Saturday, August 16, 2008

Breaking the Creative Dam; The Bob Saget Roast; Movies

The other day I went over Liz's. Liz is the drummer for my band. We've been on hiatus since June because of Liz having to sell her house and having to move (her dad died last year, left her the house, and all that shit). So finally, that ordeal is thankfully coming to an end. We ended up jamming for a while, and ended up improvising this awesome idea for a new song. Then Amelia came by, and we ended up jamming acoustically. We ended up playing Nirvana's "Polly," and a few other songs we knew, including "Love Stinks" (as a joke). Hopefully, we're reconvening sometime this week and getting the band started again. That day at Liz's kinda was a further emergence from nothing short of a creative slumber. Ever since my sister had her play (and got really fucking good reviews for it, btw!), and jamming with Liz again, I realized that maybe I am as good as people think I am. I'm not trying to come off as narcissistic, but I know I do have a way with words when I really think about it, and I listen to the right music to get inspired to tweak a good tune. I may be wrong. Nah... I'm tired of being wrong.

The Roast of Bob Saget was on Comedy Central was on last Sunday. Jesus Christ, I couldn't stop laughing. Those roasts on Comedy Central are downright hilarious. Last year, they roasted Flavor Flav, and it was 2 hours worth of comedic genius (My favorite joke was when Patton Oswalt said that "Chuck D. wanted to be here tonight, but the 'D' stands for 'dignity.'" I love that guy!). The Bob Saget Roast definitely upped the ante a little bit. The roastmaster was, of all people, John Stamos. Of course, he took some comedic jabs, particularly about how he was in that Beach Boys video wearing a pink tank top, and how his ex-wife, Rebecca Romijn, is dating Jerry O'Connell. Greg Giraldo quipped that "He lost his wife to the fat kid from Stand By me." But, he was a good sport about it, and actually shot off a few hilarious barbs as well (I'm not sure if he came up with them himself or if he hired the best insult comedy writing crew). The Olsen Twins were absent, but the girl who played Stephanie on Full House was there. Overall, it was hilarious, and worth watching TV for (can't say that about most TV programming nowadays!). Here's a clip by Gilbert Gottfried describing what happens to the Olsen Twins when they walk into a bar:



I've been watching some good movies lately. I'm weird. I go through phases where I'm a film-o-holic for like six months, and then I go through a period where I can't sit through even my favorite movies for a few months. My girlfriend and I rented this film called Flakes, with Zooey Deschanel, who win me over with her cameo in the second season of Weeds, and, from what I've heard, the She & Him record. It's an interesting story about this twentysomething hipster couple living in New Orleans. The lead character (played by Aaron Stanford) is an aspiring musician who works in a cereal bar, and his girlfriend (Deschanel). The storyline is kind of Clerks-ish (a slacker who wastes his potential working a dead-end job and a girlfriend who's trying to get him out of it), but adds something I've never seen in a film, or even in real life (could be because Southbury, CT isn't hip enough for a "cereal bar," where stoners, and old farts come in and eat a bowl of cereal; in fact, I haven't seen one or heard of one anywhere, yet again, I don't get out too much). Naturally, some young hot-shot businessman opens a corporate copy of a cereal bar adjacent to Flakes, the store the protagonist works at. His girlfriend sees it as a sign for him to quit his job and finish his CD, but he sticks with the job and his zany boss (Christopher Lloyd returning from his vacation off the face of the earth). Trying to act as a catalyst, his girlfriend (who goes by the name Miss Pussy Katz) works at the corporate competitor. A really good indie film. Not superb acting, or anything, but better than most shit in theaters.

I want this combination. Viva la Soul Power Special!:



I also rented Closer, the biopic of Joy Division's doomed lead singer, Ian Curtis. It was directed by a little-known upstart director/photographer Anton Corbijn, who directed a low-budget video for an unknown band called Nirvana in the early 1990s, with a song that got NO airplay called "Heart-Shaped Box." It was very powerful. Very sad. Great performance by Sam Riley (who strikingly looks like Ian Curtis). Great parallel between Ian's marriage and his affair with journalist Annik Honore (played by Riley's real life girlfriend, Alexandra Maria Lara; beautiful woman, hope to see more of her). Kudos to Corbijn for capturing the anguish of Ian Curtis (especially his epilepsy and the effect of his medication), and the somber mood of Joy Division's music and tragic story without being too dramatic or overbearing.

Here's perhaps the most riveting scene from the film. The band performing "Dead Souls," and Ian having a bad epilepsy attack.



More on Joy Divison: The video for Atmosphere (also directed by Corbijn):



Hey, I also read that Sam Riley was in 24 Hour Party People (the movie about Factory Records, which signed Joy Division, and also delves into Joy Division's brief history), playing Mark E. Smith of the Fall, but his scenes never made the final cut. Oh well.

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