is france a country?

oh my god! you HAVE to watch this....

Mark T, the man

A post from Reno Melons on Myspace:

Hi all,

DJ Mahogany here to remind you about the double feature at the Flicker on Saturday night. Gymkata @ 9 pm...Silent Rage @ 10:45 p.m. Video Dance Party around 12:45 a.m. There's no cover and there will be cool trailers either before the movie or between the movie. Please come by, say hello, and help me to spread the word. Thanks in advance as always for your support.

Mark

Anyway, the post kinda took me back a couple of years to the Friday film nights Mark used to host at his house. Looking back, those nights at Mark's were some of my favorite experiences in Athens. Mark introduced and reintroduced us to a lot of really fine films from Vice Squad to Cannonball Run to Coffy to Lisa and the Devil to The Jazz Singer to the "beautiful" Showgirls box set to Piranha to a number of others I can't quite place (Death Race 3000?). Add to this the Italian horror nights he hosted somewhere around the summer of 2003...Phenomena, Zombie, Deep Red, The Beyond...Anyway, hopefully Flicker hires Mark to curate some sort of Saturday night film fest every Saturday from here on out...

LA Stuff

Here is the transcript from a conversation I participated in Saturday morning at a health clinic in industrial East LA where I was getting TB test for my job:

Mexican Dude #1: I'm seein' this chick that's Persian.
Mexican Dude #2: What the fuck's Persian?
Mexican Dude #1: Fuck if I know...I think it's like that Afghanistan shit.
Mexican Dude #2: Fuck that. Like those people at 7Eleven.
Mexican Dude #1: Yeah...She's fine though. And she likes Mexicans. And I sure am Mexican.
Awkward Pause.
Mexican Dude #1: Hey man (speaking to me), you know what Persian is?
Me: Uh...yeah, that means she's from Iran. You know, next to Iraq.
Both Mexican dudes: Ohhhhh shit.
Mexican Dude #1: So she's gonna be throwin' bombs at me and shit...

I also caught the Murakami exhibition at the MOCA. It was kind of weird looking at pop art sculptures of Manga girls with milk coming out of their breasts like long cylindrical clouds while little kids and teenagers walked around the exhibit with their parents. Try this link for a series of Murakami created commercials revolving around the pubescent and awkward mandroid Inochi. And remember, I watched this shit with kids and their moms.

short reviews from sunday theatre hopping:

American Gangster - this was a great cop flick, very much in the spirit of french connection and serpico. also slightly wire-ish in that equal time (and some empathy) is given to the "bad" guy. both leads deserve oscar consideration, as does the film.

Darjeeling Limited - unlike most folks, i really enjoyed life aquatic. but this flick was disappointing, clearly the weakest of wes anderson's canon. a couple memorable lines ("look at these assholes"), but no movement in the characters. pre-feature short was ok, very glass family; but the natalie portman nudity was weak.

The new Jay-Z

I'm pretty excited about the new Jay-Z album, especially after the last one. This glowing/ass kissing review, though, made me a bit less excited.
Actual text from the review:
Before we start the dissection in earnest, I'm going to tell you a secret – you must promise me that you'll treasure it for the rest of your life. It applies to music, in this instance of course, but much more too, so pay close attention. When appraising an artist on their work, it is best to judge them primarily on what their objectives are. For example, if 50 Cent was trying to heal the world through music, he'd be a failure; if he was trying to make hit records and "get rich," he is clearly a success. Capisce? Oh also, wherever possible, resist the temptation for judging their objectives, and focus on how accurately the artist is achieving their goal.

There are other gems as well:
Witness!
To call this an album would do it a great disservice, for it is, really and truly, an experience. Look into the dark heart of this opus, and you will find a liberated artist succeeding in precisely what he wants to achieve.

Maybe we should just stick with that song he did with Beyonce.

irony?

spent saturday evening with the ladyfriend and assorted folks at her best friend's family "farm" outside columbus, ga (a huge cabin with a lake on 100+ acres on which you can drink, drive golf carts, play bache and cornhole, or relax and take a hot tub; essentially the coolest getaway spot ever). driving back from columbus, we passed 50 foot ford expedition limousine, with a confederate flag bumper sticker. the name of the rental company was emblazoned on the side; it read "nothing but class".