Dawn with the Sickness
Saw Dawn of the Dead (the remake) last night, and I think I agree with the widespread critical analysis of it as the original without the underlying social commentary. Not necessarily a bad thing. It's a crazy zombie action movie, and it's definitely fun.
What Dawn of the Dead (2004) does well is tell a lot of mini zombie-stories through the basic structure of survival in a mall. As if you were shopping it, the movie has a lot to choose from... And you're not going to buy everything. There are scenes and plot twists in Dawn of the Dead (neuvo) that are hopelessly ridiculous and would likely spoil the movie if you were allowed to ponder them as in the film's inspiration. But walk away with one shopping bag of savvy finds, and you'll be delighted. One of my favorite moments was the addition of "Andy" a gun shop owner alone on his rooftop across the parking lot from the mall that the central characters dwell in, whose communication with Ving Rhames' removed cop is the centerpiece of a montage scored with a lounge cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Down With the Sickness". Other added characters don't work out as well; the head mall security guard, for instance, undergoes a major attitude shift almost instananeously. Some moments work (the communication breakdown during the rescue of a truck full of "refugees"), others don't (the escape from the mall is generally silly). But everything gels well.
Zombie fiction, however, is in a state of crisis with the continuing presence of fast zombies (28 Days Later) which goes against traditional zombie lore. Directors seem to feel that fast zombies will help make zombies more terrifying, and they're right. Fast zombies are much more frightening than true, slow zombies. But. They are made so overpowering that human survival becomes completely implausible. Directors create a situation that requires a deus ex machina in order to drive the story. This breaks any added suspense having a fast zombie creates. We need slow zombies back. Now, more than ever.
Input by Mike at 1:03 AM
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
"Not Cool at All"
A great interview for anyone who loves/hates/has heard of Ryan Adams.
Input by Andy at
12:27 PM
Monday, March 22, 2004
Desktop of the Pops
Links to some of the best new/nearly new music that clutters my Windows Desktop.
Of Montreal - Disconnect the Dots
New Wave plus Vocal Pop plus Kevin Barnes Style Psychedelia - sounds like a train wreck but works as well or better than anything to come out of the Athens twee scene in years. From the forthcoming Satanic Panic in the Attic
TV on the Radio - Dreams
Unbelivably heavy and gloriously uplifting at the same time, TV on the Radio is the flying buttress of the indie rock world. From Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Out Hud - Dad,There's A Little Phrase Called Too Much Information
How could you possibly dance to this? From last year's S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.
The Decemberists - Shiny
This straight forward country/folk single from The Decemberists proves that they can write good songs that don't involve pirates. From The Tain.
Xiu Xiu - Clowne Towne
Far closer to art than entertainment, Xiu Xiu are destined to dominate the mix tapes of stuck up collectors for years to come. From Fabulous Muscles
Kanye West - Through the Wire
At first, rapping through a broken jaw seems like an obnoxious gimmick, but West's nimble lyrics and solid flow turn it into a inventive disruption of an increasingly predictable genre. From The College Dropout.
Input by Andy at
9:15 PM
Errol Morris' Fog of War
In the same way that people apply Sun Tzu's Art of War to practical use, I feel like the eleven lessons that make up the structure of Fog of War have similar application but for a culture where combat is generally avoided.
In the film, McNamara looks back on his role in major points of 20th Century conflict and grapples with his successes (the Cuban Missile Crisis) and his failures (Vietnam, the fire-bombing of Japan) and attempts to explain what is important to learn from those events in hindsight. As he meets with former foreign opponents to openly discuss history, he discovers that they had very different national interests than the Cabinets McNamara was part of had assumed. Instead of Sun Tzu's "Burn the bridges", Morris and McNamara present "Empathize with your enemy", referring to how nuclear war was avoided in the Cuban Missile Crisis and ultimately the United States' failrue to control the situation in Vietnam. While McNamara is not saying that conflict is always avoidable, his thesis in the film is that the time we spend in war can be minimized with practical values, with an understanding of the flaws of human nature, the flaws of reason.
Fog of War is masterfully shot, edited and scored and is an incredible insight into conflict in the 20th Century. Definitely a documentary deserving of its Academy Award.
Input by Mike at
10:55 AM
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Proof that God has a sense of humor.
Input by Mike at
10:24 PM
Live Action Anime
What would happen if you made a live action Anime?
Casshern is what.
Can you call it Anime? It sure looks like Anime... But the actors aren't animated. (Are the Mary Poppins subset of films considered cartoons?)
You might argue The Matrix is already an example of this. But I'd respond that what Matrix does is take a lot of Anime style and paste it onto an American action movie. It's kind of like the Chipotle of movies. Yeah, it's a burrito, but too many things have been tweaked to make it a real burrito.
Input by Mike at
10:31 AM
