The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

Mean Streets

I was going to start with a more current movie but then I saw Mean Streets at Walter Reade Theater a few nights ago and it reminded me why it is worth going to the movies. This was the first time I had a chance to see it on a big screen how it was meant to be seen. I remembered a lot but not everything. I was struck by how it is so clearly the template for all gangster/mafia movies that followed. I hadn’t realized that the first time I viewed it. It was a fulfilling experience. It also reminded me how I read and liked Piri Thomas’ Down These Mean Streets, the inspiration for the title of Mean Streets though not the plot, a long while back. Anyway, I was talking with a fellow Pop Culture Addict about how it is cool to have portable entertainment on our iPods and such but sometimes when I’m watching a movie on that tiny screen, I think, this is ludicrous. My fellow PCA said that David Lynch was complaining about people watching movies on their phones (there’s a clip on youtube). We were saying how these filmmakers put all this work into their movies only to have people watch them on 2.5 inch screens! I try to even things out by watching movies that are more guilty pleasures or curiosities that I know I won’t see in the theaters. Or I watch something I’m familiar with in other formats such as episodes of 30 Rock which I’ve seen on a larger screen already and am re-watching to pass the time on a plane, train or bus ride. Actually, even when I’m watching a movie in a movie theater, if something goes wrong, like if the sound or picture are sub-par or a little borderline, I think how the people who made the movie would be disappointed. Anyway, I digress. It was fun to see Mean Streets on a big screen.

Rockin it wit Preston Sturges

I also saw a double feature of Preston Sturges’ works, The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story. It was the same thing. I had seen both, The Lady Eve many times, and The Palm Beach Story of couple of times, on dvd. But seeing them on a big screen, in a theater with a full house was a lot of fun. I’m going to refer back to Manohla Dargis’ NYT article about Preston Sturges from 4/05:

In between the release of “Sullivan’s Travels” and “The Palm Beach Story,” Preston Sturges compiled 11 rules for the box office. Like some of Sturges’s dialogue, the faster the list is read, the funnier it is:

1. A pretty girl is better than an ugly one.

2. A leg is better than an arm.

3. A bedroom is better than a living room.

4. An arrival is better than a departure.

5. A birth is better than a death.

6. A chase is better than a chat.

7. A dog is better than a landscape.

8. A kitten is better than a dog.

9. A baby is better than a kitten.

10. A kiss is better than a baby.

11. A pratfall is better than anything.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald by the same name. My favorite author, M. E. Kerr said every writer she knows has had an idea about starting off old and growing younger or time going backwards somehow. So she was certainly curious about the movie. The movie hits all the notes you would expect from a story with this premise. The baby is born and thought to be a monster/freak. Someone sees beyond his appearance and tenderly raises him. He looks old and decrepit for most of the movie but really he’s a kid so he’s constantly misunderstood. He meets a girl who charms him but people don’t understand because it appears creepy and unnatural. They meet in the middle so it seems charming and magical. They grapple with their future. In between, he sees the world, meets people, makes friends. He gradually grows younger and younger. So it ends. I liked David Fincher’s last outing a lot, Zodiac. I appreciate him trying something new out in his work going with the fantastical, relying heavily on CGI. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett were appealing. Taraji Henson was loving. The CGI was effective. The movie itself was quite long. I didn’t mind too much because I was watching him grow younger wondering what would happen next but perhaps it could have been shorter. Zodiac I find interesting upon repeated viewings. I’m not sure that I’d sit through Benjamin Button again but it kept my interest while it was playing. In fact, I know there are movies I like and look forward to seeing them again while others I like in a different way. I enjoy them at the time but don’t feel a need to view them again anytime soon. Benjamin Button is in the latter category. I mean, I don’t need to see it again in the near future but I’m sure I will take another gander sometime down the road.

Australia

Another long movie like Benjamin Button. Again, I enjoyed it. I am a fan of Baz Luhrmann. I loved Moulin Rouge. I even went to see his La Bohème on Broadway in 2003 in support of him. The little kid, Brandon Walters as Nullah, in Australia is fascinating to watch. So was the actor who played his grandfather King George, David Gulpilil. Everyone was good, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham. I heard that Brandon Walters is actually on his walkabout right now.

Revolutionary Road

I heard the book Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates is excellent. I did not read it yet. What I liked about the movie was how open the couple was in their discussions and arguments. Usually you watch a movie and see that the couple is doomed because they have communication problems. They don’t say what’s on their mind to each other. They don’t say what they mean or mean what they say. In this movie, the couple, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, try to talk the talk and walk the walk of a communicative couple. They are still doomed because they don’t keep it up, this open communication thing, but it was refreshing to watch while it lasted. I can’t say I would watch this one again anytime soon. They are arguing for most of the movie. I was rooting for them though. I thought they could make it work. I was wrong.

Cadillac Records

Beyoncé really surprised me by doing a good job in this movie. I love her as a musical artist but was thinking her acting skills were limited.  She does an impressive job playing Etta James. Jeffrey Wright was also a stand out as Muddy Waters. Everyone did their own singing and playing in this movie. Mos Def played a believable Chuck Berry. Adrien Brody did a fine job. I thought that Eamonn Walker as Howlin’ Wolf bordered on caricature but learned that Howlin’ Wolf in real life was a larger than life character. So I guess I can’t fault him on that. Anyway, I would watch this again.

Gran Torino

Without giving too much away (the trailer pretty much hits on all the plot points), this movie reminded me somewhat of Unforgiven. Clint Eastwood doesn’t act much these days. I think Million Dollar Baby was the last time. Let me look it up… yeah, that was out in 2004. I just saw him in person at the Changeling screening at the NYFF last October. He looked as cool as I imagined he would in real life. If I’m going to compare the two, I liked Gran Torino better than the Changeling. Changeling was interesting to watch but not as captivating as Gran Torino. Of course, Clint Eastwood directed both but only acted in Gran Torino. He claims he is not going to act again. I mean, he is a talented director but I love watching him on screen. I hope he finds another good role to entice him back in front of the camera.

Leverage

Let’s move on to new tv shows. I saw the ads for Leverage and paid them no mind until I read somewhere that it was a decent show. I think it was review in EW. That is my primary source of entertainment news. It debuted at the beginning of December on TNT. I love it! It is a mix of Sneakers and Steven Soderbergh’s version of Ocean’s Eleven with all the high-tech hijinks and warm-hearted sneakiness. I think there have only been five episodes. I managed to watch them all through a combination of looking on demand, online and on repeat.

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…

I remember when I first heard Elvis Costello. What a voice, what lyrics, what lyricism! Then I saw images of him. So cool. Anyway, now he’s hosting a show on the Sundance Channel and it is sort of a companion to Austin City Limits. Austin City Limits is an intriguing show that allows musicians to perform in a cozy venue and talk at leisure onstage and on camera about their musical influences. Elvis Costello’s new show is brilliant. He has a wealth of talent, experience, fandom and friendliness to interview and perform with great artists spanning the spectrum of music. Elvis Costello is respected and respectful so fellow artists trust him and easily fall into impromptu and planned performances on the show with him and on their own. I’ve also been greatly enjoying his latest album Momofuku.

The Savage Garden

A fellow reader suggested this book, Mark Mill’s The Savage Garden, as a good vacay read. It is a mystery set in Italy. I finally finished reading The Geographer’s Library by Jon Fasman. I had started reading it in the fall but only got through a couple of chapters before getting waylaid. Once I got into the rhythm of it, I couldn’t stop reading it, as the journalist uncovered the mystery of a professor’s death. The Savage Garden is set in the 1950’s in Europe, mostly a villa in Italy. A grad student starts studying the garden at this villa for his thesis subject. As he uncovers the mystery of the garden, he also falls into intrigue at the villa.

Shakespeare Wrote for Money

This was a present. It is a collection of columns written by Nick Hornby for the Believer in which he writes about books and whatever tangential topic they inspire. I’m still reading it but I wanted to quote him because it really captured my sentiments about my favorite things:

Maybe the best thing to do with favorite films and books is to leave them be: to achieve such an exalted position means that they entered your life at exactly the right time, in precisely the right place, and those conditions can never be re-created. (pps. 44-45)

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I first heard about C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA when I read about it in Entertainment Weekly last fall: Rebel Rousing Spotlight on Kevin Willmott — EW talks with the ”Confederate States of America” director about his new film by Paul Katz. I appreciate how Kevin Willmott isn’t in your face or self-righteous about it. He’s just like, I was watching Ken Burns’ Civil War and he said something about the South’s plan to expand into Mexico and South America if they had won. Then the idea went on from there. The filmmaker just wanted to make this film and would like it if people saw it. The premise is that you’re watching a documentary about how the South won the Civil War. And my review is basically the title of this entry: “Better than Crash.” I suppose it’s relevant to note that I didn’t like Crash aside from the performances of Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser and Matt Dillon. This is not to belittle Paul Haggis’ experience of getting carjacked in LA and needing to write about it. But as I’ve gone on and on about, Chappelle’s Show said the same things in a more succinct, way more entertaining and better way. But I think C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America works as a feature-length movie. It is 85 minutes long so it’s not even that much time out of your life. I don’t want to give any “spoilers” but let me say that I was most affected by the coda. It was akin to those people who said, “I liked Good Night and Good Luck but that actor who played Sen. McCarthy was way over the top and unbelievable.” You get the idea.

Awhile back, I went to see The Wooster Group’s interpretation of Eugene O’Neill’s play The Emperor Jones. It is on-stage again at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO, where The Wooster Group has taken to performing. It’s a good space and very near some yummy treats. I would recommend visiting the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, for homemade ice cream, and Jacques Torres for the best chocolate in NYC – even the simple-sounding PB&J chocolate is delish. Plus, if you don’t mind walking a bit, the lovely esplanade is just a hop, skip and a jump away. My one caveat about this area (DUMBO or uh…I think it is District Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) would be that while the pizza at Grimaldi’s is good, I don’t think it’s neccessarily worth waiting 45 minutes for it. But I digress. I was recently reading a review in the NYT of the current Wooster Group production and thought it was worth mentioning in the context of Crash and CSA.

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The Music of KT TunstallI love going to stuff cold or almost cold. The expectations are almost non-existent and liking something is such a pure delight. Here are a few things I was impressed by recently:

Last fall, a fellow PCA told me to check out KT Tunstall. She said, you’ll like her music. So I did (i.e., I went to Amazon and listened to a bunch of 10-second clips) and I could see why my bud liked her and I thought she had a good voice, but I didn’t feel compelled to run out and get her cd. Then in February, I saw KT Tunstall on Conan or Letterman or something and was like, something about her is so familiar. Then I made the connection with my friend’s recommendation last year. So the two of us decided to go to KT Tunstall’s live show at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, 3/2/06. Wow, her show was fantastic. I was totally won over by her talent, her joy, her comraderie and sound with her band, who looked like the Strokes. Really, my opinion of her is so different from when I first heard her. When I watched her on tv, I thought, huh, interesting but not, why don’t I have her album yet? Anyway, I’m glad I decided to go to her show even though I didn’t really know any of her songs.

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Run, don’t walk, towards Running Scared

Next, I know as a movie fan, I should’ve seen The Cooler by now, but I haven’t. But I started to hear things about the writer/director’s new movie Running Scared and decided to put it on my to-see list. The first review I read was in EW where it received a D+. Then I heard Armond White loved it. That always makes me prick up my ears. Quentin Tarantino also loved it and Armond White made a point of saying, even though we both loved it, don’t listen to QT because unlike his movies, this movie has a moral compass.

Excerpt from Armond White’s NY Press review below:

Throughout Running Scared, Kramer demonstrates such a high, knowing level of film craft that when the movie seems to jump off the reel and burns (as in Bergman’s Persona) or the music score emulates a Sergio Leone twang, even the least sophisticated viewer will sense that the plot has been hiked up into purposeful surreality. The film’s surging, impassioned aestheticism obliterates that idiotic ’90s notion of movies as thrill rides. Instead, Kramer’s storytelling evokes emotions you can practically touch.

This movie is not for kids even though it revolves around the actions and motivation of two kids. That’s my obligatory disclaimer before I state that this movie was highly entertaining. I was totally sucked into the non-stop action and overwroughtness of it. I think I might’ve been wringing my hands at the end. Sure, it had its flaws and holes but I hardly cared although one major flaw is the center of the story (when you see it, you’ll know what I mean). In short, the movie is Fresh meets Pulp Fiction. Paul Walker and Cameron Bright really stood out. I didn’t know Paul Walker had it in him. As for Cameron Bright, I just saw Thank You For Smoking and the kid did an admirable job in that too.

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Elves no more, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving spar in Hedda Gabler

Not having read Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler or even more famous work A Doll’s House, I was worried about seeing any work by Ibsen on stage. But it was pretty accessible and Cate Blanchett was impressively commanding playing the eponymous role. And Hugo Weaving was great though because I see more movies than plays, I was thinking about Agent Smith. I’m sure this is something Ibsen never thought would happen. Anyway, such is the modern-day theater-goer’s experience, right?

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You know, living in NYC, you see celebs all the time. My feeling is, oh, interesting but I won’t do much other than note that I saw them and figure out why they are where they are. I like to speculate on the connections they have with the place I see them like oh, so and so worked with so and so. Or so and so lives in the neighborhood or so and so is in town for such and such. You get the idea. Sometimes I even forget to tell my friends and family about my sightings. I just sort of enjoy the moment and move on. But last month, I totally thought I had a good scoop and emailed US Weekly but alas, was not deemed cool enough. So I’ll post it here for my own satisfaction.

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead
Playwright: Bert V. Royal
Director: Trip Cullman
Set designer: David Korins
Costume designer: Jenny Mannis
Lighting designer: Brian MacDevitt
Sound designer: Darron L West

“I sat behind Maggie Grace (LOST) and Kristen Bell (VERONICA MARS) (they sat together) at the off-Broadway play DOG SEES GOD: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (a satire about how the Peanuts might have turned out as teens) co-starring Ian Somerhalder as Matt aka Pig-Pen. It was the 8pm, Monday night show (12/19/05).

Here’s the cast:
Eddie Kaye Thomas, CB
Eliza Dushku, Van’s Sister
America Ferrara, CB’s Sister
Kelli Garner, Tricia
Ari Graynor, Marcy
Logan Marshall-Green, Beethoven
Keith Nobbs, Van
Ian Somerhalder, Matt”

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I thought that was pretty relevant. So here’s what I thought in my head: oh, Ari Graynor (Marcy) was on Veronica Mars and Kristen Bell just made a movie with Ian Somerhalder. Maggie Grace obviously was on Lost with Ian Somerhalder and has time to go to the theater since her character bit the dust. And I think that’s where my connections stopped. I’m not sure about the Kristen Bell/Maggie Grace connection. They were chatting amicably but didn’t act like best friends or anything.

So, I was looking forward to seeing Eliza “Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel” Dushku. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by Logan “OC and 24″ Marshall-Green. He was probably the best thing about this production.

This is what happened: I read the middling review of the show in the New York Times and said, I must see this.

Here’s an excerpt from the NYT review:

December 16, 2005
THEATER REVIEW | ‘DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD’
Aargh! The ‘Peanuts’ Gang Hits a Rocky Adolescence
By JASON ZINOMAN
Even the most devoted fans of the comic strip “Peanuts” must wish that Charlie Brown would just once change out of that yellow, jagged-striped shirt. Or shave his string of hair, kick that darn football or do something – anything – different.

But, alas, the world created by Charles M. Schulz hasn’t changed much since it first appeared in 1950, which makes the premise of the disposable parody “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” so irresistible: what would happen to Charlie Brown and his friends if they grew up?

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If nothing else, Bert V. Royal’s scenario is a welcome antidote to the notion that the “Peanuts” gang provides merely a slice of American cuteness, perfect for Hallmark cards or Broadway musicals. For while there are plenty of winks to fans, the spirit of the play has as much in common with “Peanuts” as it does with the view of high school as a Darwinian hell (presented in movies like “Heathers” and “Mean Girls”). Turning Schulz’s world into the hormone-infused disaster area imagined by overprotective parents and teenager movies makes for an occasionally funny joke, but it is a cheap one. And when Mr. Royal tries to blend serious, darker issues in with the shockers, he misses as badly as Charlie Brown does with the football.

This is the third incarnation of this black comedy (it opened at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival), and the cutie-pie young actors in the new cast are the kind of marginal celebrities who make audiences wonder, “Isn’t he the guy who starred in … ?”

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The director, Trip Cullman, applies a light touch in some of the romantic scenes – a tender respite from the more hard-edged satire, which doesn’t send up so much as retrace steps. How many times have you seen someone parody a performance artist?

The show works best when it maintains the crass and footloose feel of a guilty pleasure, the kind of play in which it’s all right to talk back to the actors.

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When Mr. Royal shifts his comedy toward melodrama, wading into more introspective themes that touch on free will, it’s abrupt and unconvincing.

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I was there because it sounded interesting enough and I was curious to see the actors from shows I like live on-stage. That’s the truth, Ruth.

So, I guess while I’m blathering on about the show, I should say how it was. It was what I expected. I must say, Ian Somerhalder’s role/performance was too broad for me. I liked America Ferrara a lot. Eddie Kaye Thomas did a good job. And I’ll say again, I liked the guy from The O.C. (Logan Marshall-Green). Kelli Garner and Ari Graynor as the Peppermint Patty and Marcy party girl characters eventually grew on me. The playwright gets kudos for trying to incorporate familiar pop culture with his own talents and interests. I found bits and pieces really good and other parts not so smooth but overall, an experience in itself. We had great seats. That made a difference and I think that’s why we ended up behind the house seats where said celebs were seated.

I saw Eliza Dushku on Conan O’Brien the other night saying it is the hottest selling off-Broadway show. So that’s cool for them. I was surprised she could only scrounge up one ticket for him. I mean, come on, being on Conan is a big deal. I was imagining that the publicists of the play saw her appearance and were like, Good Grief! Get two house tickets to Conan pronto!

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Who writes Kelly Clarkson’s songs?

So, something inconceivable has happened. I’ve become a Kelly Clarkson fan. She has excellent songwriters and a good voice. “Since U Been Gone” is a really good single, and I’m also sold on her other singles. Wonder of wonders. I don’t watch American Idol and doubt I ever will. I just can’t take watching the public humiliation of others and seemed to have almost reached my saturation point with reality music-related shows (but not quite as I will always have a soft spot for them). But I have nothing against the many who enjoy the series. Hey, I watched the first two seasons of Making the Band religiously and am, against my better judgment, watching the return of Ashley Angel on MTV’s There and Back. It is so painful to watch and yet I must.

I also must admit that while trapped on a lengthy plane ride, I watched From Justin to Kelly. It wasn’t good but I somehow found myself watching it from beginning to end. It was like they just woke up and said, let’s sing randomly and film ourselves doing it. Obviously, it didn’t hurt one of their careers.

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Quote of the day:

It’s been awhile since I put up a good Mister Rogers’ quote. I’ve been holding onto this one for the right time. Now’s a good as time as any.

In the external scheme of things, shining moments are as brief as the twinkling of an eye, yet such twinklings are what eternity is made of – moments when we human beings can say “I love you,” “I’m proud of you,” “I forgive you,” “I’m grateful for you.” That’s what eternity is made of: invisible, imperishable good stuff.

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It’s year of the wood rooster. If you were born in February- December of 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993 or today in 2005, you are a dependable, pensive, hardworking, independent though possibly conceited rooster who gets along best with oxen and snakes and least with rabbits.

If you were born in January of any of these years, you are an intelligent, high-energy, funny, good at problem-solving monkey who gets along best with dragons and rats and least with tigers.

This is the order: Rat Ox Tiger Hare Dragon Snake Horse Sheep Monkey Rooster Dog Pig. It’s a 12 year cycle with the order having something to do with the order the animals got to the other side of a river in a race sponsored by the gods. Supposedly, dragons will have a great year, rats, oxen, tigers and snakes will have a good year; sheep, monkeys, roosters and pigs will have both good and the bad mixed together; and hares, horses and dogs will have more obstacles, trials and tribulations.

Maybe I’ll write more about each animal later on. Not that it’s a specialty of mine or anything. I just know that we all get a kick out of this stuff. I mean, why not. It’s just another way to mark time. I just view the lunar new year as another kind of beginning. And I try to have ttuk guk and also use it as a way to get around sending holiday cards really, really late by saying I’m wishing a happy lunar new year (so now you know if you’re one of the recipients).

Pop music: Listen to this: Jin Tsunami Response. I made it to a well-populated benefit for tsunami relief co-hosted by Miss Info and Jin. Other celebs there were DJ Honda, the guy from Mortal Combat and another MC (and friend of Jin) LS.

I’ve also been totally grooving with Franz Ferdinand – the whole eponymous album, Living Colour’s album recorded at CBGB’s and Best of Dinosaur Jr especially, as I’ve said before, their cover of the Cure’s Just Like Heaven. I tried to go to a few concerts…Keane, Bright Eyes and the Futureheads. But they were all far more popular than I expected and were sold out by the time I got around to trying. But I’m still listening to them all.

Pop books:

I was extremely surprised to find that Tuesdays with Morrie was a great book! I had assiduously avoided it thinking it would be way too “chicken soup for the soul”-y. But it was a quick, enjoyable and touching read. I can enjoy some sentimentality but not too much schmaltz so believe me when I say that Tuesdays with Morrie is worth reading. I found that my own outlook had a lot in common with Morrie’s philosophy on life. Next I have the complete shooting scripts, both volumes, of Freaks and Geeks. I will write more when I read more.

Pop tv:

It’s all about Wonderfalls. I powered through all 13 episodes on dvd and passed it on to friends who haven’t heard of it. I must say that I think this season’s 24 is really good. I believe in the good judgment of Shohreh Aghdashloo who has said she wouldn’t have accepted the part if it were offensive to her and also have noticed the PSA Kiefer Sutherland does about the topic. So, I am waiting to see how this story unfolds. I hope I don’t eat my words.

Pop fashion: I should put this above. I actively watch the Style Network. What can I say?

Pop theater: I dug the Wooster Group’s Poor Theater last November. They have another show coming out. Something I saw before I think… House/Lights.

Pop mags: I’m still reading my EW and US Weekly. People (namely my brother) tell me they’re redundant but I figure, if I’m reading one, why not the other? And he does still look at them both though he’s more likely to read Film Comment cover to cover than I am.

Pop movies:

The Incredibles is due on out dvd March 15th. And as I said earlier, I loved how The Aviator turned out.

Pop tech: Sidekicks. Yea or nay? Fun? Addictive? Necessary? Irritating when there’s no service? A leading cause for repetitive stress disorder in teens? (Did you see that news report about how text-messaging is causing health problems in teenagers?) And what about mobile phones that also play full-length movies? I just saw that on the news.

Pop life: There is always room for pop life! “Everybody needs a thrill!”

Added 2/10/05:

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I thought of a few more things. I loved Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Also, after or before listening (sorry I left mid-sentence. It’s 2/11 now.) to Jin’s Tsunami Response, read more about it at hiphopmusic.com and asianmediawatch.net. And here’s a picture from the benefit:

From left to right are Jin, Miss Info (aka Minya Oh) and promoter David Wong.

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