…Without a dope beat to step to

“It’s been a long time” seems like the understatement of the year. But it has been. And for that, I apologize.

I was actually motivated to post tonight by a few different things, which have no clear connection or narrative thread – so, just go with it okay?

 

Point 1  – Photography

This picture is just… yeah. No caption needed, me thinks. Buzzfeed ran it as one of their 45 most powerful images of 2012. Nice work, humanity. 

 

Point 2 – Photography in Venice

Maybe a little unfair and inappropriate to include these two in the same post. I found out in true last minute fashion that the wonderful city of Venice, CA was lighting up their famous sign – X-mas Style (Heeeey, sexy sign! No?) – and Tony Stark himself would be flicking the ‘on’ switch. So I had to go. Traffic delays meant my friends were late, cut to me wandering the salty streets of downtown Venice by my lonesome – like a total creeper. 

I noticed a gentleman leaning up against a white mercedes station wagon, and it’s dark so I can’t really see his face – until suddenly it hits me like a ton of bricks that it’s Robert Downey Jr – and wait a minute he’s not so short after all – and wow he looks great – and oh fuck he’s walking towards me – and jesus is he seriously making direct eye contact? Have I mentioned lately that I love you, Los Angeles? Cuz I do. I really, really do.

 

 

Point 3 – People are OK. Sometimes.

I’ve been working on a project lately with some very cool folks. Ironically, it’s a movie – though hardly the kind that makes me want to scratch my eyes out. We did a big press push this week, and I find myself delighted with the results in a way I haven’t been in years. The best part being that people are sharing news about the movie free of charge – just because we’re asking them to. The film centers around surfing, and I’m blown away by the response of the surf community to share and maximize awareness – totally selfless, which is entirely shocking (to me anyway). 

I don’t know what this means.

I’ve been reading the Charlie Chaplin autobiography (that the film CHAPLIN was partially based on) – so maybe there IS a narrative thread to this after all – and it makes me think. I’m often accused of continuing to conduct a Hollywood affair (with MOVIES) under the table. It’s an abusive relationship that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully walk away from. I’ve been sticking a toe back into movie theaters again, watching trailers with an air of judgement and dismissiveness…

Until the Iron Man 3 trailer runs – and I melt into a pile of goo all over again. And that, ladies and gentleman, is called COMING FULL CIRCLE. 

 

Un jour c’est toi qu’on laissera

I think I prefer the latest Weeknd mixtape “Echoes of Silence” over “Thursday.” Love all the songs on here (even the MJ cover), but track #2 – Montreal – really jumps out (for totally obvious mysterious reasons). The chorus is actually a cover, but when are they not? Replay, replay!

Boss Hugo

This weekend I saw a film for which adjectives like “magical” and “perfect” barely scratch the surface of greatness. When was the last time I used those words to describe a movie – or anything at all, really? My life is odd at the moment, and I find myself hiding amongst flickering shadows on screen to forget the world. Thanks to Mr. Martin Scorsese, mission accomplished.

I would hardly want to give anything away here about HUGO, encouraging you to run (not walk) to your nearest theater and buy a ticket immediately. But, there are some important facts worth knowing.

I’m all about 3D hate – a real card carrying member. Sure, AVATAR was nice to look at, but it’s a total one night stand. Much like that cute guy who sticks his tongue in your mouth like a floppy worm, once was more than enough. I thought the Harry Potter group used 3D nicely, augmenting the experience on the final film. Other than that – it’s been an annoying, expensive gimmick that I’d like to see disappear… But then HUGO arrived and everything changed. Scorsese and Co’s use of the technology is absolutely breathtaking, and I imagine this is what James Cameron had in mind all along (who has been quoted saying HUGO is a “masterpiece”).

I will never forget sitting in the Wakefield Cinema to see JURASSIC PARK for the first time in the summer of 1993. At the ripe old age of 9, thinking that a portal had opened to another world. There was magic there, between the walls and under the seat where my arms wrapped around my knees. Suddenly this weekend, I was a child again and all the weight of the world came off my shoulders.

As much as I hate the institution of Hollywood, I still want to love movies. Somehow I’ve retained the ability to sit down at a screening and hope for the best. Even when I’m watching a movie I’ve seen before, by creatives I love that wasn’t so great the first time around, I’ll watch it again on the off chance that it mysteriously improved since the last viewing. My life has been lived and defined between film reels, thus there’s a passion, loyalty and love that extends to little else. I say all of this because I think Marty and I share the same sentiments, when it comes to the flickers. I knew very little of the era of movies prior to 1983 before I got to college, and my eyes nearly melted when I started dabbling in film theory courses. Chaplin, Keaton, Garbo, Grant, Hepburn, Stewart, The Lumiere Brothers, and, of course – George Melies.

I say “of course” because…well, you’ll understand when you see HUGO. It’s a movie by people who love movies, for people who love movies, with hands and hearts in two worlds – old Hollywood and new Hollywood. In other worlds – a select, niche audience. Marketing this movie as a children’s epic is all wrong – though if I ever were to have a child, he/she will be plopped down to watch this immediately. It’s art at its purest and history (sort of) at its finest. A commentary on Hollywood (though it’s set entirely in Paris), with completely wonderful performances to boot. Jude Law is MASTERFUL as the father who wasn’t there, as is Sasha Baron Cohen, the kids, and really every single person who inhabits the frame.

Honestly, I can’t say enough about this movie – and I won’t say more on the hope that you’ll see it.

Through unavoidable osmosis, I usually know what production company is behind every film. I’d forgotten that a certain organization was linked to HUGO, but I smiled at the title card and end credit. Probably one of the only people I respect even MORE today than when I first came to Los Angeles.

Table top musings

My coffee table is such a random hodgepodge. Some people have a shelf by the front door, or a corner in the kitchen where they squirrel away important treasures collected during the week. Since the coffee table is the center of my living room, and thus my apartment, my pieces of weirdness accumulate there. A short tour includes the following:

-Fundamentals of Corporate Finance – thank you to Ross, Westerfield and Jordan for enlightening me (slightly) on corporate America. I’ll pay you back, someday (get it, get it?)
-A bike lock that I’ve owned for several years, to which I can never remember the combination.
-Magazines: Vanity Fair (Feat. J. Depp as the Coverboy), Red Bulletin (Red Bull’s Action Sports glossy), and a slew of National Geographic Travels with photos and articles that make you want to pack it all in and travel the world for the rest of your days.
-GMAT Math Review. Joy.
-750 Cocktails – The Book (legitimate Joy)
-On The Road – A Kerouac classic that I’ve never read and is next on the list, along side The Web Has No Weaver (my dabbling into Chinese Medicine)
-Guitar picks, a whiffle ball, and drawing utensils that mock me in their ‘dust collecting’ state of being.

I mention all this as I’ve just now realized my coffee table is a perfect life snapshot in this moment. Some people use their coffee tables to underline and emphasize their worldly-ness and pretension. I just need a space to keep myself organized, in my own strange way. I think your coffee table says a lot about you as a person – at least mine could. Of course, I leave it up to the book shelves to tell me what to wear out on the town this weekend. They never agree on anything.

Pot(ter)s and Pans

Pardon my extended hiatus. I type that like there’s a fan-base foaming at the mouth for my diatribes on everything about nothing. (Hi Mom!)

I must say, I was wary of Harry Potter when the series initially appeared. I remember when the first two films went into theaters. I was less than interested, which is odd since I grew up loving everything magic. Then, at the insistence of my all-things-British-loving college roommate, I started in with the books just before Alfonso Cuaron’s PRISONER OF AZKABAN was released. I literally devoured the first four novels and gleefully lined up for the 3rd film (which is, in my opinion, the best of the series), as I lined up for the 5 that followed.

It’s a hard thing, to adapt a film from a book that’s so well written, loved, and thoroughly dissected. How can a studio ever hope to appease fans when the source material becomes a part of the public consciousness? If anyone is up to that challenge, it’s Warner Brothers (well, mostly). The key element to the movie magic was JK Rowling’s involvement from the get go. The woman is a genius – and anyone who disagrees can suck it. She created a story so layered, characters so believable, and a world so intoxicating – surpassing the work of any other fantasy author before her. Yeah, that’s right. I said it. I’m talking about the novels, not the movies – lets be clear.

And so it all ended this past weekend. Audiences are starving for movies that mean something beyond CGI and gloss. An emotional attachment formed between viewers/readers of the series. Combine those two elements, and I think fans are willing to overlook some of the weaker points in the film and DEMAND it win best picture this year. Lets pump the breaks there, kiddies – that’s a little much. I enjoyed DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 – the effects were fantastic, I didn’t hate on the 3D, the grownup actors rocked the boat. The end was never going to be perfect, but I think the best effort was made to tie the series up in a shiny bow for everyone.

One thing I do see happening, however, is Alan Rickman finally getting his due as Snape. If you’ve read the novels, you knew what was coming. Without spoiling you if you’re not familiar (how are things under that rock?), lets just say people aren’t always what they seem. It’s rare that you meet someone who is, to the core, a truly evil human being. Ralph Fiennes has played it a couple of times now. Alan Rickman had a much more difficult role to play, there was no Robin Hood to rage at this time around. His final scene with Harry, and the Half Blood Prince’s Tale, were about the most heart wrenching moments I’ve seen on screen in a while.

“After all this time? Always.”

It’s a tough thing to watch someone you love run around with a socially awkward, unfunny, arrogant, stupid, slutty alternative. I’m talking about Snape’s view on James Potter, of course. Who did you think I meant? Snape was in a dark place, and he loved Lily Potter so deeply and obsessively that he was willing to protect her son with another man, all because Harry had his mother’s eyes. Alan Rickman conveyed it flawlessly, and the urban legend is that JK told Rickman from the first day of shooting CHAMBER OF SECRETS what Snape’s true motivations were. Talk about a spoiler alert.

Anyway, I don’t know if I’m really saying much here other than to tip my metaphorical hat to Rowling for mobilizing the next generation back to books again. For helping kids use their imaginations again. To Warner Brothers for committing to a series (saga), the likes of which we will likely never see again. I’ve enjoyed the ride, and implore anyone out there who hasn’t read the books to grab a copy, get word-grinding, and stop your hating.

Randoms

My brain is racing tonight, this week, the past few months. The kind of mental exercise I haven’t participated in for years. Actually I’m feeling a little Neo-ish right now, wondering if I was EVER this engaged. Anyway, forgive me for a slightly disjointed post this evening. I’m an only child, after all. Wait, what? Nevermind.

Point #1: What Goes Around Comes Back Around

It’s just true. If you don’t agree – you’re probably not stoked on the life choices you’ve made, instead believing you can hide from your deviations. I’m not religious in any sense, and I don’t think things happen for a reason. But, I do believe in embracing the crazy shit (good or bad) that the universe throws at you, and interpreting it in a way that’s gonna send you on a more effective path. We all make mistakes – I’ve definitely made some really questionable calls. But, there’s always a better course.

Deciding to screw someone over to protect yourself is definitely not the way to go, and choosing to do so will come back to you eventually. Oh, I promise it will. On a purely molecular level, those negative energy electrons will have their way. So, hey – be nice! As nice as you can be, anyway. You can’t solve all the world’s problems and you can’t help everyone. But make an effort! Smile! It could be worse, trust me – I know this first hand. Even if your life is kind of shit at the moment – figure out how to make it better. And don’t blame your shortcomings on other people, or take it out on strangers. Own up. Be brave. Take a fucking chance, would you?! The better vibes you put out into the world, the better things will come back to you – baseline science at play.

Point #2 – Life Is Weird Like That Sometimes

Not to be Vaguey McVaguerson – I heard some wonderful (horrible) stories recently about some people in a place where I may have once been paid to spend time. Ya dig? Anyway, the people in this establishment are truly some of the worst examples of humanity I’ve ever encountered, though you wouldn’t know it from their sweet smiles and promises of everything (nothing). There was a time when I thought I wanted to be them. Then, something happened that literally changed my life. A couple other things happened, and suddenly I found myself cautiously scoping out a new path. Now, 3000000000% committing to said path. I remember when I was an arrogant 23 year old who thought I knew it all, cruising to the top. Funny how that works. Someone very wise (who is doing a wonderful job of growing out his sideburns) said recently:

There are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized. I went to college with many people who prided themselves on knowing exactly who they were and exactly where they were going. At Harvard, five different guys in my class told me that they would one day be President of the United States. Four of them were later killed in motel shoot-outs. The other one briefly hosted Blues Clues, before dying senselessly in yet another motel shoot-out. Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42. One’s dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course.

Really, I just like quoting that speech because it’s a juicy cherry on top of the enormous life sundae I’ve been building over the past year and a half. Damn you O’Brien, and your unbelievably eloquent way of phrasing everything that’s right and wrong with the world.

Point #3 – If It’s Your First Night At Fight Club, You Have To Fight

You know, it’s a wonderful thing about Amazon – buying books for cheap, with free shipping and no sales tax. I used to buy a lot of DVD’s – but I’m off those now, and I’m on to books. Currently plowing through FIGHT CLUB by Chuck Palahniuk. Anyone who visits the bathroom in my apartment knows I have an affinity for the movie (Brad), and I don’t know how I’ve gone this long without reading the novel. I just stumbled across a quote that didn’t make the script, but tickled me in all the right ways:

I just don’t want to die without a few scars, I say. It’s nothing anymore to have a beautiful stock body. You see those cars that are completely stock cherry, right out of a dealer’s showroom in 1955, I always think, what a waste.

Point # 4 – Ars Gratia Artis

At the behest of a friend I found myself wandering the streets of Culver City last night, looking for the Kirk Douglas Theater. A ticket waited for me at will-call for a performance of THE METHOD GUN. The premise being a group of actors portraying a group of actors who are staging a performance of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, without the 4 lead characters. Right? Yes. I really wasn’t sure what to expect as I sat in the lobby, acutely aware that I was probably one of the only non-actors in the house. Fucking actors…

Regardless, I walked into the performance space and listened in on the pseudo-intellectual conversations going on around me. What is it with everyone in this town needing to make anyone within a 100 foot radius KNOW how intelligent you are? Ugh. Anyway, the reason I mention all of this is because I found the show to be completely entertaining – and the kind of thing you would expect to be put on by a graduate level, avant-garde theater program somewhere off-off-off-offfffff Broadway. Art for arts sake. I found it refreshing, and am still thinking about it 24 hours later. I’m also wondering if my friend, who told me to see the show, actually has some kind of backend participation points, though he denies it.

It is Los Angeles, after all…

Me gusta mucho

Nike’s CHOSEN campaign continues, and the “Noticed” spots are coming fast and furious. Today’s submission is all the way from Madrid, Spain. I got to spend some time in Madrid back in the day (back in the day = 2003). A massively awesome city, where the party don’t stop ’til 6 in the mornin’. Can’t say I recall a lot of skaters on the streets, but times are a-changing.

The camera work in this piece is stellar – the tricks are clean and impressive. But what really caught my eye/ear was the life mantra of the crew, which is par for the course amongst most Spaniards (though maybe not this guy). “I think the most important thing is good health, happiness, and working very little” (I wish I could write out the translation, but yo hablo americano ((and yes I know they’re singing in Italian, just go with it))). Here’s the spot:

To see non-Americans this engaged in the sport, culture, and attitude of the Action Sports scene gives even more legitimacy to the international expansion of the X-Games, and the industry as a whole! Strength and Honor.

Take It To The Streets

Art In The Streets is the latest installment at MOCA in Downtown LA. Here’s the blurb:

Art in the Streets is the first major U.S. museum survey of graffiti and street art. Curated by MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch and Associate Curators Roger Gastman and Aaron Rose, the exhibition will trace the development of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to the global movement it has become today, concentrating on key cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Sao Paulo, where a unique visual language or attitude has evolved.

Street art is just as legitimized (and encouraged?) in Los Angeles as everything else. It’s kind of an amazing thing, driving down Melrose Ave where the paint is drying on a new Banksy (who are we kidding, Banksy would never be so OBVIOUS…). Thanks in part to the completely entertaining doc EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, Angelinos have developed an appreciation for spray paint (though as the exhibit shows, this love affair started several decades ago – we’re just more accepting now). MOCA lovingly dotes on all those grubby little taggers in a full on exhibition/awesome art history lesson.

Check it out if you can – not a shabby way to spend an afternoon. Enjoy some of my stellar (?) camera phone photography.

At the start

To have in house, or not to have in house?

A collection of images showcasing subway cars as canvases in NYC. This wall is about 15 feet high.

Banksy stencil. Clever ensues.

This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race

I just love this. Tim Burton on acid? By the way, this is across from the bathrooms.

We were trying to figure out if this was painted on site. Impressive, regardless!

Jigga What?

I’ve been flying through my Netflix queue lately, thanks to my refusal to support any of the garbage being dumped into movie theaters this year. And, since Hollywood has such a vendetta against Netflix these days, I’m even happier to get my ‘flix on. Last nights entertainment was the 2004 documentary FADE TO BLACK, chronicling Jay-Z’s “last big show” at Madison Square Garden and the events leading up to the release of his (amazing) Black Album. (Did anyone really think he was retiring? No? Me neither)

One of my favorite moments in the whole doc is contained within the clip above at the 1:50 minute mark. In the studio with Timbaland, Jay listens to a bunch of mixed beats for inspiration. Literally 10 notes of what will become “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” pulse through the speakers, and Jigga leaps out of his chair. Check out the expression on his face. Hate on Jay-Z, but homeboy knows a hit when he hears it. He proceeds to free-style what will actually become the verse (though the cynic in me wonders just how free that freestyle REALLY is).

His music is brilliant (haters gonna hate), and nobody can knock the Jay-Z hustle – this guy literally built an empire by surrounding himself with incredibly smart, talented people who have endless verses and beats to lay down on any track. I love that he’s still one of the most relevant artists out there – be it music, fashion, digital or whatever. His records are rap-radio friendly, and invited someone like me into the culture with an open hand. I feel like the Beastie Boys kicked it off – and Jay, Eminem, Dr. Dre (2001 Dre, that is), Snoop Dogg and a slew of others picked up the pieces of the glass ceiling shattered by the Beasties – and RAN with it.

I’ve never been one to mind barriers or people telling me that I shouldn’t  like something just because it doesn’t fit my profile. Watching the sold out crowd at the Garden – black, white, latino, asian, and every culture in between – vibing to Sean Carter (I love how many aliases he has), and connecting in ways that step over every color line is truly a sight to behold. Isn’t that what being an artist is all about, creating a piece of work that allows people to connect, regardless of difference?

The concert footage is pretty great, and I apologize to my neighbors for last night. HOV is super serious about his craft, but also seems like a genuinely awesome person (which I base off his behind the scenes interviews).

Hey, remember R.Kelly? Those two released an album back in 2002, which I’d completely forgotten about. They came out together on the song below, and I think I have a new favorite jam.

Slurpees

I apologize for going all “girl” on you for a hot second, but I just noticed a post to Tumblr that needed to be shared within the confines my blogr. ‘Cuz it’s been one of those weeks, and I do what I want.

I prefer them both with haircuts, but that's just me.

I almost died when the moment above “happened” during this year’s Golden Globe Awards telecast. Two insanely good looking men, who (for the most part) stuck to their guns and have (mostly) consistently delivered some of the best performances in my cinematic lifetime. Enjoy those links, and be amused by the quote below. Where was I in 1983 when these two were holding court around Hollywood together? Oh, right.

“I came up with Johnny Depp, right, we were right there and there was always respect and I watched him and his choices, which have been wonderful. And then I see Johnny Depp do Pirates and then suddenly Depp is on a Slurpee cup. And the movies are good. And he’s great in them. And I think: If Depp is on a Slurpee, I want to be on a Slurpee. “

– Robert Downey Jr. on Johnny Depp

It was only 10 years ago that RDJ was thrown in jail for the last time – and who could forget Johnny’s hotel trashing days? I bet he could. But hey, two of our best living actors finally got it together! In a world of sparkling Vamps, brain dead Werewolves, and that idiot from I AM NUMBER FOUR – I can tell you where MY preference lies.

Also, somebody get me a Slurpee, STAT. (Slurpee being code for “Get Me In The Middle Of That Photograph.”)