70's Revolution

 

Everything I do is revolutionary even if I have to make believe it's so. In this period piece, I'm the main character fighting the establishment.

"Life In Marvelous Times" (Fan Made)- Mos Def

FUNdance 2009!

 

The Clone Returns Homes (2.5 out of 5)

A Japanese oddity. A film with extremely long takes, very slowly paced, beautiful cinematography, philosophical ideas and subjective images. It asks questions like…Where does the soul go after you die? Where does the soul go if the body was brought back as a clone? Does it stay to haunt its new rejuvenated self? Do the scars of our past life never go away, even after we are reincarnated? Would you like to carry a spaceman on your back? I felt mixed up when I left the theatre. K was inspired and mentioned making some astronaut decorations for our Christmas tree this year. Bizarre.

Cold Souls (3.5 out of 5)

What is the shape and size of a human soul? Does it look like a chickpea? A jellybean? A pet rock? And if you could somehow extract your soul from your body, what would be left? Would you still be you? Cold Souls is a metaphysical smart comedy. To me this is the best Sci-Fi Sundance this year (I haven’t seen “Moon” though). The director breezed through the Q&A telling the audience that this concept came to her in a dream and how she managed to get her script into Paul Giamatti’s hands. Interesting stuff.

Paper heart (2 out of 5)

A documentary that isn’t a real documentary? I would have given this movie a higher mark if I hadn’t listened to the Q&A after. The movie itself is charming and funny and cute and sensitive and SCRIPTED! Yeah…I thought I was watching a love story play out in front of me only to find out that it was FAKED? WTF? That’s right…a quasi non-fiction narrative…I was disappointed. The music sounded like it was on some Juno 2 type of ISHT, sucky.

Good Hair (3 out of 5)

A SOLID documentary about the business of black hair by Chris Rock. For kicks, just google or youtube the term “Bonner Brothers International Hair Show”. Awesome huh? I laughed hard watching this…I laughed harder when Rock came out for the Q&A after and worked the room for like 20 minutes. The guy is just SO quick witted and dope.

Big Fan (2.5 out of 5)

A well made subtle character study with subtle comic elements. The movie couldn’t decide if it was a comedy or a drama…maybe it’s a Dramedy? I don’t know. During the Q&A, Siegel mentioned he wrote this five years ago and with the recent Plaxico/Giants fiasco it seems that art does imitate life down to the exact same strip club featured in the film and in the real world that Plexiglas shot himself at.

Black Dynamite (4 out of 5)

A hilarious throwback to the blaxploitation films of the 70s (Dolemite, Black Belt Jones, etc). Michael Jai White (Spawn!) kicks some serious ass and brings us a new cult classic. I heard that this was already picked up by Sony and slated for a Summer release. That doesn’t surprise me. I will see it again, get the DVD and hopefully a Black Dynamite action figure (Can you dig it?)…it has the potential of being another “Austin Powers” like franchise only funnier. Also, the music was stellar.

Dead Snow (3.5 out of 5)

A Norwegian Nazi zombie horror film. Need I say more? I read that the filmmakers used over 450 liters of blood to create this little beauty. It’s kinda broken in two pieces…the first half kind of pretends to be a serious horror movie and the second filled with zombie carnage that pushes pretty far in the campy territory. Why would Nazi zombies need their gold? Who cares it’s just fun. Mindless horror comedy. They showed a 16 minute short called “Treevenge” at the beginning of the session….think Christmas trees finally even the score for decades of living under the axe of mankind. And…Facts gets annoyed by the Broadways’ eccentric concessions.

It was a HELLUVA week and probably the FUNNEST time I’ve had at the dance yet.

Peace, DAG!

PS...The only celeb I saw on the street was Benjamin Bratt? Law & Order I think...yeah, fresh huh?

Destinations

 

What’s up my peoples!

K and myself will be attending THREE Sundance movies tomorrow (reviews to come). Big ups to Facts for letting me watch an advance screening of “The Wrestler” (yes, it’s still not here in Utah & review to come). I am CRAZY sore from snowboarding yesterday at Rob Reds resort. The Soreness has made me cranky. And because Chris Rock is making me miss the season premier of “LOST” tomorrow night…I leave you with this!

The 20 or so Questions that I hope LOST answers this season…

What happened to the island at the end of last season?
Has FutureSun gone bad?
Is Ben working against the Island?
Why does the Island want everyone back? And what does back mean, anyway?
What are "The Rules"?
Is Desmond the only character unstuck in time?
What's Charlotte's secret & Was she born on the island?
Is Miles a clue about Hurley?
What Is The DHARMA Initiative?
Is Jin really dead?
What was the test that Richard gave Locke?
What happened to Claire?
Why hasn't Richard aged?
Who is Matthew Abaddon?
What is Charles Widmore's history with the island?
How did Locke become Jeremy Bentham?
What's the origin of the donkey wheel?
What or who is Jacob?

Feel free to elaborate…DAG!

Create/Destroy

 

New History Begins

The Lab

 

A gateway drug to hard science fiction or a modernized version of old pulps? Read it and you decide.

In “The Lab“, it's an evil future, and 9 billion people live in a walled city, ruled over by an immoral corporation called ChaoSonic. There's no government and mad scientists are literally everywhere. You can't function in society without ID cards and other registrations, which allow ChaoSonic to track your movements. The main character, Six Of Hearts, is an agent of the Deck, a secret vigilante organization that fights an array of evildoers. (And every member of the Deck is a playing card. The Hearts are the agents, and the other suits perform other functions. But we pretty much only see the Hearts).

However, Six is special…because he's the product of a genetic experiment that spliced human and lizard DNA into a bird embryo. Crazy huh?

The book lacks in character development, although Six does struggle a bit with the question of whether he's human. But that's not why you want to read this book. You read it to watch Six get into and out of a ton of scrapes, and because the world-building is pretty interesting in parts. When it does slow down, the book fixates on the implications of various schemes to introduce armies of killer robots, or hordes of genetically enhanced super-soldiers. Six is always doing calculations in his head, including his rate of descent when he's dropped off the latest burning building. And he thinks a fair bit about Descartes and other classic philosophers. It's a book that makes being smart seem cool and awesome, because Six usually uses his brain to escape from his various mishaps…and it’s full of widescreen craziness.

The Epilogue and many unanswered questions that surround these and other characters suggest that a sequel, if not a series, is planned…a good sci-fi read for your spare time.

Peace, DAG!

PS...on a different note, I am going to The Lab in Provo tonight. Streetwalker!

The Dance 2009!

 

What’s up YALL! Just got back from picking up Sundance TIX. I got almost everything I wanted to see (with K's help...MUAH!). Lot's O' Sci Fi & Nazi Zombies!...check the line up:

The Clone Returns Home
In the tradition of Solaris and other deeply philosophical science-fiction works, The Clone Returns Home is art cinema at its best. Kohei, a young astronaut, agrees to participate in an experimental cloning program that will “regenerate” his body and memory should he die. So when he’s killed during a space mission, scientists are able to regenerate his clone. But problems occur with its memory, which regresses to Kohei’s youth and the accidental death of his twin brother. Distressed, the clone flees the lab in search of his childhood home. Along the way, he finds his own lifeless body in a space suit. Mistaking it for his brother, he continues his journey carrying the body on his back. Set somewhere between the near future and a dream, as if a figurative mist drifts through it, Kanji Nakajima’s first feature is distinguished by the metaphysical space it conjures. With each new incarnation of Kohei—his clone, his body, his soul, his twin—our literal sense of story gives way to a metaphysical one. With exceptional artistry (lyrical images, elegant moving masters, and evocative sound motifs), Nakajima explores identity, memory, and the ethical responsibilities of science. But, enriched by spiritual conceptions of life and death and the soul, the film’s emotional center and its poetry lie in these successive versions of Kohei, wandering in search of a home that no longer exists.

Cold Souls
In response to shiny, bigger, better American consumerism comes Cold Souls, a metaphysical tragicomedy in which souls can be extracted and traded as commodities. Balancing on a tightrope between deadpan humor and pathos, and between reality and fantasy, the film presents Paul Giamatti as himself, agonizing over his interpretation of Uncle Vanya. Paralyzed with anxiety, he stumbles upon a solution via a New Yorker article about a high-tech company promising to alleviate suffering by deep-freezing souls. Giamatti enlists their services, intending to reinstate his soul once he survives the performance. But complications ensue when a mysterious, soul-trafficking “mule,” transporting product to and from Russia, “borrows” Giamatti's stored soul for an ambitious, but unfortunately talentless, soap-opera actress. Rendered soulless, he is left with no choice but to follow the trail back to bleak St. Petersburg. He comes to value that happiness isn’t merely the absence of pain, but the integration of the full range of emotion into life.Sophie Barthes’s debut feature is strikingly original, not only for its haunting concept but for its poetic execution. Inspired production design and lyrical cinematography create a melancholic, heightened world. Perfectly cast, Giamatti and a gifted ensemble maneuver seamlessly through shifting ontological landscapes without ever betraying the surrealism. With this dazzling accomplishment, Barthes establishes herself as an auteur to reckon with.

Good Hair
When Chris Rock’s daughter, Lola, came up to him crying and asked, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” the bewildered comic committed himself to search the ends of the earth and the depths of black culture to find out who had put that question into his little girl's head! Director Jeff Stilson’s camera followed the funnyman, and the result is Good Hair, a wonderfully insightful and entertaining, yet remarkably serious, documentary about African American hair culture.An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, Good Hair visits hair salons and styling battles, scientific laboratories, and Indian temples to explore the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people. Celebrities such as Ice-T, Kerry Washington, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Maya Angelou, and Reverend Al Sharpton all candidly offer their stories and observations to Rock while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter’s question. What he discovers is that black hair is a big business that doesn’t always benefit the black community and little Lola’s question might well be bigger than his ability to convince her that the stuff on top of her head is nowhere near as important as what is inside.

Paper Heart
Charlyne Yi does not believe in love. Or so she says. At the very least, she doesn’t believe in fairy-tale love or the Hollywood mythology, and her own experiences have made her—at minimum—a modern-day skeptic. But this inquiry into love and its present-day manifestations suggests she hasn’t entirely given up hope. As she and her friend (and director), Nicholas Jasenovec, together search for answers and advice, you get the idea that this new generation’s cynicism isn’t the whole story. And when she meets a man after her own heart…well, you can guess the rest. Yi, a Los Angeles–based artist and comedian, certainly has an interesting array of friends and acquaintances. They offer diverse views on modern romance, as well as various answers to the age-old question: does love really exist? But is this all for real? Is it fantasy? Or is it a just a filmmaker’s quest?This is a wonderfully imagined journey of one girl’s search for love. This self-conscious and self-reflective film leads us all down a “rabbit hole” of emotion, hope, and confusion that give this poignant, funny, and intelligent film its…heart. Only people as aware and knowledgeable about their craft as Yi and Jasenovec can make a film as entertaining and absorbing as Paper Heart.

Big Fan
For legions of people, sports teams are religion, and their favorite players are their idols. This notion sparks the hilarious premise of Big Fan, the exhilarating directing debut from Robert Siegel, the screenwriter of The Onion Movie and The Wrestler.Paul Aufiero, a 35-year-old parking-garage attendant from working-class Staten Island, is the self-described “world's biggest New York Giants fan.” One night Paul and his best friend, Sal, spot star Giants linebacker Quantrell Bishop at a gas station in Staten Island. They impulsively follow his SUV into Manhattan to a strip club, where they finally muster up the courage to talk to their hero. What starts out as a dream come true turns into a nightmare as a misunderstanding ignites a violent confrontation, and Paul is sent down a path that will test his devotion to the extreme. Patton Oswalt is perfectly cast as Paul, infusing him with a humanity that renders him empathetic instead of pathetic. Siegel has an innate understanding of—and reverence for—his characters but finds humor in every scene by perfectly capturing the details of their world. From the posters on the walls, to the NFL bed sheets, to the ""spontaneous"" smack talking, he nails it. Big Fan resonates with truth and insight, and the result is a film that will make you laugh and wince at the same time—a very winning combination.

Black Dynamite
When “the man” kills his brother, pumps heroin into the local orphanage, and floods the ghetto with a secret weapon disguised as Anaconda Malt Liquor, there is only one brother bad enough, strong enough, and brave enough to take them on: the legendary Black Dynamite.Black Dynamite is a throwback with an attitude. Hilarious, campy, hot, and sexy, it plays with every cliché from 1970s film and television, with a few new ones thrown in for color. Director Scott Sanders doesn’t need to show his hand to get his point across, making it even more fun to watch. He has miraculously assembled a huge cast that all perfectly tread the line between satire and spoof. Crazy kudos need to go to our leading man, played by Michael Jai White, who offers a pitch-perfect performance in every take. Art direction and costumes are flawless, and the flocked wallpaper holds it own against the faux fur and poly-blend wardrobe. Black Dynamite has something for everyone: chase scenes, gunfights, a house of ill repute, some karate action, and a star with a killer body who takes on bad guys with—and without—his shirt on. And if this isn’t enough, Sanders does the near impossible: he sustains the comedy while taking a nice big sucker punch at the underlying politics of our time.

Dead Snow
For eight medical students, Easter vacation begins innocently enough. They pack their cars full of ski equipment and enough beer to fuel their escape from everyday life to the snowy, isolated hills outside of Øksfjord, Norway. Once there, they receive a late-night visit from a shady hiker, who tells them a story about Nazi occupation of the area during World War II. After doing their fair share of raping and pillaging, the dreaded battalion faced a brutal and vengeful uprising by the citizens of the town. The soldiers who managed to survive the onslaught, including their dreaded leader Colonel Herzog, were driven into the hills by the angry mob, where they supposedly froze to death, never to be seen again. But if the horror genre has taught us anything, it’s that the raucous behavior and promiscuity of the younger generation always have a way of bringing evil spirits back to life.Director Tommy Wirkola pulls no punches in the carnage department—heads roll, blood flows, and entrails ooze as the young vacationers attempt to make it through the night. Wirkola adeptly utilizes the snow’s eerie and ominous backdrop to its fullest extent while orchestrating this wickedly gory, yet somehow delightful, tale of Nazi zombie terror.

Dead Channel

 

There is magic in my blood. However, at times I feel I'm tuned to a dead channel.

Best Movies Of 2008

 

The Dark Knight
An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity…Oh, and it is a “comic book movie“. With The Dark Knight, the cinematic superhero spectacle comes closest to becoming modern myth, a pulp tragedy with costumed players and elevated stakes and terrible sacrifices. It's the new standard for superhero noir.

Wall-E
The idea that a company in the business of mainstream entertainment would make something as creative, substantial and cautionary as WALL-E has to raise your hopes for the human race. Pixar can do no wrong.

Iron Man
Is it possible to have yet another excursion into this genre that seems in any way fresh, original and alive? Oh yes it is…propers to acting dynamo Robert Downey Jr who OWNED Stark from the jump.

Slumdog Millionaire
It doesn't happen often, but when it does, look out… a movie that rocks, that transports, startles, delights and shocks. A movie that is…flat out great. I cannot wait to see what Danny Boyle does next.

Speed Racer
Call me crazy but I LOVED this movie. Buoyant pop entertainment focused on three things…speed, racing and retina-splitting oceans of digitally captured color. A crazy, turbo-charged mix of cartoon fun, gamer action, and a wild new way to think of, and look at, movies.

Honorable mention(s): Appaloosa, The Bank Job, Choke, Quantum Of Solace, In Bruges, Rock N Rolla, Kung Fu Panda & Cloverfield.

What to look for in 2009: The Road, Coraline, Where The Wild Things Are, Watchmen, Public Enemies, UP, Star Trek, Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince, Monsters Vs Aliens, GI Joe, Inglorius Bastards, Terminator Salvation, Wolverine Origins, Sherlock Holmes, The Wolfman & Avatar.

Best Hip Hop Of 2008

 

I couldn’t put my finger on just one LP this past year. Let’s face it…maybe this music isn’t speaking to me anymore. I’m at the point that I would rather hear 5-7 DOPE songs from an artist then a project of 16-20 tracks on it with a hand full of gems. I kept these discs in rotation in 08’.

Q-Tip “The Renaissance”
The Mighty Underdogs “Droppin Science Fiction”
Murs “Murs 4 President”
Evidence “The Layover”
The Roots “Rising Down”
J-Live “Then What Happened”
Common “Universal Mind Control”
The Clipse/Re-Up Gang various FREE Mixtapes

I have heard great things about: Black Milk “Tronic”, Elzhi “The Preface”, Time Machine “Life Is Expensive” , People Under The Stairs “Fun DMC”, Jake One “White Van Music” &
88 Keys “The Death Of Adam”.

What to look for in 2009: The Clipse “Til The Casket Drops”.