hounddog

Saw Hounddog a few days ago. The controversy surrounding this film is well known. Dakota Fanning plays a young rape victim. Yes that would be a terrible burden for any child actor to have to play, but she pulls it off. There wasn't a second where her performance wasn't believable. The damage, the death of innocence. Growing up isn't easy, and the character she plays has a harder time of it than most. Controversy or not, her performance was devastating.

heckle this

Saw a pretty decent documentary last night. Heckler. Ever wanted to see Carrot Top interviewed seriously? This is as close as you’re gonna get. The film interviews everyone from Rob Zombie to Bill Maher about critics, hecklers and how to deal with them. Jamie Kennedy even gets to confront critics that hated his comedy and Uwe Boll gets in the ring and challenges his harshest critics to a boxing match. The basic truth? Something is good if YOU like it. Fuck what the critics say.

starlite walker

I have 66 Silver Jews songs on my iPod. I never listened to them all back to back before this weekend. I have a new found respect for David Berman. Well his lyrics anyway. The man can’t sing but his words resonate. Kind of like.. well.. Bob Dylan. Of course Berman’s Silver Jews project doesn’t have the cultural impact Dylan has had, but his lyrics have a certain relatable edge that should give him a wider audience. If he was making this music in the 60’s he’d be a revered star now.. Plus his lyrics are pretty depressing which is always a plus with me. The high lonesome sound indeed.

quiver

Just finished reading Kevin Smith’s Green Arrow story “Quiver”. It was a fun little story of resurrection, redemption, amnesia.. and.. oh yeah.. Satanism.. Big themes for sure, but what really made this so enjoyable was the dialog. Quick, witty.. and just what you’d expect from Kevin Smith (minus the dick jokes of course). If Kevin Smith wasn’t such a big Hollywood player, he could make a comfortable living writing comics… But then what would we do without Jay and silent Bob?

this day

New York, New York - A song from Ryan Adam's Gold album that always reminds me of 9/11

click here

fringe

Ok I admit it. Fringe rocks. Despite its obvious similarities to X files, it stands on its own. Or at least the series premier was pretty damn good. It’s definitely flashy and big budget and why shouldn’t it be? It has JJ Abrams behind it. After Lost and Cloverfield the guy can pretty much write his own ticket. Too bad he wasn’t behind decent yet similar but shows like Threshold and Invasion. Maybe they would have been given more of a chance to find an audience.

secret invasion

When Civil War came out in ’06 it made the pages of the New York Times, which is rare for a comic book crossover event. What got reposts was buzzing was the political allegory involved in the story. Superhero fighting superhero over a Government imposed registration act where all costumed superheroes had to register their identities with federal authorities. It’s pretty obvious to see the parallels to modern US policy. But why hasn’t Marvel’s latest crossover event, Secret Invasion, garnered the same press? And invading foreign army aided by imbedded sleeper agents? I think this story is just as allegorical to a post 9-11 world. Get off your asses New York times..

all hope is gone

Usually bands lose their edge way before their 4th album. Hell, these days very few bands last long enough to even make a 4th album. Then there’s Slipknot. Say what you will about this band, but on this new album they are just as intense as they were in ’99. When they want to be. There are softer moments here that could be a sign of weakness if the band didn’t grow as musicians. And I’m willing to let those moments slide when songs like Gematria (The Killing Name) are pure catharsis. On a bit of a side note the band is at its most political on this record. Not that that really matters. Slipknot has always been about getting the poison out, not about deep lyrics. In the end the masks and jumpsuits don’t matter. What does is whether or not the band delivers. And they do. In spades