Shits and Gigs

So TWC revealed this teaser at Cannes over the weekend and I’ve already watched it 20 times in the past two days. I’m so fucking in I can’t even stand it. I’ve been tracking this long-time mysterious “scientology-but-not-scientology” project for a couple of years now and to be honest I had no idea what to expect (other than pure PTA awesomeness).

But by the looks of this 1:40 youtube masterpiece - it looks like Anderson is building off of his distinct style established in TWBB and flexing his guns with another creepy as shit Jonny Greenwood score and unnerving close-ups of psycho-pathic dark haired males…which leads me to my next point…

I think its safe to say that Joaquin Phoenix has entered into the “Daniel Day-Lewis” zone of insanely awesome actor that will crush any role. The dude looks straight up NUTS in this clip. He’s not even the central figure of the film (Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the L. Ron Hubbard type weirdo cult dude) but I can already tell he’s gonna steal the show. A+ teaser.

PS. Apparently the clip from Cannes included footage of Phoenix masturbating into the ocean. Love it. Keep doing you Joaquin.

The Great Gatsby

This is another project that I’ve been extremely excited for. Baz Luhrmann absolutely KILLS literary adaptations and if there was one director I’d trust with an ambitious work like Gatsby, it’d be The Baz.

That being said, I’m not crazy about this trailer. I’m impressed with the one sheet and the visuals from the trailer - but Jay-Z? I get that Baz likes to use anachronistic music in his adaptations (see Romeo+Juliet) - but JAY-Z? Leo looks sick though, I know he’s gonna nail it. Trailer aside, I’m still in. I just hope Leo doesn’t drop any left over N-bombs from his stint in Django Unchained.

Anchorman 2

Love it. Nothing else to say. This movie could be the exact same thing as the first and I would still watch it 100 times. So down for an old fashioned nut shot.

Skyfall

I’ve heard good things about this. Quantum of Solace sucked but I feel like Casino Royale is one of the more underrated Bond films. Point is Daniel Craig is possibly the coolest thing since sliced bread and I could watch him for days.

The teaser is short with only glimpses of action but I’m digging the synthesized Bond theme in the end of the clip. I’m in.

PS. If Javier Bardem isn’t playing his same, exact role from No Country for Old Men then I have ZERO faith in Hollywood. Nothing says James Bond more than cattle guns to the forehead.

22nd May 2012

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Gary Clark Jr.

—The Life

This song is cool as shit

19th Mar 2012 | 1 note

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Frank Sinatra

—My Way

Apparently this is going to be the Title Song for “Django Unchained”…

29th Feb 2012

“Sounds of a San Juan night, drifting across the city through layers of humid air; sounds of life and movement, people getting ready and people giving up, the sound of hope and the sound of hanging on, and behind them all, the quiet, deadly ticking of a thousand hungry clocks, the lonely sound of time passing in the long Caribbean night.”

— The Rum Diary: A Novel

By Hunter S. Thompson

25th Feb 2012 | 1 note

I’m guessing that this sequence will go down as one of the most epic scenes in cinematic history. In terms of sheer scope and ambition, Malick’s portrayal of the creation of the universe and earth, coupled with the use of an unbelievably haunting opera score (Tavener’s Lacrimosa), creates one of the most sublime theater experiences of all time (even more so than Kubrick’s 2001).

In order to do this scene justice, this clip must be watched in full screen with high volume.

PS. This sequence continues with the evolution of microscopic life and the first sea creatures, all the way to the birth and extinction of dinosaurs. Pretty Amazing.

PPS. Not a bad film, either.

15th Feb 2012 | 1 note

Miss this place…

3rd Feb 2012

Epic read from Simmons’ mailbag (if you’re a pats fan)

Q: You have remarked on the coincidence of certain songs bands have played at halftime of Super Bowls involving the Patriots. In 2002, U2 played Beautiful Day as the Pats stunned the Rams to win it all. But then in 2008, Tom Petty played Free Falling, which is exactly how New England’s season ended. Madonna is playing halftime this year. Any songs we should keep an ear out for?
— Dave B., San Francisco

SG: You mean other than “Like a Tebow”? Here’s how I could see Super Bowl XLII playing out …

Everything goes wrong for the Pats in the first half: Brady doesn’t have enough time to throw and can’t find a rhythm; Cruz and Nicks are getting open all over the field; Gronkowski plays a couple snaps and limps off; the Patriots’ quirky ball control/no-huddle offense doesn’t work; the Giants are confidently skipping around like they own the place; and the crowd is smelling blood and working itself into an anti-Patriot froth. By halftime, it feels like the Giants should be leading by 30 points, only they’re up 13-3 … and yet, nobody can see the Patriots possibly coming back.

And I’m sitting there stewing in my seat, surrounded by crowing Giants fans, fighting off déjà vu, swearing at Bernard Pollard, barely holding on to a shred of faith, thinking luck finally ran out for this doing-it-with-mirrors Pats team.

Then the lights dim. Hundreds of workers run out and assemble the halftime stage. Hundreds of dancers surround the stage in a creepy circle. The announcer says, “Ladies and gentlemen … Madonna!”

We hear the first few chords of her first song …

Life is a mystery
Everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like … home

That’s right, that leathery broad from Michigan with a British accent is singing “Like a Prayer.”

When you call my name
It’s like a little prayer
I’m down on my knees
I want to take you there
In the midnight hour
I can feel your power
Just like a prayer
You know I’ll take you there

And suddenly, just like that, I will believe. So will the Patriots. If 2002 was a “Beautiful Day” and 2008 was “Free Falling,” then 2012 will feel “Like a Prayer.” The Patriots will rally back, Gronk will make a few big plays on his ankle that suddenly doesn’t hurt anymore, the Giants’ front four will get tired, and the Belichick/Brady Patriots will start playing like the Belichick/Brady Patriots of old. Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Michael Strahan and Joe Buck will be unable to stop it from the stands. The noise from Colts and Giants fans will bounce right off the Pats like a Super Ball. Every ghost and every demon will be buried. And just when they’re wrapping it up, and we see Bob Kraft and his son hugging in their luxury box, someone will spill a plate of nachos on Bernard Karmell Pollard.

That’s not my pick … that’s what I want to happen. But screw it, let’s make that the pick.

The Pick: Patriots 24, Giants 19.

14th Jan 2012

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—-and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—-and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—-nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—-which is more—-you’ll be a Man, my son!

“If” - Rudyard Kipling

18th Dec 2011

The 75 Skills Every Man Should Master

1. Give advice that matters in one sentence. I got run out of a job I liked once, and while it was happening, a guy stopped me in the hall. Smart guy, but prone to saying too much. I braced myself. I didn’t want to hear it. I needed a white knight, and I knew it wasn’t him. He just sighed and said: When nobody has your back, you gotta move your back. Then he walked away. Best advice I ever got. One sentence.

5. Name a book that matters. The Catcher in the Rye does not matter. Not really. You gotta read.

55. Point to the north at any time.

If you have a watch, you can point the hour hand at the sun. Then find the point directly between the hour hand and the 12. That’s south. The opposite direction is, of course, north.

60. Be brand loyal to at least one product. It tells a lot about who you are and where you came from. Me? I like Hellman’s mayonnaise and Genesee beer, which makes me the fleshy, stubbornly upstate ne’er-do-well that I will always be.

63. Deliver a eulogy. Take the job seriously. It matters. Speak first to the family, then to the outside world. Write it down. Avoid similes. Don’t read poetry. Be funny.