, even the way he crawls feels like history in the flesh. Easily one of the best performances of the year. David Strathairn, who probably shares the most screen time with Abe, is almost as good as William Seward, a dedicated and brilliant Statesman from New York (who survived his own assassination attempt the night Lincoln got shot). In fact, the entirety of the cast is just brilliant. And rightfully so, as these are some of the best character actors working today. Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, David Costabile, Tim Blake Nelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and on and on and on it goes. These performances are what really elevates this movie, without them it’d be just another terribly average period piece.
But hey at least I have new material when someone proposes that Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest directors of all-time… from now on I’m just going to say, “eternal-flame dissolve cut”. Equal bad marks should probably go to Tony Kushner — who’s strength is definitely dialogue (probably why he’s such a good playwright) — showing both a lack of creativity and screen-writing class working knowledge when it comes to structure. In the end, this movie might know what it is, but I hardly do.
- I’ve now got a SModcast app on my phone after enjoying having WTF! W/ Marc Maron on my phone for a few days. They’re really nice things to have access to in your pocket, eh? I wasn’t aware of this, but the “SModcast” network (Kevin Smith and friends, for those who don’t know/click/Google) features a whole slew of podcasts with and without Kevin Smith, some about comics and some not. There’s one that still gets released on a relatively regular schedule called “The Breaks”, wherein a DJ Smith knows veers into all sorts of different territory but manages to always talk music and spinning records.
Course now that I’ve got this on my phone I should probably get a Ray Kurzweil podcast or something to balance out the Universe.
- With PS Store redeem codes I received as a birthday gift, I downloaded Journey, Braid, and The Walking Dead yesterday. Cheap games… 15, 15, and 20 respectfully. I only briefly played Journey last night, and it seems spectacular: artistic, intuitive, graceful, unique as all hell. It’s going to be really nice to have a break from people sending me nasty messages after I play them in NHL 12.
- Last night I was racking my brain trying to wrap it around the concept for my next proper LP. It will be based on the most transformative part of my life (so far). I want the album to go through the journey of what I went through; this could get a little painful as particular memories are brought up, but hopefully the good memories outweigh the bad. And they do. Musically, I guess I would like to move a little bit back towards the more sample-based sound of two albums ago. My last album (I don’t know who I’m talking to, if anyone, so I’m gonna assume you have not heard it; which I’m totally cool with) went a bit more instrumentation based, with sort of complex arrangements mixed in with breakbeats. It was less about the beats and samples, and more about the instrumentation/arrangements. I want a mix of the two, of course, but this last time I used samples to compliment the synths and guitar lines I was writing, I’d like to flip that. Also, THIS BAND. Very inspiring. Seemingly unconnected and obtuse samples tied together through synths and other original instrumentation to form a cohesive whole. Also, apparently, Japanese music. Like, classical Japanese music.
- On Thanksgiving I wrote quite a long piece about the infamous comic strip “Huxley was right; Orwell was wrong”. It very poorly tied the idea that Huxley was right to Black Friday now spilling over into Thanksgiving now, the day of the year we’re supposed to be thankful for what we have. The only day of the year in this country where we aren’t supposed to be consumers. It also compared and contrasted 21st Century living to what Brave New World and 1984 predicted would happen to our societies. I wrote it, edited it, and published it. For some reason the published version wiped about 3/4 of the thing clean. Probably a good thing as it was terribly written.
“In June, director Martin Scorsese tried to show his 1993 film The Age of Innocence at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorsese’s editor for the past 40 years and a three-time Oscar winner, called Grover Crisp, the senior VP of asset management at Sony, for a 35mm print. But Sony not only didn’t have a print, it couldn’t even make one.
“He told me that they can’t print it anymore because Technicolor in Los Angeles no longer prints film,” Schoonmaker recalled. “Which means a film we made 20 years ago can no longer be printed, unless we move it to another lab—one of the few labs still making prints.”
- A swath of Nordic countries (all of them?) are telling Facebook to stop unsolicited advertising of users in their countries or face legal action. Good for them. Not only did they cite the current EU on “privacy and electronic communication” in their threat, they also are looking into amending the law to uniquely tackle the topic. “It is prohibited to send electronic advertisements to consumers who haven’t given their consent, either by email or SMS… We think that some of the advertising that Facebook calls ‘sponsored stories’ is beginning to look like unsolicited electronic messages.”
- The Independent: “The Future of War Is LookingBleak“. What a spectacular title for a news article! Now we’re talking! Havard Hegre, a professor at the University of Oslo, developed a model for predicting future events and trends on a global scale this past year, his work has just been published. In it Hegre discovered that the amount of “wars” (defined as a conflict between countries in which at least 25 people die) has dropped dramatically in recent history, and the extended model shows a continuation of decline in the next 40 years. “War has become less acceptable,” Hegre said, “just like duelling, torture and the death penalty.”
- The new WTF with Marc Maron Podcastis just spectacular. It is episode 336, in which Maron interviews the infamous filmmaker Todd Solondz. Solondz’s latest film is called Dark Horse. The film is discussed extensively along with Solondz’s career and upbringing, how the former employs the latter. It’s really interesting to hear an extensive interview with the man (even though for a WTF interview it’s a bit short), I don’t know if I’ve heard him speak for more than a few minutes before. Marc Maron is spot on as always, asking just the right questions you’d like to hear the answers to while simultaneously maintaining humor and intelligence and that everyman quality.
- I’m seeing The Hold Steady Saturday and have been looking up videos of them from 2012 this morning. Here’s a good one from “Rock The Garden” (especially cause a lot of these landmarks are a stone’s throw away from where they’re performing):
- Art Under Austerityis a very interesting look at current austerity measures in Spain, as viewed from the scope of where the country has been and is going.
These unexpected points of contact between extremes in a famously polarized country suggest a growing post-ideological unanimity, unprecedented and still unfathomable. The wide social and generational range of those who have come out to march against a Europe ruled by Big Finance, and for a new Constituent Assembly in Spain, reflects the creep of an almost revolutionary radicalism. Even a pair of policemen assured me that 90 percent of the force, as “individuals in society,” would willingly have joined the “Surround Congress” demonstration last September. Until now there have been no counter-demonstrations by right-wing ultras, and not a glimmer of Greece’s party Golden Dawn.
- Last night I made the mistake of beginning to watch the Lance Bangs Pavement documentary “Slow Century”. A mistake because I should have known it would’ve been too fascinating to turn off, no matter how late the hours got. If you’ve got the time, here it is:
- Sage Francis has resurrected the Tumblr Hello There, Racists after an apparent shut down. I think it’s outrageous to say it isn’t fair to publicly chastise these people, knowing full well that Twitter and Facebook are publicly viewed domains (they’re basically the 21st Century “public square”). It also serves to remind us of some very important things, two of which: you’re not invisible on the Internet, and if you want to say outrageous shit you’d better damn well be posting anonymously (then again anyone with half a brain can trace an IP address), and yes… racism definitely still exists. Some of this shit is just disgusting.
- Very interesting article, that very well might go over your head a little (went over mine at least), on the nature of dark energy. Is it static or dynamic in its existence. If it’s dynamic… yeesh, the philosophical implications of such a thing are astronomical; a form of matter whose density and composition and structure changes as it shifts though space time??
While hypothesized dark energy can explain observations of the universe expanding at an accelerating rate, the specific properties of dark energy are still an enigma. Scientists think that dark energy could take one of two forms: a static cosmological constant that is homogenous over time and space, or a dynamical entity whose energy density changes in time and space. By examining data from a variety of experiments, scientists in a new study have developed a model that provides tantalizing hints that dark energy may be dynamic.
The results are still far from conclusive, but the scientists hope that future data might narrow down the models with greater accuracy. They hope that observations by the Planck spacecraft (launched in 2009; first data available in April 2013) and the Euclid spacecraft (launch date is 2019) could help pinpoint the dark energy models that most closely describe our expanding universe.
- Great piece of street art (graffiti, if you prefer that term; I really could care less what it’s called) from GOIN, who I believe works out of the UK:
- New remix EP! I’m basically doing here what I tried to to with Biggie, but now I have more tools at my disposal and I don’t suck as much. I wanted to do another Hip-Hop legend. Nas was on the list, and is still. Ironically though, one of the songs on this album is a 2001 track (off The Blueprint) called “The Takeover” in which Jay-Z talks alot shit about both Mob Deep and Nas. I can’t mess with the original, which is one of Kayne West’s best beats, it manages to sample The Doors and KRS One and David Bowie. Dang. Anyways, yeah enjoy. Most of the tracks are pretty dark besides “H.O.V.A.” which kind of has a dance party vibe, and “Encore” which is sort of a reflective, hopeful sounding song. Here’s the cover:
There’s still much to be desired with my scratching, but I’m getting better. Also there should be a guitar solo. Maybe at the end of HOVA. Okay I’ll stop. Here’s the stream:
Okay what the fuck? Bandcamp has changed since I last used it. There used to be a drop down menu to embed albums on a variety of sites, including WordPress. Now they’re only providing embed shortcodes for Tumblr, Twitter, and Google+ (with Facebook being default embed). Hmm. Okay, well here’s the damn link cause yeah F this:
- I’ve been getting really into a remix project lately, and will likely come very close to finishing on my days off work this week. Seems like lately I keep having the same crisis: during instrumental breaks do I go batshit crazy with a guitar or with a turntable. Obviously this depends on the song, but it’s still hard to be clairvoyant and know which one will work better. So typically I will just record both and compare and contrast. First World Producer Problems.
- I think I’ve posted Ulises Farinas’ art here before, but it’s well worth a second mention:
The past three decades of wanton patent-granting have created a disastrous environment for innovation. Today it’s practically impossible to build anything without violating a patent of some kind—and risking a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for your troubles. Once intended to protect lone inventors, patents now form a kind of shadow tech industry, in which billions of dollars are spent on amassing huge portfolios. (A recent New York Times article noted that Apple and Google, companies that define themselves by innovation, now invest more in patent acquisition and defense than in research and development.)
Why are companies spending so much money on patents? First, as protection. “Patents are like bullets,” law professor Chien says. “They’re cheap to acquire but can cause a lot of damage.” But if you have your own bullets, would-be assassins are less likely to target you. That’s the thinking behind RPX (Rational Patent Exchange), whose clients include Google, Microsoft, and IBM. RPX amasses patents, it says, to keep them out of the hands of lawsuit-happy competitors, and it vows not to sue anyone over them.
- I’m a massive proponent for not going to war with Iran. The problem with my viewpoint is we kinda already are at war with Iran. It’s just a sophisticated war, a secret war.
The dramatic spike in suspected Iranian cyber attacks this year also has some in the U.S. distinctly worried. While direct denial of service attacks on U.S. banks – widely seen as retaliation for US sanctions and attempts to freeze Iran from the international financial system – were seen relatively simplistic, attacks on US allies in the Gulf were more complex.
The most worrying, experts say, were those on Saudi oil firm Aramco and Qatari gas export facilities. Last month, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta described the Saudi attack as the most sophisticated yet launched on a private company, effectively destroying tens of thousands of computers – although he stopped short of blaming Tehran directly.
- Any news headline that features ‘Russian Arms Deal’ sounds like it’s either from the Cold War era or a bad spy film. Nevertheless, I opened my browser this morning to BBC News and there it was staring me down like a blast from the past: Iraq Cancels $4.2 Billion Russian Arms Deal Over ‘Corruption’. The new Iraqi Prime Minister apparently believes there is corruption within his own team (most likely there is), and Russia is suggesting the United States has pressured him to reject the deal (which also could have some truth to it). Whatever the case is, billion dollar arms deals from whoever to whoever frighten me. Mass quantities of technology to kill people always do.
- Everyone is mentioning the most obvious, and worst, ideas for directors when it comes to who should do Episode VII. I’ve heard Christopher Nolan, which is of course just dumb. No. Sorry, but no. Let Nolan go back to making psychological thrillers, please. Leave the guy alone… these big action movies he’s doing now are when he’s at his worst. I’ve heard Spielberg which… oh God, if Indiana Jones and the Flying Saucer was any indication, let’s keep Spielberg to historical character films please… not action movies. I’ve even heard Tarentino. What are you, nuts?? Can’t have Mr. Fuckin Reservoir Dogs directing Han and Leia’s kids! Two people that came to my mind, that I believe (of course “you believe” you’re writing it you jackass) are capable, unknown enough but have the experience and chops: Duncan Jones and Rian Johnson. But hey, what do I know?
Within a few years of Fear and Desire’s release, Stanley Kubrick would begin the process of becoming Stanley Kubrick. In 1958, when Kubrick was fresh off his first hit, Paths of Glory, he cut a familiar figure in the New York Times Magazine, which described him as a “lank-haired, slightly elusive, seemingly diffident young man who talks little, wears dark suits in the bright sunshine on Canon Drive, and makes astonishing movies.” He reportedly burned the negative of Fear and Desire shortly after it came and went at the box office, though he could never completely write the film out of his personal history.
- Holy shit this is an awesome Gus from Breaking Bad poster:
Last night I had the opportunity to go and see the legend of Minnesota music legends, the spiritual successor to Woody Guthrie (Arlo not withstanding), Bob Dylan. Bob Zimmerman. Robert Milkwood. Whatever you wanna call him. He lived up to that status. His presence was definitely felt from front to back, and he seemed glad to be in his (original) home.
My cousin who I was with hit it right on the head when he said, “he’s no nostalgia act, is he?”. Suffice it to say after having trouble getting to our seats on the floor due to sheer volume of people, I think the entire row ahead of us emptied after about 3 songs. It went from claustrophobic feeling to just plain bare. I should make it clear that I was told (“warned” seems like too strong of language) what a modern Bob Dylan show was going to be like from several people before going. I knew what I was in for; that being said, I honestly think I still would have the same reaction had I not been aware of the style in which Dylan and his always marvelous backing band present some of the best songs of the 20th Century. I would. Cause I was fairly baffled when I heard people complaining about it for the first time, it seemed a little unjustified. Here’s the deal: none of the songs are very recognizable, especially to an untrained ear (musically, that is). Sure… if you know the lyrics to Bob Dylan songs you’ll figure it out, or if you can recognize a key instantly you definitely will. But if you have neither of things you damn well better be going into the venue with an open mind or you will be disappointed. From the look if it, this happens at his shows with some regularity. Which is such a shame. If you do go in with an open mind, you concede to him that he’s the artist and you’re the patron, you will be in for a very memorable experience.
This was the first time I had seen him, so this could be all in my head… but he felt particularly loose last night. Spry I would even say. There were numerous times where he was playing the piano, getting more fidgety and fidgety until he finally had to pop up off his bench, grab a harmonica and walk to the front of the stage to jam. Indeed some of the best moments of the night were songs that Bob was not playing an instrument during, waltzing around the stage and pointing at his metaphors and imagery before delving into another harmonica solo. Now I know where Craig Finn gets his swagger from. His voice was surprisingly good. Again though, I’m well aware of how his voice has changed with 50 some odd years of cigarettes and red wine under the weight of being “a generation’s spokesperson”. That kind of thing has got to wear on you. Like the song rearrangements though, if you think his voice is gonna sound the way it does in the 60s or 70s, you will be dissatisfied. But I thought he sounded great, and dare I say a little bit cooler with the now trademark rasp. On “Tangled Up In Blue” for example, the long drawn-out words before the chorus hits he didn’t attempt, but he hit the chorus notes pretty well. But he’s a story teller; he’s at his best when he’s rambling on about Highway 61 or not fitting into anywhere you go. “Ballad of A Thin Man” was one of my highlights of the night: the band played a pretty heavy version of the song and Bob seemed to really be feeling the lyrics (this was one of the songs he walked around to). That song — an indictment of the establishment from a confused anti-hero who, no matter what he does (including read all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books) cannot seem to become accepted by society — ironically probably feels as personal to him in 2012 as it did in 1965. Add to that the irony of some people wanting to hear that song the way it sounded in 1965, and thinking this old version of Dylan is just too weird to enjoy, and you’ve got accidental (or perhaps intentional) brilliance.
Before the single-song encore of “Blowin’ In The Wind” (a version I didn’t even recognize initially), Dylan and co. played two of his most famous songs back to back: “Like A Rolling Stone” and “All Along The Watchtower”. It was a great one-two punch. I had heard previously a version of “Like A Rolling Stone” from earlier this year (I think from Europe gig?), so that song wasn’t too much of a surprise. And actually they don’t change it all that much, not comparatively to some of the other material. But the rendition “All Along The Watchtower” was amazing. Carefree, bluesy, even with a little snarl and attitude for good measure.
This may have been my last chance to see Dylan, and boy am I glad I did. He’s easily one of the greatest song writers — or maybe poets — of all time.
Several months later I received a postcard in the mail, a slightly tattered 4×6 of Dodger Stadium, with Los Angeles smeared across the top in imposing red capitals and a smoggy scattered skyline in the background. By this time I had all but forgotten my letter. I didn’t know anyone in LA, but figured a friend was traveling and decided to drop a line, so I lowered my eyes past the rows of neatly lined and evenly spaced blue ink print to the signature, which was illegible, next to an adumbrated smiley face.
