Another terrific Aimee Mann cover … this time of Harry Nilsson’s “One” which Three Dog Night turned into a big hit during the early 1970s. Mann’s version was brilliantly used over the opening of P.T. Anderson’s 1999 masterpiece “Magnolia.” I like this version WAAAAY better than Three Dog Night’s cover, which is the best known version.
Aimee Mann’s lovely version of Badfinger’s early 1970s classic “Baby Blue,” originally released as a B-side. The original played at the end of “Breaking Bad”‘s final episode, but I thought I’d give a shout-out to this great, but little-known cover.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to violence, the word and the act. While violence cloaks itself in a plethora of disguises, its favorite mantle still remains… sex. Violence devours all it touches, its voracious appetite rarely fulfilled. Yet violence doesn’t only destroy, it creates and molds as well. Let’s examine closely then this dangerously evil creation, this new breed encased and contained within the supple skin of woman. The softness is there, the unmistakable smell of female, the surface shiny and silken, the body yielding yet wanton. But a word of caution: handle with care and don’t drop your guard. This rapacious new breed prowls both alone and in packs, operating at any level, any time, anywhere, and with anybody. Who are they? One might be your secretary, your doctor’s receptionist… or a dancer in a go-go club!
OK, I did not write those words. They come from the infamous opening to the film director John Waters once called the greatest film ever made. Russ Meyer’s “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” film is one of the most wonderfully sleazy movies ever made … and it’s also one of the most fun to watch. It’s one of those films that seems really, really dirty even though it probably would get rated PG-13 if released today (it was rated TV-14 when it popped up on Turner Classic Movies). It would make a great double-feature with “Road House.” There’s no nudity here, but the above clip not safe for work as this is from a less politically correct time. Go baby go! Go! Go! GO BABY GO! Work it out!
Jon Spencer, his sexy spouse Cristina Martinez, and the rest of the Boss Hog gang get their Russ Meyer on with this homage to “Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!”
Jon: I dig your groovy hips!
Cristina: I dig your barbecued lips!
Yowsah! That has to be one exciting marriage. From Boss Hog’s self-titled major label debut in 1995.
This has to be the strangest “happy” ending in film history … a declaration of mature love amidst massive destruction and mayhem … while the Pixies’ legendary “Where Is My Mind?” plays in the background. I realize this is a perverse selection here given my last entry about “United 93,” but to be fair, “Fight Club” was written / filmed pre-9/11. And just because some of the angst of “Fight Club” was rendered obsolete by the subsequent “war on terror” doesn’t mean that “Fight Club” still doesn’t raise several excellent issues about our culture. If there’s a film that summarized my mental state in my early 20s, this is it. Fortunately, I saw this in my late 20s after I was married and settled down … so the film left me with the weirdest, most perverse grin on my face I’ve ever had watching a film. Especially during the “Sixth Sense” – level plot twist that occurs 3/4 of the way through. Between this and David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome,” my all-time favorite film.
Sorry ladies … and maybe some gents … the infamous subliminal “pickle” shot has been edited out.
I can completely understand why anyone would not want to watch this film. But please, don’t dismiss this as an exploitation film. Paul Greengrass’s “United 93” is an extremely intense, but respectful approximation of what happened on United flight 93 on September 11, 2001. So far, it is the best non-documentary film about what happened on that day and it’s the only film that brought me back to what it felt like on that day when it seemed like the entire world was falling apart. While I’m happy Scorsese finally got his Oscar for Best Director for “The Departed” in 2006 (a truly great film), he really should have won it for “Raging Bull” or “Goodfellas.” Greengrass should have won for Best Director that year (he was nominated). This is a film that won a lot of acclaim when it was released, but is almost forgotten about these days … maybe because most people don’t want to watch it. But seriously, “United 93” is a very respectful, non-sensational film about the events on 9/11, even though it’s admittedly a very difficult film to watch.
http://www.salon.com/2012/06/09/true_hollywood_story_the_producer_and_the_black_panther/
Bert Schneider was one of the most important film producers/executives in Hollywood history. Schneider, along with his partners Bob Rafelson and Stephen Blauner, headed a production company called BBS Productions, which produced (among other films) the following classics: “Easy Rider” (1969), “Five Easy Pieces (1970), “The Last Picture Show” (1971), and “Hearts and Minds” (1974). The BBS philosophy was, as long as filmmakers kept their budgets relatively low, the company would give them tremendous artistic freedom, a freedom that resulted in some radical, legendary movies that defined what was called “The New Hollywood” … movies that also happened to be very successful at the box office.
However, there was a dark side to Schneider. Per the accounts in Peter Biskind’s book “Easy Riders Raging Bulls” and other places, Schneider could be cruel … not only cuckholding friends and berating anyone he felt was his inferior (specifically screenwriters), but also indulging in extreme substance abuse. Also, Schneider’s earnestness in supporting progressive causes sometimes led him down some dark paths.
This terrific article about Schneider, written for Salon.com by Kate Coleman, chronicles Schneider’s relationship with Black Panther Huey Newton. There’s a lot of debate about Newton and his legacy. I don’t know enough about Newton to say what’s true and what isn’t. But despite whatever good he may have done, Newton was a troubled man and I don’t believe all of his troubles were the result of government conspiracies. A really fascinating and dark tale about friendship and an era when “radical chic” sometimes blinded well-intentioned people.
One of the most bone-chilling scenes in cinematic history .. this is the back story of master criminal Keyser Soze … the much-feared boogeyman of Bryan Singer’s best film “The Usual Suspects.” As Kevin Spacey’s character Verbal Kint says: “Keaton always said, ‘I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him.’ Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze.”
The other key line: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”
The clip here is not safe for work. It’s not particularly bloody, but extremely disturbing.
On the surface, this seems like a joke. Europe’s artiest rock band covering a song by America’s grungiest troubadour? Until you realize that this classic Neil Young song has all of the elements of Roxy Music’s best songs. The way Ferry and company cover this, it sounds like they could have written it themselves … even though Young’s version sounds quintessentially Young. Seriously, I’m hard pressed to say which one is better.
Wanna see something truly amazing? Check out this cover of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” by jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan. Watch his hands. They’re tapping the strings … not strumming. And he’s getting a very, very intense sound out of his instrument from what seems like very little effort … but not quite. Because you know that someone has to know their instrument really really well in order to pull something like this off. Really mind-blowing stuff.
Dave's Strange World 