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November 30, 2007
Acting in the blood
Check out my 9-yr-old brother Reuben in action in a French student film! Or rather, a trailer for one. (The director is our sister, Raphaelle Ayach).
No idea what he's saying, but it looks great.
Posted by LYT at 12:06 PM | Comments (1)
November 29, 2007
"RED" to debut at Sundance
People occasionally ask me about this film, and I was never "in the loop" on it, but I know this much -- Lucky McKee directed about two-thirds of it, and was replaced with some Scandinavian director. Some of our friends, including Justin Stone and Jesse Hlubik, made appearances in it.
Had Lucky directed the whole thing, it would of course be a must-see. But now? I confess that I'm curious to get a look at the flick, but it's hard to imagine it not being a bit of a mess.
Posted by LYT at 2:43 PM | Comments (0)
Short review...
...of THE SASQUATCH GANG
Our pal Justin Stone has nothing to fear
Posted by LYT at 2:02 AM | Comments (1)
November 28, 2007
Lost Review: MOUTH TO MOUTH
I reviewed this movie a couple of years ago, but as it never hit theaters outside LA, the review never ran. Just this year, in September, it finally hit DVD, and with Ellen Page winning a "breakthrough" award for her role in JUNO, this seems as good a time as any to revisit her earlier work.
Anyone who has picked up an entertainment-related publication lately has probably, by now, heard about Ellen Page, the Canadian teenage actress who delivered an audacious and fearless breakthrough performance in Hard Candy, and will play fan favorite superhero Kitty Pryde in the third X-Men movie later this summer. Well, she has one more movie coming out this season, and while it will undoubtedly be the most overlooked of the three, it shouldn’t be. Mouth to Mouth, the feature directorial debut of music video director Alison Murray, isn’t necessarily a crowd pleaser, but it has something to say to both teens and parents, who might do well to pay attention.
It isn’t much of a stretch to imagine it as a prequel to Hard Candy, giving us a sense of the traumas that could turn a teenager into a deadly avenger. Page plays Sherry, also known as “Bat,” an American goth girl running amok in Europe, trying anything to identify as a rebel and separate herself from what she has experienced as normal. Running away from home, she encounters Tiger (August Diehl), a skinny, handsome guy with a sexy accent and a snappy sales pitch about S.P.A.R.K. -- Street People Armed with Radical Knowledge. With slogans like, “What we are offering is an alternative to mainstream bullshit” and offering “just a chance to shake shit up,” S.P.A.R.K. counts among its members a trained nurse whose specialty is saving addicts who overdose, and it’s led by a charismatic American by the name of Harry (Eric Thal), who never wears a shirt and offers an irresistible New Age sensitive guy vibe (many viewers will immediately peg him as just another asshole womanizer donning a sensitive, politically correct shtick...and they’d be right).
Initially shocked by the group mantra of no personal possessions, Sherry soon learns to role with it, and before long is telling her parents to get lost while eating out of dumpsters and traveling in the communal van. There’s also a medical van with the catchy acronym of “HOSP’TAL” sprayed on its side -- it stands for “Hundreds Of Street People Turning Around Lives.” Things take a turn for the worse when one of the group is killed diving into a dumpster that turns out to be full of rusty nails and glass, but the group overcomes, as everyone heads toward a big electronica concert down south.
But activist groups, especially the really youthful ones, are often more full of theories than actual deeds. Would it surprise anyone to note that the members of S.P.A.R.K. seem a wee bit more interested in drinking alcohol than in changing the world? Murray does a good job of balancing the portrayal of the group dynamics in the first half; teens seeing the movie may wonder what the big deal is, while parents will possibly fear the attraction.
Things change, however. After the concert, the group moves to a compound in Italy, where everyone is put to work harvesting grapes for wine, and sex is outlawed because it provides the kind of satisfaction that ought to instead come from helping the group. Then Sherry’s mother Rose (Natasha Wightman) shows up. Desperate to gain her daughter’s respect, she joins the group too. Initially, everyone suspects a rather brilliant act of reverse psychology; after all, if your parents think something is cool, it can’t possibly be, right? Rose is just a little too into it, though, and it quickly becomes clear that she may be even more of a zealot than Sherry.
The idea of a libertarian/anarchist-themed group that eventually enforces its own harsh conformity is similar to Fight Club, especially since S.P.A.R.K. members are eventually forced to shave their heads, but it’s also a pretty good metaphor for contemporary teenage rebellion in general, which often proclaims individuality while falling within culturally established parameters for such. Cinematographer Barry Stone saturates the colors and darkens the shadows to give the whole thing a ‘70s look, and Murray’s story has the same no-holds-barred feeling that many movies of the era embraced.
There’s only one questionable choice made by Murray, and that’s to use dance as a periodic storytelling device. There are moments when it works: Harry getting crazy around a campfire, or the fiery Viking-style funeral held at the concert grounds. But there are times when it can feel quite artificial, like a conflict scene between Sherry and Rose that’s expressed via movement and music, and the film’s final scene, which uses similar choreography. It’s fair game to use surreal devices in cinematic storytelling, but if you’ve built up the audiences trust with a realistic story up until that point, you risk total alienation by suddenly getting subjective. Murray doesn’t totally lose us, but you may tune out for a moment or two.
Posted by LYT at 1:52 AM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2007
OhHITommy...What's new wid you?
Tommy Wiseau has a new project...
Posted by LYT at 1:59 AM | Comments (3)
A quick thought on "The Mist"
I have some advice that people might find useful.
Should you find yourself someday faced with incontrovertible proof that monsters exist, to an extent as yet unknown...
AND
You enter a building to find that most of it is covered with a web-like substance...
...GET THE FUCK OUT! THERE ARE GIANT MOTHERFUCKING SPIDERS IN THERE!
Yeah, that seems like good advice to me. Because really, it's not like there's much appeal to hanging out in a web-covered environment anyway.
Posted by LYT at 12:12 AM | Comments (2)
November 25, 2007
Lesson learned
Hey fellas -- If you're dating someone, and you find that you're always having to chase them down to commit to a pre-arranged engagement...just stop.
I really ought to have learned this lesson sooner. Not like I haven't been burned enough times.
If you're doing all the chasing, she's having second thoughts. And those thoughts never favor you, no matter how much rapport you think you have.
This singles life ain't no fun.
Posted by LYT at 1:33 AM | Comments (4)
November 23, 2007
All I want for Christmas...
Hello, friends and family. If you were thinking of buying me a tangible gift this holiday season, please consider this...
I currently have more possessions than I need or can use. I am also a few grand in debt.
So I request that, if you want to give a gift I really can use, give a donation via the Paypal button on the upper left hand side of the screen.
Gift certificates for food/restaurants will work too. Stuff that sustains and keeps me alive.
There's only one item of clothing I'd like... (and believe it or not, I haven't bought it for myself yet)
Posted by LYT at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2007
Tanks a Boonch
It's harder than usual to give thanks this year, as I don't feel particularly thankful about a whole lot of things. I know it may seem to the casual reader sometimes like I have it made, but at present I'm not headed in the direction I want to be going, for the most part, and I'm extremely isolated from friends and family here in this new residence of mine. But I'm also kind of a depressive to begin with.
Still, I'm not broke, I'm not dead, I'm not homeless...there are blessings. So let me try to think of the best ones.
At the moment, first and foremost, I'm most thankful for Shay Astar, who invited me to celebrate the day with her friends and family. A great time was had by all. Funny to think that it's been a couple of years now that I've known Shay, yet the movie that introduced us has still not seen release yet. Should be early next year -- The Lost, from Anchor Bay Entertainment.
I'm thankful for the new friends made this year -- Janine, Derek, Eve, Carlee, Panda, Jim "The Poorman" Trenton, and whomever else...great additions to my life, all.
I'm thankful to have the respect of my peers as a bona fide film critic in the LA Film Critics' Association and as a Press Club award runner-up for film reviews for the first time this year.
I'm extremely thankful for the fact that Zach and Chris had the faith in me to give me my most significant acting role to date in what is sure to be an amazing film.
I'm thankful that my wonderful grandparents are both still with us, and that one of them contributes possibly the most thoughtful commentary you'll ever see on this site.
I'm thankful for the DVD screeners that make my moviegoing life a lot easier right now.
I'm thankful for family, however far away and out of contact they may be.
I'm thankful for the readers who stick with this site even though I don't feed the blog as much as I used to due to corporate blogging obligations.
I'm grateful for chili rellenos and jalapeno poppers, lethal though both are.
But I'll also be thankful when a few things change.
Posted by LYT at 10:45 PM | Comments (2)
It was nine years ago today...
...that Chris Kattan threatened to kill me.
I've told the story orally many a time. But it's never been written down here.
Caveat #1: As I didn't see the gentleman's ID, it is possible that it was merely a Chris Kattan lookalike. However, in L.A., and especially at the Sunset 5 movie theater back before it got its ass kicked by the Arclight and Grove, when you think someone is a particular celebrity, they usually are. Also Chris Kattan is quite distinctive looking, and his movie "Night at the Roxbury" had just opened.
Explanation to those who don't know: Chris Kattan is an alleged comedian and "actor" who used to be on Saturday Night Live, where he created characters like an ape-man who chewed up apples really fast, and a guy who goes to dance clubs and bumps into people (this character, along with his brother, played by Will Ferrell, was the basis for "Roxbury").
It was Thanksgiving night of 1998, and Kattan was one of many in the house to see "Waking Ned Devine." I was the assistant manager on duty, at the Sunset's closing shift. As the house let out, I saw Kattan validate his parking, and thought about saying something lame like, "Not exactly a night at the Roxbury, right?"
When it came time to clear the house, there was a woman asleep in the theater. If this were my living room, I'd have nudged her awake, but touching a customer in any way is too risky. So I leaned over and loudly said "Ma'am!" No reaction. So I said it again. "Ma'am! We're closing! Wake up!"
Then Kattan (or his lookalike) comes in, and he's pissed. "What were you doing?"
"I was trying to wake her up."
"Yeah, I was playing a joke on her. How were you trying to wake her up?"
"I was calling to her"
"What were you calling?"
"Ma'am! Wake up!"
"I didn't hear you say that"
"Maybe because you just came in?
"I just came in and it looked kinda perverted, actually. It looked to me like you were looking down her dress"
"I wasn't. I was trying to get her to hear me."
He yells her name: "TIFFANY!" She stirs.
Then turns back to me: "You're about five minutes away from losing your job, and you're about two minutes away from me cutting your fucking heart out." Beat. "What do you think about that?"
"Well, sir, I don't think that's appropriate."
"Oh you don't, huh. TIFFANY!"
The girl gets up and joins him.
"Hold on"
He takes her out, to the bathroom. I'm kind of flabbergasted, but the rule is that you can't just talk back to customers, let alone smack them. And Chris Kattan is a little guy.
Anyway, I clear the theater and go back out into the lobby. Kattan comes up to me again.
"You know what? I'm not going to get you fired. But if you ever do anything like that again, I will kill you. I will cut your heart out."
And that was that. Quite the happy holiday.
Posted by LYT at 1:06 PM | Comments (6)
November 21, 2007
Omigod! Omigod!
...it's an actual full-length movie review by me!
Holly is not a seasonal comedy about the red-berried Christmas plant, but a drama about the child-sex trade in Vietnam and Cambodia. Not a feel-good flick by any means, it’s nonetheless worth your time—and not because it points out that sex with children is bad (one hopes you kinda knew that already). No, what gives Holly its strength is that it’s a well-told story that doesn’t belabor the point with cheap music cues or David Fincher-esque grungy sets. Rather, it presents itself matter-of-factly, in authentic locations that have a surprising beauty belying the darkness of the work at hand.
Read it all. Savor it!
Posted by LYT at 11:07 PM | Comments (5)
November 20, 2007
Nowhere to go for Thanksgiving
Anyone want the joy of my company?Posted by LYT at 8:30 PM | Comments (0)
Ted Baehr, Irony-Free
From Movieguide...
Some antinomian so-called Christian pundits, who live in ivory towers apart from the reality of fundraising and who apparently believe that Christians are not obligated to obey God’s moral laws, suggest that those of us who take a stand are doing so to raise money.Hogwash!
[snip]
Editor’s Note: We hope you will consider sending a loved one a gift subscription to www.movieguide.org and MOVIEGUIDE® magaizine to help fill their new year with the brightest possible entertainment choices. Any donation above the subscription price is a tax-deductible contribution to support promoting choices that are good, true and beautiful. Call 1-800-577-6684 for more information.
Posted by LYT at 1:05 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2007
Saviors
Posted by LYT at 11:25 PM | Comments (2)
November 17, 2007
Brief Beowulf review...
HEREPosted by LYT at 12:47 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2007
A flower grows in Brooklyn
Courtesy of my cousin, that is. Check her out.Posted by LYT at 11:09 AM | Comments (2)
Dear Natalie Portman...
Please eat something.
Sincerely,
Posted by LYT at 11:00 AM | Comments (5)
Misisng the point
I really don't see the problem here...
Liberals should not be going after conservatives by complaining about "smut." That's a Pat Robertson tactic.
And if you're going to complain about it, and say they're hypocrites...don't set up a website where you offer lots of additional such clips to view.
Mr. Greenwald, STFU. I'd rather Fox News showed boobies than boobs.
Posted by LYT at 10:55 AM | Comments (7)
November 13, 2007
More Wicked, Mo Betta
Courtesy of Justin Stone, links to some new WICKED LAKE images. Beware of possible spoilers.
here... (Note: the mariachi scene is not in the movie...those guys just came over while we were between takes, and Michael Esparza snagged a photo-op with 'em)
and also here... (the answer to the question "Please tell me they get naked" is "yes")
Posted by LYT at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2007
My Grandfather's Column
*Behind the Christmas Stories*
Most of us know that the Bible's stories about the birth of Jesus
Christ have little if anything to do with historical facts. They were
written to show what an extraordinary and supernatural event was the
coming into the world of him who claimed to be the Son of God. Similar
stories abound about other great historical figures. What we have here
are myths but myth is just another way, like parables, of conveying truth.
I am interested now in one truth that comes across from the Christmas
stories and it's one that we always try to present in our Nativity
plays. What did angels, shepherds and wise men do when they came to see
the baby Jesus? They might have asked Mary if she'd had an easy time;
but they didn't. They might have asked Joseph if he had plans for his
son; but they didn't. They might have asked what they were going to
call him; but they didn't. What they did was to worship the child.
There's an old song which contains these words or something like them:
Did you not see my lady go down the garden singing,
Silencing all the songbirds and setting the valleys ringing?
Surely you saw my lady out in the garden there
Rivalling the glittering sunshine with a glory of golden hair?
I love this song and I love its title which is Silent Worship. For
many of us worship means what happens in Church, where there's not much
silence; or it may be hero worship, which is also far from silent.
Faced with a glorious sunset we may well have a sense of worship and we
can't be surprised that people used to worship the sun as a god. What
did those visitors to the infant Jesus see that induced them to
worship? I simply don't know but the writer, I'm sure, means to tell us
that here was a revelation of God, the Almighty, the creator of all that
is. To be aware of the presence of God is to call forth precisely
silent worship. I wish I spent more time at this than I already do. It
is amazingly rewarding.
-Peter Graham
Posted by LYT at 10:43 AM | Comments (1)
November 10, 2007
Rich Man, Poorman
I have the cover story of this week's OC Weekly:It’s audition day for the special Halloween episode of Poorman’s Bikini Beach, a show completely self-financed by the Poorman since he started it in May 1999 and now airing six nights a week on KDOC following a recent move from KJLA, which he says didn’t have as strong a signal. KDOC—once the home of Wally George’s Hot Seat—was happy to have him: “Girls in bikinis—that’s good old wholesome fun,” says KDOC owner Bert Ellis. The show is as basic as you can get: The Poorman either puts on or attends events that feature girls in bikinis—or occasionally naked girls, with their naughty bits digitally covered—offers commentary, frequently has the girls humiliate him in some way, then rates the event with a “Poor thumb up” or “Poor thumb down.” (Don’t tell Roger Ebert, who trademarked the whole thumbs-up/thumbs-down thing back when Gene Siskel was still alive.) The Poorman sells all the advertising time himself and has the show syndicated in nine markets, including Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia and Atlanta, not all of which are as forgiving as KDOC of the show’s content or the ads, which often feature controversial products such as medical-marijuana assistance or Ron Jeremy adult DVDs. KRON in San Francisco, furious that Jeremy might be seen plugging porn on their station, recently pulled all the ads from one of the episodes and replaced them with station IDs, a decision that hurt the Poorman financially. “A liberal city like San Francisco—they’re the worst!” he notes.The paper also has an Indiefest wrap-up I did, but if you're reading this, you're probably a fan of my writing and should read the full-length coverage on the blog instead.
Posted by LYT at 1:25 AM | Comments (0)
November 7, 2007
Die Harder
A li'l piece by me about this year's 8 FILMS TO DIE FOR series, opening this weekend nationwide;
You don’t have to be a fan of scary movies to see that the annual After Dark Horrorfest model is good news for film lovers interested in novel means of booking truly independent movies with few or no stars into multiplexes nationwide. Last year, however, the festival took place over a single weekend and declined to screen any of its films in advance for the press, completely eliminating the possibility for word-of-mouth buzz to build. This year, that situation has been remedied, as the fest will play two weekends, and four of the movies have been made available to us in advance. Perhaps surprisingly, they’re not bad: Rather than relying on gratuitous gore and cheap shock editing to grab audiences’ attention, all four take their time to establish characters and environments at a relatively slow pace, which ultimately heightens the tension later, when all hell inevitably breaks loose.
Read the whole thing.
Posted by LYT at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)
Ben Affleck's kind of a badass
Yeah. I seriously never thought I'd write the above sentence either.
But I just saw his feature directorial debut, GONE BABY GONE, and it's a hard, tight piece of work. If this movie could be somehow turned into a human being, you wouldn't figure it'd be Ben Affleck, but maybe Sean Penn -- seriously badass in a depressing way. For my money, it's a lot better than THE DEPARTED.
Though it would probably be categorized as a crime drama, the film's a horror movie for much of it's running time, but REAL horror -- a flat-out depiction of believably horrible people, shocking in the banality of their soullessness, and never heightened into charisma like, say Hannibal Lecter or Jigsaw. Just ugly people doing ugly things. Boston-boy Affleck clearly knows the seedier parts of his city, and brings us very convincingly down to their level.
Ben's brother Casey, who hogged most of the family acting talent when genes were being handed out, is the star here, teamed with and sleeping with Michelle Monaghan, hired by the aunt of a missing child to augment the police investigation by hitting up the seedier types in the neighborhood who won't talk to law enforcement. Though police chief Morgan Freeman is reluctant to offer any assistance, the law requires him to, so he assigns Ed Harris and some other dude to help out.
The path towards solving the case proceeds to just get darker and darker, and when you think it's over, it isn't at all. My only complaint with B-Af's directorial/writing style is that he goes for too many surprise revelations on top of one another at the end, slightly killing what seemed to be the theme prior, that life is messy and there are no clean resolutions. Stuff gets tied up just a bit too well, but the really real last scene is so good that it erases some of that bad will. Regardless, this is so much better than the godawful shitfest which won B-Af the screenwriting Oscar that you'd never know it was the same writer if he didn't happen to be, y'know, Ben Affleck.
Imagine a movie like SEVEN but without the heightened industrial-goth atmosphere, and you come close to what I think Ben's trying to do here. He doesn't get there 100%, but damn close. This is one dark movie, not in some cool gothic way, but in the truest darkness-of-the-soul way.
I hesitate to say "all is forgiven, " since Ben's done some unspeakably awful acting deeds in the past. But I can now let GOOD WILL HUNTING slide, since it groomed him for this.
Posted by LYT at 12:52 AM | Comments (4)
November 5, 2007
Not really news, but...
...here's a formal press release:
FEVER DREAMS’ WICKED LAKE STREAMS INTO POST PRODUCTION
WHILE MINISTRY’S AL JOURGENSEN SCORES!
(New York City) Fever Dreams LLC. is proud to announce the wrap of principal photography on WICKED LAKE, the company’s fifth feature film. The film was shot in Texas and New Mexico and is being posted in El Paso. While director Zach Passero and editor Kevin Ford edit the picture at ZP Studios, Ministry frontman and founder, Al Jourgensen prepares to conjure up his own special brand of maniacal musical mayhem at his 13th Planet Studios. The Grammy-nominated Jourgensen has contributed music to Hollywood blockbusters such as ROBOCOP and Steven Spielberg’s A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLEGENCE. He is considered a true innovator in industrial and aggressive styles of music.
WICKED LAKE is a sensual supernatural shocker directed by Zach Passero, based on an original screenplay by Adam Rockoff. WICKED LAKE is a supernatural tale about four mysterious, attractive girls venture on a road trip for a relaxing weekend getaway. Unbeknownst to them, two clans of deranged male misfits follow them to their secluded, picturesque lakeside cabin in the mountains. The girls appear to be easy prey for the predatory perverts until the fateful stroke of midnight when all hell, literally, breaks loose! The film’s cast includes Carlee Baker, Eryn Joslyn, Eve Mauro and Robin Sydney, Marc Senter (THE LOST, CABIN FEVER 2), Frank Birney and Tim Thomerson.
Producer/co-screenwriter Chris Sivertson and his Scattershot Productions co-produced the film with Fever Dreams LLC. Sivertson’s directorial credits include THE LOST based on Jack Ketchum's best selling novel and TriStar’s I KNOW WHO KILLED ME starring Lindsay Lohan,
WICKED LAKE is Adam Rockoff's first feature-length screenplay. Adam is the author of GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE & FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM (McFarland Publishing) and is currently scripting Fever Dreams’ FLESH FOR THE BEAST 2. Director Zach Passero is a Texas-based filmmaker who has directed, shot and edited numerous features, commercials and music videos for Al Jourgensen’s Ministry and other bands.
Fever Dreams most recently completed, THE MACHINE GIRL shot in Japan and set to premiere at the upcoming American Film Market in Santa Monica, California. Fever Dreams’ previous production credits include FLESH FOR THE BEAST, SHADOW: DEAD RIOT and the Japanese co-production DEATH TRANCE. Stay tuned for WICKED LAKE release plans!
Posted by LYT at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
Things are looking up
Pandas are amazing creatures.Posted by LYT at 12:45 AM | Comments (3)
November 4, 2007
Almost forgot
I interviewed Louis C.K. recently. Here's a sample:
“I’m not ashamed of that material; those are honest feelings that I had. My babies don’t suck; my daughters are great people. I love them both deeply, but as a parent, there are moments when you feel like they belong in a garbage can covered with lye. If my daughter says, ‘Why would you say that about me?’ I’m just gonna go, well, you didn’t let me sleep for five nights in a row, and you suck the life out of me intermittently, and I couldn’t get out of it because I love you.”
Now read the whole thing
Posted by LYT at 1:13 AM | Comments (4)
November 3, 2007
Greatest female wrestler in the business has died
Fabulous Moolah, a.k.a Lillian Ellison, at 74.
What's interesting about the linked article is that it basically acknowledges something that was obvious in recent years but never admitted to publicly (as far as I know): She was gay. The movie LIPSTICK AND DYNAMITE danced around the issue big-time.
It's her business, of course, and it probably would have hurt her career if it were known in the '50s. But considering how homophobic wrestling can be, I think it's a shame she never came out more recently. I don't think any major star today is openly gay, though I've heard plenty of talk that there are some and they fear for their careers even now.
I guess acknowledging that she and Mae were a couple would have killed all the stupid angles depicting Mae as a horny old woman who terrorized male wrestlers by trying to kiss them, then supposedly had sex with Mark Henry and gave birth to a rubber hand. Sparing us all of that would have been a good thing, too.
But then, Moolah lived life on her own terms. Had she wanted to come out, she probably would have.
Condolences to Mae, family, and friends. May today's crop of champions live lives as long and valuable.
Posted by LYT at 3:59 PM | Comments (1)