Cineaction

A couple months or so ago I discovered Cineaction, which is a film studies journal based in Canada. I am completely in love with it and fully plan on sprucing up an analysis I wrote on three Western films in terms of how the films follow and stray from Western tradition (Fistful of Dollars, Rio Bravo, and The Proposition) and submitting it for consideration. If you love reading about films, you should certainly check this journal out.

If anyone knows of any other amazing film/music/literature journals or blogs (anything really), let me know!

We're the young ones...

I've been on a Young Ones kick. Out of all of my BBC obsessions, Young Ones is certainly the most...intelligently juvenile. If that makes sense. I just love the characters, especially those of Rick and Vyvyan. It was hard to decide on a clip so I went with a scene from Rick's party.

Do androids dream of electric sheep?

My current obsessive genre is science-fiction. For all of you who enjoy some fiction that exposes some key elements of human nature through imagining future possibilities of where human beings end up, you should check out Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (the book Blade Runner is based on, which happens to be one of my all-time favorites films and if you haven't seen it, just go buy a copy. Enjoy the long discussions over whether or not Deckard is a replicant and pay attention to that last scene of Rutger Hauer's because he adlibbed it. I've heard he came up with the tears in rain portion and I've also heard that he came up with most of it. Either way, it's an iconic scene for a reason) or Neuromancer by William Gibson. Well, there are tons but those two are my current reading choices. I have read the first one but I never got around to reading Neuromancer for whatever reason. I was thrilled when I found it tucked away in one of my bookcases, just waiting for me to notice it. And really, anything by those authors is going to be good.

Here's that final scene of Hauer's in Blade Runner. If you haven't seen the flick and plan to, you may not want to watch this scene. It does happen near the very end of the film, after all.

Maybe I was born to hold you in these arms...

The skull that makes me smile in Frames familiarity makes is appearance in this gorgeous black and white   Swell Season music video for "In These Arms." Glen Hansard's voice fills me up with this blinding feeling of indescribable emotion. It's like there's this knot of excited pleasure within my stomach that only ever gets tighter, causing my entire body to tense while a sigh is lulled up through my chest. There are no words to describe it.



I cannot wait to see them live again and at a venue that is General Admission. I cannot stand to be seated far from the stage, especially when I see musicians such as these. I need to be in the front, awkwardly avoiding eye contact and hating myself for that missed opportunity to tell Hansard just how much I adore his words.

Banksy, Shepard, Invader...

So, instead of posting about my Comic Con day yesterday (which I had all typed up and ready to post last night when my computer died on me due to a current virus) I will finally post about the street artists in San Diego. If you happen to live here, it is nearly impossible not to notice that amazing art has happened all over the place. It is due to the fact that an exhibit opened at The Museum of Contemporary Art called Viva La Revolucion: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape. The exhibit features 20 contemporary artists from 10 different countries, all artists who work with city landscapes. Artists included are Bansky, Shepard Fairey, Dr. Lakra, Invader, Vhils, et cetera. While half of the exhibit is inside the museum, the other half is spread out across San Diego adorning choice walls. Nine of the artists (Shepard Fairey, Invader, Barry McGee, JR, Dr. Lankra, Swoon, Os Gemeos, Stephan Doitschinoff, and Vhils) came to make art on San Diego buildings, causing many to go on street art treasure hunts with cameras.

My friend and I went to the opening night of the exhibit and it ended up being one of the best nights of my life. The reason for this: Shepard Fairey. He was there, acting as DJ for half the night while generally just being amazing. My friend and I acted like complete idiots upon meeting him but it is definitely a photograph that I am printing out and pinning up next to the time I met Billy Bragg. I don't often care if I meet a famous person but people like that? I care.

That night was interesting in a lot of ways actually but those stories have nothing to do with art.

Shepard Fairey

I'll Be Your Man

I woke up this morning with "I'll Be Your Man" stuck in my head and I had a feeling last night that it was going to happen. The reason is because a certain bartender continued to sing it, lodging it in my brain. Not a bad thing, of course, because the song is fantastic. It's just amusing how predictable my unconscious state is at times. There were so many songs that could have made their way in there while sleeping (the bar that I am at every week just so happens to be a karaoke bar) but the song that gets in there isn't one sung with a microphone, it's just sung behind the bar. Now, whether or not the song is to blame or the man singing it while making eye contact, who knows and I suppose it doesn't matter. Enjoy the fantastic Black Keys song, which you'll recognize if you watch Hung. I hope that it makes it's way into your dreams.



And real quick. Memo to Christopher Nolan: Thank you for writing intelligent films that make me smile. Let's snuggle. I smell incredibly nice.

I have now seen Inception twice and plan on at least once more. New things to look for every time. I have my theories and I can't wait for the director's commentary and the "making of" those amazingly well choreographed fight scenes that Joseph Gordon-Levitt did (sans stunt double I hear) on the DVD.

On a side note. I love how my childhood crushes (the ones who were actually around my age and not years older like Rik Mayall, Johnny Depp, Gary Oldman, or John Cleese) are now incredibly foxy. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Foster, Jason Segel...

Salvador Dali Is My Leading Man