Happy Frickin New Year

Son of a bitch. What better way to mark the tilting of the years than screening some record-skipping LOST goodness? The plan is to consume as much season 5, bulgogi, duk, and rice as possible. Big night! Woo. Hoo.


And also...

Eat it, 2009. Got a whole new year to screw up, now. Might as well get on with it...~

Happy frickin new year. =)

Keep on keepin on~

Saul Bass vs. STAR WARS

And this, too.


Just cuz. I came across these in some late late night clicking about in the past few months. Figured I'd post them here cuz the interwebz are just a bit more dependable than my memory. Just cuz.

Keep on keepin on~

happy frickin holidaze

Season's greetings to you, my very special, one and only...

(please check all that apply)
[ ] fabulous friend

[ ] in need
[ ] in deed
[ ] in exile
[ ] in mental illness
[ ] of a friend of a friend who was (un)lucky enough to be included with me on a mass email from a mutual friend of a friend
[ ] talented colleague
[ ] excellent teammate
[ ] respected opponent
[ ] Brattle cat
[ ] fingertagger
[ ] next victim
[ ] this is going to end up unseen, unread, unchecked in your spam folder, isn't it? *sigh*

I hope the mid-winter finds you well. In this religio-capitalist-industrial-complex mandated time of giving, in honor of our relationship, which I value so highly (in the fashions you've noted above), I offer you this electronical whatzit, which I cobbled together with my very own digital digits, especially for you! It's a short, ridiculous, sorta interactive story—Enjoy!

(Beware of sound effects and excellent music.)

May the Krampus pass your door by this holiday (unless, y'know, you're into that), and best wishes for a joyful, foodful, treatful, family-and-friend-ful wrap-up of 2009, and a kickass final season of LOST!

Also, a very happy Year We Make Contact! =)

Keep on keepin on~

p.s. Thanks to JG, IP, JK, and VV (www.victoriavox.com) for their QA, help, and (unwitting) contributions. =)

p.p.s. A foxy Boxing Day to all!~

p.p.p.s. Here comes Santa Claus!

Join the Brattle! =)

Become a member, renew, or give membership as a gift this month and your contribution to the Brattle Film Foundation will be doubled by a membership matching fund! *Also* get an extra FREE month of membership!

Keep on keepin on~

p.s. Santa does love the balcony seats. You might say he's mad about them.

final Watch-A-Thon count!

Please support the Unofficial Film School of Boston, the Brattle Theater—Sponsor my 2009 Watch-A-Thon! Thanks!

The watching portion of the Watch-A-Thon is now closed, having run from 11/3 thru 12/3. Fundraising continues until the "finish line" event, scheduled for 12/15, so do feel free to drop some charitable bucks on at my firstgiving page, either a flat donation or a pledge-per-movie total. Thank you for your support!

Below is the complete cinematic hit list from the past 30 days. If I've written a review/ramble for the film, the title will link to it. Otherwise/in addition, I'll try to drop a two-thumbs rating and a little summary after each now. No guarantees on how sensical they will be. I foresee lots of thumbs up (I *like* movies, can't help it) and equivocating rambling...

1. 35 SHOTS OF RUM @Kendall Square
   Thumb up, thumb down. A split because, altho I really enjoyed it in alternately meditative and fill-in-the-blank ways, I'm afraid that most people may not appreciate it in either capacity. You're introduced to an unconventional family and spend most of the film trying to figure out how they relate. Luckily, along the way, you get to watch Paris fly by from the driver's cabin of a commuter rail.


2. AMERICAN CASINO @the Brattle
   Thumb up, thumb down. A massive downer of a documentary survey of the recent/current subprime mortgage crisis. The film's material is consistently eye-opening—there are some great interviews with Good People who became victims of the crisis—but it could use some editing, stronger structure, to connect dots better. A personal, pop cultural observation/experience, watching the segments of the film focused on Baltimore felt like the outline of an unofficial next season of THE WIRE.


3. AMELIA @Kendall Square
   Thumbs down. Altho Hilary disappears into her role as Amelia, and the film is educational, the movie itself is, well, pretty standard stuff.


4. BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN @Kendall Square
   Thumbs up. John Krasinski's directorial debut is blessed with an excellent cast delivering some wonderful and wretched characters. Of course, they all have the advantage of working with material by David Foster Wallace. A female grad student undertakes a study into men's treatment (consistently unfair, fetishistic, and thoughtless) of women. See this with friends and in mixed company, then, discuss.


5. ANTICHRIST @Kendall Square
   Thumbs up for some beautiful creepiness. One one level, this is a luscious version of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, with a streak of harsh misogyny. On another level, it is a retelling of man's fall from grace. Try not to fall for that first level, cuz it is pretty hateful and ghastly.


6. WELCOME TO ACADEMIA @the Brattle
   Thumbs down. About the politicking among faculty and students when the dean of a liberal arts college is ousted and replaced by the last guy who wants the job. Saw this at a pre-release screening and unless they've got a lot of additional footage, I don't see this being released in a satisfactory form. It tries to be too many things and in the end fails at just about all of them. Sad, cuz it's got a pretty powerful cast for a smart comic drama.


7. COCO BEFORE CHANEL @Kendall Square
   Thumbs up. The story of Coco Chanel, with Audrey Tautau as the urchin-pixie of a designer. Tautau is a willful minx as Coco, and altho I didn't always like her character, I admired her throughout.


8. THE BOX @Showcase Woburn
   Thumbs up. So happy to see Richard Kelly working once again at a more intimate scale to address cosmic matters (he followed the perfectly crafted DONNIE DARKO (I prefer the original to the director's cut) with the, alas, too big for its cinematic britches, SOUTHLAND TALES). In THE BOX, he expands on and extrapolates from the Twilight Zoney short story, "The Button," in which a man presents a couple with the gift of a push button. Once the button is pushed, two things would happen: 1. The couple would receive a million dollars; 2. Someone they do not know would die. After some hemming and hawing, the button is pushed. The couple receives their money and the man returns to take the button back. When he leaves, the couple ask him where he's taking the button. He replies, "To someone you don't know."


9. GENTLEMEN BRONCOS @Kendall Square
   Thumbs up for superfantastic awesome! A budding young pulp scifi author apprentices himself for a time to his idol, whose career is on the verge of collapsing upon him. The idol sees the young writer's work as the key to saving his fortune, it just needs a little editing, his own name, and an enigmatic piece of art on the cover. Wacky fun totally ensues. =) Jared Hess, creator of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, is back in his wheelhouse, creating outsider-makes-good magic with a quirky, nerdy, charming sensibility. (I say "back" because I considered NACHO LIBRE to be somewhat forced, partly due to Jack Black's irresistible presence, partly due to big picture production value and pressure.) Sam Rockwell is aMAzing in this. I laughed so frickin much in this film! =)


10. THE GOOD SOLDIER @the Brattle
    Thumbs up. A documentary focused on a handful of American veterans of wars spanning 60 years. They are eloquent and thoughtful and all discuss how their experiences of war, of battle, of violence and death at close quarters, have hurt them, damaged them, and motivated them to seek out and commune with and support their brothers as well as speak out against the practices of war. Screened on Veteran's Day at the Brattle.


11. PICKPOCKET @the Brattle
    Thumbs up. A down-on-his-luck prideful young man with an itch for gambling decides to take up thieving to support himself and his habit. He builds for himself a philosophical justification for his behavior, which threatens to lose him the few friends he has. At the same time, he learns to upgrade his skills with the help of some new friends he makes, old hands at his newfound trade. The centerpiece of this beautiful little film is an amazing day at the train station in which the man and his new friends pick every frickin pocket in the place.


12. WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE @Kendall Square
    Thumb up, thumb down. A very educational documentary of a remarkable man who built an outstanding and notorious legal career based on the notion that everyone and anyone deserves the best legal defense available, especially against an establishment that has an egenda of oppression and persecution. Although the presentation of the man's life and story may have benefited hugely from the fact that his daughters are the filmmakers, their presence as filmmakers "broke" the experience for me in moments, sometimes enhancing, sometimes distracting. A different editing tactic might have made me happier, as well as MORE about several of the marquee cases the film covers.


13. THE NEW YEAR PARADE @the Brattle
    Thumbs up for a perfect little family dysfunctional film. The film follows a year in the life of a family with a generations-old tradition of performing with a certain troupe in the Philadelphia Mummer's Parade. It does a remarkable job of giving each member of the family, father, son, daughter, and mother, full and deep story and treatment. The family cast is excellent. They relate as their characters so very naturally. The kids are super impressive to me, the son looks like he may be Griffin Dunne's replacement, and the daughter, she's just frickin gifted. A spunkier Natalie Portman in BEAUTIFUL GIRLS. This is an indie flick and I don't know that it'll get any more big screen distribution, sadly. Regardless, see it.


14. UNTITLED @Kendall Square
    Thumb up, thumb down. Some great characters do their eccentricly artistic, dissonantly musical, and publicly relating things against the backdrop of the modern art and music world, calling in to question the purpose and value, fiscal and metaphysical, of art and music, their creation, collection, and popularity. The cast creates some great eccentric characters (as opposed to cliches, which I was worried about), but I had a few groany moments that had to do with pacing and weak follow-thru.


15. BOONDOCK SAINTS 2: ALL SAINTS DAY @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up for some satisfying heroic bloodshed, Boston style. I feel like the filmmaker was a bit self-conscious about topping himself and his original BOONDOCK SAINTS, and made a couple of non-optimal choices in action scenes and some dialogue which seems built to step on itself, but I could forgive it in exchange for some fun gunplay. I'd really like to see the first one again to refresh.


16. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK @the Brattle
    Thumbs up. It's RAIDERS!


17. THE MAID @Coolidge Corner
    Thumbs up. When a family decides to hire some help for their live-in maid, she sees each candidate as a threat to her station in their home and her relationship to the family. She takes all manner of stubborn and creative steps to drive them from her domain. An understated dark comedy full of loads of surprising laughs and some tender moments.


18. BIG MAN JAPAN @MFA
    Thumbs up. A faux documentary on a mild-mannered Japanese salaryman doing his duty in the family trade: growing fifty stories tall to protect Tokyo from giant monsters. A brilliant premise with a wonderful follow-thru. Funny throughout, but frickin seizure-inducingly hilarious at the end. =)


19. CRIME OR PUNISHMENT @MFA
    Thumb up, thumb down. Inconsistently funny, but the big laughs are pretty big, and the web of the intersecting lives of the characters is a little Monty Python, a little TAMPOPO. Not a bad thing at all.


20. BLACK DYNAMITE @Coolidge Corner
    Thumbs way way up! KICKASS. See this at a weekend midnight show at the Coolidge!


21. THE MESSENGER @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up. Some harrowing scenes of "casualty notification" punctuate the story of a soldier home from the fight, struggling with injuries physical and psychological. Great performances by the two leads, Woody as a by-the-book soldier with addiction issues just under his polished surface, and Ben Foster as the no longer quite right in the head young veteran trying to make sense of his experiences, his duty, and re/starting his life back in the world.


22. BRONSON @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up. A little of the old ultraviolence, wrapped in a superslick package.


23. PRECIOUS @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up for heart-punching quality filmmaking of an inspiring story of survival and love in the face of abuse, resentment, and fear. Check out the trailer. If you can handle it (and you may want to choose your moment), see the movie.


24. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up. A solid, quirky, double episode of THE SHIELD, with Nic Cage in a form-fitting role of good cop gone bad and kinda crazy. NOT as wretched a man as Keitel's bad LT, and a film more plotful than I remember Abel Ferrara's being. Mind you, to be fair, I don't remember a lot from my one screening.


25. CASABLANCA @the Brattle
    Thumbs WAY up! I LOVE this film. Louie's dialogue kills me all over again every time. =)


26. CYBORG SHE @MFA
    Thumbs down. TERMINATOR 2 meets SMALL WONDER. How can you go wrong, right? Ha. I think I might've given a split thumbs call in my longer review, but thinking about it again now, there was just such a good foundation of ideas in this film that were executed way too loosely and scattershot. I don't know if this is fair, but I'm more disappointed w the movie as time goes on (ha!).


27. RED CLIFF @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up! John Woo brings his brotherhood of action sensibilities to an epic historic Chinese battle. At the personal scale, sweet Woo choreography. At the battlefield scale, on land and on the water, LOTR deja vu. At the strategy scale, much to smile about, as clever plans and planning pay off in the heat of battle. A kickass ensemble cast led by the, frankly, beautiful, talented, charismatic Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Almost a dream movie for me.


28. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE @The Brattle
    Thumbs up. Cary Grant can do ANYTHING, and pretty much does. An absurd dark comedic classic with a brilliant cast featuring Grant and Peter Lorre.


29. PIRATE RADIO @Somerville Theater
    Thumbs up. Joyful laughs and rock and roll! The creator of LOVE, ACTUALLY delivers again, this time on the high seas off of th UK, directing a kickass cast, including the likes of Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Kenneth Brannagh, playing notorious pirate DJs who supplied the prim Brits with proper rock and roll.


30. THE ROAD @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up for the doomiest post-doomsday ever. Based on Cormac McCarthy's story about the trek of father and son thru the mostly depopulated wasteland of the future, the film successfully captures the bleak and deadly cinder of a world they inhabit. Each day brings the threat of starvation, sickness, uncontrolled fires, and of course, cannibals. Good end times! It's not about the why of the end, of society, of civilization. It's not a preaching cautionary tale. This is doom, and it's coming, there's no stopping it. It's about surviving vs. living, and hope, morality, and humanity weighed against human nature, desperation.


31. FANTASTIC MR. FOX @Kendall Square
    Thumbs up for clever, quirky, charming, anthropomorphic animated cool and fun. It's funny, I feel like Wes Anderson's vision suits this scale and aesthetic best, a natural fit for talking animals and miniature sets and manipulated time. Applying his style to human beings and human scaled drama, in a live action film, seems like a poor fit after seeing what he can do with fuzzy stop motion stars. Wonderful stuff. =)

For those of you playing along at home, that's 8 Brattle films and 23 non-Brattle flicks. 19.5 Watch-A-Thon movies. Feel free to use either number for your pledge calculations. Ayep. 31 movies in 30 days. No life, remember?

Keep on keepin on~

GENTLEMEN BRONCOS

site | trailer
Thumbs WAY up for a mumbly nerd with heart, a Conchord, yeast lord Sam Rockwell, and balls!


From the creators of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE... GENTLEMEN BRONCOS! Yeah, okay. NAPOLEON D was pretty cool (I *love* it), but I think we can all agree that it was missing a few important things. It's clear to me that what it needed was...

1. More nerdiness.
2. More scifi.
3. More "special" effects.
4. A Flight of the Conchord.
5. More balls.
6. Surveillance does.
7. Yeast.
8. And, hey, what doesn't get better with Sam Rockwell?

Well, I'm here to tell you that the prayers you didn't even know you were praying have been answered! Experience GENTLEMEN BRONCOS! =)

I feel like the creator-director returns to home base with this, after what I felt was a forced detour in NACHO LIBRE. BRONCOS maybe has just a little less heart than NAPOLEON. Or maybe it's just a different kind of heart, slightly less romance-driven and more pumped by nerd accomplishment... like..., more liger, less Deb, y'know? In
any case it makes up for anything like a minus in the heart department with some really childish and awkward and wonderful other stuff.

Frickin frack! I laughed so much during this movie! =)

Sadly, I think it only had a week in one theater in Boston and apparently didn't go on to have a wide release. Crushed before it even had a chance. Fools. SEE THIS IF YOU CAN!


*SPOILER* The opening credits alone were worth the price of admission. Like the NAPOLEON opening, except instead of a montage of cafeteria cuisine, we're treated to some cover art mashups of pulpy scifi novels. Brilliant and beautiful and somehow for me, a bit tear-jerking.

Keep on keepin on~

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

site | trailer
Thumbs up for wonky charming Wes Anderson goodness in a fantastic fuzzy anthropomorphic animated shell.


Also, a great second feature of a night of books-on-movie (it was my chaser for THE ROAD).

Keep on keepin on~

PIRATE RADIO

site | trailer
Thumbs up for some joyful and hilarious rockin and a-rollin!


Bill Nighy! Nick Frost! Philip Seymour Hoffman! Kenneth Branagh (doing a remarkable humorless Basil Fawlty)! Corralled onto a boat and mostly tamed by the writer of FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL and creator of LOVE, ACTUALLY. I really shouldn't have to say any more. Frankly, you should have already stopped reading and been off to the theater after reading "Nick Frost!"

OK. OK. I suppose I can tell you a bit more. It's England in the 60s, and altho the BBC provides news and entertainment for all over the airwaves, they do not program modern music, that is to say, rock and roll. To fill this gap, this need, pirate radio stations broadcast from out at sea, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Radio Rock is the most notorious of these stations. The film introduces us to the eccentric and hilarious DJs and staff of Radio Rock through the eyes of young Carl, who, after getting himself expelled from school, has been sent to... apprentice, sort of, with his godfather, owner and manager of Radio Rock, Quentin (Nighy). While young Carl learns a great many things from these rogue radio pirates, about music, love, loyalty, and life, at the same time, back in London, minister of what's proper Dormandy (Branagh) has made it his mission to shut down all pirate radio. He and his unfortunately named lieutenant manipulate the press and the law as best they can to this end, but Radio Rock continues to broadcast. What can the pirates do, tho, when the Dormandy attempts to criminalize the act of broadcasting on the high seas? Wacky fun ensues!

See this movie!

Keep on keepin on~

I am needs your honest hand in our project (the Watch-A-Thon ends Dec 3!)

Dear Friend,

CLAIM YOUR FORTUNE!

I wish to approach you with a request that would be of immense benefit to both of us. I am a moviegoer based in Cambridge, United States. I want you and I to make some fortune out of a situation that I am obviously left with no other better option. The issue that I am presenting to you is a case of the favorite cinematic venue, THE BRATTLE THEATER, needing to continue its operations. It is the situation that the theater is independently owned and run (one of the final in the region known as the Harvard Square) and relies on the support of patrons and community. This requires actively raising monies and seeking donations to fund its mission of repertory programming and films preservation. As a patron recruited to aid in this endeavor via movie-watching marathon, or watch-a-thon, I am now faced with a problem of getting a trusted person who I will make the beneficiary that I would share this fortune of movies with. And, as well as being of great service to the cause of the cinematic and popcorn arts, according to the law such contribution to this fortune is supposed to be bequeathed to be of deductible benefit to that person in regards to government taxes.

As I am not very sure of getting your consent yet on the issue, I would employ methods of persuasion, referring you to expositions on the importance of the theater and perhaps escorting you to a screening of film at THE BRATTLE THEATER itself, at an occasion of mutual convenience.

For explanation, examine the verbiage selected by the Brattle Film Foundation, and that chosen by my own self.

At this point I want to assure you that your true consent, full cooperation and confidentiality are all that are required to enable us to take full advantage of this golden opportunity. You may process the required transaction, either in the form of a pledge of support per movie observed (simply a few $US per film), or a single donation amount, in complete security, at the following internetwork location...

MY FIRSTGIVING.COM DONATION PAGE

I will appreciate your urgent response in this regard. The window of this opportunity shall close at the end of the day of the third of December. Thanks for your anticipated cooperation. You can as well reach me on [the email].

Yours faithfully

p.s. If you would like to share this fortune with others, the receipt of this message authorizes yourself to extend the invitation to them as I've made it to you, with the requirement of featuring the same details and interlinked resources.

CYBORG SHE

site | trailer | New Japanese Cinema @MFA
Thumbs sidewise for several great ideas that, unfortunately, weren't properly mixed and stitched together, resulting in a clunky and meandering narrative that's not satisfying in any of the genres it attempts to straddle.


This is a goofy scifi/fanboy fantasy romantic comedy from Japan, an answer to that question that's been nagging you for decades: what if the Terminator in JUDGEMENT DAY was a hot chick who became John Connor's girlfriend? AN answer, not necessarily a good or correct answer. SHE's about the relationship a 20-something university student develops with a cyborg girl that his future self builds and sends back in time to protect him. It seems to subscribe to a BACK TO THE FUTURE treatment of time travel, which allows time jumpers to change the history that created them. Unfortunately, the film doesn't do anything particularly cool with this. It DOES play with more time than you'd expect, showing you how the cyborg uses her abilities to become a force for good in the past, and apparently survives to become repaired or rebuilt as herself six decades later, and even remains intact another few decades to inspire another time traveler.

Overall, the movie delivers some consistent calculated romantic comedy smarminess and laughs, but not enough to make up for the lagging and poorly connecting story. There are maybe two "magic" time traveler moments, but they would benefit seriously from stronger writing and better editing. The story unfolds as if it was written as the movie was being put together, from start to finish, with each new scene or chapter added on to the previous one with not quite enough thought put into how it ought to set up for the next. In the end, whether it tries to or not, it ends up being a little MY SUPER EX GIRLFRIEND and a little AI with a pinch of WEIRD SCIENCE.

The visual effects are very good (there's a massive disaster scene that totally surprised me), altho the cyborg v. humans fight/smack scenes should have been way better choreographed.

*SPOILER* The "magic" trick ending should have been much better and cleverer. It reminded me of the really magickal pro/epilogue of PARASITE EVE, at least it reminds me of how I remember it. In EVE, the evil intelligence claims to know all about the life of its host, and attempts to prove it by sharing intimate information that only she and her boyfriend would know. However, the boyfriend actually turns out to know more about his relationship with the possessed girl than the evil does, which tips the scale of things. In CYBORG, the cyborg visits her creator in his youth on two different occasions, once on his birthday in 2007, and then on his birthday in 2008. What I believed/wanted the explanation to be was that the earlier visit was made by a later/older cyborg, and the second visit was made by the newborn cyborg. The cyborg's claim regarding her year of origin is a clue to this. However, the film actually has the first visitor be a future human, not a cyborg at all, while the second visitor is the actual cyborg. Granted, this is basically a completely unpredictable ending, which might count for some points on some moviegoers' scorecards, but in my opinion it's a very unsatisfying, just for the helluvit, ending. This is the part that most feels like a rip-off of A.I., even though it sort of turns the Pinnochio story into a time traveling bit of sleight-of-hand.

*SPOILER* The other "magic" bit is when cyborg takes her young creator to revisit his home town one last time. He explains that the town that he knew as a child was destroyed in a flood and that the present day town is completely different. She urges them to go anyway. When they arrive, she transports them back in time to his childhood. He finds himself and spies on him depositing some little boy treasures in a secret hiding place. This sequence is sweet, but it doesn't contribute to any other part of the story. There's a LOT of potential in this visit, but it's another lost opportunity.

Keep on keepin on~

35 SHOTS OF RUM (35 RHUMS)

site | trailer
Thumbs sideways for being lovely, and full of footage of city railways, but incredibly standoffish with the audience (altho I personally find that an alluring hook).


What do I mean by standoffish? Well, the film seems built/intent on playing it coy as far as giving up its secrets, its story. Primary among those secrets, the history and relationships of the members of the unconventional family we are introduced to...

We meet a father, the driver of an urban commuter rail in Paris, and his daughter, a college student who shares a flat with him. They take sweet and thoughtful care of one another. In the opening of the film, we see that they've each bought a rice cooker for the kitchen. When they get home, the father is the first to unveil his present. In a kind of response, to let her father glow a little in her appreciation, the daughter hides her purchase away in her bedroom.

We meet their neighbor from the penthouse upstairs, a slick fellow who travels a lot for work, and seems to have some lusty designs on the lovely daughter. We meet another neighbor, an older woman, a cab driver, who has a very familiar and perhaps needy attitude in her relations with both father and daughter. The film follows these people's separate lives for a few days, with little actual interaction. These days lead up to a big night out, a concert outing arranged by the cab driver, something she wants them to do together the way they used to, "as a family." The night goes sideways, however, when their car breaks down in the pouring rain on the way to the concert. They take shelter along with a couple of other drenched passersby in a nearby cafe. When the music starts we learn just how things are (or seem to be?) as members of our little party pair off to dance.

There's not a lot of plot driving the film. It's much more about meeting these people and learning about them thru their interactions with one another. Kind of like RACHEL GETTING MARRIED with a smaller family and not quite as constrained in time.

My feeling is that what I see on screen is only a very small sliver of a much larger, complete film. That the filmmakers might have started with this complete film, and as if playing cinematic Jenga, removed piece after piece until what remained could barely, artfully efficiently, stand on its own. And in those vital remaining pieces, there are some lovely cinematic moments, intimate. The dancing in the cafe is almost embarassingly... close. You can feel the electricity between partners and the reactions of the onlookers. And there are the trains. If you just go with them, the view from and of the rails can be hypnotic, mesmerizing, and maybe get you thinking about life and lives as tracks, paths, junctions, choices, and consequences. Not a romp, not a thriller, not your typical fare. However, for me, perfect for a Sunday night flick (which is what it turned out to be =).

*SPOILER* The title of the film, 35 SHOTS OF RUM, is taken from a barroom story that the father and his friends mention. It's a celebration ritual, apparently, associated with an old story, or perhaps a feat or record. It comes up twice, actually, first when his friends consider it, in honor of a friend's retirement, and second when he himself completes the ritual, in honor of his daughter's wedding (apparently to sketchy-boy, which, given what we've seen of him, is difficult to approve of). However, apropos of this film, we never actually learn the story of or behind the 35 shots.

*SPOILER* In a sweet end cap to the film, after the daughter has gotten married and left her father's flat, we see the father unpack another rice cooker, presumably the daughter's, from that day long ago, and plant it on the kitchen counter next to his own. I got this scene for what it should be, what it's supposed to be, but continuity-wise, I'm not sure it's correct. I could swear that the cooker that the daughter buys in the opening of the film has an attached, hinged, lid, and that the one the father opens at the end of the film has a free lid, separate, with its own handle, like a garbage can lid. If you've seen this film, please let me know if you remember this being consistent or not. Thanks!

Keep on keepin on~

"You're like Thanksgiving vacation..."

"No class jive turkey!"


Keep on keepin on~

AMELIA

site | trailer
Thumbs sideways for pretty much what you'd expect—a well-acted if clunkily edited educational film.


Not a lot to say about this. Entertaining, but not outstanding. A standard, by the book, broad strokes biopic of a historical figure/celebrity. Well-acted, well-shot, alternately clunkily and oversimply edited time-jumping storytelling. The most standout thing about it was the credit title "Commodification Montage Dancers."

Altho her character's accent take a little getting used to, Hilary Swank does that thing she does and disappears into her role. Maybe it's a case of my seeing too many films, but unfortunately, that role is almost a cliche. This will sound silly, but she does everything you'd expect Amelia Earhart to do, y'know? The one unexpected wrinkle is in her love life, but even that gets ironed out in the end.

This is dumb, and has nothing to do w the movie, but only while watching the film, and seeing/hearing people address Swank's Amelia, did I first connect her last name with her destiny. Earhart, spoken: air heart. Is it just me? Does everyone see that as a "gimme?"

*SPOILER* It IS educational. I didn't know much about Miss Earhart except the headlines, and bits of her story were interesting eye-openers. Expressions of her individualist and feminist streak were pretty cool, especially in her unofficial wedding vows, a letter she wrote to her fiance on the night before their wedding. Also didn't know that there was anyone with her when she disappeared. Never hear about HIM, eh? Nice to see Chris Eccleston on the big screen, tho.

Keep on keepin on~

PRECIOUS

PRECIOUS
site | trailer
Big thumbs-up for an amazing cast and a moving story in a film that wreaks havoc with your heart, sinking or shocking it one minute, and tugging at its strings the next.


I really don't know what to tell you. There's nothing I can write that could do this film justice. Have you seen the trailer? If not, watch it, and you will get a very fair taste of this amazing film. Claire Precious Jones is a 16 year-old girl attending junior high, pregnant with her second child, living with her unemployed mother in an arrangement that lets her mom live on welfare. Her home life, such as it is, is a relentless battle of attrition with her abusive mother. When she's kicked out of school and begins an "alternative" program with a dedicated teacher, she begins to see that her life can be different, changed for the better. As wretched and inspiring as the trailer paints the story of PRECIOUS, the film is even moreso.

Be warned, have some kleenex ready. If there was anything like a recipe to this story, it would have been to heap the worst possible thing you can think of upon this poor girl, then, one-up yourself. Exceeding amounts of mean, hate, wrong, and, frankly, evil, are launched at Precious. That she survives makes her the strongest character you've ever encountered.

An exceptional cast makes it all very real... inspiring in moments and in others, painful, heart-sinking, and horrible. I'm not familiar w the actors, but Precious, her teacher, Miss Rain, and her mother (played by Mo'nique) are flawless, and I hafta say, I never saw GLITTER or whatever that was, but Mariah Carey is a wonderful surprise. Precious's classmates are all excellent, too.

One slight criticism, which is kind of unfair given the scope of the story and the limitations of a feature film—some things seem to happen/unfold too quickly in the course of the film. Examples in the first spoilery paragraph below.

If you can appreciate stepping into someone else's shoes for two hours of serious drama and pain, relieved by hope, kindness, and courage, SEE THIS FILM.

*SPOILER* Precious is in her new program for just a couple days, maybe even only one, when she visits Mrs. Weiss, her family's case officer, to confirm their continued need and qualification for welfare. In this visit, after years of following her mom's script and keeping quiet about the abuse she suffers at home, Precious begins to reveal the awful truth, thus ending their welfare support. The breakthru moment in Miss Rain's class IS powerful, but it seems just a little too soon for her to open up to this woman like that. It IS a completely logical follow-thru, tho, so like I said, it may simply be the constraints of two hours of storytelling. Late in the film, once Precious has moved out and is living on her own, her mother arranges to have a session with their case worker and Precious. It's not clear how much time has passed, but it's only the second time that mom has seen Precious since she escaped her abuse. In this session, her mother breaks down and confesses how she did not stop her boyfriend, Precious's father, from abusing her when she was only three years old. Again, this scene is in the right place, but it just feels too soon. And again, I feel like it may not be fair to fault the film for it because it's a story-time vs. cinema-time discrepancy. I wonder if (creative) editing might fix this. It's not like the pace is relentless, it's just that there's SO MUCH WRONG and its revelation is just... too quick. Too much, too hard, too sharp...

But perhaps that's the intent. There's no denying the impact of these revelations and confessions. Vicious and powerful...

*SPOILER* Consuelo, one of the other students at Each One Teach One, seems to have a history with Miss Rain that's never fully explained. Or, it's clued, but I failed to pick it up. I was sure they must be related, and at first I thought she might have been Miss Rain's daughter, but that doesn't compute. Then, maybe her partner's. Nope. Maybe I just read more into their classroom interactions than there is? Let me know if you know or picked up on enough for a good case.

Thanks to Maggie for buddying up for this.

Keep on keepin on~

BLACK DYNAMITE

BLACK DYNAMITE
site | trailer
HUGE thumbs-up for unbridled awesomeness! =)


There's not a lot to say besides AWESOME! This is a modern re-creation of a blaxploitation film, knowing, clever, and conscious of all the strengths and weaknesses of the original genre in its own time. However, spoof or parody does not fairly describe what this movie is. How to describe what it is/does...? It's part homage and part new territory and amplification.

Hrmmm... Perhaps an SAT analogy...

SHAUN OF THE DEAD : Zombie movies :: BLACK DYNAMITE : Blaxploitation

Does that help? =)

The main arc of the first half of DYNAMITE follows DOLEMITE pretty closely, with the only significant upgrades being in the action territory (Michael Jai White, aka SPAWN, kicks some serious kung fu backside), and intentional humor (gaffs and poor production that would've been incidental in the original genre films are scripted and intentionally recreated here).

The cast, characters, dialogue, and soundtrack are wonderful and hilarious. The in-close action is legit kung fu, which I really appreciate. And there are two a-MA-zing riffs on the action that kinda blew my mind.

*SPOILER* Those two moments. The first is when B.D., in a standoff against a baddie, is apparently hit by a bullet and falls to the ground. His opponent drops his guard for a second, allowing Dynamite to get the drop on him, revealing that he'd faked the bullet wound! Sounds dumb and dry, I know, but seeing it is frickin hilarious! The other is when B.D. goes up against his Chinese evil scientist drug lord nemesis, Dr. Wu. Wu's trademark weapon is a boomerang-like blade, which when launched from his hands can literally disarm or decapitate a foe with precision. Dynamite chases Wu to his lab, confronting him in an apparent standoff. That standoff is broken when one of Wu's boomerang blades breaks thru a window and embeds itself in Wu's body. B.D. rushes over to relieve the doctor of his prize (an antidote and/or some secret files and photos, I forget), and explains to him, "I threw that $hit before I even stepped in the room!" Frickin brilliant! =)

The Coolidge is advertising that the movie will play every weekend @midnite thru November and beyond! I'm gonna hold them to that, cuz I want to see this movie a again and again!

Thanks to Erin and Glen for staying up with me. =)

Keep on keepin on~

Watch-A-Thon count updated...

Please support the Unofficial Film School of Boston, the Brattle Theater—Sponsor my 2009 Watch-A-Thon! Thanks!

1. 35 SHOTS OF RUM @Kendall Square
   
2. AMERICAN CASINO @the Brattle
   
3. AMELIA @Kendall Square
   
4. BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN @Kendall Square
   
5. ANTICHRIST @Kendall Square
   
6. WELCOME TO ACADEMIA @the Brattle
   
7. COCO BEFORE CHANEL @Kendall Square
   
8. THE BOX @Showcase Woburn
   
9. GENTLEMEN BRONCOS @Kendall Square
   
10. THE GOOD SOLDIER @the Brattle
    
11. PICKPOCKET @the Brattle
    
12. WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE @Kendall Square
    
13. THE NEW YEAR PARADE @the Brattle
    
14. UNTITLED @Kendall Square
    
15. BOONDOCK SAINTS 2: ALL SAINTS DAY @Kendall Square
    
16. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK @the Brattle
    
17. THE MAID @Coolidge Corner
    
18. BIG MAN JAPAN @MFA
    
19. CRIME OR PUNISHMENT @MFA
    
20. BLACK DYNAMITE @Coolidge Corner
    
21. THE MESSENGER @Kendall Square
    
22. BRONSON @Kendall Square
    

For those of you playing along at home, that's 6 Brattle films and 16 non-Brattle flicks. 14 Watch-A-Thon movies. Ayep. No life, remember?

Keep on keepin on~

BRONSON

site | trailer
Thumbs-up for style (gritty in a slick, cool way), an irresistible lead, and a charismatic dangerous character.


"Based on a true story." That's what the trailer and the film tell us. My friend looked up some info about the film's premiere and told me that there was a bit of hubbub about how a pretty significant chapter of Bronson's life, as depicted in the film, never actually happened. I don't know what to think about that, but I'll say that I really enjoyed the film, more for its subject and style than anything you'd call a plot. If you appreciate CLOCKWORK ORANGE and cool cinematography and art design, you will dig this.

The lead, Tom Hardy, is amazing. Visually, his appearance as Bronson is at times cartoony, and at others, like sculpture, but always irresistible. The camera loves him, and almost treats him like a fetish. His performance, to my mind, perfect, larger-than-life.

The film introduces us to Bronson standing in a spotlight on stage in a posh theater addressing an audience ready for a night at the opera. From this stage, Bronson tells us the story of his life, and the film fades into and out of this arena between chapters.

I hafta say, there's a ghostly and dramatic quality to the dissolves in this film. Something I don't remember seeing, or at least noticing, in other films. If I ever get to watch this on DVD, I'll hafta remember to pay more attention.

He was born Michael Peterson, and took Charlie Bronson as his fighting name. He explains how he wasn't a bad boy, at least, not bad-bad. You might say he was a bit restless, and a lot prone to leading with his fists. When he steps into something like adulthood and tries his hand as responsible family provider, he takes a larcenous wrong turn into prison.

Behind bars, he seems to find a calling. Not a plan, mind you, but something that he revels in, and has opportunity to revel in—violence. The film follows his journey thru the British penal system, including an asylum for the criminally insane. Our host Bronson boasts about how his violent escapades cost the Crown so much that it chose to release him as "Sane" rather than continue to see to his care and feeding in rehabilitation and incarceration.

In at least two instances, people tell Bronson directly that he has no ambition. He has some potential, but any time he comes close to setting his foot on a path, even a sketchy one (bare-knuckles fighting), he shoots himself in that foot. He's most comfortable and at ease while in conflict, fighting, or waiting to fight, or healing from a fight. He doesn't have an agenda, a cause, or a plan. He doesn't really stand for anything. The warden dresses him down pretty good at one point, throwing "nihilistic" at him in his delivery.

I was hoping for A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and the pieces, of plot and theme, are all there, but the story isn't quite up to it. Cinematic style goes a long way toward making up for that shortfall, tho.

*SPOILER* I won't give up any details of where the film and Bronson's story go, but I will mention a couple of things that go missing along the way. More for my own poor memory than anything else. I really wanted to see the drawing that Bronson gave to the warden. I also really wanted him to reconnect with or at least acknowledge his first wife and child. Oh, I'm also really curious about whether the filmmakers used Bronson's actual artwork on screen.

*SPOILER* A moment I'd like to remember later. After Bronson gives the warden his drawing (and the warden tells him he will look at it later), Bronson's art therapist rants about how the warden doesn't know how important their work is, and how Bronson is a star and they'll show everyone. Bronson takes issue with the therapist's use of "we," and a couple minutes later, Charlie takes him out. As the therapist falls, with Bronson's arms around his head, the film cuts to Bronson on stage, standing before the thunderous applause and approval of the fancy pants audience. This really struck me. This appreciation and approval by the tuxedo set for the destruction of this bleeding-heart-artist-therapist at the hands of his patient, the patient who stands before them as their entertainment. It's a bit chilling. Is the therapist the filmmaker? And are you the therapist or the audience?

Also, the musical selections are pretty awesome.

Thanks to Ann and Erin for spotting. =)

Keep on keepin on~

Monkey vs. Robot

Just cuz... =)

Actually, the song, and the graphic novel, both by James Kolchalka, came to mind while re-working the "LET HIM WIN" t-shirt design.

Keep on keepin on~

The 'Thon is ON like Donkey Kong!

The 2009 Brattle Theater Movie Watch-A-Thon kicked off last week, on November 3. I've been slackadazical in putting together and launching my GIVE ME YOUR MONEY shout out, but had no problem starting (OK, continuing) my maniacal movie watching.

Please check out my Watch-A-Thon firstgiving page for more info and to sponsor my Watch-A-Thon run.

So far I've seen...

35 SHOTS OF RUM @Kendall Square
AMERICAN CASINO @the Brattle
AMELIA @Kendall Square
BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN @Kendall Square
ANTICHRIST @Kendall Square
WELCOME TO ACADEMIA @the Brattle
COCO BEFORE CHANEL @Kendall Square
THE BOX @Showcase Woburn
GENTLEMEN BRONCOS @Kendall Square
THE GOOD SOLDIER @the Brattle

I'm anticipating the second half of November getting pretty messy with work and the holidays, so I'm trying to front-load my run as much as possible. Note that for the purposes of the 'thon, Brattle screenings count as one "point" while screenings at other theaters count one-half.

So that means... *doing the math*... I've seen six and a half 'thon movies so far.

Man. It's a good thing I don't have a life.

I've meant to catch up on movie posts for a long time now, but just haven't motivated. Hopefully the 'thon will help with that. I'd like to do write-ups for all the movies I see, but I'd also like a million dollars. O well, we shall see...~

Keep on keepin on~

BLACK DYNAMITE @the Coolidge!

You can see it every weekend thru November (and beyond) at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline!

Keep on keepin on~

Deal of the century on Brattle membership! =)

Wanted to alert you all about today's Groupon for Brattle Membership, which you can bust out for this week's most excellent and unusual Brattle big screen options! =)

First, the Groupon—$30 for a regular membership to the Brattle! Check out the details online at Groupon!

For more info, the Brattle membership page.

Now, some Good $hit playing at the theater this week...

AMERICAN CASINO. A documentary that investigates the stories and talks to the people behind the subprime mortgage crisis at many levels, from home buyers to Wall Street financiers. The feel-good hit of the season! And probably an interesting complement to Michael Moore's CAPITALISM, which I still haven't seen. Let me know if you're up for hitting either or both. CASINO begins a week-long tonight (Wednesday)!

The 50th anniversary of TWILIGHT ZONE! In honor of Rod Serling's mindbending TV show, the Brattle is programming four nights of classic episodes, presented on the big screen via digital projection. Donation admission is $7 for four episodes each evening. Check out the schedule for details. The series begins tonight (Wednesday)!

The 40th anniversary of MONTY PYTHON! To commemorate the frightful oldness of these comic geniuses, the Brattle is packaging up their films, along with episodes of FLYING CIRCUS, into an all-day Python-a-thon this Saturday! The films: WIND IN THE WILLOWS, AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, LIFE OF BRIAN, THE HOLY GRAIL, and MEANING OF LIFE. You can hit each film as a single feature or buy a $30 pass good for all screenings.

Keep on keepin on~

p.s. Beware, tis the season... I'll be hitting you up for totally tax-deductible Watch-A-Thon support soon... =)

O, I hope Marc Singer cameos!

Keep on keepin on~

running Watch-A-Thon count...

Please support the Unofficial Film School of Boston, the Brattle Theater—Sponsor my 2009 Watch-A-Thon! Thanks!

Note that altho this post is dated 11/3, the starting line of the 'thon, I'll be updating it as I go along.

1. 35 SHOTS OF RUM @Kendall Square
   
2. AMERICAN CASINO @the Brattle
   
3. AMELIA @Kendall Square
   
4. BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN @Kendall Square
   
5. ANTICHRIST @Kendall Square
   
6. WELCOME TO ACADEMIA @the Brattle
   
7. COCO BEFORE CHANEL @Kendall Square
   
8. THE BOX @Showcase Woburn
   
9. GENTLEMEN BRONCOS @Kendall Square
   
10. THE GOOD SOLDIER @the Brattle
    
11. PICKPOCKET @the Brattle
    
12. WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE @Kendall Square
    
13. THE NEW YEAR PARADE @the Brattle
    
14. UNTITLED @Kendall Square
    
15. BOONDOCK SAINTS 2: ALL SAINTS DAY @Kendall Square
    
16. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK @the Brattle
    
17. THE MAID @Coolidge Corner
    
18. BIG MAN JAPAN @MFA
    
19. CRIME OR PUNISHMENT @MFA
    
20. BLACK DYNAMITE @Coolidge Corner
    
21. THE MESSENGER @Kendall Square
    
22. BRONSON @Kendall Square
    
23. PRECIOUS @Kendall Square
    
24. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS @Kendall Square
    
25. CASABLANCA @the Brattle
    
26. CYBORG SHE @MFA
    
27. RED CLIFF @Kendall Square
    
28. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE @The Brattle
    
29. PIRATE RADIO @Somerville Theater
    
30. THE ROAD @Kendall Square
    
31. FANTASTIC MR. FOX @Kendall Square
    

For those of you playing along at home, that's 8 Brattle films and 23 non-Brattle flicks. 19.5 Watch-A-Thon movies. Ayep. No life, remember?

Keep on keepin on~

2009 Watch-A-Thon!

Beginning this November 3, and running thru December 3, I will be participating in the Brattle Theater's Movie Watch-A-Thon fundraiser and hope that you will support me and help the Brattle Theater! For one month, I will watch as many movies as possible—at the Brattle and other venues—and seek sponsors to contribute to the Brattle Film Foundation per movie-I-see, or encourage one-time donations in support of my movie madness. I hope you'll help me in this effort to preserve the legacy of repertory film programming at Boston's Unofficial Film School, the non-profit Brattle Theater.

If you're not familiar with the Brattle (or even if you are), the theater is a unique, modest cinema located in Harvard Square. No teeth-shattering THX, no stadium seats, but behind the counter there's freshly popped popcorn, real melted butter, and, new this year, beer and wine! And up on the screen are the coolest, smartest, classiest, campiest, funniest, and scariest rectangles of light in Boston. On stage you'll meet directors, authors, actors, and musicians, including the likes of Bruce Campbell, Rob Moss, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Junot Diaz, Willem Dafoe, Kid Koala, and Juliana Hatfield. And, in the seats, you'll find people loving and digging them all.

Maybe even YOU!

Please contact me if you'd like to sponsor my Watch-A-Thon, and let me know how much you wish to pledge per movie (any amount, even just $1 per movie). Feel free to specify a cap (if you're familiar with my moviegoing habits, you'll understand why). Or if you like, make a one-time (not per-movie) flat donation now through this webpage by credit card. And of course, going to see a movie at the theater itself wouldn't hurt any. =)

It's where my mind was blown when I watched Chow Yun Fat step-and-slide his way down that tea-house stairway railing, two guns a-blazin', partnered with Tony Leung in John Woo's HARD-BOILED! The darkened theater where I first experienced movies like CITIZEN KANE, DONNIE DARKO, and FALLEN ANGELS... Where I can go to see "What's Opera, Doc?" on the big screen, and properly observe my holy days with screenings of EVIL DEAD 2 for Halloween, CASABLANCA for Thanksgiving, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE for Saturnalia, and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN for Valentine's Day... and where I consistently go to see the best of film's past (BICYCLE THIEVES, LE SAMOURI), present (THE HOST, BRICK), and future (OLD BOY, MUTUAL ATTRACTION).

Thank you for any little something you can give to keep the Brattle's screen lit up, either as a donation or a pledge for my Watch-A-Thon. Please help the Brattle...

Keep on keepin on~

"how awesome Twilight is... all f@cking night..."

Thanks to Paris Jen for the point-and-laugh. =)

Keep on keepin on~

This week's derby: "Flight"

Check out this week's shirt.woot derby entries and drop some votes on my submissions! This week's topic, "Flight" inspired "Escape Hatch," a wish for wings, and "Flight Cub," a radical adaptation by an endangered species.

Hrmm... Looks like I may have mutation on the brain. Y'know, metaphorically.

So far as I know.

Remember, woot requires that you make a purchase at one of their online outlets before being eligible to vote. Once you've made a purchase, you can sign in and vote for any designs you like in the derby. That means you can vote for more than one.



Keep on keepin on~

Frontalot on the NERDCORE RISING song fight...

Check out the MC's take on the song fight entries.

If you're not up for reading thru the thoughtful and entertaining reviews of all the entries, let me boil it down to the most important takeaway...

cabinboy
this song has a strong point of view. it is very pro-engineer. i support that!!

=)

Voting is open thru Thursday. I don't see "Feature Creep Blues" climbing the chart, but if you feel like throwing your democratic weight around, I'm not gonna stop you—VOTE!

Thanks for your support.

Keep on geekin on~

Vote: Hail To The King Baby!

Still another visual pun design up. Hail To The King Baby. This may be the groaniest of the bunch, but of course, in my eyes, that's not a bad thing. It's too bad I need a really unreasonable deadline in a weirdly-regulated contest (submissions and voting on those submissions begin the same day) to motivate me to produce stuff. Even if it is ridiculous crap.

Blerg.

Voting on the visual puns closes at noon tomorrow. Even if you're not a woot member-customer, check out the designs for some mental sour patch kid enjoyment. =)

ALSO—VOTE FOR MY SONG "FEATURE CREEP" AT THE NERDCORE RISING SONG FIGHT! You can vote from any and all of your Twitter or email accounts. Punch my chad!


Keep on keepin on~

p.s. Yeah, the inspiration of this pun SHOULD be punctuated with a comma, but whatev. Puntistic license, nyeah.

Vote: *FREE* HOT AMATEUR CAM ACTION!

Got a new visual pun design up. The title above is in the spirit of the pun, not the actual pun itself. Hopefully woot management won't reject this due to the celebrity likeness involved. Given the meme-ness of the inspiration, it just didn't occur to me that it would be an issue.

Well, that and the weakness of the grasp of my sleep-deprived senses on what most of you perceive as shared reality.


Keep on keepin on~

Vote for my "visual pun" shirt design (it's pretty awful =)

Please click on over to the shirt.woot derby to check out my "girl sheep vacuum" t-shirt design submission. This week's derby theme: visual pun! I didn't include the pun-translation in the shirt comp or title, but it IS now in the comments below it.

Note that you need to be signed in at shirt.woot *and* have made a purchase at a woot online outlet to vote.

Thanks for your support! =)

Keep on keepin on~

Vote for "Feature Creep Blues" and catch a free screening of NERDCORE RISING!

LISTEN & VOTE! Listen to and vote for my ummm... song. It's called "Feature Creep Blues," and I cobbled it together for the NERDCORE RISING song fight online!

You can (but don't need to =) hear the entire track at Imeem.

Much appreciated!

What is a song fight, you ask? "Godfather of Nerdcore" MC Frontalot explains at the contest site.

And if you feel it's your duty to vote from as many twitter and email accounts as you can, well, I won't stop you. Honest. You do what you have to do... What's right... As many times as you need to... Over and over...

=)

And please pass this message and link on to any nerdcore-friendly peeps you might know. Thanks! Song fight voting closes on the 31st.

I'm including info for voting by webmail below, after the signoff...

And HEY! If you're interested in the hilariously and musically entertaining hiphop-umentary that inspired this songfight, NERDCORE RISING, a Boston-local fan is sponsoring a *free* digital screening at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square on Tuesday, October 27! Space is limited. Space is limited, so if you're interested, get details and RSVP to the organizer here.

And you can check for other screenings in your area, or your friends', here.

Watch the NERDCORE RISING trailer!

Thanks for your support!
Keep on creepin on~

__________ voting by webmail? ___________

My songfight contest entry page: http://www.nerdcorerisingmovie.com/2009/10/15/feature-creep-blues-%E2%80%94-mc-johnny-uncached/

At the page, there are two links/ways to vote: tweeting at Twitter, or via email. I believe that each Twitter or email account is good for one vote. Why do I mention that? Oh... no reason...

If you have trouble w the vote-by-email link launching an email client you don't use (i.e. Outlook or Apple's Mail app), you can vote via webmail (in a browser) by copying and pasting the following info into the appropriate email fields. Thanks!

TO:
nerdcore-contest@bside.com

SUBJECT:
vote for entry #833#

BODY:
By sending this email, you are placing a vote in the contest. Do not change this email or your vote may not be counted!

"Good Night and Tough Luck"

"Getting a good night’s sleep is actually a lot more complicated than one would think."

Click here for Christoph Niemann's illustrated thoughts on the challenges of a good night's sleep. =)


Thanks to Paris Jen for the nudge!

Keep on sleepin on~

(or at least try =)

only hours left to be awesome and vote for "black cat brain food" @shirt.woot!

Voting closes at noon today (Thursday)...


Check out my Halloween-themed t-shirt design submission at shirt.woot. Love it! Sign in and vote for it! Thanks for your support!

Keep on creepin on~

Please RE-vote for my song! (& see NERDCORE RISING for free!)

Blerg. Got a groaner of a headzup to share about song fight votes submitted by email over the last few days...

I haven't received official word from the contest site, but it looks like the vote-by-email counter was offline/busted over the weekend and just today reactivated. Given the current vote count and the feedback I've had from friends who voted, it appears that votes submitted while the counter was down were NOT counted. Bleah. WTF, right? I mean, where are we? Iran? Florida?!

So, if it's not too much of a pain in the bum, if you voted via email between Saturday and today (or even if you didn't =) could you please re-vote?

For ME, I mean!

Much appreciated!

And if you feel it's your duty to vote from as many email accounts as you can, well, I won't stop you. Honest. You do what you have to do... What's right... As many times as you need to... Over and over...

=)

Also, the vote-by-tweet link continues to be working fine. =)

And please pass this message and link on to any nerdcore-friendly peeps you might know. Thanks! Song fight voting closes on the 31st.

Info for voting by webmail below, after the signoff...

And HEY! If you're interested in the hilariously and musically entertaining hiphop-umentary that inspired this songfight, NERDCORE RISING (trailer), a Boston-local fan is sponsoring a *free* digital screening at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square on Tuesday, October 27! Space is limited, so if you're interested, RSVP to the organizer. You can also check for other screenings in your area, or your friends', or arrange to host one of your own!

Thanks mucho for your support, and also for not "report as spam"-ing me! (I hope! =)

Keep on creepin on~

__________voting by webmail?___________

My songfight contest entry page: http://retwt.me/Ysdr

If you have trouble w the vote-by-email link launching an email client you don't use (i.e. Outlook or Apple's Mail app), you can vote via webmail (in a browser) using/copy-n-pasting the following info into the appropriate email fields. Thanks!

TO:
nerdcore-contest@bside.com

SUBJECT:
vote for entry #833#

BODY:
By sending this email, you are placing a vote in the contest. Do not change this email or your vote may not be counted!

please TWEET-vote for my song!

It seems that the vote-by-email counter is down at the NERDCORE RISING Song Fight contest site. Blerg. Not sure what the fate of votes-by-email already cast will be. Comparing the counter to "I voted for you" notifications, it seems that the counter hasn't been ticking correctly since as early as Friday. Bleah.

So, If you're up for voting for "Feature Creep Blues," please click the Twitter link on the contest entry page, and tweet for me, baybay!

Thanks for your support! =)

Keep on creepin on~

VOTE FOR MY DESIGN NOW! (or not =)

Please click on over to the shirt.woot derby to check out my t-shirt design submission. This week's derby theme: Halloween! I only got the design posted today, way late in the derby running (posts close noon tomorrow, voting closes noon Thursday), but the idea was rattling around in my noggin and needed to get out. I conjured it up completely independent of the odd "cats + pumpkins" trend that has rippled thru this weeks' submissions.

Or maybe I only *think* I did...?

Whatev. Please check it out, love it, and vote it. For. That is to say—Vote for it!

Note that you need to be signed in at shirt.woot *and* have made a purchase at a woot online outlet to vote. Not just, like, right this minute (altho that's certainly cool), but anytime in the past as well. They've currently got some very fine smoke detectors for sa—ack. Sold out. Perhaps Poizin wine is more your poison? Available at wine.woot? Just sayin'

Thanks for your support! =)

Keep on creepin on~

VOTE FOR MY SONG! (or not =)

__________just the facts___________

LISTEN & VOTE! Listen to a 30-second sample and vote for my song, "Feature Creep Blues!"

You can (but don't need to =) hear the entire track at Imeem.

If you haven't lost consciousness due to blood loss from the ears, do feel free to pass this post on and share the contest link with friends. Strangers, too. =)

__________rambling backstory___________

I'm in a songfight. "WTF is a songfight?" you ask. A songfight is a song-creating contest. The contest holder suggests a theme or title as a inspiration for a song (in this case, it's "Feature Creep," something with which you're all familiar, even if you don't recognize the phrase... give it a google if it doesn't ring a bell), contestants record and submit their songs based on the contest parameters, then they're posted online for the internet-at-large to vote on. Just like the Founding Fathers intended! Hrmmm... "Fathers" you say? No mother in the picture, eh? How open-minded and progresive! (Gaaaaay...)

MC Frontalot explains in video here.

This is my first songfight. Why would I suddenly, one night, just up and choose to pick a songfight, you wonder? Surprise, surprise! It's cuz of a movie! A really cool, sexy movie, a movie who's sweet, and kind, and poops rainbows, and happens to be fine with accepting my help with her precalc homework, but wouldn't dare think of acknowledging my existence in front of her bitchy friends...

*dreamy sigh*

The movie, NERDCORE RISING, is a wonderful documentary on the nerdcore hiphop movement and one of its most talented icons and musicians, MC Frontalot. The filmmakers and MC are hosting this songfight in honor of the upcoming DVD release of the film. I got a chance to meet Frontalot, his band, and the filmmakers at the Independent Film Festival of Boston two years ago and I grock their rock! I *highly* recommend the film for some amazing and nerdtastic musical magic and some wonderfully entertaining personalities... Check out the trailer for a taste. =)

Okay, enough background. VOTE FOR MY SONG! It's called "Feature Creep Blues" by MC Johnny Cache. The contest entry page has a 30 second sample in an Imeem music player. The player has a "Play full song here" link to the entire track at Imeem.com. Note that IT IS *NOT* NECESSARY TO LISTEN TO THE SONG IN ORDER TO VOTE FOR IT!

Seriously.

My songfight contest entry page: http://retwt.me/Ysdr

At the page, there are two links/ways to vote: tweeting at Twitter, or via email. I believe that each Twitter or email account is good for one vote. Why do I mention that? Oh... y'know, I like counting things... counting is cool, yeah...

If you have trouble w the email link launching a client you don't use, you can vote via webmail (in a browser) using/copy/pasting the following info. Thanks!

TO:
nerdcore-contest@bside.com

SUBJECT:
vote for entry #833#

BODY:
By sending this email, you are placing a vote in the contest. Do not change this email or your vote may not be counted!

Anyhow, enjoy the... "music!" Vote early and often! =)

Keep on creepin on~
p.s. I understand if you've got any philosophical issues with or conscientious objection to the "Feature Creep Blues." If that turns out to be the case, I urge you to throw your vote behind HamSTAR and his frickin ingenious "Feature Creep."

I just love the concept and am kinda floored by the execution. The Force is strong with that one.

"Feature Creep Blues" by MC Johnny Cache

Vote for "Feature Creep Blues!"
(contest ends October 31, 2009)

Click here to listen to the entire... umm... "song." The player above is only a 30-second sample.

VOTE FOR MY SONG, "Feature Creep Blues," via Twitter or email at my songfight page. Please vote BEFORE you listen to my contest song... Actually, please vote before listening to any contest songs. Come to think of it, you should consider listening to be completely optional. Voting, however, is mandatory! Early and often! =)

"Brian, what happened to you? You look terrible! Did you get in another fight?" (Cuz I'm always doing that, y'know.)

"Noooo... Well, not exactly. It was a... It was a... a songfight."

That's why I'm having trouble (more than usual) walking steadily and completing my thoughts today. I fell into a no-sleep zone for a couple nights trying to cobble together something resembling a song to enter into a songfight.

This particular songfight is a contest celebrating the DVD release of kickass musical movement documentary, NERDCORE RISING. The title requirement/inspiration for the song: "Feature Creep." If you're not familiar w the term, thank your stars and google it. =)

My thanks to Duncan, In, Rowan, Jessie, Ann, and Dan for their patience and feedback (the good kind, not the sibilant kind, which sucks).

Keep on creepin on~

Protect Insurance Companies PSA

Keep on keepin on~

"Bacon is good for me!"

Thanks to Paris Jen. =)

Keep on bacon~

WILLY WONKA in Smell-O-Vision *FREE*

It's happening in Somerville this Friday!

Keep on Oompa-loompa-in' on~

BTIES: TRON: LEGACY

Greetings, Programs!


The film will have music by Daft Punk!

Thanks to JG for getting me my fixx!

Keep on beepin on~

human music: Flutebox and Beardyman

Thanks to sis and JT for passing this along.

Keep on keepin on~

DAYBREAKERS

Thanks to sis for the headzup on this.

Keep on feedin on~

STAR TREK: same destiny, different universe =)

STAR TREK. A ton of fun, like a brilliant 20-year high school reunion with old friends, only, y'know, you WANT to go. A clever and welcome departure from the take-no-chances pseudo-continuity of the STAR TREK universe as we've known it for 40 some-odd years.

I'm not gonna hold back here, so beware that you're entering ***SPOILER*** territory...

Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman take a tired (but for my money, still enjoyable, when done well) TREK device, time travel, but this time, use it to CHANGE history, creating an alternate timeline. The source of this time anomaly is in the STAR TREK universe we've known for decades (aka TREK Prime), in whicn Ambassador Spock embarks on a mission to save the Romulan homeworld from destruction, racing to keep its sun from going supernova. Alas, he arrives too late to save Romulus, but attempts to contain the supernova using Red Matter, each drop of which can apparently spawn a black hole. Of course, this Red Matter, deployed into the expanding supernova, results in the creation of a singularity that sucks Spock's ship, along with a massive Romulan mining vessel, out of spacetime in the 24th(?) century, and deposits them in the 23rd. The Romulan ship is immediately confronted by a Federation Starship, the U.S.S. Kelvin, its first officer, one George Kirk (father's name, Tiberius =). The Romulan captain, Nero, blames Spock for the destruction of his homeworld, and seeks his ship. When Nero finds that the Kelvin has no knowledge of Spock's whereabouts, he orders its destruction. His Captain captured and presumed killed, First Officer Kirk takes command, orders everyone, including his pregnant wife, to abandon ship, and pilots the ship on a collision course into the heart of Nero's behemoth. He sacrifices himself to buy his crew time and safety, but not before he and his wife agree to name their newborn boy James.

Although I feel like some of the details surrounding this movie's choice of time jumping phenom are a bit clunky and/or thin, I hafta say that I love the way the movie, and the characters, come together to lay the groundwork for so much potential TREK goodness.

Looking forward...

This does NOT obliterate the stories and continuum that we all grew up with. Those stories have happened, and will continue to have happened, no matter what is written for the crew of the Enterprise that we meet in this movie. We've seen this before in TREK-dom. They are separate, parallel, timelines, in the way that the "Mirror, Mirror," aka evil goateed timeline and the WRATH OF KHAN (TREK Prime) timeline are.

There are at least two beautiful things that come out of this...

1. Destiny. In at least two timelines, this Enterprise crew, this particular bridge crew, is fated to be together, and under the leadership of James T. Kirk. In the TREK Prime timeline, Commander Spock served as Captain Pike's first officer on an Enterprise mission to a planet of beings who abducted the captain to study and test humanity. Years later, after the Kirk has taken the Captain's chair, Spock defies the chain of command to come to the aid of his former captain, paralyzed and ailing, confined to a space wheelchair that allows him to communicate only thru electric signals (see original series episodes "The Cage" and "The Menagerie," and maybe FUTURAMA =).

Anyhow, Kirk's Enterprise crew was NOT Pike's Enterprise crew. None of them step up to claim friendship, loyalty, or experience with the Captain. Which means to me that the crew that we know and love was assembled after Pike captained the Enterprise, before, or perhaps early on in, Kirk's five year mission.

Now, the event which spawns the divergent, alternate timeline of the movie is the encounter of the U.S.S. Kelvin with Nero's mining behemoth. This encounter ends badly for the Federation, with the loss of a starship and the death of two of its captains within a dozen minutes. The second, George Kirk, gives his life and his ship to buy time for the survival of his crew, fleeing in shuttles, including his wife, who gives birth to James during George's last seconds of life.

Enough drama for ya?

So, James is pre-emptively robbed of years of fathering. I'm a little fuzzy on the influence of Kirk's dad in the Prime timeline, but I could imagine it leading to his joining the Federation a few years earlier than he does in this movie. In the movie, he bums around Iowa, working at giving the local Academy trainees a hard time (which could be good or bad, depending on if you're female)... Something of a GOOD JAMES T. HUNTING punk.

When Pike, an old friend of George Kirk, challenges James to do something with his life and join Starfleet, he jumps on the last shuttle out. On board he meets cadets Bones McCoy and Uhura. What are the odds?

Three years and one overly cavalier performance in the Kobayashi Maru simulation later, on board the Enterprise, Jim and Bones meet Pike's bridge crew, including one Sulu, Chekhov, and Mr. Spock. When the communications officer proves deficient at xenolingusitics, short skirted Uhura is ordered to take his place.

That's almost everybody. What are the odds?

Later, after the destruction of Vulcan, Spock chooses a pretty harsh disciplinary measure to demonstrate his authority as acting Captain (Captain Pike having been abducted by the enemy), and launches Kirk in an escape pod to the frozen surface of a moon in the Vulcan system. The pod computer notifies Kirk that there is a Starfleet outpost nearby and he should await retrieval. Of course, he sets out on his own.

After a STAR WARS-y attack by two higher-ups in the local food chain, including a requisite sci-fi/horror vagina beasty, we learn that this is the same planetoid on which Romulan blue-collar baddie Nero deposited timeline-jumping Spock Prime, in an overly romantic execution of poetic justice.

Both Kirk and Spock Prime are deposited on the same frozen moon by two different individuals. AND, we soon discover, the moon is home to a Starfleet outpost currently manned by one Montgomery Scott, apparently exiled to this duty after some transgression or other at the academy. Also, the one man in the universe at that time who could assemble just the device/s necessary to get James Kirk back on board the Enterprise in mid-warp.

What are the odds?

Do you see what I, and the movie, are getting at here? It's a notion that you'll have seen many times in comic books and alternate history fiction. That certain individuals, and sometimes certain teams of individuals, are destined for unique roles, and greatness in those roles. Sure, our sample set is only two timelines out of infinity, but MAN, the odds that this new timeline stretches are pretty frickin astronomical. I've gotta believe that this crew of Starfleet officers and cadets is a must-have in 99 out of 100 timelines in the STAR TREK multiverse.

Kee-razy. Maybe you don't need to think about it that way. Cuz there's more than enough going on minute to minute in the movie to enjoy without this extra level of... I dunno... romance, I guess. But for my money, and my comic book incubated sensibilities, this level is a wonderful bonus payoff.

Frack. That simple notion took longer than I anticipated to spell out. I suppose I should be surprised, eh?

I'll hafta save point number two for a next post.

Keep on beepin on~