has been obtained.
and it is very satisfactory.
i read it while in bed with a horrible stomach ailment following thanksgiving.
and it cheered me up immensely.
so go buy it already. why? because they are SEX BOB-OMB!
Archive for November, 2007
scott pilgrim four
my thanksgiving-related pilgrim post
so it’s almost thanksgiving, and i thought i’d be spending it with the pilgrims, or to be more specific – SCOTT PILGRIM.
stopped by the new comic book store last night to pick up the issue before i left town to return to the philadelphia suburbs.
verdict was?
NOT IN
three strikes and i’m out.
and yet, i’m giving them one more chance. i’ve begged them to have it on saturday so that i can waltz off my train and go pick it up.
if it doesn’t happen? a certain comic book store is dead to me, and i’m totally ordering on amazon.
hope you’re having a happy holiday with your pilgrims.
the evens make me very, very happy
(thanks to gothamist for the photo)
tonight, there was a low-key, totally crowded evens show at the former wilson center, which is now a charter school.
it was fantastic. the crowd was mellow. the music was loud. and it felt like a warm night with family, the way that shows should.
and as i sang along with several of the evens’ songs that are very dc-centered, i realized how much the music of ian mackaye has changed my life.
it brought me to dc, for one thing, and it makes living here a point of pride. it introduced me to the concept of straightedge, which in turn has influenced my social life and given me some of my best friends. and it provided me with the still-mindblowing concept that one doesn’t need to accept things the way they are – rather, an entirely new system can be created. and it’s still revolutionary. look at the way that the evens are touring, only playing in churches or schools or non-bar venues. amazing.
so thank you, ian. and thank you, amy – not only for a great show, but for a reminder of how much this music means to me.
new scott pilgrim aaaugh!
so yesterday, i somehow find out that the NEW scott pilgrim comic has finally come out. new york magazine even has an exclusive preview.
i have been waiting more than a year for this book, because i love scott pilgrim. it’s full of pop culture references. it’s got a soundtrack in the pages. it’s hilarious. and i love the wide-eyed marker art. and also, scott pilgrim is like a sugar high without any of the bad side effects. woohoo scott pilgrim!
so yesterday, i RUN from work to the new comic book shop in union station, thinking that i’ll be able to scoop it up and devour it during the debate.
any such luck?
NO.
there was a stupid VIP event at union station last night, meaning that the new comic book store was completely closed.
THWARTED!
which means that today, i am just going to be jonesing it even worse for scott pilgrim. don’t expect me to be able to be concentrate on anything, becuase i’m so focused on getting my anime indie rock fix on. wooohooo! WOOOHOOO!
(and anyone who has read scott pilgrim knows that’s about the level of excitement throughout the book….)
jim’s dead, jim!
opened my new york times this morning to find the following:
Nimoy’s Not Bothered By Spurning of Shatner
Leonard Nimoy said he was not sympathetic to William Shatner’s complaints about being left out of the new “Star Trek” movie. “I know he’s upset,” Mr. Nimoy, 76, said after an appearance on Tuesday at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in Manhattan, where he promoted his new book of photographs, “The Full Body Project.” “But his character died three movies ago, so it would have been very difficult to get him into this one.” Mr. Shatner, 76 who originated the role of Capt. James T. Kirk on “Star Trek,” told The Associated Press last month that because of his popularity, he thought it was a bad business decision to leave him out of the new movie, the 11th in the series based on the television show. Mr. Nimoy appears briefly in the new “Star Trek,” set for a December 2008 release and featuring Kirk and Mr. Nimoy’s Spock before the era chronicled in the original “Star Trek.”
he thought it was a bad business decision to leave him out?
1. KIRK is DEAD. and thankfully so. trekkers are going to remember that.
2. You think that Kirk is popular? Listen, Shat, we all watched the show for Spock. Or Scotty. Or Chekov. Not you. Except when we want to make fun of your tortured line delivery.
3. Aren’t you supposed to be annoying people on Boston Legal? Listen, there’s a great cast lined up for this movie – Zach Quinto, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood. If you were in it, you only would have been there for two minutes anyway. Let it go, Shat. Let it go.
against me! at the 9:30 club
went to go see against me! last night, because i was in the mood for a little anarchist punk rock after a particularly bad day tangling with the government.
first of all, the music that against me! plays is top-notch. catchy, loud, and good, even though i tend to like their earlier stuff better. their newer songs – the ones on the major label – are very reminiscent of ’80s tunes.
aside form the music aspect of the show, it was great to watch against me! play for the simple reason that i’m tired of anarchopunks, and the strange career course of against me! is a good reminder that actually, anarchopunks are not all that mysterious. they grow up, realize the joys of health insurance, and settle down. against me! is interesting in that they’ve managed to do that while still singing their anarchopunk songs, but a reminder of the change could be found in the crowd. most of the fans were people who, if they were walking down the street, would not be pegged as against me! listeners; indeed, at moments, i could have sworn that i was watching an audience full of future/current frat boys. (of course, i came to the show in a suit, having had no time to change from work, so i’m hardly one to talk.)
but i did get a little depressed after seeing the audience. is this what punk rock anarchy has gotten us? a band of 4 white guys singing revolutionary anthems to an audience of middle-class white guys? what’s so revolutionary about that?
at any rate, the songs were great. against me! knows how to rile up my ears, and i can’t really ask any more of them than that.
mooooovie night with amit: om shanti om!
i had been eagerly awaiting om shanti om, the latest shah rukh khan film, solely on the basis of this poster:
shah rukh khan in a gold jacket, getting ready to dance to some retro hits? SIGN ME UP.
apparently, i wasn’t the only one interest in seeing this movie. when we showed up at the loehmann’s twin on sunday night to catch the 6 pm show of om shanti om, there was a line all the way down to the CVS, located several stores away from the cinema in the strip mall. hundreds of indians were bundled up and braving the cold, all waiting to get into om shanti om. i know it’s diwali, but this was completely unexpected.
we got into a separate line to buy tickets for the 9:15 pm show. these tickets were supposed to go on sale at 6:30 pm, at which time the organizers were just brushing in the last audience members for the showing that was supposed to start at 6 pm. the ticket window did not open until after 7 pm, at which point (and after standing in line for more than a hour) we snapped up 3 tickets for the 9:15 show. the guy in front of us bought six. the guy behind us bought twelve. we should have realized at that time that it might be a good idea to eat quickly and come back to stand in line.
instead, we went to eden center, had a great meal, and came back at 8:40 pm – more than enough time, we thought, to stand in line and get good seats. we pulled into the parking lot, and once again found a line of hundreds of people. even though we weren’t as far back as the CVS, we were still far back. and we also learned that the 9:15 start time had been pushed back to 9:40 pm. so we waited, passing the time by fretting about whether or not we’d be able to find seats together.
of course, the movie didn’t start at 9:40. it didn’t start until about 10:15. we finally got into the movie theater at 10:10 and ran down the aisle, dodging families and babies and the popcorn detritus left over from the previous show. we managed to snag three seats in the very center of the very front row.
and the movie?
well, the movie was a lot of fun, and worth standing outside for about three hours to see.
but it wasn’t quite as good as it could have been.
the first half of the film is amazing, popping with color and energy and genuine laughs. set in the 1970s, it lovingly parodies bollywood of that time. and i didn’t get all of the jokes, but i didn’t need to. it doesn’t take much bollywood knowledge to laugh at shah rukh khan in a horrible western, wrestling with a tiger. and the fantastic dance sequences were more than enough movie eye candy. staring with shah rukh khan on a turntable and reaching a peak in a lovingly choreographed sequence on a tennis court, it was pure bliss – the type of set pieces that mgm would have been proud to turn out. at intermission, i was completely prepared to list this on my top 10 movies of the year list.
and then?
well, the plot takes a bit of ridiculous (but not unexpected turn). that lost amit. i, however, was prepared to keep going on the basis of set pieces like “dard-e-disco,” a hilarious “dream sequence” that was basically crafted as an excuse to show off shah rukh khan’s chiseled pecs. don’t believe me? here’s a still from that:
in addition to dard-e-disco, there was a great parody of the indian film awards. and much has been written about the more than 9-minute sequence that seemingly features every single star of bollywood.
but despite the fun, the need to tie up the melodramatic loose ends from the first half of the movie bogged things down unnecessarily, although the director pulled it all together again at the end of the movie with another fine dance number.
still, it’s a great introduction to bollywood cinema as a whole.
i got home at 2 am, many, many hours after i expected. but the evening was very much worth it. happy diwali!
what’s the last thing that you bought?
today, i purchased a toilet.
i really never thought i’d say that.
but today, my hard-earned dollars went toward the installation and purchase of a brand new plumbing item.
now that i’ve gotten over that hurdle, i can look forward to the eventual upgrade.
i’m thinking about a toto product, like this neorest:
cyclone flushing! integrated washlet! automatic cleaning!
mmmm. i know why i’m going to work tomorrow.
mooooooooooooovie night: lust *pause* caution
okay, let’s talk about what you’ve heard about lust *skip a beat* caution
1. it’s FULL of HOT SEX
well, it’s got some hot sex. but it’s not full of it. people wanting to go see some porn should just stay at home and rent something, because the rest of the movie is a beautifully designed costume drama. however, if people have been dying to see tony leung’s balls, this is the film for you.
2. it’s nothing but LONG GLANCES and BORING DRAMA
okay, well, if all you’re looking for is hot sex, yes, this movie might seem boring. but nobody gives long glances like tony leung. nobody. and in case you didn’t hear it before, the movie features tony leung’s balls.
seriously, though – lust, caution is a fantastic film, and not at all what i expected.
it’s a love story and a spy thriller and a beautiful period piece all at the same time. the period piece is the veneer that covers the whole thing, and which is why some reviewers have complained of its slowness. there is deliberation in every action and affect, with polite conventions such as mah jong games taking up much of the action. but for every moment of supposed inaction, there is tension boiling. for the spies involved, even these small moments carry the risk of exposure.
the contrast between this politeness and the scenes where the action takes place is pointed. but the action scenes themselves are not expected. the sex is rough and brutal, while the violence is much like that which would take place in real life, without the neat bloodlessness that so often occurs in movies.
and the tension while waiting for the polite veneer to crack is palpable. ang lee lets the situation simmer – even playing gotcha with us at one point – but when the whole thing cracks, it’s a rush, and not always in a pleasant way. and the plot will stick with audiences for days after the film, because the world lee has created is haunting.
the actors in this film are uniformly superb. even wang lee hom, former mandopop prettyboy, surprised me. i don’t need to say anything about tony leung. he could be selling auto insurance on tv and i’d give him a good review as long as he shot me one of those longing glances. and there are plenty of them to go around in this film.
lust, caution is on my top ten list for the year. amazing, enthralling performances, a gripping story, and beautiful design make it a fantastic movie.
and no, i wouldn’t have put it only there solely because of nude tony leung, although that certainly didn’t hurt the film at all.
