One Suave Fucker

Another big loss in the entertainment world yesterday. The great Dennis Hopper passed away due to complications from prostate cancer. While the man contributed a lot to the world through charity and his own artistic ventures, I'll always remember him for this...



On my next day off, I'm pretty sure I'll be kicking back with a cold Pabst and watching Blue Velvet. The next one's for you Dennis.

Dennis Hopper
1936-2010
R.I.P.

"Now I know what it feels like to be God! "

News broke today that scientists have created what is being coined as the first synthetic lifeform. Honestly, after hearing the guy talk about it below, it sounds more like we've simply completely rewritten a preexisting lifeform. Decide for yourself.

If you want more detail, you can check out this article.

Two Great Tastes That Go Great Together

This picture (of Dr. who producer Steven Moffat (middle) and Neil Gaiman) has started making the rounds on the old interwebs because Neil Gaiman has turned in the final draft script for his Doctor Who episode next year. Yay!

Great Moments in Doctor Who: Tomb of the Cybermen (1967)

This touching and revealing scene from episode three of the 2nd Doctor story Tomb of the Cybermen, has to be one of my favorite character moments from the series' 47 year history. Here we see the Doctor get a chance to have little heart to heart with his new companion, Victoria Waterfield.

He Made Rainbows Metal

Ronnie James Dio was easily one of, if not the greatest metal vocalist of all time. If you've never heard of him, get out of my fucking sight. If you have, you will be saddened to hear of his passing on May 16th, 2010, due to his battle with stomach cancer.

R.I.P.
The rainbows have faded, and there is only darkness.

Antichrist (dir. Lars von Trier)

So, I just got through watching the new Lars von Trier film, Antichrist. I'm not really sure what to make of this. The opening prologue is easily one of the most beautiful filmic moments I've seen in quite a while. Once the film starts proper, we settle in for a very dour, character driven affair, marked by low light, a lack of color and a meta-textual clinical analysis of the characters feelings. To be honest, it's a bit of a let down after that opening, but it does make a kind of thematic sense. It is very typical to characterize important moments in our lives and in the lives of fictional characters as beautiful, or special, whereas the aftermath of these fleeting instances is often mundane, grinding, and unpleasant. Still, I'm not sure if I was in the mood for compelling to win out over entertaining.

Eventually the story shifts to the woods, which of course characterize so many different things thematically, that it's almost meaningless. Here we continue more of the above mentioned dour human analysis, until the film takes a sharp turn into the horror/supernatural genre. Sadly, while it seems Trier attempts to make this gradual, I couldn't help but feel flung about as he made such a sharp turn. It's at this point that the story begins to be driven by images and elements taken from a variety of films ranging from Häxan, to the recent À l'intérieur (aka. Inside). Again, while this is compelling, it is not very original or entertaining, and one easily becomes a bit bored with the whole narrative and its assimilation of traditional horror film conventions.

For an epilogue, after a rather dissatisfying and mostly expected conclusion, we are treated to yet another beautiful end-piece that only serves to show up the body of the film. Now, this all may sound very harsh, but this is not a bad movie by any stretch of the word. One cannot deny Trier's ability as a visual storyteller. I just can't help but feel it treads a ground, and shoots for a reaction, that I've been through many times over already. Perhaps, if you've never seen anything dealing with this subject matter, you'll be stunned and taken aback. However, if your watching this movie in the first place, then you've probably seen this all before. As you may have noticed, I've avoided the misogyny issues this entire review, and while many folks have been debating back and fourth about the film's comments on said subject matter, in the end, I just didn't care.

In summary, if you can catch this on Netflix instant watch like I did, go for it. But I certainly wouldn't buy the upcoming Criterion DVD/Blu-ray.

Trailer: