Come Another Tide

Wednesday June 9th

Unfortunately it slipped my mind to post this on the actual day that it happened but, I knew I would eventually get around to it. I was given the task of driving my brother and his wife to the airport so they could take a weeks long vacation in Seattle. My situation was that I had to get off work at my job at 8pm drive about an hour to Athens, GA and wake up in the morning to get them to the airport by 10am, and be at work at 11:30am. So, I get off an hour early I arrive at 8pm. Hurray! An hour early. I get a fish burrito from Cali-n-Tito's in town and lay on the couch the rest of the night trying to get comfortable so I can go to sleep fast. To my dismay, they went to bed around 12 or 1 in the morning. I was expecting to wake up early to get them to the airport early so I can make it to work on time. I was a little aggravated.

I woke up at 5:30am. Fuck. I maybe got like 4 hours of good sleep if I was lucky. I was told the previous night we would leave at 7am so we would leave me plenty of time to get to airport and leave time to get ahead of rush hour traffic. I was led astray again and we would not be leaving until later. I am now angry on account I was doing them a favor by driving them on the airport that I did not have to do, that I was taking my own time and gas to do so they could go on a week long vacation to Washington. I went out on the porch and pouted on the porch like a little bitch and refused to eat breakfast. Whilst Iris was watering her plants I walked back in to exchange some altercate words with Nathan about how angry I was. I was a ignorant colossus of death and gloom, a pile of gun powder near a sparkler ready to ignite.

We leave at 7:40am or so and I fucking slam on the gas. We're doing 85-90mph down the Athens interstate to the I-85 South intersection to ATL. Not many words were exchanged on account I was in a 'fuck off' type of mood. As we merged into the interstate there it was. Rush hour. What an asshole. I made the mistake of not getting into the HOV lane which is reserved for folks that have two or more passengers in their vehicle. In other words the VIP lane where everything goes quicker but it's all the way to the left and the exits are on the right. I drove like Steve McQueen in Bullit so I could grace the concrete which was designated for automobiles containing numerous passengers. At this point I'm not even giving a shit about the clock I'm just set on getting to the airport. My foot was killing me from the stop and go bumper to bumper traffic, no sunglasses, no food on account of my stubbornness. Fuck life. Let a frozen pile of shit fall from an airplane onto my car and end it all.

Eventually we mingled past all the traffic and neared the exit for the airport. Anticipation rattled my body for we were actually here and I had never driven to the airport before. Wow. I gradually grew from Mr. Grump Grump to a little wiener dog yelping with delight that my owner was taking for a walk around the neighborhood. I instructed my brother to plug up my iPhone and to select the iPod. I put on Naughty By Nature's Feel Me Flow. A grin illustrated across my cheek and my brother let out a snort of air followed by a smirk that rivaled mine. And we began to trade words of old rap singles that were popular in the early nineties and trips to Gainesville, GA during that era to visit our cousins. The track This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan came up and I later downloaded the song in honor of Gainesville. I had not heard that track in years. I drove us to the North Terminal and idled the KIA so they could excavate their luggage from the clutter in my car and I apologized to my brother who plainly said it was OK I'm clearly over it now. I would return to this same spot in a weeks time to take them home.

I got back on the interstate, headed North to Habersham so I could go to work. I had plenty of time after all. The sun was still low in the sky and not very bright. Wasn't particularly hot or humid so I let the windows down so my hair could flap in the wind. My iPod was still plugged up but not playing anything through my speakers. What could unleash the excitement that I had just accomplished something I thought was a great highlight of my week. I pressed the play button on Torche. And rode all the way back to Habersham. Got to work with half an hour to spare. Before I passed Gainesville I decided to spit in times face and pull of to get Chic-fil-a. When I got to work I was given the offer to work half a day that day, go home and sleep, and finish the rest of my tour on a Saturday. Legendary!

Come a Tide

Music Project and Bass Guitar

For anyone that knows me well..which is barely anyone, I've had a very unsuccessful music project called, "Them." Well, maybe a few people know it. Anyway, I never really decided on what direction to take it and I'm contemplating it right now. I've been on a recent binge of glorifying my bass guitar since in recent times I laid down the bass to pursue drumming. I didn't seriously think about playing the bass for quite sometime I was only trying to glorify the drums. I still enjoyed playing bass just not as much as before. That came from a lack of understanding what possibilities you could actually get out of the bass guitar and for so long I thought that every bass player wanted to be someone like, Les Claypool or Flea. That all there was to bass was complex placements of slaps and thumps. So, I strayed away from it when I started paying more attention to drummers, Dale Crover and Dave Lombardo.

One thing I've always found unique about myself that I'm sure other would find self-indulgence is that I face the fact I'm not an expert towards anything so that forces me to ask questions that wouldn't typically go together naturally with something. An example of this was when I read about in the early days of grunge, Dave Grohl would use his floor tom as a rack tom. I thought that was awesome and I couldn't think of any band this day and age that did that as far as I'd heard of. So, I took root and set out to accomplish that. Afterward I ended up with a 16" floor tom for my rack and a 18" floor tom. This left my kick drum awkwardly proportioned to the two drums. So, I go bigger and get a 26" kick drum and turn my old 24" kick drum into a flow tom, throw in a 19" and 20" crash, a 24" China, 24" ride and 14" high hat. Boom surely there are bigger sets but, this was mine and I loved it.



Earlier this year I began to play bass for my friends Kevin's band Robo. I picked up the bass once again, a little rusty at first but, I think I'm back at the potential I use to play at. I started paying more attention to styles like Jared Warren, Greg Anderson and Steve Tanner, who all prominently used Sunn O))) amps. I had a pretty decent bass cabinet from Kustom and a Peavy head with an octave controller build into it so I could easily shatter windows but, I wanted to begin to do more than just piss my mom off by being loud. I wanted to develop some character to my bass rig and get some unique tone and distinction. It started slow at first but in the past 2 weeks I've really started to roll with it. I played my first show with a Boss overdrive pedal and a a small 80 watt orange solid bass amp. It was loud and distorted and apparently caught the ears of some leach the was playing after us because he wanted to use my stuff. Second show, we did I used the big 650 watt Kustom and the Peavy head and by mistake left the octave switch on so the whole room shook. It wasn't until the end of the set I realized this was on when some members of a former local group we played with frequently said my bass was killer and I was a good addition to the band. I won't mention the third show I was playing like shit that night and the whole show was going to Hell.

I "studied" what pedals and equipment bands such as Boris and Sunn O))) used and also some stuff of Trevor Dunn's and listened to quite a number of their albums back and forth and picked and chose what kind of pedal board I wanted to set up. With the help of YouTube I got to hear these things in action and it helped me determine what I would start to build. I've been itching to play another show recently because I've been indulging these urges of progressing my bass skills and sound. I am now the proud owner of a Sunn O))) Beta Bass Head a solid state amp that is loud as fuck, and I couldn't be happier. I still have the Kustom cabinet but, hope to get a big old Ampeg. Just a few days ago I bought the bass to end all basses I hope to ever need which was a Rickenbacker model Diamond with active pick ups from my friend Juan Montoya. As far as pedals I've got a long way to go but, so far I still use my Digi-tech Whammy pedal and Boss overdrive and added a Dearmond Weeper with a stand Big Muff Pi. I plan to expand this board as I progress and will slowly reveal my master pedal board to achieve all the sound I choose to accomplish with them. No pun intended.

Here's what I often consider one of the best tracks I recorded in the early days of Them.

There's Something at My Window by Them

The Bride Screamed for A Small Turn of Human Kindness

The Melvins is a band who appreciates their fans way more than they let on to. They come out with a lot of goodies to keep their fans mouths wet with ambition, they tour at least once a year, and since 2006 have released a new album every two years at the beginning of the Summer. It was no doubt that the new release (the Bride Screamed Murder) was sure to not disappoint me or the rest of their fans. But, another favorite band of mine scheduled an unexpected release of their own. My home states native Athenians, Harvey Milk came out with A Small Turn of Human Kindness. Even though, I heard the Melvins album a whole month before I did Harvey Milks release. After much thought I actually prefer Harvey Milk's release over the Melvins' this time. The Bride Screamed Murder has all the formulas in which you would expect out of a Melvins song: scratchy guitar, fuzz drenched bass, and abnormal drum sequences. Talented is too little a word for it. But, as far as Harvey Milk's release I keep constantly referring to it as an unofficial score to theatrical movie. To be honest it reminds me of Melvins album Lysol, I think why there is so much appeal. Though they split the tracks up to be able to skip on the album there's no real need to the songs run together like it's a musical or one large track. Harvey Milk is a band that makes me proud to be a Georgian.

A New Direction

I stopped posting for a while on account my writing hadn't improved as much as I had hoped it would after starting this blog so, I've decided to give it another shot. My brother has started a blog of his own to keep his already superior writing skills sharp, so I should try improving mine. My initial purpose to starting this 'blog' in the first place was because I didn't see any good film blogs on the Internet at the time. I've since found some and it would be in my best interest if I didn't just do film reviews but, just do whatever.

On that note I just watched the second Twilight film, New Moon. A truly horrible film. I guess I can see the appeal to it if you were a teenage girl or a teenage boy who has the characteristics of a girl. The only funny feeling I get from watching these films are the embarrassment I get from the people who act in the these films. I understand every actor has to start somewhere but, Jesus there's better stuff out there. Viewing these films to me is the equivalent of watching Mr. Hands. Just the sheer shock of it.



I still have hope for Kristen Stewart though, She was in Adventureland and the Runaways. Just recently I she has been chosen to play in a film adaption of Jack Kerouac's On the Road that will either make or break her career once and for all.

Still Life (guest review by Nathan Loggins)

Roughly the last decade has seen the slow decline of some the biggest names in mainland Chinese cinema. Luminaries of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema like Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou have abandoned the simplistic and artful styles that made up films like Yellow Earth and The Story of Qiu Ju, and with perhaps an eye to China’s ever-growing foreign markets, have produced glossy, flamboyant period pieces that are nearly as foreign to domestic audiences as they are to those who flock to them in the West. This vacuum in art cinema has been filled by a new generation of directors who have focused their lens on daily life in a county that is marked by upheaval and perpetual social change that stems from breakneck economic development. The name that has received the most recognition as of late is Jia Zhangke, director of Unknown Pleasures, Platform and The World. His most recent feature length production, Still Life, has taken him from the margins of obscurity into the fold of world cinema, for which he received the 2006 Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.
Shunning any form of adornment, Jia’s films focus on the daily lives of ordinary people in some of the most underdeveloped regions of China. In Platform, a performance troupe-turned-rock band tours the back towns of north central China, finally ending up in the same place they started. The World follows the daily routines of migrant workers at an ambitious theme park in Beijing where famous global landmarks are recreated in miniature form for Chinese tourists. Every film captures the mundane life of those people absorbed in a country changing by the minute, but held just outside the benefits which are purported to follow--an endless waiting for something new or something better. Jia’s films unfold slowly with a deliberate pacing similar to Abbas Kiarostami or Hou Hsiao-hsien, marked by understated gestures and austerity, a far cry from Hero or Curse of the Golden Flowers.
Still Life takes its setting in a small town on the Hubei/Sichuan border, currently under destruction for the massive Three Gorges Dam project, which will bring cleaner energy to thousands more Chinese citizens, but has in the process destroyed innumerable local ecosystems and cultural landmarks, uprooting hundreds, if not thousands, of local residents, the subject of a recent documentary Up the Yangtze. The film opens with the return home of one of the two main characters, Han Sanming, hailing a motor-taxi to his old address, only to find it completely submerged below water. He proceeds to find work with a local demolition crew as he searches for his estranged wife and tries in vain to re-establish contact with his daughter who he hasn’t seen for 16 years. Wandering amid the rubble and chaos is the film’s other protagonist, Shen Hong, who is also looking for her spouse who has been incommunicado for quite some time. Even in the same town, the two’s paths never cross, and when they finally accomplish their missions, the results are anticlimactic at best. In the meantime, they form ephemeral relationships with others amid the disarray that surrounds them. People wander in and out of scenes as in a Fellini movie: a young teenager singing saccharine love songs, a lackluster proprietor of a small prostitution ring, a civil engineer showing off his elaborate light display to a group of businessmen. All the while, there is the noise of sweaty demolition crews toiling in the humid haze, amid fumigators and crews marking new buildings for destruction and projected stages of future water levels.
The scenes that unfold, less like a movie than the titular style of painting, show a section of society crushed under the boot of so-called progress. Air conditioning here is either absent or useless in the sticky climes of southern China. The music emanating from old radios and television sets is from decades past. When not repetitively hacking away with sledgehammers, barely-clad men sit in idle groups, half-heartedly wiping sweat from their faces. There seems to be such a tacit acceptance of the tumult that has marked their otherwise monotonous existence, that no one seems to notice, or care, when a flying saucer wobbles in over the mountains and then exits as nonchalantly as it came, or when a building inexplicably rockets itself off into the hazy skyline. In a world coming slowly undone, these are minor details to be observed and then discarded before moving on to the next routine task.
But it would be too easy to attribute some air of condemnation to Jia’s projects. He never seems to be pointing the finger, or making a value judgment. He merely documents what he sees around him, and does so to aesthetically stunning effect. The subjects and themes may speak to the viewer in any number of ways, but they are, after all, just daily life in a country whose citizens make up over one third of the world’s population.

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Battle Royale

So far, before the night is over, I will have only seen this film once. I saw it shortly after the turn of the millennium in my brothers old apartment in Athens. At the time I was very big into gore driven entertainment in films and I had heard that this one was pretty messy, and it seemed to have a huge following in the underground circuit of Asian cinema on the Internet and from Nathan. I rented it from Vision video and watched it while my brother was out doing his paper route, at least I think that's the job he had at the time but, I could be mistaken. This film had a large impact on me emotionally and possibly because, I was still in high school and I wasn't prepared for such drama to pour out of a such a gore drenched film. I wasn't prepared for such a masterpiece to be laid out in front of me for my viewing pleasure. I didn't find myself intrigued with the amount of blood flow, I was captivated by the great amount of emotion I felt towards the characters in this film no matter how short their role or how little the audience was intended to see of a certain character. I hardly ever read manga but, I'd be willing to read these if I had an easier access to them. I only dare guess how much more story is covered or how much farther the drama is dragged out in the manga the film is based off of. And I'd only start reading manga due to a select few films that I've seen based on several films I'd seen that were originally manga and hopefully get around to reading the original book.

At the dawn of the new millennium, Japan is in a a state of near-collapse. Unemployment is at an all-time high, and violence among the nation's youth is spiraling out of control. With schoolchildren boycotting their classes and physically abusing their teachers, a beleaguered and near-defeated government decides to introduce a radical new measure: the Battle Royale Act Overseen by former teacher Kitano (Beat Takeshii Kitano) and requiring that a randomly chosen school class is taken to a deserted island and forced to fight each other to the death, the Act dictates that only one pupil is allowed to survive the punishment. He or she will return, not as the victor, but as the ultimate proof of the lengths to which the government is prepared to go to curb the tide of juvenile disobedience. Forty-two enter only one will leave and there's no telling what will happen to the other before victory is achieved by that one.

The film is full of dark humor, especially Kitano's character. The simplicity in which he executes his one liners in the film is just genius probably without him even knowing he had just done something incredible. Kitano's character is both ruthless and lovable all at the same intervals and some will hate that more about his character and some will ponder the thought, "He's not that bad of a guy is he?" As for the students morally one would watch this film and admit that not every single student deserves this horrible punishment. The ones that didn't deserve it are quickly knocked off the playing field by either committing suicide or being caught up in the cross fire of someones wrath. Nonetheless, it's a very powerful gripping story. It hurts me to watch these young boys and girls have everything they ever had hopes or memories with one another torn asunder by their friends. Hopes of growing old, living, going to a good school, love, just thrown away in the worst possible way. Whom ever comes out on top of the game will never live with themselves the same way again obviously so why even continue? What could possibly, if at all, keep the spirit of a kid who has just murdered every friend they could have ever made growing up live after that?

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Haze

At first I thought that I would never see this film because it only came around to festivals and it was on a region pal DVD. But, that's to the wonders of the internet I was able to see it with French subtitles. And because, I'm so incredibly hardcore I watched the 48 minute masterpiece twice. Once, to see it through the whole thing and twice, to translate on an online translator what an idea what the subtitles were saying. I got a pretty good idea. But, I do not doubt my ability any longer to find anything that I'm looking for on the internet. When it comes to obscurities such as a short film by Shinya Tsukamoto I'm going to go after it like a murder case. The quality wasn't bad it was ripped from a European DVD and it was a very relieving goal to check off my list. It only irks me that stuff like this is so hard to see for fans like me. They should at least have it somewhere to maybe pay a dollar to watch it online. It was a difficult task to find a copy of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Drawing Restraint 9 on the web just to watch these films.

A man wakes up to find himself locked in a tiny, cramped concrete room, in which he can barely move. He can't come to remember why he is there and where he came from. He has a large wound which hinders his movement around the corridors to his stomach and is slowly bleeding to death. He begins to explore the narrow confines of his prison and crawls around the maze-like room, only to run into dangerous mouse-like terrain and sees horrible visions of Hell waiting for him at each end of the room. Finally he gives up on the struggle and collapses in exhaustion. Then he begins to remember images from his past. Clinging to these images he creeps forward with the last ounces of his strength and meets a woman in a place that stinks of rotting corpses. The man and the woman both try to recall where they came from, but their memories are so uncertain that they are not even sure they want to return. The man is ready to give up but the woman insists on going forward. Neither of them can imagine the incredible end to the journey.

Not just because it was such a hard film to get a hold of and see and I'm not 100 percent certain what all was said, this was easily one of my favorite Tsukamoto films. The film is horrifying for anyone watching it. Combining all the worst elements you can put into a horror film or a real life situation: Darkness, confusion, bleeding to death, mutilation, grizzly images, claustrophobia, lack of air, not being able to move, indescribable noises. I find it fun to watch a foreign film and not knowing what is said completely and try and guess on my own what's going on. Truth is though, the characters in the film could have said nothing during the entire movie and you would have gotten the idea of what they were thinking or trying to say. Shinya Tsukamoto's 'horror' in his films are similar to the feeling that David Lynch's films give me. When a scare comes into view it stays with me forever and bothers me for hours or even days on end. It's not easy to get some of these images out of your head, and it scares me further to think that someone can think this up but, it's art right? An excruciating film to watch and a well thought out idea from one of the greatest film directors the world is ever going to know.

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Prepare for Halloween

For those who don't know I'm a big Halloween enthusiast. Before we know it, Halloween will be here so, I'm going to do what I do every year and watch all my old time favorite horror movies since there isn't shit going to be in theaters that's worth a damn to go see. As we all know there are the obvious essentials to watch like, Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, Frankenstein, etc. but, I'm going to pick a few of my favorites and then some I think some may enjoy if they haven't seen them already. So, sit back and let me indulge upon you some that will give you the mood for All Hallow's Eve.

Halloween (1978) & Halloween II (1981)



As Marvin Gaye is to putting the mood for love into people, Halloween is to setting the mood of how fall should feel to an individual. Crisp breeze with a hint of chill in the air. Dead silence only to be interrupted by the the winds rustling of leaves. Not only is it a glorious and immaculate horror movie it also brings back fond memories of how Fall use to be when I was little and there wasn't a moment this film wasn't being viewed during the that time. It was the first movie that scared me no matter how many times of it's viewing. The first film can almost immediately be followed up by it's successor for it follows the immediate story moments after the ending after the first so they go together. Many people think it tacky for these types of film to have so many sequels and the main reason artistically is that figures like Michael, Jason, and Freddy were considered the face of the Boogieman to certain individuals and it immortalizes that saying, "You can't kill the Boogieman." So every year he keeps coming back to get you. But, sadly the ugly truth is that Hollywood is out to make a buck.

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The Monster Squad



This movie seemed like it would be like a Goonies Halloween special. It has a lot of aspects of the Gooniesbut, it's the horror fans Goonies. It has all the nostalgia of being a young horror nerd and all your wildest fantasies of silver screen monsters coming to life. The story is quirky and classic and it has a good flow to it without rushing through the film. Seeing all the classics on one screen, Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, the Creacture from the Black Lagoon (a.k.a. Gilman), and the Wolfman (whom has nards) is an instant attraction so there are five different ways to enjoy the movie for fans of any one of them. It's not too cartoony to be just for kids and it's not too violent to where kids can't enjoy it to. The film just set of every electrode in my brain and set my imagination on crash courses when I was little. The film may be a little aged but remains one of the cult favorites of the horror genre forever.

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The Blair Witch Project



Scary as fuck if you know how to appreciate it. Also, an epitome Fall film to watch around this time. The dead leaves and the cold ground and then the legend of the Blair Witch. When I was little I would read every book I come across in our school library that was jam packed with short stories of the macabre and occult. And this story reminds me of some of the similar stories I would read from the libraries. It's 'artsy' some said, I never truly thought it to be an art film I got what they were going for. The build up of this film that it was an actual event and on top it was original. I soaked it in as much as I could and then when I finally saw it the effect it had on me was what I'm sure the creators intended to have in store for the viewers. Yes, this is one of the essential things to have during the Fall season along with Type O Negative's October Rust and pumpkin pie.

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Evil Dead II



To be honest this one has never moved from my top five list ever. It's got a good balance of comedy and a good balance of shear horror. Sam Raimi was always good at using noises to their fullest potential to make things the creepiest they could possibly be in the film. The whole bellowing howl that chases Ash around in the movie still haunts me if I'm alone walking in the dark and it alone has kept me from camping anywhere to this day. Sadly, I know that Hollywood is going to get it's cold dead fingers clinched around the throat of this masterpiece and toss it to and fro until they fuck it up. This one will always have a special place in my black rotting heart.

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Frankenstein



After careful investigations over the years I admit that Boris Karloff was the better actor than his rival Bela Lugosi. Though both are amazing Karloff just did a few more roles that were much more interesting and everlasting than Lugosi. Frankenstein is the essential horror story about man attempt to play God and the consequences that follow it. The Gothic tale only becomes more rich with age like a fine wine. It never looses it's spectacle or it's edge. It never wears on originality because it is the original. As well as this it's also good to watch back to back with the Bride of Frankenstein.

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Hostel II

Up until I heard Eli Roth was doing the the story by Stephen King, Cell, I could actually breathe a sigh of relief that he had come onto the scene. Cabin Fever was an exceptionally good fall back into the horror genre that many had been waiting to come around for a long time, along with, Saw and House of 1000 Corpses things were looking up for horror and I still have high hopes that there will be another plunge. Eli's next indulgence with the genre was with the Hostel filmss. First one was unique and different but, seemed way too much into the torture porn type stuff. The second installment I felt was more entertaining in a way to where I still can't come to the point why I enjoyed it better. It seems like the natural instinct would be I'd like the first one more since I could relate to the guys in the film more with the fucking of girls and their male like conversations about girls. Though the same surrounding around the secret organization that captures young euro-travelers and has people pay top dollar to murder them the characters in part two were more likable to me, well, at least the main character. I guess I have a thing for girls with black hair. When I saw it, it was in theater of course and it could have been with a better crowd. I sat next to some Latina girls that through the entire film when the gory parts would come onto the screen they would mistakenly grab my arm out of freight. And it's a plus they were getting scarred because, it's a nice feeling to see a horror movie and listen to other peoples terror.

If you haven't seen the end of the first one then don't read any further.

The beginning of the film continues after the ending of the first where the main protagonist Paxton (Jay Hernandez) thinks that he has escaped the organization completely but soon there after returning home in his seclusion is decapitated and left to be discovered by his girlfriend in his home. The initial story begins with three art college girls (Beth (Lauren German), Whitney (Bijou Phillips) and Lorna (Heather Matarazzo)) go on on a trip though Scandinavia with a newly meet friend Axelle (Vera Jordanova). The girls arrive at a small spa and the clerk checks them in and uploads their passports onto the organizations database to be bid on. The bids for the girls are jumped on by a hotshot American businessman Todd (Richard Burgi) bids on Whitney and Beth for himself and his passive best friend and brother Stuart (Roger Bart). Stuart is resentful towards the whole idea of killing someone but, Todd leads him on that it's a new experience in which they haven't done before and that he doesn't want to go through alone. Todd, eventually convinces Stuart to do it and they fly to Scandinavia to fulfill their contract.

As with all horror films it got mixed reviews with critical reception. All in all it's a blast to watch for old veterans for the horror genre because of the three B's. Blood, Babes, and Boobs. Which I think the first one had more of but, again this one had a little bit more development. And interesting thing is that as with the last one having a cameo of the infamous Takashi Miike as one of the clients to the murderous organization, this one features one by Ruggero Deodato the director of the most controversial film ever made, Cannibal Holocaust. Coincidentally, of course, he plays a client who enjoys eating the flesh of his victims in a fine dinner like matter while the poor bastards still alive. This recurring usage of brutal film directors in Eli Roth's Hostel's, if they are to make a third one, will be something I look forward to for years to come.

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This is truly a film for ages to come. This film echoes aspects which remind me of Big Fish in the sense of living life to it's fullest despite circumstances which may hold people at bay. It's whimsical and touching all in one you don't see very good fantasy's like this a lot, especially ones that adults can enjoy. It strays a good way from the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald but, only natural when it comes to Hollywood. It's almost like it's a whole different story though but, based on the idea of Benjamin Button. It would have been ruined if they'd go the approach they did with A Prayer for Owen Meanie when they made the film Simon Birch (a true shit film). But, it's nice to see how they related the story to actual events in history and not bending the truth around what happened in real life around the story to where it's inaccurate. This film is the good outcome of very hard work.

Our story starts with an elderly woman lying in a hospital bed during her final hours on our plain with her beloved daughter by her side. The old woman recollects a story about a blind watch maker whom lost his son in WWI and made a clock that ran backwards in honor that all the boys lost in the war may return home to reclaim their lost time one day. At the dying woman's request she asks her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) to read a diary out loud to her that belonged to a man named, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt). The story starts with the birth of Benjamin Button in New Orleans during the end of WWI. His mother dies giving birth and his father is horrified by the deformity that is his son and runs out into the crowded streets and leaves him at a house where A lady named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) finds him on the steps and becomes his mother. That same night they discover that Benjamin was born into the body of an old 80 year old man and wasn't expected to live very long. Years passed and Benjamin aged younger and strong with every day that goes by. Growing up Benjamin meets many people in his life that bend and curve his life in more ways than one and helps shape him into the man he one day becomes. One Sunday at his home at the retirement home where he was found he meets the love of his life Daisy Fuller (later portrayed as, Kate Blanchett). At age eighteen Benjamin leaves home to join a tug boat that journeys around the world and from there starts his adventure called, life.

It's a breathe of fresh air that this films CGI isn't too unbelievable. They used it where necessary and only to certain limitations. Probably the biggest noticeable flaw in the film that always seems to twinge my nerve is little Daisy age 6. They dub her voice over with a unquestionably noticeable older woman's voice in order to make her sound more Southern/Cajun. The climax of the film is following Benjamin through his rare and odd deformity becoming younger with each year and finally inevitably into a young boy all over again. His mind dwindling back into the mind of a small child as we see elderly people resort to child like behavior. The final thoughts written down in Benjamin's journal are the most penetrating to me him reflecting on all the people that shaped him in his life and their uniqueness about them that helped make him appreciate and love them to their fullest potential. Like the character Ms. Maple in the film said, that he claimed helped shape him the most in the film that give him some of the best advice he'd ever been given, "Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?" That is a very powerful statement that swells and compresses throughout the entire film and is a statement I understand in my own life.

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2001: A Space Odyssey

Celestial, astronomical, so incredibly conceived it tears heaven itself asunder. Quite possibly the most magnificent science fiction film ever made. A Van Gogh in motion. Anyone who's seen it and appreciates it can't say enough good things about it. You could start a whole semester long class dedicated to the understanding, conception, and shear theory behind the story. I find it sad that it can't catch people immediate attention. I admit at first I would fall asleep during the film in my first viewings on account every time I seemed to watch it would be late at night. Now during every viewing it seems to fly by despite it's two and a half hour long stretch. To recognize it's natural beauty you would have to, as with every other film, experience it in the theater. Luckily, my associate and friend Martin informed me that the Fox Theater in Atlanta was showing it. I couldn't have spent my money better. Everything seemed as though it was twice illuminated with life. The film seems so quite on a television screen but, on the big screen I have to admit the silence is very well deafening. My favorite part of seeing it in theater is during the intermission, well, I got to take the intermission experience.

The film start out with immediate confusion. Director Stanley Kubrick begins the film with with a blank screen with classic orchestra playing over the blank screen. My interpretation of this is that it was the idea that in the beginning of the universe there was nothing. Though he skipped the theory of the Big Bang I still believe that's what he was implying but, could totally be wrong. At the dawning of mankind when the world is ruled by apes, one particular clan of apes discovers a mysterious rectangular monolith near their cave, which imparts upon them the knowledge of tool use, and enables them to evolve into men. We flash fowards to 2001 A.D. where reports of a monolithic figure has been discovered on the moon, and is determined to have come from an area near Jupiter. Astronaut David Bowman (Keir Dullea), along with four companions, sets off for Jupiter on a spaceship controlled by a super computer code named, HAL 9000. HAL is a revolutionary computer system that is every bit mankind's equal, and perhaps his superior. When HAL endangers the crew's lives for the sake of the mission, Bowman will have to first overcome the computer, then travel to the birthplace of the monolith where he meets the eternal infinite face to face.

There are limitless one ups to this film the first is the fact that Kubrick got the author of the novel, Arthur C. Clarke, to write the screenplay to the film. Which is good to know that the author was alright with the film, he trusted Kubrick and we can all agree he put his work into good hands. Every frame that whirls by on screen is a piece of art. The stillness on screen is the most accurate depiction of space of it's time. And for 1968 it's still extremely accurate. Kubrick researched with actual NASA scientists working on the moon landing mission in 1969. The camera work and set designs are something to drive a inexperienced filmmaker bonkers on screen. Rotating sets, anti-gravity, stunning images all capturing the glory and mystery of outer space.

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Deepthroat

You can't find this anywhere, unless you download it on a torrent or a .rar file. I don't even think this film will see the light of day. It's only an hour and I had no other real purpose of watching it than to watch the first porno ever to hit the big screen. After, watching this is good to watch the footnote film Inside Deepthroat and see why many considered this film a very important advancement in American film. John Waters described buying a ticket to the film during it's original release as, "it turned buying a ticket into an act of revolution." What corporate and 'descent' America sees as a stain on the American society of pureness was a multi-million dollar phenomenon. The film was removed from screen out of indecency, the filmmakers and actors arrested. Though this would not be the only time in history for this to happen for example the film, Cannibal Holocaust, it was one of the first major known film to be removed. Off the top of my head the only one before this one that I can even guess was removed was Birth of Nation but, I doubt that statement after claiming it. It was the golden step to a long staircase into the American pornography film industry and a large step into the continuation of underground rebel cinema.

A sexually frustrated woman, Linda Loveless (Linda Loveless), asks her friend, Helen (Dolly Sharp), for advice on how to achieve an orgasm. Linda says she feels 'tingles' all over but, has never experienced an orgasm to it's fullest potential. Helen decides to throw a sex party for her friend to see if her pleasures can be finally be fulfilled possibly by trying different men. After the party provides no help, Helen recommends that Linda visit a doctor (Harry Reems). The doctor discovers that Linda's clitoris is located in her throat after an examination. The two then perform oral sex where Linda finally achieves an orgasm and wants to marry the doctor but, the doctor denies for his dick is too wore out to handle anymore deepthroating. She then goes on to work as a therapist for the doctor and performs a particular technique of oral sex - thereafter known as "deep throat" - on various men, until she finds the one to marry.

The 61 minute film is intended to be humorous with highly tongue in cheek dialogues and songs; fireworks going off and bells ringing during orgasm as well as, rocket ships shooting off during climax. The film is short lived but memorable. Some say it's immoral I say it's a rebellion against modern censorship and an underdog of the modern film world. Maybe a remake will come into view Lindsay Lohan in the lead role. Oh, dream I may but, happen it never will.

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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

This film was a blast, all the way from the beginning all the way to the end. I had first seen it when I took an old friend named, Kelsea, out on what wasn't neither an outing nor a date. I don't know what it was. None the less, she didn't want to go see it out of respect for her friend Sabila. I talked her into it because, she had a vague interest and had heard it was pretty good. We went to Gainesville to see it and ate Quizno's and ventured into the odyssey that is the World of Sacha Baron Cohen. Never before has a movie made me laugh so hard. I laughed until I was coughing, and my ribs hurt from over exertion, my cheeks were sticky with dried tears, the same for Kelsea. I hold this film as one of the funniest films ever, up with, Love and Death, The Big Lebowski, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, A Shot in the Dark, and Blazing Saddles.

Sacha Baron Cohen, stars as his character from his old sketch comedy show, The Ali G Show, named Borat Sagdiyev. Borat is a reporter nominated for several award in his home country of Kazakhstan who is sent over by his agency to do a special report on the country of America to see why they're so successful and then bring the glory back to Kazakhstan. Borat is accompanied by his colleague, Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian) who is in charge of managing the on the road show and coordinator of where Borat will be reporting. After arrival in New York City, the first few reports prove unsuccessful Borat is discouraged in and is sitting in his hotel room watching American television. Upon it an episode of Baywatch comes on and he sees the star, Pamela Anderson. Borat instantly falls in love and learns that she lives in California and convinces his partner Azamat to take the show on the road so he can secretly come in contact with her so that he can marry her.

The movie is an amazing exploration of all the stupid shit that makes America so embarrassing to live in. Sure, we have our proud moments but, as of lately not a whole bunch and Borat takes those and cuts them open with a surgical knife and tosses all the organs around for those who've forgotten what we're made out of nowadays. One of my personal favorites is the stunt he does where he sings the national anthem at a rodeo in Texas and meets the owner of it. That's a 100% Texan for you, anti-everything non-Christian American. If anything that man deserved a punch in the chin with a quick thrust in the penis from a swift right heel. Ignorance is no where near bliss and this ignorance is very common to come across in America. I guess that's our biggest downfall as a country is our ignorance. I wonder what it is in our blood that makes us so intolerable to reason or common sense. A majority of Americans are not open to new things and they make other peoples personal lives a huge mishap on their lives. It's not worth it to make such a big deal that two men in love when you only have your one and only life to live. So, on top of being funny as hell, it's sort of a well hidden exposure of our beautiful country. Upon the recent release of Cohen's next dive into major film, Brüno, I much prefer Borat. It seems much more controversial and much more diverse. Borat didn't leave anything untouched or sacred he attacked all the habitats were use to today.

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Burn After Reading

The film after the Coen Brothers masterpiece No Country for Old Men, that didn't sit to well with people for some reason. Sadly, it's highly underrated but, only because it came after that monolith of a film that it did. You don't see films like Burn After Reading anymore. It's classic Spy vs. Spy type plot only it's the biggest spoof film of the genre, ever. It's a bunch of normal civilians running around playing espionage and the CIA isn't even involved. This just proves that the Coen Brothers are ready to make whatever film they want whenever they want. People were so anticipating something as incredible as No Country for Old Men but, good God, have people for gotten their list of films and the pattern in which they flow? Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn't There, Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers, No Country for Old Men, and now Burn After Reading. Can you kind of see the pattern? If you don't you aren't a Coen Brothers fan.

The story follows a group of people loosely related to one another in some connection other than they live in the Washington D.C. area. Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich), is a newly unemployed American from his position at the CIA who denies to admit he was fired to his wife Katie (Tilda Swinton). Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), is a married Treasury agent who brags about having the license to carry a gun but has never had to fire it in his years of being with the Treasury who is having an affair with Osbourne's wife Katie. Harry leads an additional life to his job, and affair, and meets ladies online through online dating websites. Through this he meets a middle aged woman named, Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), who works at a local gym. Linda is looking to reinvent her self through cosmetic surgery so she can feel young again and find that special someone to feel complete again. While at work her friend and fellow co-worker, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt), find a disk in the Hardbodies ladies locker room in which they believe contains valuable information into CIA secrets. A name is found among the disk's gibberish, Osbourne Cox. They decide to hold the disk ransom so that the two can get money for Linda's surgery. After that shit hits the fan.

Forty years from now this film will be regarded as a cult classic. That's at least my prediction of course, I can see to where it wouldn't become one but, I have hope that it will. Sure it flew under the radar but, it just adds on to the deck of wild cards the Coen Brothers have up their sleeves. The characters crash into one another like waves in the ocean to create a climactic unfold to a very serious but, unfortunate turn of events. If I had to highlight any single thing in this film I'd say it was a triumph for John Malkovich. This is the best thing that I believe he's done possibly since Being John Malkovich, and in the same year he was cast in the Clint Eastwood film along side Angelina Jolie in The Changeling. I'm sure a lot of people were undermined by the usage of Brad Pitt in the film but, hey, it proves to me that Brad Pitt can be funny as well as, serious.

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Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Once...Twice...Three times a lady. It has been years, upon years that I've been trying to see this film. It's hard to find a legit copy and I found a site called Veoh that someone had uploaded it on there. I risked getting a trojan on my old Dell computer just to watch it but, I got to see it. White Zombie used a few samples from this film in the album, La Sexorcisto Devil Music: Vol. 1 which I guess got a big interest for a lot of people in the film unless you were fans of Herschell Gordon-Lewis already. It's just an exploitation film much like any other but, this one didn't get a big run around the theater circuit in it's time and was soon forgotten and sought as one of Russ Meyers best works.

Three thrill-seeking go-go dancers (Billie (Lori Williams), Rosie (Haji), and their leader, Varla (Tura Satana)) encounter a young couple in the desert while drag racing. The three challenge the boyfriend (Ray Barlow) to a race and as the boyfriend is winning, Varla cuts him off nearly wrecking him. They all get into a skirmish about foul play and Varla begins to attack the boyfriend. After killing the boyfriend with her bare hands, Varla and he girls drug, bind, gag and kidnap his girlfriend, Linda (Susan Bernard). On a desolate highway, the four stop at a gas station, where they see an old man (Stuart Lancaster) and his muscular, dimwitted son, known as the Vegetable (Dennis Busch). The gas station attendant (Mickey Foxx) tells the women that the old man and his two sons live on a decrepit ranch with a hidden cache of money. Intrigued, Varla hatches a scheme to rob the lecherous old man, who is confined to a wheelchair.

The first immediate thing about this film that is most distinguishable is that the women are hot as fuck. Especially for that time. Much more than most of the women in Orgy of the Dead or She Devils on Wheels or even Switchblade Sisters. The film is the ultimate fetish for lovers of violence, girls, and fast cars. Very entertaining film and it fits in among the top of the 'B' class genre of film making and a major imprint on the grindhouse line ups of the 60s. Unlike the long dismay that some other films that of this stature leave you with feeling drowsy or unfulfilled this one pops your cherry everytime.

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Carnival of Souls

Part of the list of public domain films that are unwanted by production companies and government alike, this film is among one of the best in that whole pile of 'rejects' of the film world. This is typically one of the films you see lying around in a bargain bin in a department store on Halloween. But, it is true there is always a few gems in that pile of rubble. It was one of the films featured on a DVD collection disk along with Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Bat, and BLoody Pit of Horror, I think. It didn't sound as if it would stand out from the others or not so I just watched them all in order and ended up enjoying it the most.

Following up from a tragic car accident, Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss), moves to Salt Lake City to be an organist for the local church. Mary is strangely attracted to this old abandoned carnival that sits on the outskirts of town. Driving to town as she passes the pavilion to be stopped by this ghoulish figure (The Man, played by director Herk Harvey) who has his eyes totally fixated on her. This figure becomes the main protagonist in the woman's life as he constantly keeps reappearing at any given moment in her reflection and gradually doesn't confine itself to reflection but manifests into plain view. Her emotions fling from one to another having control over the situation being dismissive of anything supernatural and at other times frightened of the unknown and looks at a scientific possibility to the matter. All while the carnival sets within the twilight and beckons at her to come.

Like any film of it's time it's easy to point out film flaws of continuity, repetitiveness, or jumps in film cuts but, it's a truly brilliant piece of work. It's a great classic for the month of October along with hundreds of other essentials for the occasion. The film is all about atmosphere, the whole eerie and macabre presence the film emits from the screen is piercing and just something to cringe about it's so creepy. The ghouls that are depicted in the film have sort of a Gothic sense to them in means of scare factor, meaning it's not a lot of over the top horror it's more or less just a very strange type film that gives you the willies. Worthy enough to get a Criterion release believe it or not, the film is a cult classic and for good reason. I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of older horror films. Oh, and by the way, Legend released a color version of the film, fuck that, this film was meant for the black and white medium.

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The Dark Knight

Does this film really need an introduction? Seeing the trailer for the first time of this film was the same reaction as everyone else, "Holy fucking shit!" The thing that I find most shocking is that when I first saw the trailer for Batman Begins I wasn't as exciting as seeing this one. It was just executed so magnificently. The first one was really good but, this film was like dynamite fishing. Batman has always been a dark story very grim. Burton's two versions of the film were very dark and very Tim Burton-ish. They were cartoony and had their own type of dark style to them. Still extraordinary films but, there has always been that demon lying underneath the skin of Batman's story just waiting to be exorcised into the natural world. Christopher Nolan has done the best job I think anyone has done to the story of Batman outside the graphic novels they're loosely based on. The fact that this film was coming out just made you look forward to something in life if you had nothing to look forward to. And sadly, it was the zenith of actor Heath Ledger's short career due to his overdose. Heath had just done Brokeback Mountain and I' Not There even was to be in the new Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. This film was a phenomenon among films everywhere and the perfect super hero film and nothing I believe will ever have the ability to out do it for a long, long time to come.

Unwanted vigilante Batman, secret identity billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) lurks the streets of Gotham City preying on the corrupt, wicked, and evil that run rampant in the city. Since his last escapade, Batman has been on the trail of of a new menace to the society known only as the Joker (Heath Ledger), who has been stealing millions of dollars from the Gotham City mobsters. Mean while a new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) has partnered up with Detective Gordon (Gary Oldman), to bring down the crime rampage in the city by means of court justice. The Joker begins a series of of pre-emptive strikes against Dent, Gordon, and Batman in means to set up more devastating chaotic means of mayhem to unleash upon the city. While Batman deals with the weight load of Gotham's future on his shoulders, Bruce Wayne has to deal with Wayne Enterprises whom he's left in charges of Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) the new relationship between Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her new boyfriend, Harvey Dent. Bruce seeks moral help from his friend and butler, Alfred (Michael Caine) on both Bruce Wayne situations and Batman's. Struggling with both life styles between being Batman and Bruce Wayne, Wayne is forced into endless fiasco's which lead him to have to come to many life alternating decisions in life which could cost him the life of others or his own.

The film was nothing short of perfect. Well developed story line, well thought out. Marvellous acting, eye popping action sequences, minimal CGI, amazing cinematography, all around ideal film. There wasn't a boring moment in the entire episode and it didn't try to cram so much into one two hour and thirty minute reel of film. Every moment of it was executed to make every second last a lifetime. The film got a lot of criticism from the typical soccer type mother with the typical complaints about it being too violent for their little children. This isn't your Adam West Batman, they should know. But, what's a film without a little criticism? The case of the film being too violent wasn't held onto long because of the huge box office that the film raked in. And regardless adults and kids enjoyed it both equally. The story was compelling enough to not bore someone of an older age and exciting enough to keep the attention of a little child glued to the screen (as if that's hard nowadays). The film tackled the the classic issue in the super hero tale of choosing which side to be. Bruce must choose his life as Batman or Bruce Wayne and in truth it should never really become a definite decision. But, at least that struggle remained a constant factor throughout the entire length of the film. It has little plot thickening ingredients to make the film more emotional, it let us in on a few secrets that some of the characters will never know in the film so that gives us the feeling that we're now a part of the story line in a way. And who will ever forget that star studded performance by Ledger as the worlds number one villain, the Joker? Cult figure to the max. The ideal villain in any case, wants nothing more than to watch things burn up. No desire, no pleasure, no moral, just sheer chaos. I, as many others, only regret that his character will never be reprised and if reprised will never again be as filling as the performance Ledger did. Sadly, acting legend Jack Nicholson was furious at the fact Ledger was playing the Joker which is saddening since Jack is a giant in the acting world but, I guess Nicholson is known for that behavior as well.

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Big Fish

A spectacle that I didn't know about until about a week or more after it's initial release. A group of friends and I were talking at the lunch table and everyone was mentioning Big Fish and I had no clue so I asked and they said it was Tim Burton's new film. So, soon there after ward my friend Martin and I, went to see it at the Toccoa Big FishTriple Cinema and when we were in there we ended up being the only ones. Toccoa is a shit hole nowadays for those who are unaware. It was something that I had no idea what it was about, I'm just a fan of Tim Burton so I look forward to seeing anything he does. I liked seeing it with no one else except one person in the room it kind of makes me feel like it's a special screening of the film in a way. Plus, you don't have to hear anyone else's dumb ass comments. I think the last thing Burton had done was the Planet of the Apes remake which looked good but, it wasn't such a good film some had thought. So, I'm sure a lot of people were sort of sceptical towards his next plunge into film. After I finished this film my eyes were wet with joy.

Big Fish is a beautiful film that follows the many tall tales of, Ed Bloom (Albert Finney-Senior, Ewin McGregor-Young), which explains a specific reason as of to why some things are how they now or, how they happened in his own personal perspective. The stories range everywhere from the birth of his son, to the meeting of his wife, to the hundreds of people he had met on his travels, from the time he was growing up, and times during war. His son, Will (Billy Crudup), has listened to his fathers false stories his whole life and for once would like to know 'the truth' for the sheer fact that his father is nearing his final days. The harder Will tries to get the truth from his father, his father stand by is story as the solemnly sworn truth and doesn't back down from his word. Will continues to believe his father is a liar and tries to piece together the truth on his own but, slowly starts to realize the man that his father really was which he never was able to know until now.

The film is my second favorite construction by Burton next to Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. It's a one of the most beautifully thought out story lines from a very unlikely, yet equally imaginative director. The cast ranges all the way from Danny Devito, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange, Matthew McGrory, and Helena Bonham Carter. The name is nothing short of a oxymoron to the old saying a fish gets bigger every time you tell the story about how big the fish was and that is the best way to describe the character, Ed Bloom. The man starts telling the tales so much he becomes them. It to me is a gorgeous concept challenging the idea of why does all everything have to be so boring when you tell the story? A story is only as exciting as important it was to you and Ed Bloom made clear that every single moment in life was important and it was as exciting to him as it was to the people that listened to the stories he thought up to go along with them.

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