Cool News
Moriarty's Rumblings From The Lab #15: Evil Genius Interviews The Cast and Director of AMERICAN BEAUTY + more.
Right now... I've had 2 hours of sleep. I stayed at my post... when the trainees ran... but the radiation leak was too much. I was knocked completely out while awaiting the strange weekly phenomenon known as Moriarty's Rumblings. But... With a superhuman sense of wonder I somehow pulled myself out of the funky black sticky poo of dreamland and into the ever so funky black sticky poo of working on this magical mystical computer. Though while talking in the mouse I discovered... it is voice activated... When I speak outloud while typing on the keyboard, every letter I say as a finger presses it down actually... APPEARS ON SCREEN. I'm so delighted. I think... I will return to sleep, but here's this week's Rumblings...
Hey, Head Geek...
"Moriarty" here.
You know, there are occasions when totally different
interests overlap at once for a really bizarre
cross-sampling, and you end up with something that you
love dearly but you can't imagine anyone else would
ever enjoy, much less make. Yet somehow, improbably,
there it is in your hands. A good example would be
this insane new CD that has been playing over and over
on the loudspeakers of the Labs this past week.
Surprisingly, it's not Reznor's latest Nine Inch Nails
magnum opus, which I thought would be an instant
obsession. Instead, it's from CyberOctave Records,
and it's the newest CD by Buckethead called MONSTERS
AND ROBOTS. I mentioned the Dave McKean-directed
video for "The Ballad Of Buckethead" several RUMBLINGS
back, but I had no idea the album would be so good.
There's guests like Bootsy Collins and Les Claypool,
and the artwork by guys like Dave McKean and Bryan
"Franknseus" Theiss makes the booklet fascinating, but
it's the insane guitar work by Buckethead himself that
makes the album so jaw-dropping. This guy's crazy. I
thought John Zorn was nuts, and this guy is influenced
by Zorn, but this guy may actually be more demented.
For those of you, like me, who are new to the world of
Buckethead, he's been around for a while, has numerous
albums under his belt, and describes himself thusly:
"He was born in a coop, raised in a cage/Children fear
him/Critics rage/He's half alive/He's half dead/But
folks just call him Buckethead"
His work is mostly instrumental, but there's some
really funny lyrical material on the album as well. I
can't believe how quickly the album's unique sound
hooked me. I'm an addict now. It's speed jazz with a
monster movie fetish. I mean, the guy has an entire
track devoted to his imaginary battle with Michael
Myers called "The Shape Vs. Buckethead." Forget
FREDDY VS. JASON. It's impossible to describe. And
it's not coming out of the player any time soon.
Something else I fell in love with since last we spoke
was the Friday night presentation on Cartoon Network
of the first new John K. cartoon for television in
(can it really be?) seven years. My god, that's a
long time for a genius to be floundering. Yes, that's
right... I'm willing to give credit where it's due.
I'm not so hung up on being a genius that I can't
point out when someone else's brilliance surpasses
mine. I know that John K. is smarter than I am
because he somehow renders me helpless with laughter
when I watch his work. I'll never forget my first
exposure to REN & STIMPY. I was lucky enough to see
"Space Madness" as my first R&S cartoon, and I think I
actually blacked out from lack of oxygen right around
the time Ren accuses Stimpy of coveting his ice cream
bar. When I saw the uncensored "Powdered Toast Man"
episode or the infamous unaired "Man's Best Friend," I
got an idea of just how far John would push things and
just how extreme his imagination is. But his time off
and exposure to things like SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER
& UNCUT had pushed my thoughts of John K. to one side.
To be quite honest, it's been a while since I've
thought of Spumco at all.
Then a friend called me to point out the Friday night
air date of a full hour of YOGI BEAR as interpreted by
Spumco. I invited several friends over, but I had to
admit I was a bit anxious about the cartoons. Would
the time away have dulled his edge at all? The first
cartoon, a short called "A Day In The Life Of Ranger
Smith," only put me partially at ease. It was funny,
but it wasn't great. There were several trademark
Spumco moments, but it didn't jump up and smack me,
the way the best of John K.'s work has done in the
past. Maybe it's good that the first cartoon let me
down a bit. It definitely took the edge of me,
because when "Boo Boo Goes Wild" hit, I was relaxed
and my guard was down.
For those of you that missed it, go to the Cartoon
Network's web page and find out when the special airs
next. "Boo Boo Goes Wild" is an astonishing piece of
postmodern silliness, and it managed to successfully
kill three of the weaker henchmen from laughter. The
poor bastards simply ruptured something internally and
dropped. I don't blame them. The premise of the
episode is simple enough. After an incident in which
the Ranger makes Yogi and Boo Boo put on their
clothes, Boo Boo snaps. Fed up with Ranger Smith's
totally random rules and regulations, he decides to
quit playing along. "I WILL NO LONGER WEAR THE MAN'S
CLOTHES!" he bellows, removing his bow tie. "I WILL
NO LONGER SPEAK THE MAN'S TONGUE!" With that, he
drops to all fours and reverts to primal bear-ness.
He goes on a rampage through the park. I don't want
to ruin any more, because every minute of this half
hour was hysterical and twisted. My one regret is
that Cartoon Network asked Spumco to alter part of a
massive fistfight between Yogi and the Ranger. It
seems that John K. is a fan of Ultimate Fighting
Championships, and he made this particular dustup into
an event that was a little more brutal than anything
Hanna or Barbera ever imagined. Realistic sleeper
holds, brutal facial punches, and frantic strangling
struck the network as a bit excessive. If you want to
check out the unedited fight, visit John K. and the
rest of those glorious bastards at www.spumco.com and
watch the Quicktime they've provided.
I know I'm typically a movie guy, but this week,
there's a lot of music and TV that seems worth
mentioning. For example, I wrote about how much I
enjoyed Naked Trucker at Largo last week, and on
Saturday night, who should turn up in a major role on
Dreamworks' wonderful new FREAKS AND GEEKS but David
"Gruber" Allen, the Naked Trucker himself. I thought
the show was outstanding, a bright spot in a season
that, until this, hasn't seen any newcomers of real
note. Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan head a team that
make this pilot such a joy, such an effortless
pleasure, that I would now count myself a regular
viewer of the program. From the first moment, the
characters all ring true, and the drama all feels
real. This is definitely not another DAWSON'S CREEK
clone. As the airwaves are cluttered with POPULAR
after GET REAL after MANCHESTER PREP, it is refreshing
to see that someone remembers what the experience of
adolescence is really like. Each week, Joss Whedon
and his gifted staff create a piercing metaphorical
look at the same subject with BUFFY that I consider to
be among the finest shows on television, but even they
don't play it as real as this show. These kids are
really kids. They don't look polished or pretty.
They also don't look 25. The terror of dodgeball has
never been made so funny, and every time the show
threatens to play things conventionally or go for a
cliche, it makes some strange, subtle left turn that
keeps it honest. The opening image of the show said
it all, as a beautiful cheerleader and a chiseled
football hunk sit in the bleachers by the football
field, speaking earnestly about their relationship.
As they do, the camera seems to lose interest and
drift down to where the series' stars, the freaks and
geeks of the title, are hanging out under the
bleachers quoting CADDYSHACK and debating whether John
Bonham is God or not. The series is set in 1980, but
the period detail doesn't distract or date the
material. If anything, it frees the filmmakers up
from having to turn their show into a fashion ad. The
focus is off the clothes and on the characters. Bravo
to all involved.
Seems like I've been throwing a lot of kudos in
Dreamworks' direction lately. Maybe that's because
they seem to finally be turning out the kind of
projects right now that I hoped the SKG collaboration
might eventually produce. Right now, they're enjoying
a wonderful showing for the platformed rollout of
AMERICAN BEAUTY, a film I've been very vocal about for
the last month. I recently had the opportunity to
join three other reporters for a set of round table
interviews with the principal cast and director of the
film.
Now... here's where I have to pause to speak to any
kids that might be reading this column. Kids, it's
not cool to flip out and massacre over 40 henchmen
just because someone lost the tape your interviews
were on. Henchman Mongo was spotted playing with the
recorder, holding it with his feet and trying to use
it to pick his teeth, but he swore he didn't lose the
device. He also managed to hide well enough that when
I did finally blow my top, he avoided the worst of my
wrath. In the end, getting that mad didn't bring the
interview tape back, so I'm left to share my
impressions of the day with you, rather than the
specific interviews themselves.
It's strange to share an interview, or at least, it is
for me. Here, I had not one, but three women, seated
at the table with me. When I interview someone, I
like to be able to really focus in on the person and
shut off the room around us. Having other people
tossing questions into the mix only blows whatever
roll I'm on. In this case, there were really only two
of us who asked questions anyway. Marilyn from the
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT website did a good job fielding
the personal questions, the kind I just don't ask, and
we didn't end up stumbling over each other, which is
what I was afraid of.
BEWARE: SPOILER WARNING!!! MORIARTY DOES DISCUSS THE ORIGINAL ENDING AND CURRENT ENDING OF AMERICAN BEAUTY BELOW!!!! WARNING
The first person brought into the room for us was Sam
Mendes, the director of the film. He immediately
walked over to me and started discussing the early
review I wrote for the movie. Turns out Mendes had
read it and was excited to talk with me about it. He
was immediately engaging, and I got the sense that
he's still excited by each new work of his. This
isn't someone who's cranking out "product." Instead,
this is an artist who is excited to have finally
connected with a screenplay, proud of his first film.
We spoke at length about his reputation as a
provocateur. I mean, one of the first questions asked
him by the other reporters was about Nicole Kidman's
nudity in THE BLUE ROOM last year on Broadway. Mendes
doesn't see why anyone is surprised by the occasional
nudity in his work, or why anyone would consider
AMERICAN BEAUTY to be shocking. Instead, he sees the
work from the inside, and he knows that these choices
are right for these characters, for the subjects that
Mendes deals with. He spoke to both Mena Suvari and
Thora Birch before casting them about how he saw the
most explicit moments involving each of them, and they
both agreed with him that these brief moments of
nudity are important, that they're turning points for
both Jane and Angela. When Jane offers herself to
Ricky like that, she changes, and it's genuinely a
change for the better. For her to even consider doing
it signals some sort of can't-turn-back switch in her.
When Angela offers herself to Lester, it's for every
wrong reason there is. She needs him and his lust as
validation, and she's willing to even have sex with
him, as long as she's allowed to feel pretty, as long
as she can be special.
Mendes also spoke about his decision to change the
script's original ending to, I think, spectacular
effect. When I read AMERICAN BEAUTY last year, I
honestly didn't like Lester. I couldn't empathize
with him. I thought the script was good, but not
great, and part of the problem was that ending. Alan
Ball originally had Colonel Fitts use the tape that
the film opens with to frame Ricky and Jane for the
murder of Lester. There's a trial, sentencing is
handed down, and the wrong people are punished. It
changes the whole focus of the story. I think that
you can argue either Jane or Lester as the main
character in the original script. In cutting the
film, though, Mendes said he gradually realized that
the film ends with Lester's memories, his calm
realizations about his death and his life, and he
decided to cut the film both ways. He showed his
version to Dreamworks first, afraid of what they'd
say, and was shocked when they signed off on it
without seeing the other cut. They even told him he
didn't have to test screen the film.
I think it's funny that Mendes did indeed choose to
screen the film once, since he wanted to hear an
audience react to it before calling it finished.
Afterwards, he spoke directly to the audience,
eschewing reaction cards entirely. He took questions,
asked questions, and was pleased when one teenager
forcefully commanded, "Don't let them change a frame,
dude." Mendes enjoyed the process and actually used
it to cut five minutes from the film, tightening a few
sequences. It's amazing what happens when a studio
uses the screening process to support a director
instead of bullying him, isn't it?
After Mendes, we were joined by Kevin Spacey. I've
been a fan of this guy since the early WISE GUY days
of his career, and it was a real charge to finally
meet him. He introduced his way around the table,
ending with me. "Hi, I'm Kevin," he said.
"I'm Moriarty, from Ain't It Cool News."
"Oh, a pseudonym... I see. Who you hiding from?"
I laughed as he got settled in for the interview,
ordering a Coke from a waiting publicist. "You know,"
I said, "I was flipping around late night cable last
week and found ROCKET GIBRALTAR as it was just
starting."
Spacey looked at me sharply, surprised. I assumed he
was surprised because I mentioned GIBRALTAR, one of
his very first films, one that I'm sure is never
brought up to him by reporters.
"I remember seeing the film in the theater, but I
haven't thought of it once since," I continued. "I
didn't remember you from it, but watching it this time
was interesting. You played a stand up comedian.
This was right after you were working as a stand up,
right?"
He nodded, smiling now.
"Your first scene, you're doing your Carson
impression, and it's just like watching you on a talk
show now. You really had it together even then."
"Thanks," he said. "It's strange you'd bring that up.
I happened to be watching a little late-night cable
myself last week, and I also happened to stop on
ROCKET GIBRALTAR just as it was starting."
Based on his laugh, I'm going to guess I must have
looked as surprised as he had earlier. What are the
odds, you know? "What did you think of it?" I asked.
"I couldn't get past my hair. God, the '80s were
cruel." Just like that, him laughing, me laughing, we
found ourselves at ease, relaxed, and we just started
into the interview. He spoke with great affection
about his recent work onstage in THE ICEMAN COMETH, an
experience he ranks as the greatest of his career. In
his mind, ICEMAN and AMERICAN BEAUTY are of a piece,
works related at heart, and his BEAUTY shooting
schedule was bookended by the London and New York
productions of ICEMAN. The cumulative effect of all
that work is a Kevin Spacey who seems to be taking
charge of his career with renewed zeal. He's moving
away from the kinds of roles that have made him
famous, the smooth-talking sociopaths of SE7EN and THE
USUAL SUSPECTS. He's producing now, and Lion's Gate
just picked up a small film that Spacey produced and
starred in called THE BIG KAHUNA.
There's a careful, considered quality about Spacey
when talking with him that is part of his appeal on
film. He doesn't seem to waste any energy. If he
moves, it's to emphasize some point. If he speaks,
it's probably worth paying attention to. Above all
else, there's this keen intelligence behind his eyes,
and you get the feeling he's taking you apart just as
much as you're trying to take him apart. At the same
time, he doesn't seem to have much of an ego about
what he does. To him, it's an experience that is
worth having, and the goal is never accolades. Like
Jack Lemmon, an actor he adores, he is the consummate
pro, always on, always bringing something fresh to
each take. My time talking with him was a genuine
pleasure.
Annette Bening was next through for us, and I found
myself a bit intimidated when she swept in with a
little fluttering, hovering group of publicists around
her. Being married to Warren Beatty, Bening has had
plenty of education in how to run right over the
press, and I was, on some level, concerned that she
would be some sort of diva about the process. Nothing
could be further from the truth, though. As soon as
she was seated, she shooshed all the publicists away
and seemed to really open up. Maybe it was because I
didn't ask her about her personal life, but about how
she brought Carolyn to such sad, brittle life. Bening
seems overful with joy at having been able to play the
character. She spoke of how she was a babysitter as a
girl and how she used to see behind people's closed
doors, especially when they would come home. She'd
see the faces they never wore in front of their
neighbors, and she'd hear the fights, the secrets.
She said she thought back on all of that when she
first read the script, and she drew on it as they
rehearsed the film. Like Spacey, she came to AMERICAN
BEAUTY fresh from a run onstage. For Bening, it was a
critically acclaimed turn in The Geffen Playhouse's
HEDDA GABLER that almost kept her from being in the
film.
I also got her to speak in depth about her
just-wrapped film, WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? This is
the Mike Nichols film starring Garry Shandling that
Shandling also wrote. Shandling is one of Beatty's
best friends -- they've worked together in LOVE AFFAIR
and the upcoming TOWN & COUNTRY -- and it was
potentially strange for Annette to do a film in which
she played so many intimate moments with Shandling.
In the film, he's an alien sent to Earth to breed with
a human woman. He's equipped with a metallic humming
penis and told to try an Alcholics Anonymous meeting
to find women who might be desperate. The script was
evidently workshopped by Shandling over many years,
with Bening reading it aloud many times over the
course of the development. I hope it comes together
on film. She seems to believe it's a special picture,
and that would sure be great. I always want to
believe in Nichols, and Shandling's the main brain
behind my favorite TV show this decade.
Wes Bentley seemed well aware that the minute he
walked into the room where we were, all three of my
fellow interviewers had hormonal reactions that
practically made noise. He's an intense looking kid,
incredibly skinny, with laser blue eyes, and he seemed
as at ease with himself as Ricky is in the film. He
spoke about how fortunate he felt to get the role in
the movie. He's consciously trying to avoid the
typical teensploitation roles, and was starting to
think that any work would be good work when he got the
AMERICAN BEAUTY script sent to him. He read it on a
plane trip and said that when he got off the plane, "I
was actually excited to call my agent for the first
time in my entire life." When he first auditioned, he
ended up reading just before Mena Suvari, and they
rode up in an elevator together. He says that after
auditioning, they both joking said, "See you on set,"
to each other, but he never actually thought they'd
both get the film. He spoke about how much he learned
from playing Ricky, and how Ricky's philosophy about
beauty has started to creep into his own world view.
He comes across as a guy who wants to make the right
choices, who wants to play challenging material, and
who believes in the transformative power of art for
both the performer and the audience. Based on how
hard my fellow interviewers fell for him during our 20
minutes together, he also comes across as a movie star
in training. Keep your eye on him.
Finally, we were treated to the rather intense
experience of both Thora Birch and Mena Suvari
together. Mena is, for all intents and purposes, a
rock star. She carries herself with a combination of
swagger and strut that manages to be sexy, funny, and
even endearing without ever crossing the line to
obnoxious. Thora, on the other hand, sits back and
speaks quietly. At first, she appears to be insecure,
shy, but when you listen to her closely, you realize
that she's just soaking it all in. She's got a sharp
wit and a charming, easy laugh, something that Mena
seemed very able to provoke. Together, they were
quite a show, a marked contrast in energy level to
Wes, who was focused, direct, and mellow.
The other interviewers pushed Thora to discuss her
nude scene. I'm sorry to have to deflate all you
newsgroup conspiracy theorists, but there was no
digital body double for Ms. Birch. She's going
through exactly what so many young women do in their
late adolescence. She's growing into her body,
redefining herself as a sexual being, and the scene
with Jane was important both for the character and for
Thora as an actress. She's got all the same body
issues that so many other 17 year olds do, and doing
the scene was a leap of faith, a big moment. On the
other hand, Mena didn't seem to feel her scene was
anything particularly significant for her as an
actress. She seems to be more on the Heather Graham
end of the scale as far as body image goes, and it was
fascinating to listen to the two of them bounce off
each other.
In the end, the impressions I came away with were of
people who are intensely proud of this project, who
feel they've made something special. It was a great
round of interviews, and if you're still interested in
reading transcripts, send me an e-mail to let me know.
If the idiot henchman who ate the tape ever passes
the thing (I've got Mongo on stool duty), I will do my
best to pass the material along.
I'm going to discuss my impressions of the SATURDAY
NIGHT LIVE 25th anniversary special next week, because
there's a lot there worth discussing, but I want to
make quick note of Universal's brilliant MAN ON THE
MOON spots that ran about halfway through the show.
The footage of Andy doing his famous "Mighty Mouse"
routine was actually included in the special, so it
took some kind of balls for Universal to cut a spot
that is essentially just Andy's SNL "Mighty Mouse"
appearance, complete with a Lorne Michaels appearance.
Jim Carrey is so completely transformed into Kaufman
in the two-part commercial that I had to watch the
spot over and over again, not believing it. Christmas
Day can't come quickly enough.
I also want to wait until next week to discuss some
truly insane new ideas that I consider not only
dangerous to the future of film in this country, but
which I find troubling in other social regards as
well. We're talking about things like a proposed
"Violence tax" on films and TV shows and the
possibility of a Congressional Cultural Committee.
These are dangerous days ahead, and it is time to
propose solutions that can head off what I sense is a
coming witch hunt. Harry and I are working on
something right now that I find genuinely inspiring,
and we'll touch on that to some extent next week as
well. Until then...
"Moriarty" out.
Next week...
-
+ Expand All
-
Thanks, Moriarty. The American Beauty interviews were very interesting and well written. I am currently hooked on The Fragile, but that Buckethead CD sounds interesting. I am looking forward to next week's discussion of the culture committee and any counteraction that you and Harry are hatching.
-
Looking forward to seeing it soon.
-
First of all, I hate to disagree with the previous fellow, but I really, really think "American Beauty" can't be praised enough. Though it is far and away the best movie I've seen this year, it's not my fave (that still goes to "Election" or "The Iron Giant"), the more praise that's heaped on the project, the more likely it is people will see it and studios will do the math about quality versus crap. So, I'm all for it. As for the SNL special, I know Eddie Murphy turned it down, but where the hell was Dana Carvey? The opening with Bill Murray had me in stitches thanking God that he was doing that and was one of the most welcome things I've ever seen on TV. Anybody know why Steve Martin didn't do more? I know he wasn't a cast member, but I, for one, wanted to see some spots. Oh, well. Wonderful show, though. Anxious to read your thoughts, Moriarity.
-
Sep 28, 1999 1:47:00 PM CDT
Off the subject. Did anyone catch the ad for Man on the Moon du
by spike lee
It was a commercial in two parts with Andy Kaufman (Jim Carrey) doing the "Mighty Mouse" bit as the SNL audience watched. Forget the presents under the tree Christmas Day, lets go to the theater and unrap Man on the Moon and Magnolia...and then open the presents or take them back and keep the cash.
-
Hey Sarin, is english your native language?? 'Cuz for someone who is criticising another's writing , you come off sounding like a pretentious 8 year old. I find it amazing that someone who is schooled in film, as you REPEATEDLY tell us you are (over and over and over), can come off sounding as uneducated as you do. I realize I jump on your back a lot (not like that. . . ), but sometimes, your ego seems to know no bounds. And I know I've asked this before, but why is it so hard to grasp that some people simply enjoy films that you don't?
-
Is it just me, or does anyone miss Lane Myers? I mean, the guy could be an asshole, but at least he was a reasonably intelligent asshole...my my my...How quickly they fade away. I haven't seen much of quentin2, Lane, L'Auteur, cuthbert51 (I think that was it), or many of the others from last year...come on guys, where are you?! And while we're at it, where's Hallenbeck? Did he open up a major artery after suffering through "The Phantom Menace" or what? -Loki
-
HeY HeY
I don't know why I haven't written into AICN or Corona about this ... but anyhoos - I got the unbelievable chance to attend a (FREE!) screening of American Beauty hours before its big premiere here in Boston, 2 weeks back.
Where the premiere promised Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, we were promised "select members of the cast and crew." Of course, us being silly peion college students all expected the assistant of the assistant of the assistant makeup artist or something ...
Well ... we're we in for a shock. Needless to say I hadn't heard much about the movie, let alone what it was about (more on this later) so I wasn't all the gungho about going. But I did. And I brought a little disposable camera just in case.
The film BLEW me away. It's just amazing. I think that's what it is ... I can't express how much this movie totally rocks just cause ... I can't! My mind is totally incapable of saying exactly what it is that I feel!
Mind you, I did have some problems with the subject material they touched on (Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari ... I'm Christian - sue me.)
Then the movie ended and everyone was just ... exhausted ... the theatre was dead-quiet. No one was capable of expressing anything ... until the applause began. But that ended soon enough ... coz we were a little excited at the prospects of meeting some lowly assistant who probably hadn't even seen the set of the movie ...
Mind you, I'm sitting 3rd row near the aisle.
There's a bit of commotion behind us and we look back. The "crew" has arrived. Everyone's trying to see who's there. I recognized Wes Bentley, Thora Birch and Mena Suvari and was impressed. I'm like :Geez - there are REAL actors and actresses here!: I keep on scanning but don't recognize anyone else ... just one guy leaning back real casual on the wall wearing a toucque, and gray sweatshirt ... no one special I said ... ... ... who knew Kevin Spacey liked the casual touch? At this point I am giddy as all sh&t.
They all come down. The producers are here (God help me if I can recall their names), Sam Mendes was here, so was the man who played Ricky's father (with a full head of hair so I didn't even recognize him) but no Annette Bening ... BUT WHO CARES!!! I WAS 10 FEET AWAY FROM KEVIN SPACEY!!!
The questions came ranging from the "spiritual content and its source" of the movie, to "Mr. Spacey? How does it feel to be the coolest man on Earth?."
But my personal favourite: "Why haven't you advertised this amazing movie as heavily as other summer blockbusters normally do?" (NOTE: school had been in session for 1 week so to us, it was STILL summer).
Sam Mendes answers, "You saw the movie. How could you possibly describe what happened in a 2 1/2 minute trailer? That's why we're here - YOU guys are the advertising. If you liked the movie, tell them to watch it."
SO - here I am. GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!
'Nuff said. -
I am obssessed with it and it grows and grows on you every listen. You should give it another chance Moriarty. If you are a NIN fan you should love it. It is definitely Trent's best work yet, and is my favorite album of all time.
-
I love John K. I want to be him when I grow up.
-
If anybody's interested in getting a really good deal on that Buckethead album Moriarty talked about, the label's web site www.cyberoctave.com has a deal where you can get both the CD and Dave McKean's 16 page Buckethead comic book for only $10.98. I'm not sure how long the deal lasts, though.
-
American Beauty was great but Ricky definitely smoked way too much of his own product. When you get off on watching a plastic bag blow in the wind for fifteen minutes, it's time to lay off the weed.
-
because it could be the last one for a while: Quake 3 is coming out soon.
-
The Man in the Moon trailer was one of the best I've seen all year! My roommate and I were watching the SNL show and it came on. She liked the trailer because it made her do a double take because she thought they showed the Andy Kaufman clip again(hmm...), but says she won't go with me to see the movie because she can't stand Jim Carrey. I can respect her not liking Jim, but why would someone not go to a movie JUST because they hate an actor? That alone would have made me miss many movies I now love. Oh, well. Anyways, the SNL show was great and I wish the writing and comedy are going to be as good this season.
-
I can't stop describing how great a movie "American Beauty" is. I have already seen it twice before it came out and I will probably see it again and buy the video and buy the DVD and see it at the 25th anniversary reissue, etc...
To those who haven't seen it, I say run to your multiplexes and prepare to be genuinely surprised. To those who have seen it, I only say spread the word if you liked it. Maybe it will send a message to Hollywood and we will get more intelligent movies in the future.
****Loki: I discovered this site in July of 98 at the same time that Talkback was created and I too miss Lane Myers and his dissertation-sized posts. But L'Auteur and Quentin2 are still there as well as a few other old timers I am sure. My favorite old timer was the guy who kept saying:
"The geeks will inherit the Earth". -
John K.(I wish I could remember his last name, but it's been so long) came to my campus my freshman year and spoke about censorship and how there are people who already control what we watch. He played a R&S episode that was never shown about a little boy who is a big fan of R&S and his deranged father. The show was legitimately about child abuse, but the episode was never allowed to be shown because it was "too intense". I think "too close to the mark" is more like it. It was probably banned for being (gasp!) Thought Provoking.
-
I miss LaneMyers, too. I disagreed with almost everything he ever said (especially on on political issues), but I always looked forward to reading his posts. Sometimes I would even skip straight to the TalkBacks. I have a couple new favorites nowadays, but they are nowhere near as interesting as my favorites of old. (Hey, remember that Annabelle Chong TalkBack? I had a different handle back then, by the way.) .....The NIN CD is awesome, and I didn't realize that until the fifth or sixth listen. I wish I could say more but I just looked at the clock. Work...
-
Looks like it's going to be on again tonight (Wed 9/29) at 9PM & 1AM EST/PST, 8PM & 12AM CST, and 10PM & 2AM MST.
-
Anyone who's disappointed by the news that a famous actress did her own nude scene needs to have his head examined.
-
Hi,
If anyone is interested, my friends and I have created a brand new web page dedicated to Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club. I just got the page up and running yesterday and you will find it jampacked with info on the author as well as updates, pictures etc.. all pertaining to the upcoming film FIGHT CLUB. Sorry, Harry, that I had to resort to this, but I know of no other way (Yahoo, is taking too long) to get this web site seen. So if you're interested in some good reading and cool design, check it out at:
http://members.aol.com/intrloper9/PalahniukMain.htm
and email me with yoru thoughts.
-
Buckethead, John K., and a tribute to LaneMeyers, it's every geeks fantasy come true! Personally I don't miss the self-promoting lying son-of-a-bitch but at least his posts could amuse me once in a while unlike certain ranters around here!
-
Yes, I too remember the Annabel Chong chat...in fact I still have it saved. For anybody interested in it, just run a search for SEX: THE ANNABEL CHONG STORY...that was one of the best talkbacks ever. God, I feel like a geek, reminiscing about old talkbacks. Lane was definitely an asshole, but at least he was entertaining, and he seemed honest...unlike others who now seem to just want to piss people off. -Loki
-
I too, am missing Lane Myers, especially with the current crop of naysayers who prefer crap over content. At least Lane had constructive things to say, intertwined with his acidity. Sarin Rufus, to name names, is all about what he hates, how bad it was, what it needed, who sucks, why he rules, he doesn't even have room to take a breath, much less offer anything helpful. Sarin, if you hate all the reviews so much, and think everyone is so beneath you, do us all a favor, go to another goddamn site. Otherwise, step up and give us something we can use...
-
Okay, for the last time, underage nudity is NOT kiddie porn!!! The definition of pornography is something that has the primary intent of causing sexual arousal. Non-sexual nudity simply does not qualify. And I don't think that Thora's breasts change size from one scene to another. They're slightly above average throughout the movie.
-
While I often cringe at films where the women bare their breasts and the men remain clothed, I truly respect Sam Mendes and the cast to even out the score on this film. Even though I don't especially lust over Kevin Spacey, his ass shot, and the ass shot of the luscious Wes Bentley, made up for the two pairs of underage breasts in the film. It's so nice to be a chick at the movies sometimes.
-
Go read the Annabel Chong talkback and tell me what's missing... Harry, the way your whole banning thing works ought to be changed. Ah well. Back to work, I guess...
-
They were magnificent as well as the other young ladies.'
I was so happy to see a reality shot instead of a money shot, or the obvious absence of a money shot for cowardly reasons. This film was worth the $9.50 just for that. Flop 'em high, ladies! You're amazing!! -
All of Lane's posts to the Annabel Chong documentary review have been deleted. I read all the other "Chong" posters and a lot of them made me laugh, but I'm disappointed by this site's Big Brother tactics. It's evident from the many responses that Lane's rants were typically lengthy, rambling and off-topic, but IMHO that's not a good enough reason to excise them. Come on, Harry, text doesn't take up that many kilobytes, and if posts are really too long and burdening the system, an administrator can remove words beginning with the last word of the last sentence until the post reaches it's maximum allowable length. I know it's Harry's site and he can do as he pleases and I know the talkbacks were set up for movie talk, not philosophical musings, but systematicly erasing all of someone's posts is Orwellian and I'm sad to see it here.
-
I also miss Lane. He recently posted in The Messenger Talkback though as A.K.A. LaneMyers. I used to just enjoy the hell out of reading Talkback every night. In fact it was one of my favorite daily activities for a while. I tend to lurk alot more than I post though, but I might post more often now (Sorry, this is just fair warning)... But there used to be some great, indepth, and hilarious discussions going on... it seems to have started to go downhill since TPM for some reason, the old timers seemed to start leaving then, not sure why. Hopefully they'll come back though or some new cool people will start posting more. That Annabell Chong Talkback has to be the all time best... I almost coughed up a lung.
-
Hell yeah! When I heard Zorn for the first time many moons ago my mind was basically mangled. And now this guy is telling me that there is an even greater loonybin out there.
I wonder what kind of movie would have a John Zorn soundtrack. Does anyone here know if he has scored one? -
Just to let you know that Lane was banished because of his posts regarding Harry and also because he reported seeing movies, gave reviews to Harry and it turned out that the guy was a lying bastard. Pretty much everything he said was a lie from the get go and a lot of his philosophical ramblings were taken from critical essays by other people. I agree his comments in the Annabel Chong TB were great but most of the time he was spouting other people's thoughts.
-
It's funny to talk about earlier days on AICN. The site has gotten very "streamlined," something we knew was coming after the format change from repeated Harry photos to the current brown, cut-outs and navy incarnation. I didn't write for a long time because I've been doing a lot and now that I'm at my computer tons more (thank God for writing!) I've come back and the talkbacks are very, very different. There once was a sense of community, everybody was in it for one reason, to get out the word on the next great film that might go unnoticed or to see what's coming next to get that excitement going, something that's affected the way films are marketed these days as there's so much emphasis put on the opening weekend box office receipts. When I lived in Austin, things were different with AICN and in my life in regards to the independent film community. Now that I'm in my silly office here looking out over Wilshire, things are different. Hell, I miss when a single "Phantom Menace" rumor was what brought people back day after day after day. Maybe it's that post TPM letdown that's changed AICN. Who knows? But I'll still be seeing movies every week, tons of movies, reading lotsa scripts, seeing lotsa theater. Thank God for film and even if no one reads this rant, I feel a little better and can go into a meeting and tell him that Kate Jackson just ain't a draw.
-
Thanks for the additional info on Lane's character; he was before my time here. Good witnessing.
-
John K.s name is Kricfalusi. Pronounced KRIS-FA-LOO-SEE. Hope that helps. And I wish I saw that episode you spoke of.
-
a devo regression to be sure.
While I follow each point, stepping back seems to bring to focus a disturbing whole.
Ozymandias watching all the TVs
at once - you see the prophecy
you have just made with this
Moriarty? Gladiators, Arenas,
Cartoon Caricatures, Mid-life
crisis - sexual politics.
America: Pride goeth before a ... -
I saw "American Beauty," and it was good, but it still pales in comparison to the movies it most wants to be like "The Ice Storm" and (especially) "Happiness."
"AB" is almost "Happiness" Lite, right down to the convenient Miller Lite product placement during a tense confrontation between Spacey and Benning.
The acting is terrific, although Spacey's daughter in the movie is your typical eye-rolling sarcastic movie brat . . . YAWN! The last honest portrayal that I have seen of someone young is the performance of the son in (say it with me) "Happiness."
All in all, "American Beauty" is a very good movie . . . especially if you've never seen "Happiness."
God bless you,
The MangyK9
http://jesse.cyfx.com
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 273 total posts 271 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 92 total posts 92 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 69 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 151 total posts 63 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 67 total posts 59 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 60 total posts 57 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 484 total posts 49 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 69 total posts 42 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 120 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 183 total posts 24 posts